My Substitute Marriage, and the Rugged Man Spoils Me Rotten

Her stepmother sells Lin Wanqiu off to marry Lu Zheng, the “Living King of Hell” from the neighboring village, who has already outlived two fiancées. Lin Wanqiu’s older sister ran away with her lover, leaving her to take her place. The whole village waits to see how she’ll be tormented to death, paying with her life for the three-piece wedding gift her family received. On their wedding night, the terrifying scars across the man’s chest and his scorching body leave her trembling like a leaf. She thinks she’ll be cursed to death in bed. But the Living King of Hell only pulls her into his arms and coaxes her beside her ear in a hoarse voice that could scare a child to tears: “Don’t be afraid, wife. Eat this bowl of noodles, and I’ll take care of you from now on.” Lin Wanqiu thinks it’s just something a rough man says to save face, until he overturns her family’s table for her, stands in front of her with a cleaver to protect her, and hands over everything he owns. Later, her regretful older sister comes crying to their door, trying to steal back the “good match.” In front of the whole village, Lu Zheng slips a gold ring onto Lin Wanqiu’s finger and pulls her into his arms for a kiss. “Get lost! I, Lu Zheng, have had only one wife, in body and heart, from beginning to end, and her name is Lin Wanqiu. Who do you think you are, getting in my wife’s way?”