The Widower Was Forced to Win Over the Villainous Scholar

Shen Qingshi was unlucky. He'd barely stepped through the door when the man he'd been married off to for good luck died.

The family said they would marry him off again, this time to their promising young scholar.

Shen Qingshi had once seen that refined, handsome scholar push someone into the icy river.

When the scholar said coldly that he didn't want him, Shen Qingshi trembled and didn't dare take a single step closer.

So he stayed in that household, working like an ox without a moment's rest. The master of the house coveted him, while the mistress hated him out of jealousy. In the end, he was tormented to death.

When he opened his eyes after being reborn, he was back at the moment of his marriage.

Better to end it himself than suffer all over again.

Just then, a voice sounded in his ear. A System calling itself Little Bitter Melon told him that all he had to do was marry the scholar.

[System: Host's life countdown: 30]

[System: Conquer the villain and defy fate]

Shen Qingshi: ?

Before long, Shen Qingshi was brought before the person he had to conquer.

Little Bitter Melon System told him that this scholar would eventually become a powerful regent, slaughtering, looting, and committing every kind of evil.

But marrying him was Shen Qingshi's only chance to survive.

The scholar looked at him coldly from the corner of his eye, as if he'd kill him if he dared accept the marriage.

Shen Qingshi was so scared his legs shook. He dropped to his knees with a thump, unable to get a word out, and clung tightly to the scholar's leg.

He thought the scholar would quietly kill him once they got home. Instead, the scholar ignored him but gave him a meal.

Life was more comfortable than he'd expected. But with his remaining lifespan dwindling day by day, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and try to "conquer" the scholar.

Look at the scholar one more time, and gain another day of life.

Touch his hand, and live another day. Squeeze his chest, and gain a month. Sharing a bed earned him a whole year.

The scholar's gaze grew stranger and stranger. Shen Qingshi would shrink back in fear, but he'd do it again next time.

The scholar excelled at his studies, but after being persecuted, he couldn't take the imperial examinations and eventually joined the army.

Before leaving, the scholar told Shen Qingshi to find someone else to marry.

But Shen Qingshi had little time left. If his target left, death was all that awaited him.

Unexpectedly, the scholar returned in the middle of the night and pinned him to the bed, kissing his forehead as he said, "Wait for me to come back."

After a night amid the stormy winds, Shen Qingshi had gained another year of life.

From that day on, his missions upgraded into farming tasks, and the System kept rewarding him with things he'd never seen before, like potatoes, corn, and sweet potatoes.

When floods hit his hometown, he packed his belongings and traveled a thousand miles to find the scholar. Together, they opened up farmland on the frontier and lived a comfortable life with plenty to eat and wear.

Core theme: If you can't keep your own house in order, how can you set the world right?