Kiss the Peach Blossom

Twelve-year age gap / arranged marriage to love / sweet romance / obedient-on-the-surface, timid and soft girl x old-fashioned, boring but incredibly doting man / both are each other's first and only

Before she turned twenty-one, Jiang Taozhi was a carefree rich heiress. By day, she took her little entourage shopping and splurged on spas; by night, she and her best friend felt up male models' abs. Life couldn't have been better.

Until her mother clasped her hand and said earnestly, "Zhi-zhi, our family's finished."

A bad decision made five years ago had left the Jiang family on the brink of ruin. Their only solution was for her to marry the eldest son of an old-money merchant family, Shang Guan Chi.

She heard that the Shang family had strict rules, and that Shang Guan Chi was especially old-fashioned and boring. After the wedding, she gritted her teeth and pretended to be well-behaved.

When Shang Guan Chi made breakfast, she busied herself sneaking bites, clapping and cheering, "My husband is amazing!"

At a luxury boutique, Shang Guan Chi paid and carried her bags. She gazed at him starry-eyed and flattered him: "My husband is so rich!"

When Shang Guan Chi planned an investment, she brought him a project from the family group, smiling with dimples: "My husband's judgment is the best!"

Taking her mother's advice, she tried to seduce him, but accidentally pulled off his bathrobe. Jiang Taozhi felt his sharply defined abs and gave him a thumbs-up. "My husband is really well-built!"

One day, while enjoying a massage from Shang Guan Chi with her hand on her aching back, she sighed that she really was such a good wife!

-

Shang Guan Chi's family had strict rules. He was old-fashioned and boring, and hated people who broke rules or ignored his instructions.

When he heard he had an arranged marriage, he found the whole thing an unbearable nuisance.

...It really was a nuisance. His life had never before included anyone as headache-inducing as Jiang Taozhi.

He cooked for her and laid out her clothes. If he failed to remind her about something even once, she would make herself sick. While sick, she constantly wanted to be held and comforted. Once she recovered, she would turn around and act as if nothing had happened, then demand that he praise her for being virtuous and capable of managing a household.

He thought he wouldn't be able to put up with her for long.

But later, night after night, he clasped her slender wrist and bit her lips, so practiced at lying, again and again.

And he was willing to do it.

-

Jiang Taozhi planned to divorce him in their third year of marriage. The night before, she snuck out.

A little tipsy, she casually felt up a male model.

She stepped into the room and saw Shang Guan Chi beneath the dim bedside lamp, two buttons undone as he leaned against the headboard. Most of her drunkenness vanished at once.

"Zhi-zhi, come here."

Feeling guilty, she tiptoed toward him.

A strong arm wrapped around her waist. He cradled her face, tenderness in his eyes, and smudged the color on her lips with his thumb.

"You're two hours past curfew. How would you like me to punish you tonight?"

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