[Gentle, brooding stepmother x sunny, youthful, fake-literary little green tea at a 45-degree angle -> forced plot]
Luo Rou has broken up.
The bad news: Her fiancee ran off with another woman at their engagement party, making her a laughingstock.
The good news: It was only a business arrangement between their families, and they hadn't had time to develop feelings for each other.
Facing the mess at her engagement party and feeling the mocking gazes of everyone around her, Luo Rou didn't want her parents to rush her into another marriage alliance. She raised her chin, gazed up at the sky at a 45-degree angle, and spoke with a sorrowful expression. "Ye Xiyun is the only one in my heart. Even though she betrayed me, I swear... I'll never consider marrying anyone from another family in this life, except someone from the Ye family."
The next second, a woman dressed in a black gown, radiating elegance from head to toe, approached and lifted Luo Rou's chin with her cool fingertips.
"Since Ye Xiyun betrayed you and can't be with you, choose someone else in the Ye family."
"I mean... choose me."
*
Back then, Dou Shaoyin had entered a sham marriage with Ye Xiyun's mother to repay her for saving her life, pretending in public that they were a loving couple. Before she died, the woman apologized and said she hoped Dou Shaoyin would find someone she liked.
That night, Dou Shaoyin saw an interesting woman at a bar.
Bright-eyed and lovely, she sat obediently in the most conspicuous spot at the bar. Though a crowd of people kept their eyes on her, she turned them away every time with gentle, sweetly manipulative words.
When she saw the woman getting drunk, Dou Shaoyin went over and gently put an arm around her waist.
The woman gazed at her tipsily, her eyes shining like stars in the sky.
"Sis, you're so beautiful."
Dou Shaoyin thought she had fallen in love.
Then the next day, she saw that woman at her stepdaughter's engagement party.
Watching Luo Rou look heartbroken as she talked about her feelings for her stepdaughter, Dou Shaoyin laughed in anger, walked over, and lifted Luo Rou's chin with her hand.
"..."
We meet again, little liar.
[Bonus scene]
It took Ye Xiyun a long time to realize that she had feelings for the fiancee she had only met a few times.
She went to Luo Rou's apartment to tell her how she felt. Just as she was about to knock, her fiancee stormed out, with ambiguous marks on her neck.
The marks were clearly left by someone else. Before Ye Xiyun could even get angry, her lofty stepmother hurried after Luo Rou, smiling warmly, nothing like the cold and distant figure Ye Xiyun remembered.
"Don't be mad, baby. Next time, I'll remember not to go so far."
"That's what you said last time!" Luo Rou snapped from ahead.
Dou Shaoyin looked helpless, but her eyes were brimming with laughter. She glanced at Ye Xiyun beside her as if she hadn't even noticed her, then hurried after Luo Rou.
But Ye Xiyun was rooted to the spot by that look, her limbs turning cold.
She remembered all the different ways her stepmother had spoken about Luo Rou and regretted everything.
So from the very beginning, Dou Shaoyin had been determined to make Luo Rou hers.
-
1. Same-sex marriage is legal in this setting. The stepmother and the ex were purely friends, with no romance between them.
2. A sweet romance, marriage first, love later.
3. Neither of them had dated before they met.
4. Anyone who likes this love-triangle sandwich can claim a passionate kiss (kisses everyone fiercely).
Theme: Seize your opportunities and live in the present.
