Fragile Goods [Marriage Before Love]

The neighboring novel, Beyond the Square Inch [Winning Her Back], is now available. Feel free to check it out!

Blurb:

Marriage first, love later | A secret crush comes true | A long-planned scheme

Rebellious, bold ceramic artist x Gentle green-tea-style CEO

Shen Qingjia refused her family's arranged marriage so she could break into the international ceramics world. Taking the initiative, she found herself a husband first.

As it happened, this husband-for-convenience was the man who had helped her catch a thief in Berlin with nothing but a walking stick.

They hit it off and got their marriage certificate.

After the wedding, Shen Qingjia was hit by a financial blockade. Luckily, her capable young husband volunteered to give her money.

One day, her husband-for-convenience was pressured by his family to get married, so he asked her for help. Shen Qingjia knew better than to be ungrateful, and agreed without hesitation.

What was so hard about pretending?

But after she moved into his hillside villa, she somehow lost half her heart without even realizing it.

It was as if he had bewitched her. She actually started sharing her secrets with him.

Not only that, he always put her first. He was like a warm haven, drawing Shen Qingjia in step by step until her heart trembled.

Far from home, Ji Yuming sat alone in a cafe on Friedrichstrasse in Berlin.

A madman suddenly rushed out. He wasn't one to meddle, but for some reason that day, instinct made him reach out with his walking stick. He easily took a phone from the madman's hand, and then the face he had seen countless times in his dreams appeared right before him: bright eyes, pearly teeth, unchanged after all these years.

Bonus Scene:

The day they registered their marriage.

Shen Qingjia belatedly realized how impulsive she had been. Judging by her expression, she seemed ready to back out.

Just as she was about to speak, Ji Yuming cut in. "I have a leg condition. If Miss Shen regrets this, I won't hold it against you."

Who could bear to let down someone so sweet and gentle?

Shen Qingjia certainly couldn't. She declared on the spot, "Who said I regret it? Even if the Jade Emperor himself showed up today, I'm still marrying you!"

Reading Guide:

1. One-on-one romance, both leads are sexually inexperienced, happy ending, with a four-year age gap.

2. The male lead has a leg condition at first, but recovers later.

3. The female lead eventually discovers that everything was part of the male lead's long-laid plan. There is a little bit of a groveling arc.

4. The leads may not be perfect people, but they are law-abiding citizens.

5. The professional knowledge in the novel may not be entirely accurate. This is fiction for entertainment, so please don't scrutinize it too closely.

Blurb for Beyond the Square Inch [Winning Her Back]:

Groveling arc | The powerful one bows his head | Coercive romance | Rivals competing for her | Faked death

Clear-headed, restrained, ambitious schemer x Gentle, possessive heir

Li Jing is a renowned golden boy of Hong Kong Island, a decisive and formidable heir to a wealthy family.

Before Zhou Yi joined the company, she had heard that the newly appointed CEO was cold, iron-fisted, and utterly lacking in compassion.

She never expected that when she suffered injustice at work and had nowhere to turn, he would trust her unconditionally and punish the people who had wronged her.

Even more unexpectedly, she became his secretary. He helped her build connections, supported her business ventures, and protected her in the business world.

Zhou Yi fell for him, step by step, until she finally worked up the courage to confess her love to Li Jing. They naturally became a couple.

But their good times didn't last. News broke that Li Jing was getting engaged.

Zhou Yi had been his official girlfriend, once envied by every girl in Hong Kong. Now she became a laughingstock throughout the city, because Li Jing's fiancée was not her.

The love she had believed in became a matter of taking what they each needed in his eyes.

He believed that wealth and power could keep her bound to him.

He used every means at his disposal to make her fall from his official girlfriend to a mistress with no name or status.

On the day of the engagement.

Li Jing placed the diamond necklace he had carefully chosen around her neck and said gently, "Be good and wait for me to come back."

Zhou Yi looked down at the sparkling, enormous diamond. It was even bigger than the engagement ring the media had revealed two days earlier. She looked up with a happy smile. "I'll wait for you."

Then she rose onto her toes and gently pressed her lips to his.

Li Jing closed his eyes in satisfaction, enjoying her initiative as he deepened the kiss.

He didn't notice that Zhou Yi's eyes were slightly open, her gaze empty.

As soon as he left, she grabbed the bag she had packed days earlier and set off on the hiking route she had planned long ago.

That evening, the media spread the news that Zhou Yi had gone missing and died in an accident. Li Jing went mad with grief. He went into the woods alone and searched all night, finding nothing and ending up in a wretched state.

Four years after Zhou Yi disappeared, a short video went viral online.

In it, a little girl galloped on horseback, full of spirit. Most strikingly, her features looked as if they had been carved from the same mold as Li Jing's.

Li Jing flew to Tibet that very night.

In front of Zhugu Temple, beneath a peach blossom tree,

Li Jing stared at a family of three, his eyes bloodshot.

The face that had been gone for years looked at him as if he were a stranger.

The little girl looked up, blinking from one parent to the other. "Mom, Dad, who's this uncle?"

After Li Jing pestered her again and again, the little girl finally understood. "You're the other man!"

Theme: Pursuing one's ideals