Playing Nice (Next Book!)

Starting in July! Marriage first, love later (one-sided on the heroine’s part). They use every trick in the book to consummate their marriage. A steel-spined straight woman vs. a loyal, scheming man Shen Zhongxing is the heir to Tong City’s Zhengheng Group. As soon as he returns to the country, he’s forced to meet his arranged-marriage partner, Su Xinyu, the eldest daughter of the Su family. Su Xinyu is breathtakingly beautiful, but her gentle manner is exactly the same every time. She acts delicate and affected, so he immediately decides to break off the engagement. But that very night, at a bar, he runs into the Su Xinyu from earlier, who wore a pure white dress and claimed she’d never been to a nightclub. Now she’s in a low-cut red dress, alluring and bold. He watches the uninhibited Su Xinyu coldly rebuffing a man who hits on her. “Get lost. It’s one word. How many times do I have to say it?” His heart races uncontrollably. Later, he sees her tear into a fake sweetheart. “You love arguing so much, why not go work at a construction site?” Shen Zhongxing: Affection +1 She tears into a scumbag: “When a man’s heart changes, even his eyes go blind!” Shen Zhongxing: Affection +1+1... #Every day I fall head over heels for my wife# #How do I stop radiating charm? Help!# * When Su Xinyu learns she may be a fake heiress who was switched at birth, she ignores her embarrassment, turns around, and grabs the leg of Shen Zhongxing, whom she almost rejected. Meeting his cold, distant gaze, she squeezes out a tear or two. “To be honest, I always say the opposite of what I mean. The moment I saw you, I gave you my heart. I can’t see anyone else now.” Shen Zhongxing adjusts his glasses, his deep-set eyes smiling without warmth. So the two of them enter into a “contract marriage,” apparently one to keep their families quiet and the other to maintain her comfortable lifestyle. The well-born young women whom Su Xinyu once put in their place keep watching for a laugh, betting on when she and Shen Zhongxing will divorce now that the Su family no longer supports her and she has nothing to offer. But year after year passes, and whenever they appear in public, the couple is just as loving as ever, doing everything together and practically joined at the hip. Everyone is puzzled, until they notice Su Xinyu’s slender waist and the dark red marks barely visible on her neck. They exchange knowing smiles. She must simply be relying on her looks to please him. * Every time Su Xinyu uses her husband, her “tool,” to show off their loving relationship in public, she frets afterward. For years, she’s tried every trick to turn down Shen Zhongxing’s advances, including having her period nine times in a month, wearing braces for three years, developing a strange illness that makes her convulse whenever someone hugs her, becoming intermittently mute, and claiming she’s allergic to saliva. This time... She glances at Shen Zhongxing, whose eyes are full of sorrow. She steels herself, lies straight down, and begins another round of moral blackmail. “If you want a miserable, sickly wife, then go ahead!” Shen Zhongxing freezes for a moment, then, completely out of character, leans over her. Su Xinyu: “...” Why isn’t he reacting the way he usually does? Shen Zhongxing looks innocent, as if he has no choice. “I didn’t want to. You seduced me!” Su Xinyu looks at her old-lady pajamas and feels wronged. “How? How did I seduce you? Tell me, and I’ll change!” Shen Zhongxing smiles and kisses the corner of her eye. “You can’t change it.” “Your breathing is seducing me!” Su Xinyu: “...” I really can’t change that! #Today I’m making things up again so I can sleep with my wife# Theme: See through the layers of illusion and find your own light