Years ago, they met briefly a few times. Years later, he became her instinctive desire, while he fell in love with her through physical attraction.
At thirty-three, weighing 210 jin, she lost her job after catching her boss cheating.
At thirty-five, weighing 130 jin, she couldn’t find work because she was unmarried and childless.
To get a job by posing as a married woman, Lu Siyu decided to marry Gu Cheng.
The marriage would last one year, with a ten-million-yuan breakup fee. They would part ways when the contract expired, owing each other nothing.
But once she fell in love with him, she wouldn’t get a single cent.
Right after they got married:
Lu Siyu: “With the money you gave me, I’ll be set for life as long as I don’t show off my wealth or keep a man.”
Gu Cheng: “You still want to keep a man? If you get lonely after the divorce, you can come to me. We’re pretty compatible in that department. I won’t charge you. I might even pay you.”
A few months later:
Gu Cheng: “Lu Siyu, I take back what I said before. You can like me. You can even fall in love with me.”
Lu Siyu: “Whether I like you or fall in love with you doesn’t require your permission. That’s my business, and it has nothing to do with you.”
*
When Gu Cheng’s daughter unexpectedly came back into his life, Lu Siyu thought she would just help out as a mother. But the little girl reminded her of the younger sister she had lost many years ago.
She helped him open his daughter’s heart, and he protected her, granting her every request.
They were happy as husband and wife, and Gu Cheng assumed their divorce agreement was void. He thought they would just keep living that way.
On the day they left the Civil Affairs Bureau with their divorce certificates, Gu Cheng’s daughter ran after Lu Siyu, crying, “Mom, are you leaving me?”
She held back her tears and didn’t look back.
A few days later, Gu Cheng found the sketchbook Lu Siyu had left behind.
“Lu Siyu, where are you?”
This story is more sweet than angsty, with a touch of bittersweetness later on that gives way to a satisfying aftertaste.
[Marriage first, love later / mature romance / mutual salvation / not both leads’ first relationship / not a conventional wish-fulfillment story]
