Are the Roses in Bloom?

1.

When Liu Mingxiu was eight, a little girl came to live with his family. She had fair, delicate features, big eyes, and long lashes, like a porcelain doll come to life.

Everything about her was perfect, except for her icy expression, which annoyed him to no end.

Liu Mingxiu stood on the piano platform with his hands in his pockets, ordering her haughtily: "Call me Big Brother."

Xie Qiang remained expressionless, gave a disdainful snort, and turned to leave.

2.

Liu Mingxiu had known since childhood that Xie Qiang was the family's officially designated fiancee, and that he had no choice but to marry her.

Someone asked, "I heard you're going to marry Xie Qiang one day. Is that true?"

Liu Mingxiu snorted, crossing his legs and lounging around. "What a load of crap. Look at that iceberg face of hers. If I marry her, I'll be a dog!"

Then one day, someone rushed into the classroom and cried out in anguish, "Liu Mingxiu! This is terrible! Your wife ran off with someone!"

Xie Qiang was sixteen that year. She had started dating the most handsome guy in the class next door, and walked past Liu Mingxiu hand in hand with him. Liu Mingxiu went completely berserk.

3.

In Xie Qiang's eyes, Liu Mingxiu was arrogant, convinced he was above everyone else and never giving anyone the time of day.

But that night, Liu Mingxiu got dead drunk, his eyes red as he cornered her against the wall. "I want you to break up with that bastard right now!"

Xie Qiang folded her arms and looked up lazily. "What was it you said the other day? If you married me, you'd be what?"

"..."

Liu Mingxiu closed his eyes, his words strained. "I was wrong."

"Hmm?"

All his youthful arrogance finally crumbled in that moment.

Liu Mingxiu lowered his head and kissed her hard. "Wife, I was wrong."

Many, many years later, Xie Qiang still remembered how beautiful the moonlight was that night, and how the dogs in the alley barked on and on.

Trashy playboy × icy beauty

1. The setting is only loosely based on reality. All people, schools, and companies in the story are fictional.

2. Both leads are adults.

3. The plot exists only to serve the characters. The protagonists' values do not represent the author's. This novel is for entertainment only. Please don't conflate it with reality, much less with the author. Let's treat one another with respect and read rationally. Thank you so much.

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