Dregs

At seventeen, Lin Jinshu's life was put up for sale, its price set once and for all.

His gambling-addicted father bribed a fortune-teller,

who declared, "The groom must be a man to bring good luck."

So he stuffed Lin Jinshu into a bridal sedan and carried him into a grand old mansion,

where he became the sickly young master's groom in a wedding meant to bring good fortune to the Shen family.

Lin Jinshu bowed at the wedding while clutching a rooster.

When his red veil was lifted, the flickering candles revealed a groom whose face was pale, stiff, and cold.

Before entering the bridal chamber, he was sent to the mourning hall.

His mother-in-law coldly handed him a white sash. "Now that you've entered the Shen family, your life and death belong to us. Die with your husband, and uphold the Shen family's reputation for virtuous widows."

Just as he was despairing and waiting to die, gunshots rang out.

Shen Yuming, the Shen family's second young master, had returned from studying abroad and stormed in with a gun.

His immaculate suit looked completely out of place in this cannibalistic old mansion.

He sneered. "Either I take him away, or I burn this old house down. Choose."

From then on, Lin Jinshu was rescued from his feudal cage and brought to a small Western-style residence in the west of the city.

His nominal "uncle" became the one who controlled his life in truth.

Shen Yuming forced him to read and write, tapping the table as he ordered in a cold voice, "Read it: 'I, want, free, dom.'"

Every page in the books and magazines Shen Yuming brought him was startling, and the world he lived in was rife with gunfire.

Under Shen Yuming's gaze, Lin Jinshu trembled as he awkwardly tried to sketch the shape of a new world.

As the smoke of war began to rise, Shen Yuming disappeared into its dangerous tides.

Without his protection, Lin Jinshu clenched his teeth and held fast to the ideals Shen Yuming had left behind.

He stumbled and bled in a world of oppression,

until at last he had forged himself into someone who no longer depended on others.

At last, with victory songs ringing out, the man from his past returned across a shattered land.

Amid the cheers of thousands, Shen Yuming walked straight toward him.

"The law allows it now. Marry me."

A stern, domineering seme who studied abroad x a timid but resilient bride groomed to bring good fortune

SC

Theme: Though thousands stand in my way, I will go