The Moon Calls the Tides [Marriage Before Love]

[Gentle, sweet girl and aloof, proud beauty]

[Career-focused and househusband-minded]

[Please add this to your reading list, please, please!]

1. Song Chunyue is found by the Song family and agrees to the marriage alliance her uncle proposes.

Her intended is distinguished and aloof, even arrogant. The two register their marriage in an atmosphere more like a business negotiation.

News of the Song and Zhou families' marriage alliance gets out, and the Song Group's stock finally stops hitting the daily limit down after several days.

Song Chunyue thinks she has made the right decision.

She also believes that, as they agreed, they will divorce when the time is right.

2. Zhou Xiyuan is extremely disciplined, managing his life and work with precision. Maximizing efficiency is his principle.

Marriage, an undertaking whose input and output are so disproportionate, has never been something he would consider.

Tired of his mother pressuring him to get married, he casually tells her that the only woman he could marry is Song Chunyue, the Song family's daughter, whom he was betrothed to as a child.

The Song family's daughter had been missing for years. It was an obviously flimsy excuse.

But who could have guessed that her uncle would find the legendary Miss Song?

Fine. He'll solve the problem in the most direct way: marry Song Chunyue.

Of course, he'll give her adequate compensation when they divorce.

3. At a grand wedding, with everyone watching, the groom bends down and looks into the bride's eyes. "May I?"

Song Chunyue's face burns as she remembers what the officiant just said: The groom may kiss his beautiful bride.

She doesn't answer. In the heady, romantic atmosphere, she only gives a bewildered nod, unsure what else to do.

The groom doesn't wait any longer. He cups the bride's face in both hands. His lips first touch her smooth forehead, then move downward, finally settling on her soft, moist lips.

In that moment, Song Chunyue suddenly comes to her senses and remembers their agreement:

They would divorce when the time was right.

4. After putting it into practice, Zhou Xiyuan once again concludes that marriage is both exhausting and difficult to make live up to expectations.

For example:

At last, he comes up with an excuse to move into their marital home, only to find his wife and her best friend have taken over the master bedroom and turned it into a special education workroom.

At last, her best friend leaves, only for a special-needs child to arrive and turn their home into an educational activity room.

At last, a family gathering comes along where he can attend with his wife, but all he gets is a phone call from her.

The rain is pouring down that night. She's making a home visit in the countryside on the outskirts and can't make it back, so he drives for three hours to see his wife.

But she brings up that question again:

"You said we'd divorce when the time was right. When will that be?"

At that moment, he feels like an utter failure.

He says nothing, only looks at her.

Just as he is about to break, he hears her ask, "Zhou Xiyuan, you like me, don't you?"

"I do."

The usually proud and self-possessed Zhou Xiyuan asks cautiously, "Can we put off talking about divorce for now? Will you give me a chance to make you like me?"

The moon doesn't answer. She only smiles brightly.

# Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the moon's gravitational pull.

# Zhou Xiyuan thought he could control the rhythm of his heart, but later he understood that falling in love was an instinct hidden in gravity. At some unexpected moment, a glance or a word would stir up a turbulent wave of emotion, and even when the tide receded, it would leave behind its warmth.

# Marriage first, love later # Two complete strangers fall in love # Sweet romance

Theme: Support children with special needs