Unrestrained

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[1]

Xu Zhien was pretty from a young age. She had secretly loved Fu Jingshen for three years, staying by his side and carefully looking after him, hoping she could melt his icy heart.

But she knew Fu Jingshen had a childhood sweetheart he'd loved for years. The girl was cute and sweet-tongued, and always called Xu Zhien "pretty big sister."

The day the little sweetheart returned from abroad, Xu Zhien deliberately got herself drunk and waited at the wildest bar in Beicheng.

She waited and waited, until she saw a trending post about Fu Jingshen picking up his childhood sweetheart at the airport. And at the bar, she ran into the man she'd called "kindness itself" just a few days earlier.

[2]

Only after meeting Lu Zheng did Xu Zhien learn that he was a junior in college. He was tall, handsome, and had a great figure, with an outstanding air about him. A three-year age gap suddenly didn't seem like much.

To get away from Fu Jingshen, Xu Zhien went straight to the civil affairs bureau with Lu Zheng and got married. Fu Jingshen had said that if she got married, their relationship would end for good, and he'd pay her a fortune in compensation.

When she hired Lu Zheng to help pack up her things at the villa, she happened to run into Fu Jingshen. She showed him their freshly issued marriage certificate, but Fu Jingshen dragged her into a room and pinned her against the door. "How dare you get married?"

Xu Zhien blinked her beautiful big eyes. "What, was I supposed to stay a widow for you?"

Just then, Lu Zheng burst through the door. "He's not worthy of you."

[3]

The day Fu Jingshen regretted everything, he stood downstairs from her home all day with a huge bouquet of roses. But instead, he saw Xu Zhien walking home hand in hand with Lu Zheng. She shot him a glance, went upstairs without mercy, and dumped a pot of water on him from above.

That night, Lu Zheng murmured into Xu Zhien's ear, "Sis, how are you going to reward me?"

Xu Zhien: "Hmm?"

Lu Zheng: "I poured that pot of water today. It was a lot of work."

Xu Zhien: "..."

You're a martial arts champion, and carrying a pot of water tired you out? Yeah, right.

#You're so beautiful, your life should be lived on your own terms.#

Reading Guide:

Mural artist x finance student

Sophisticated older woman x gentle younger man / three-year age gap

△ Coming next: Everyone Thinks You're the Cutest. Please add it to your reading list!

Fang Yuhang and Tong Zhen have been side by side since the day they were born. They went to the same school and bickered from childhood onward.

Tong Zhen couldn't stand Fang Yuhang's laid-back attitude, and Fang Yuhang resented Tong Zhen picking on him.

But when it came to academics, they were remarkably consistent: spectacularly bad.

The only time they got along was on the day final grades came out. They'd sit on the rooftop eating ice cream, figure out how to fool their parents, and sigh in unison.

One day at lunch, a classmate teased Fang Yuhang: "You and Tong Zhen grew up together. Have you never thought about dating her?"

Fang Yuhang denied it as usual. "No way. Touching her hand is like touching my own left hand. I don't feel a thing."

The next day, the lights went out during evening study. Tong Zhen, who was afraid of the dark, instinctively grabbed Fang Yuhang's hand.

Fang Yuhang's palm was sweaty, and his ears were burning.

[The flutter of a summer night is a grand meeting. I'll share half my headphones with you, and all of my heartbeats.]

- Childhood sweethearts // enemies to lovers // childish boy chases girl and gets face-slapped every day

- School and city life // a coming-of-age story about ordinary people

- Band bassist x comic artist

△ Pre-release: It Had to Be You. Please add it to your reading list!

Blurb:

[1]

Shen Yi is almost the perfect marriage prospect in everyone's eyes: handsome, wealthy, smart, courteous, and responsible.

Zhao Nanxing, on the other hand, is the woman everyone thinks is least suited to bring home as a wife: domineering, decisive, and a workaholic.

And yet the two of them got married. When they tied the knot, their mutual friends secretly placed bets on how long it would take them to divorce.

The longest bet was three years.

Three years passed, and they were still married. They even showed up at a party together, and their friends gradually accepted the truth.

But in the fifth year of their marriage, Zhao Nanxing posted a divorce certificate to her social media.

Everyone: ...???

[2]

Zhao Nanxing and Shen Yi were childhood neighbors. They attended the same elementary school, but later Shen Yi's whole family moved away, and they lost touch.

They met again at a friend's birthday party, spent a hazy night together, and then got married just as inexplicably.

Zhao Nanxing had always held herself to high standards, and believed she could do everything well, including marriage.

Especially since Shen Yi was the man everyone approved of.

But after five years, following the loss of a child, she was the one who asked Shen Yi for a divorce.

[3]

During the hospital's lunch break, the television was showing an interview with the currently famous Lawyer Shen.

Someone couldn't hide her admiration. "With a face like Lawyer Shen's, he's so handsome that even if I argued with him, I'd have to slap myself first."

As Zhao Nanxing quietly ate her lunch, she thought: You haven't experienced arguing with him while you're hysterical and he doesn't say a word; or being injured and hospitalized while he's away on a business trip; or suffering a miscarriage, crying in the middle of the night, and having him not even hold you, then coldly write "thank goodness" in his diary.

Everyone thought Shen Yi was the perfect man. Only Zhao Nanxing knew how cold he was deep down.

Later, Shen Yi stood outside the hospital in the pouring rain, holding a banner that read: Zhao Nanxing, I was wrong.

Even when he fainted in the downpour and was taken to the emergency department, Zhao Nanxing never showed up to see him.

Childhood sweethearts' divorce diaries // criminal defense lawyer x emergency room doctor

Completed stories in the author's column: Don't Bend Over for Him, Against the Grain, Partiality, and more.

Another older-woman-younger-man romance: A Little Sweetness for You

Theme: Life is meant to be vivid and lived on your own terms.