The Little Plum I Grew Up With

Coming next: [How Can She Be Defied, With Those Beguiling Eyes?] Scroll down for the blurb

Blurb: A gloomy, handsome, cold young man x an optimistic, easygoing little sweetheart

After his family falls into ruin, a young nobleman is reduced to a poor country boy. Zhou Mu is gloomy and cold, and keeps people at arm's length. Then one day, his mother brings home a child bride for him.

His little bride is beautiful, capable, gentle, and thoughtful. The only problem is that the older she gets, the clingier she becomes, and she cries at the drop of a hat.

She cries when she falls, when he picks on her, and when she gets her period.

One day, he finally loses patience and tells her,

"Stop crying in front of me. I never said I'd marry you."

His little bride runs out of the house in tears.

Night falls, and she still hasn't come back. Zhou Mu curses and starts searching the hills and fields for her.

At last, he finds her crouched beside a haystack in the fields, a tiny figure with her head bowed as she sobs.

The tension in his body finally eases. He's about to take her home when he notices another young man crouching beside her. "Youyou, don't cry. If Brother Mu won't marry you, I will."

Zhou Mu strides over with a cold expression and scoops Lin Youyou into his arms. "She's my wife."

Lin Youyou looks up at him, meeting his furious gaze. How could she possibly believe him?

From then on, she stops clinging to him and crying in front of him. Only then does Zhou Mu realize he needs to marry her soon.

On their wedding night, beneath the warm red curtains, she is still a little crybaby.

He holds her close, his heart melting. "My little darling, why are you still crying? I married you, didn't I?"

*

Lin Youyou has had a hard life. Orphaned at a young age, she is sold to be someone's child bride, and the boy she's given to dislikes her from the very first moment.

Just when everyone thinks he could never marry her, he not only gives her a lavish wedding, but later works himself to the bone to earn enough to support her and their home.

Note:

1. The first half is set in the countryside. The male lead is a martial arts prodigy who receives guidance from a master and can really fight. [Highlight: The male lead is a bit nasty early on.]

2. The female lead is a domestic goddess: clever with her hands, great at turning junk into treasure, a craft expert, and a talented cook.

3. The leads are each other's first and only partners. A little romance, an alternate setting, very loosely based on reality.

P.S. Cover art from Jinjiang, by Hua Wutong.

Next up, available for pre-order: [How Can She Be Defied, With Those Beguiling Eyes?]

A coquettish, scheming courtesan who fakes a fall x an honest, rugged farmer

Meng Shiyu, a farmer, finds an unconscious young woman in his field and takes her home.

When she wakes, she's lost her memory and even mistakes him for someone else. Clinging to him, she cries, "Husband, I've finally found you! Please don't leave Suqiu behind again, all right?"

The girl weeps so pitifully that Meng Shiyu takes pity on her confusion and patiently reassures her. "All right."

He thinks he'll send her away as soon as she's better.

But later, her condition seems to get worse.

He goes away for a short trip, and when they meet again, she throws herself into his arms, crying, "Husband, where have you been? I was so scared all alone at home."

He exchanges a few words with another woman, and the girl comes running over to plant a loud kiss on his cheek, declaring triumphantly, "This is my husband."

A clap of thunder and a rainstorm are all it takes for her to get so frightened that she crawls into his bed in the middle of the night. "Sob, sob! Husband, hold me tight."

Meng Shiyu, a bachelor of thirty years, is tormented by the soft, fragrant beauty in his arms.

He thinks things will get out of hand if this keeps up, so he decides to send her to a nunnery to be looked after.

But he has barely mentioned it when the girl runs out of the house and climbs onto a bridge, pointing at him through tearful eyes. "Meng Shiyu, you don't want me anymore, do you?"

Then she jumps into the river with a splash.

Meng Shiyu fails to catch her, and his heart sinks into the river along with her.

After rescuing her, Meng Shiyu holds her tightly in his arms. "You're my wife. How could I ever not want you?"

The girl hiding in his embrace smiles triumphantly and wraps her arms around him. As if losing her balance, she tumbles with him into the reeds beside them.

*

Liang Suqiu was sold into a brothel as a child. When she comes of age, the brothel plans to force her into prostitution. Unwilling to be ruined, she escapes to the countryside, where she meets a hardworking, kind farmer who treats her wonderfully.

She thinks this is the peaceful life she's always wanted.

But the farmer seems far too honest and slow on the uptake, so she puts all the feminine wiles she learned in the past to work on him.

Theme: Hard work and kindness create a better life.