A Kiss Among Thorns

[Publication title changed to Favoritism. Signed copies go on sale at 7 p.m. on January 10]

Mutual pining / Marriage first, love later

When Duan Xiheng was seventeen, he stayed at the Ruan family's home.

The first time Ruan Sumo saw him, her girlish crush grew like weeds gone wild.

Unfortunately, the boy was living under someone else's roof, aloof and taciturn, and not much for talking to people.

Ruan Sumo was always pestering him and picking on him to get his attention. She'd call him over even for something as trivial as a loose shoelace.

And every time, the tall, pine-straight boy in his school uniform would silently crouch down and tie the spoiled girl's shoelaces for her.

He was very obedient, but he didn't seem to like her much.

Ruan Sumo's secret crush came to an abrupt end when Duan Xiheng graduated and went abroad.

She never expected that years later, they would meet again because their elders had arranged for them to marry.

The boy had grown into a man, refined and distinguished in a perfectly tailored suit. When he faced her, he was still as quiet as ever.

After the wedding, Ruan Sumo and Duan Xiheng were distant by day and occasionally passionate at night. Their relationship remained lukewarm, until Duan Xiheng found the love letter she had never managed to give him in high school.

Ruan Sumo thought he would mock and tease her for it. Even someone as proud as her had once had a humble, unrequited crush.

But to her surprise, he silently returned the unopened envelope and said nothing.

That night, Duan Xiheng buried his face in the hollow of her shoulder for the first time, his breathing unsteady.

"Good thing he's blind."

Ruan Sumo: ?

Why are you insulting yourself?

Spoiled x restrained

* A sweet little post-marriage romance

* The male lead is restrained before marriage and a dog after

Weibo: @MuLaLeLe

- Next up: Marriage First, Love Later, A Springtime Low -

[Marriage first, love later; he has a secret crush on her]

On a cold spring day when she was seventeen, Ming Jiayin accompanied her elders on a visit to the Liang family.

The elders of both families chatted animatedly about the marriage alliance planned for a few years later. Bored, she went out for some air and happened to run into Liang Tingzhuo, the illegitimate son who had only recently been brought back to the Liang family.

The young man had a striking figure and cool, distant features. At their first meeting, his dark gaze silently fell on Ming Jiayin without the slightest flicker of emotion.

They didn't greet each other. After a brief few seconds of eye contact, Liang Tingzhuo walked past Ming Jiayin as the others arrived.

Her fiancé, to whom she had been engaged since childhood, came over to her and showed his displeasure at this newly appeared older brother. "He's always like that. So rude. Acts like the whole world owes him something."

His words proved prophetic.

A few years later, after the Liang family changed hands, Liang Tingzhuo became the youngest head of the family. Not only did he reclaim everything the Liang family owed him, he also took over the marriage contract between the Ming and Liang families.

A marriage alliance, with profit above all else.

Although Ming Jiayin thought it was absurd to change her intended husband at the last minute, especially when the new groom was her former fiancé's older brother, she still followed the arrangements and honored the engagement.

After all, they would only be husband and wife in name, each getting what they needed. It didn't matter who he was.

Ming Jiayin thought Liang Tingzhuo felt the same way.

Until their wedding night.

Her breath was forcibly stolen away. Liang Tingzhuo's passionate kiss left Ming Jiayin unable to breathe for a moment, and as her eyes grew unfocused, he deliberately bit her lips until they hurt.

At the same time, the man gripped her jaw and said coldly, "I don't care who you're thinking about. Right now, you can only look at me."

-

A few years ago, the first time Liang Tingzhuo met Ming Jiayin, someone had taken special care to remind him that she was his younger brother's fiancée, and that he must not entertain any improper thoughts about her.

At this, Liang Tingzhuo merely laughed softly. "Is that so?"

Who could say what the future held?

/

She was the spring in his low season, an obsession he could never cure for the rest of his life.

Theme: Love life