[One-line summary: After breaking off the engagement, he realizes what he's lost.]
Jiang Jiuer in Xiao Zhantang's eyes:
"Always running around and fooling around. Not a bit like a proper young lady!"
"All she cares about is money, and she's always out in public. Completely improper!"
When he hears they're engaged by arrangement since childhood: "I'd rather die than marry such a vulgar woman!"
Yet before long, he gets into a fight because a classmate makes lewd remarks about the very woman whose engagement he broke off. From then on, he can't stop worrying about her...
.
Zhantang in Jiuer's eyes: A bookish bore who's scowling all day long. He's as stuffy as an old man, and dull beyond belief.
When she learns he's ended their engagement, she comforts her rich father, who's weeping bitterly: "Father, what's so special about that pedantic bookworm? We have money, a house, and a trade. Wouldn't it be better to find a reliable son-in-law who'll marry into the family?"
Then, for some reason, her former fiancé becomes her older male cousin, and the two can't seem to untangle themselves from each other...
Later:
Xiao Zhantang tenses his face, his ears turning red, and says: "If you agree to stop doing business after we marry, our engagement can still stand."
Jiang Jiuer waves her hands frantically. "No, no, no! We ended our engagement fair and square. If you think you've lost out, I can pay you some more silver!"
(Skit)
Zhantang has come to play chess with Jiuer's father again.
Jiuer glances at him sideways. "I hear someone would rather die than marry me?"
Zhantang immediately declares righteously: "That's a rumor! What I clearly said was that if I can't marry you, I'd rather die!"
Reader's guide:
1) One-on-one romance, both virgins.
2) Alternate history. The dynasty and official titles are not to be taken seriously.
Theme: Only by being self-reliant can you build a wonderful life.
