[Married first, fall in love later / Male lead with a secret identity / Intangible cultural heritage of woodcarving / Everyday life and warmth / A woman's growth]
01
Lu Wanzhi died peacefully at the age of ninety-nine.
She was satisfied with the life she'd lived.
A graduate of a prestigious university, a master woodcarver in the Asia-Pacific region.
A gentle husband, devoted children.
Her only regret
was that her husband had died too soon.
Before she closed her eyes, she made a wish.
"If there is another life, may we meet, fall in love, and stay together sooner."
02
When she opened her eyes again,
she had become a seventeen-year-old orphan in a farmer's family in the Song Dynasty countryside.
Her gambling uncle had even sold her to a widowed butcher as his bride.
Lu Wanzhi had just one thought: escape!
She'd planned for everything, but not for a poor scholar to betray her. She didn't get away.
The good news was that the poor scholar used all his savings
and a marriage contract to ransom her openly and honorably.
03
The bad news was that Lu Wanzhi and the poor scholar had signed a marriage contract.
On top of paying back the money he used to ransom her,
she also had to support this delicate scholar who couldn't even lift a chicken.
She worked and carved wood to support him.
He did nothing all day, but somehow had endless demands: picky about food and clothes, always writing and painting.
Apart from having the same handsome face as her husband in her previous life,
he had absolutely nothing going for him.
Lu Wanzhi was fed up day after day and wanted to earn enough money to leave him.
04
She went to the capital, entered a competition, made a name for herself, and got rich.
Her first order of business was to divorce Song Hexiao. Heehee.
Open shops~ Buy a house~ Make money~
Just as her business was thriving,
a handsome young wood merchant from Bianjing came to ask for her hand.
But the moment word got out, she was kidnapped by bandits.
She thought they were real bandits, only to discover it was the scholar she'd divorced.
Turns out the scholar was the legitimate eldest son of the Earl of Xin'an's household, a descendant of the founding emperor, and Li Jie's final disciple.
With tears in his eyes, he buries his face in her embrace.
"Zhizhi, don't leave me."
"Fine. I've just opened a chain of shops and need staff. Come work for me."
"You got it."
Attendant: "My lord, you're so delicate and noble. How can you do this kind of work?"
Song Hexiao: "I can do it! I can do anything! I'm working for my own wife. What's it to you?"
Theme: Passing on the intangible cultural heritage of woodcarving
