Gentle Swamp

[The arranged-marriage-to-love story The Northland Summer is now underway. Please add it to your collection! A sweet, cream-filled-bun-like comic artist x a cool-faced, high-maintenance, cocky CEO]

You Sui was gentle and soft-spoken. She started dating Cheng Yimu in college and watched him rise from obscurity to become a top-tier star.

Yet no one in the industry knew he had a girlfriend.

On her birthday, rumors about Cheng Yimu and his childhood friend climbed to the top of the trending topics.

Her heart died completely, and she asked to break up.

Months later, at a private banquet, Cheng Yimu stood in a corner watching You Sui with her bright eyes and lovely smile, her gaze full of someone else.

He could hold back no longer. He cornered her, no longer carrying the glamour of a top-tier star, and begged humbly, "Suisui, I know I was wrong. Will you come back to me?"

You Sui took a step back, looking disgusted. "Mr. Cheng, we've already broken up."

Cheng Yimu refused to believe it and tried to hold her, but someone gripped his wrist tightly, leaving him unable to break free. He roared, demanding to know who it was.

Huo Yan looked down at him, radiating an oppressive presence, his voice cold. "It's been years. Have you forgotten how to address people?"

Cheng Yimu's whole body stiffened. He bowed respectfully.

"Uncle."

*

Huo Yan was refined and elegant, the youngest actor to win two major awards, and also Yucheng's most mysterious billionaire.

Beneath his urbane exterior, however, he was distant and inscrutable.

Everyone assumed he had no interest in romance.

But when he learned that You Sui and Cheng Yimu were appearing on the same variety show, the man who had always been in control panicked.

He pulled You Sui into a dark, cramped storage room. Cheng Yimu's voice was just outside the door.

Inside, their breaths were hot against each other's ears, and Huo Yan's voice brimmed with feelings he could barely suppress.

"Please don't go out, okay?"

Later, news that Huo Yan would appear in a musical, taking on a romantic role for the first time, shocked everyone.

At a press interview, a reporter asked what everyone wanted to know: "President Huo, why did you suddenly decide to perform in a musical?"

Huo Yan touched the dolphin bracelet dangling from his wrist, his eyes tender and affectionate.

"I want to be her leading man, both onstage and off."

★ Sweet, gentle musical actress x urbane, wicked CEO and award-winning actor. Six-year age gap.

★ Both are each other's first and only. A sweet romance!

[Weibo: @Jinjiang-Yu Huai. Please add my author page to your collection too, xoxo!]

The Northland Summer ↓

Blurb: Arranged marriage to love | Instinctive attraction | Five-year age gap | Urban fairy tale

1. Xia Zhining is the good girl in the eyes of her teachers and parents, yet she proposes to a man she has met only three times.

The first time is at the end of a comic signing. A tall man stands in the corner, wearing a black windbreaker and a black baseball cap. His proportions are even better than those of the standee beside him.

She assumes he's a fan too shy to line up for an autograph, so she draws a dedication for him and puts it in his hand.

The second time, Xia Zhining is overwhelmed by her parents nagging her to get married. Jokingly, she asks her cat to find her a husband. The cat, which had been burying its face in its food, suddenly runs off and crawls under a black G-Class SUV.

She calls the number on the car window, and a few minutes later, the owner appears. Xia Zhining is surprised.

"It's you."

The third time, her father tricks her into a blind date. Her date makes lewd remarks and gets handsy, so the man steps in and gives him what he deserves.

Just as the man is about to leave, Xia Zhining grabs his sleeve, summoning every ounce of courage she has.

"Sir, would you like to go on a blind date with me? And while we're at it..."

"Get married."

2. The current head of the Jiang Group, he took power and immediately used an iron fist to put the company in order. Rumor has it he's coldhearted, keeps people at a distance, and is fierce, dangerous, and an absolute workaholic.

Only after getting their marriage certificate does Xia Zhining learn that her new husband, a cool-faced, cocky hunk with broad shoulders, a slim waist, and an explosive aura of masculinity, is none other than the dreaded Jiang Yanshuo.

She secretly drafts a divorce agreement and puts it away, planning to divorce him when their contract ends.

After they marry, she sticks to the contract, behaves herself, and never crosses the line.

But Jiang Yanshuo comes home every day. Every morning when she opens her eyes, she sees his powerful muscles, water droplets trailing down the grooves and contours of his body until they disappear from view.

She calms her pounding heart and channels all her wicked thoughts into inspiration for her new comic, creating one charged scene after another. The comic becomes an overnight sensation.

3. On the day their contract expires, she takes the divorce agreement to the study. Before she can speak, she spots familiar scenes on Jiang Yanshuo's computer, along with a familiar comment.

[I want to see our precious girl and the Demon King go on all kinds of steamy adventures!!]

Xia Zhining instantly blushes scarlet. She turns to sneak away, but Jiang Yanshuo scoops her up and sets her on the desk, pinning the divorce agreement underneath.

"If the fans want to see it, we should give them what they want. Why don't we try every scene you've drawn, one by one, darling?"

In the end, the writing on the divorce agreement is soaked and blurred, and Xia Zhining no longer has the strength to ask for a divorce.

Theme: Follow your heart, stay true to yourself, and dare to express your thoughts and feelings