[The original setup crossed the line, so here's the revised version:]
*
In the first year of their marriage, Jiang Ruoyun's husband committed a major financial crime and jumped from a building to escape punishment.
Jiang Ruoyun was saddled with an enormous debt. If nothing unexpected happened, she'd spend the rest of her life paying it off for him.
One snowy night, heavily pregnant, Jiang Ruoyun sat in the snow with nowhere to go.
A limping man walked toward her and draped a warm coat over her shoulders. She looked up and saw a handsome face, no longer youthful but still beautiful.
The man smiled at her, his eyes curving just as they had many years ago. "Big Sister, I'll take you home."
*
Song Zhizhang was tall, strong, and handsome. He was the only person in his village to get into college.
Unfortunately, the mountains had no need for college graduates.
Deep in the mountains, there were many unspeakable traditions, such as offering a "beauty" to the mountain god. The so-called mountain god was an old man.
Educated and proud to his core, Song Zhizhang refused to endure such humiliation.
One night, he escaped from the mountains.
The big city blazed with neon lights and glittering jewelry. It was his first time there, and he had only thirty yuan on him.
He understood nothing and knew how to do nothing. He was tricked into working as a drinking companion at a bar.
His first customer was Jiang Ruoyun, a woman whose every move exuded charm.
He clumsily poured her a drink.
She asked him, "Can you read?"
He nodded, nervously clutching the hem of his shirt.
Jiang Ruoyun smiled faintly. "Good. Read to me."
And so he read her In the Loss of Freedom for the entire night.
The next day, Jiang Ruoyun told him there was a dog hole in the alley behind the bar. She gave him a business card. "If you can get away, call the number on this card."
Song Zhizhang gathered his courage and crawled through that humiliating hole. He wandered the streets for a long time before a kind person took him to a shelter. The staff asked him about his family.
Song Zhizhang pulled the sweat-dampened business card from his clothes and handed it to them.
*
Jiang Ruoyun helped the police take down the headquarters of Shangchuan City's largest criminal gang, earning great merit.
After the operation, she returned to the university and went back to being an ordinary professor.
A former colleague got in touch to tell her that a boy named "Song Zhizhang" was looking for her.
Jiang Ruoyun met him, took him to eat, bought him clothes, and saw him back to his hotel.
At the hotel, Song Zhizhang knelt and clung to her leg. "I won't take anything from you for free."
Jiang Ruoyun looked at his stubborn, handsome face and almost laughed. "What do you want?"
Having seen and heard things at the bar, Song Zhizhang thought city people all liked that sort of thing. "I-I'm healthy, and I'm clean."
Jiang Ruoyun furrowed her brows and earnestly lectured him about the importance of studying hard.
After that, she only paid for his schooling and stopped seeing him.
*
Song Zhizhang missed her and often secretly sneaked into her university.
Just catching a distant glimpse of her standing at the lectern felt like enough for the rest of his life.
People are greedy. He started going to see her more and more often. When Jiang Ruoyun found out, she wasn't angry. She just smiled and patted his arm. "Study hard, okay?"
Song Zhizhang looked at Jiang Ruoyun, his face red, and told the first lie of his life. "Big Sister, high school subjects are too hard. Could you teach me?"
*
One day, after leaving campus, Song Zhizhang was cornered and his left leg was injured. It was one of Jiang Ruoyun's suitors, a man of powerful standing. He said, "A poor kid like you will never be good enough for her, no matter how hard you try. Stay away from her, and don't let me see you again."
Later, Jiang Ruoyun got married. He heard she was very happy.
Song Zhizhang missed her so much that his knees ached whenever he did.
Theme: Study hard and love.
