Folded Moon: Marriage Before Love

[Powerful Beijing elite x Pure-hearted college girl]

*

One afternoon, frustrated by her thesis, Ruan Yi let her roommate take her to a museum to clear her head.

The glittering displays of jewels and jade dazzled her. Pointing to the donor whose name she had seen so many times, Ruan Yi couldn't help asking, "Who is Fu Yueli?"

Her roommate was astonished by her innocence and whispered, "You mean Mr. Fu?"

"I'm not exaggerating. People around here say he's the king of business in this city of stone."

*

Ruan Yi's encounter with Fu Yueli was pure coincidence.

It was a rainy day, light filtering through a window of patterned glass. A cigarette between his fingers, the man stood quietly in the pale light. His dark eyes looked tired and languid as he watched Ruan Yi, like she was a little sparrow that had accidentally flown into his path.

No one expected them to get married in a hurry just two days later.

Later, when people asked about their marriage alliance, Ruan Yi looked awkward and muttered, "It's a marriage of convenience. We'll get divorced soon."

It was a careless remark. She thought he felt the same way.

But she soon paid the price for those words.

On a damp night, in a moment of absurdity, her rosy lips were rubbed until they swelled, and a strong hand clamped around her delicate wrist.

His hoarse voice was edged with cold. "Want to leave?"

"Yiyi, you weren't saying that when you were sitting on my lap."

A little scene:

Another afternoon spent suffering over her thesis. Ruan Yi propped her chin in her hand, frowning as she deleted a line she'd struggled to write.

The man came over with a glass of water and wrapped his arms around her from behind. Seeing the topic she'd listed on the screen, he couldn't help asking, "Since you're studying history, what kind of person would I have been in ancient times?"

He assumed he'd be a powerful minister.

But the young woman pointed at him and said each word clearly: "A tyrannical official."

Right. He was all-powerful and above the law when it came to her.

If you're interested, please add my next book, Tides [Reunited After a Breakup], to your favorites!

*

Xu Xia wanted to get ahead so badly that she started dating someone in college.

The guy was the top student in their department, Bo Yanli, a famous prodigy and, as everyone knew, a "mama's boy."

They said his mother had three rules: no dating in college, no video games, and never falling below first place in his year.

In the end, all three rules were broken.

Perhaps a passionate beginning was destined to end in disappointment.

On graduation day, Xu Xia left a letter, ending a relationship that should never have begun.

*

They met again four years later.

He was a celebrated rising star in tech; she was an overworked research assistant.

It was summer again, with the cicadas growing louder. As they brushed past each other, she caught the familiar scent of fir on him.

Later, he casually helped her solve a difficult problem.

At a cafe, Xu Xia asked earnestly and cautiously what kind of repayment he wanted.

The man stretched out his legs with an easy air, his deep gaze fixed on her. In a flat voice, he said, "What I want, you can't give me."

*

Xu Xia didn't want to get entangled with him again.

She wanted to settle any debts she could.

But at some point, their conversations began to veer further and further from what she expected.

"Mr. Bo, can I go home tonight?"

"Mr. Bo, I'm going home tonight."

"Bo Yanli, I have to go home tonight!!!"

--"Loving you is an endless tide in my life."

Theme: Use the past to illuminate the present.