I Must Find a Way to Make Ends Meet

Cunning, sharp-tongued, penniless tofu beauty x cold-hearted, ruthless nobleman One-on-one romance, both leads have no prior sexual partners, everyday life among ordinary folk. The female lead isn't a player and has a moral compass. Yu Miao, the tofu beauty of Pingyang Street in the western suburbs of the capital, is twenty years old. Matchmakers already consider her a spinster, yet she still sets her sights high, determined to outmaneuver poverty and marry a good man who can afford a three-courtyard residence. There are plenty of men who can afford a three-courtyard residence, but good men are hard to find. So she lets things grow ambiguous with her childhood friend, a scholar, while accepting the advances of the honest blacksmith across the street, all the while feeling drawn to the male lead. At first, rumors on the street say that Bai Hongzhou, a caged songbird, is the kept man of a high-ranking official. Curious, Yu Miao peeps over the wall without knowing the truth, and Bai Hongzhou looks down on her. Then Yu Miao gets caught up in a fire at Fahua Temple and is rescued by Bai Hongzhou, binding the two together in a connection they can't break. Later, just as their feelings begin to deepen, Yu Miao weighs the pros and cons and parts ways with Bai Hongzhou, deciding to cling to the scholar's path to success. After that, Bai Hongzhou uses a scheme to send the scholar back to his hometown, putting an end to the marriage negotiations. Yu Miao considers the practical realities and wants to choose the scholar, but he sees right through her. Knowing she's in the wrong, Yu Miao plans to move away from the western suburbs. But Bai Hongzhou is determined to seize every opportunity and pursue her relentlessly. In the end, she willingly falls into the web he has spun. Bai Hongzhou, eldest son of the Minister of Rites, was born to a beautiful concubine from the Western Regions. His mother died young, and his father never valued him. His master took him in at the age of seven, and at nineteen he was brought back to the Bai family to serve as a whetstone for his rivals. To be entered in the family register, Bai Hongzhou willingly became his father's pawn and lived in a villa in the western suburbs. But the woman next door sold tofu. She was capable, sharp-tongued, and loved to spy, yet whenever she was bullied, she'd curl up on a chaise longue and cry. To stop her from climbing over the wall and twisting her ankle, he had to raise it higher. To keep her from crying, he rescued her in the snowstorm. When Pingyang Street flooded, he even fished out her uncle for her. With so many ties between them, Bai Hongzhou was sure she must like him, and she didn't disappoint him. But when her childhood friend, the scholar, returned, he was all she could think about! Bai Hongzhou used every trick he had to send the scholar, who had passed the imperial exams, back to his hometown. He risked his life carrying out tasks for the Crown Prince, earning himself fame, fortune, and a magnificent bridal procession. At last, on their wedding night, he could properly declare his claim on her, easing the shame of having once been treated like a donkey. A Little Scene: In the fading light of sunset, Bai Hongzhou pins her firmly in a corner and makes her choose. If she chooses Shi Zhuxi, he'll kiss her. After several kisses, when she's dizzy and reeling, she chooses the male lead, who has no family approval, over poverty and wealth. She chooses poverty! Premise: Poverty isn't frightening. What's frightening is lacking the courage to overcome it