A Few Things About Life with a Rough-Hewn Man

[Upcoming novels: Deep Palace, Monster, A Story of Unrequited Love]

The night before Song Tan was "sold" to Zhao Yan as his wife, she cried until her eyes nearly went blind, with no idea what kind of hardship awaited her after the wedding.

She had also heard long ago that he was uncouth and rough, with no sense of propriety and nothing remotely refined about him. Apart from his decent looks, there was nothing about him she liked.

Meanwhile, after being rejected time and again, Zhao Yan said that marrying a refined young lady had never been his idea. It was all the matchmaker's fault for proposing the wrong match.

At first, he looked down on this delicate little wife who couldn't do a thing. She was so frail, all looks and no use.

But later, after Zhao Yan casually put an arm around his wife's waist, night fell and it felt as if a cat were playing a tune in his heart. He wanted nothing more than to pull the soft, delicate girl into his arms again, soothe her, and scratch that insistent itch.

-

A little scene:

Zhao Yan knew Song Tan didn't think much of him, but aside from wielding a blade, he really couldn't do anything.

He always thought that as long as he treated Song Tan well enough, she would stay with him for the rest of her life.

Then one day, he noticed Song Tan had sent a basket of pastries to the pale-faced scholar next door.

He had guarded against everything, only to forget about the neighbor. Zhao Yan blurted out, "Do you think I'm dead?"

Song Tan remembered how reckless he had been that day. Without even looking at him, she said, "More or less. We can't go on like this anyway. Let's divorce."

It was the first time Song Tan had ever said the word "divorce" so calmly, and for some reason, Zhao Yan panicked.

"He's not as strong as me, he's not as strong as me, and he's not as rich as me. You'll suffer if you go to him." That night, the man who had been made to kneel outside, with no idea what he'd done wrong, said this.

--Upcoming novel: A Story of Unrequited Love--

Blurb:

Ruan Luo was a leafless Blood Sand plant from the Netherworld. After someone happened to give her some guidance, she used her meager spiritual power to enter the mortal world four times and change the future Demon Lord, preventing him from going astray and becoming a demon a hundred years later.

When they first met, the future Demon Lord was still a child, not yet six. Though frail, his cool eyes were always indifferent, as if everything in the world were no more than an ant to him, contemptible and laughable. That included Ruan Luo, who was always smiling.

Ruan Luo didn't know the true reason he would turn dark, so she could only raise him as if he were her little brother. She thought that perhaps, after the young immortal safely passed through his tribulation, he might remember some small kindness of hers and grant her a chance at reincarnation. That would still be better than her current neither-ghost-nor-demon existence.

Status, rank, power: Ruan Luo appeared during every period when he needed them most, helping him time and again, even as he kept taking the wrong path and straying further and further away.

She never realized that if a person's heart was made of ice and stone, no amount of warmth could melt it.

Whether he looked at her coldly or mocked her, she never imagined that the last time, it would be his sword pointed at her heart.

He had gone completely mad.

-

At first, Shen Jingzhi had nothing but contempt for the woman who suddenly appeared and said she wanted to be his big sister. After she broke her promises and disappeared several times, he hated her even more.

Every six years, she would appear, stay with him for two short months, then suddenly turn and leave.

He grew up again and again, until he was a head taller than her. Gradually, he came to understand the love between a man and a woman, and became the most powerful person in the world.

Only she stayed the same as before, as if all those years had passed for her in only a few short days.

How could he not hate her? She treated everything so lightly, as if a simple "I'm back" could fill the void she had left in him. She never offered a single explanation.

The last time she came, he was past thirty and had even grown a strand of white hair, while she still wore the gentle, bright smile preserved in his distant memories, pure and lovely.

-

His cold sword dragged along the ground, blood dripping from its tip. He suddenly curled his lips into a quiet laugh, wiping his split mouth with the back of his hand. His eyes were blood-red, and emotions that had never seen the light surged like waves. He was holding them back, but his excitement still showed, making him look both bewitching and demonic.

"Would you come with me to hell?" he asked.

So often, he had wanted to make her a part of his own body, so they would never be separated again.

But no matter how much he refused to admit it, during the years she was gone, he missed her as if he were drowning.

If he couldn't have her, then they could be destroyed together. So what if it was hell? At least she would be with him forever.

-

Content warnings:

Tragic romance, lovers who hurt each other

A stew of over-the-top, melodramatic tropes

The male lead is a madman with little sense of morality

I write for myself, so no personal attacks. Any attack will bounce right back. Bounce, bounce, bounce...

Theme: Even the most ordinary person has their own goodness and beauty.