A Husband to Repay a Debt (Matriarchy)

Zhong Lezhi left home at a young age and made a name for herself in the capital, amassing a vast fortune. But she trusted the wrong person. One day, a former classmate cheated her out of most of her wealth. Grief-stricken, she simply returned to her hometown to coast through life. Perhaps the classmate who swindled her still had a shred of conscience. She left her husband, whom she'd been married to since youth, as collateral, promising to redeem him later. And yet... When Zhong Lezhi realized that the man, heartbroken and battered in body and spirit after being cruelly abandoned by his former wife and pawned like an object, was the very person she'd once loved from afar, she turned and fled without a moment's hesitation. · Qin Qiu had a secret no one knew: he loved the young girl he'd rejected long ago, but couldn't accept her affection, so he could only pretend to be cold. She left for a distant land. He missed her day after day, hoping they would meet again in this life. But when they met again, he was a faded flower, worn and broken. Though she didn't want him, when someone else hurt him, she claimed he was one of the Zhong family. At last, he wanted to tear himself apart, crush himself to pieces, and lay aside every shred of dignity to offer himself to her. But when she looked at him, there was no trace of the affection she'd felt in their youth, only a polite distance. She was willing to protect him and give him a home. The one thing she wouldn't do was love him the way she had before. A down-on-her-luck rich woman and a scheming beauty Note: The male lead suffers, but this has a happy ending. Theme: Behind every twist of fate, someone is working painstakingly behind the scenes.