(Alternate historical setting, both are reborn in different worlds after death, male lead is a deceptively mild-mannered psychopath + female lead is avoidant + one couple, one-to-one romance, both are each other’s first and only)
Ye Zhiyin and Xie Yanzhi die together in the basement where he had kept her captive for so long.
Luckily, when she opens her eyes again, she has been reborn in a strange new time and place.
In her previous life, she was madly in love with a male educated youth sent to the countryside. She made the whole village hear about it by jumping into a river, then used the favor she’d done him to force him to take responsibility for her.
Unfortunately, that male educated youth is also named Xie Yanzhi.
To test his identity, Ye Zhiyin reads the original owner’s diary and learns that this educated youth wants nothing to do with her. So she carefully puts on an act, clings to him and professes her love, hoping to make him lose his temper and reject her once and for all.
After observing him closely, she confirms that this Xie Yanzhi is not the same person as the other one.
But his face looks far too much like the man she knew, so she doubles down on her efforts to cut ties for good.
As she keeps at it, she notices that when she makes intimate advances, he never seems angry. He simply brushes her away without drawing attention to it.
So she steels herself, takes his hand, and kisses him. To her surprise, it works remarkably well: his disgust is now plain on his face, and he warns her that he’ll have to reconsider their relationship…
Until one stormy night, in a county town battered by wind and rain, the man leans against the drunken woman’s pale shoulder, idly tracing circles with one finger. One hand rests lightly on her waist, neither pressing too hard nor too softly. His low voice is languid as he says, “Baby, I told you that even in death, I’d never let you go.”
Male lead: A scorpion in the corner, mild on the surface and a psychopath underneath.
Female lead: Determined not to repeat the tragedy of her previous life, even if it kills her.
