I Became a Couch Potato After Marrying the Richest Man

My next book, Still Garden, is coming soon. Please add it to your collection~

News that the richest man, Yu Chengbai, had his engagement called off unilaterally by his fiancee spread like wildfire, stirring up a storm in H City.

There were also rumors that he wasn't up to much in bed.

Nan Chi, a laid-back gossip lover who heard the rumors: Wow~

She was gossiping about him yesterday, and today she was having dinner with the subject of the gossip.

Nan Chi refused Yu Chengbai's proposal that they marry for convenience. She was a young university student in her prime, loved by her parents and adored by her older brother. She could have any younger puppy or wolfish bad boy she wanted.

Besides, the richest man supposedly wasn't much in bed...

Until Yu Chengbai across the table, framed by the dazzling lights, raised his eyes slightly and said with confidence and eloquence:

"Marry me, Miss Nan, and you'll get three homes in H City, a villa overlooking the sea in Hokkaido, a 1,145-acre farm in America, and two castles in Belgium. I'll cover the maintenance fees. On top of that, every year, for your birthday, our wedding anniversary, Valentine's Day, Qixi Festival, and Christmas, you'll get a diamond ring of at least three carats. You can choose any rare-leather Hermes bag you like..."

Huh? This kind of deal exists?

A marriage in name only might not be so bad...

Nan Chi gradually sat up straight, her expression turning serious. "Mr. Yu, I was out of line just now..."

On the first day after their wedding, Nan Chi screamed for help. The rumors were not to be trusted!

*

Not long afterward, his former fiancee returned.

Everyone thought the richest man and his former fiancee were about to act out a cliched first-love story, and felt sorry for Nan Chi.

Nan Chi also thought her working life was over. She began packing her bags for the divorce, calculating how much money and how many houses she could get. After the divorce, should she take her puppy Tom on a vacation to the Maldives, or go exploring the Amazon rainforest with her wolfish bad boy Jack?

She put on a show of shedding a few tears and handed Yu Chengbai a divorce agreement to sign.

"I know the one you love is your first-love fiancee. Sob, sob, I'll let you two be together..."

Yu Chengbai looked at the contract with an icy expression. He glanced at the divorce agreement and tossed it in the wastebasket.

Lifting his finely sculpted brows, he asked in confusion, "Does a secret crush count as a first love?"

Nan Chi sniffled. "I... I guess so..."

Yu Chengbai: "Oh, then don't cry. My secret crush, my first love, and my beloved are all you."

Nan Chi was so startled she hiccupped!

Oh my, she went to work and ended up as the boss's wife!

Age gap: He is six years older than her

Character setup: Goofy, sweet, laid-back female university student x elegant, secretly flirtatious, cold male lead; marriage first, love later

#Instead of helping a younger man grow up, why not have a heart-to-heart with an old man?#

#Besides, this old man is pretty handsome.#

#As long as the money's right, I'll get on my knees for anything.#

#We working stiffs have no principles at all.#

Still Garden Blurb

Zhou Zan was an ordinary foreign-language student, while Yu Mengping was born into a wealthy family. When they got together, it was hard for outsiders not to think of one particular word: gold-digger.

That wasn't true, but sometimes even Zhou Zan found it hard to tell. After all, it was because of Yu Mengping that this humble little sparrow from the countryside had flown up to a branch.

Later, Yu Mengping became obsessed with raising birds.

He taught her to speak clearly and correctly, and he taught her how to be imposing, as well as how to be spoiled and willful.

But Yu Mengping never imagined that in the end, he would teach this little sparrow to be even more heartless than he was.

When she left, she kicked him aside without even looking back.

*

Zhou Zan went to England to study. Looking back at the vast expanse shrouded in mist and rain, she thought of the first time she met Yu Mengping.

It was early spring. She had just been dumped by her boyfriend for being poor, after he cheated on her. She stood by the roadside waiting for a ride, looking a little forlorn.

Yu Mengping pulled up in front of her and slowly lowered the car window. "Miss Zhou, are you going back to school?"

Even after all this time, Zhou Zan still remembered the striking face that appeared. His amorous eyes, so good at attracting admirers, held a playful, carefree smile, like a tulip.

Unfortunately, for all these years, he had been a shameless rake.

*

The day Zhou Zan left, it rained heavily in the capital.

Yu Mengping hid in a pear garden, listening to opera.

Someone came to tell him that the plane had taken off.

Yu Mengping didn't answer. He watched the audience in their finest clothes and the graceful sweep of the opera singer's long sleeves, looking as unconcerned as ever.

Then he heard a melodious line from the opera: "He taught me to put aside my resentment, rein in my temper, renew myself, and change my ways. I must not pine for what has passed, but turn back from the sea of suffering and awaken to the good karma of our first meeting."

It was his story, and the heavens' lesson to him.

Yu Mengping's heart suddenly clenched as he thought of Zhou Zan, as lovely as a white magnolia.

*

What Zhou Zan never expected was that this charming but fickle man would come to England to find her.

Yu Mengping held her tightly. His body was cold as ice and snow. He called her an ungrateful wolf and accused her of having no conscience.

Then he asked if she had missed him.

Zhou Zan wept until her tears fell like rain on pear blossoms, and at last her heart settled.

She heard Yu Mengping say, "I always remember how good you were to me, sir."

There was once a magnolia tree more than a hundred years old in Still Garden. When it blossomed, it looked like a flurry of frost and snow spilling over the eaves and walls.

Later, just as Zhou Zan wished, tulips were planted beneath the magnolia tree, and she tended to them.

Their being together was not a coincidence of fate. It was intentional.

Age gap: Seven years

The capital's famous playboy x poor, beautiful female lead who studies both English and French

Both leads are sexually inexperienced. (Don't ask why the playboy is still inexperienced; the author currently likes writing this, but can't promise that will always be the case. Either way, it will be stated clearly.)

The female lead isn't worldly-wise at first. She goes from idealism to realism, and has her own career growth arc. The male lead is just the opposite; later on, he becomes a bit of a lovesick fool.

"He taught me to put aside my resentment..." is from the Peking opera The Unicorn Purse.

Theme: Work hard and build a bright future