The Son-in-Law Raises His Young Husband

Slow-burn daily life √ A gentle, steady romance √ Pure sweetness, no angst √ Childhood friends to lovers √ Rural romance √ Shen Qingzhou lost his father at three and his mother at eight. Frail and sickly, with barely a penny to his name, he was the most pitiful young man for miles around. On her deathbed, his widowed mother wanted to arrange a husband for him, but after much picking and choosing, the matchmaker brought back a scrappy little wolf cub only a few years older than the sickly boy. Matchmaker: There are only two mu of barren fields. They're not enough for a bride price or a dowry, so just make do. At least they'll have each other for company! The little wolf cub hardly spoke, and his gloomy gaze made everyone uneasy. The sickly boy: Is this really the husband who's marrying into my family? QAQ At the dinner table, little Qingzhou watched the boy across from him wolf down steamed buns and slurp his porridge, and felt like crying with worry. Three buns and a bowl of porridge per meal? Life was already hard, and now it was getting even harder! After hesitating for a while, he pushed over the half bowl of porridge he still had, his voice timid. “Here... you can have this too. Eat your fill.” After all, the family was counting on him to farm those two mu of land. QAQ Gradually, the villagers who had been waiting to laugh at the two boys realized that the scrappy wolf cub who had married into the Shen family might be gloomy and fierce, but he treated the sickly boy wonderfully. He cared for him attentively year after year, and eventually even sent him to school and paid for his education! Later, one of them opened a village school and a clinic, while the other started a tavern and a money shop. Before long, they had branches right outside the imperial capital! Once life improved, there were always people with ulterior motives trying to arrange another marriage for Shen Qingzhou. Li Xingchuan smiled subtly, his gaze unreadable. “I've been married into the Shen family for fifteen years. Now that Qingzhou wants to take a new spouse, is he planning to divorce me?” Shen Qingzhou: I'm not divorcing you! Don't... don't say things like that! Much later, their son and daughter asked Shen Qingzhou what their usually serious father had been like as a young man. A gentle, refined young master smiled as he recalled the past. “Your father was quiet when he was young, and he ate a lot. One meal for him was enough to last me a whole day.” “He swallowed coarse buns and thin porridge, but never touched the one egg we got every three days. He always saved it for me.” “He was a very gentle person.” [We grew up together, weathered storms together, and made the humble warmth of daily life into the sun, moon, and stars in our hearts.] [You gave me a place to call home and a bowl of warm porridge, so I promised you a lifetime of happiness, year after year.] Sickly and clever (early) / Gentle and refined (later) uke x Quiet and big-eating (early) / Fierce and capable (later) seme A friendly guide: The slow, meandering story of growing up, rural life, and having children. It really is slow-burn! The “ge'er” in this story is a made-up category of man with the same anatomy as an ordinary man, nothing extra or missing, except they can bear children. →_→ An alternate universe with a chaotic blend of settings. Details serve the plot, so don't read too much into them! (Heart) The couple have no intimate relationship before adulthood. They only get really into it after they're adults, so let's wait along with them, okay? QAQ Kind discussion is welcome. Nitpicking is not. No need to announce if you're dropping the story. Maybe we'll meet again someday! (Fist salute) The next story, Pheromone Addiction, is looking for pre-orders and some love! Check out the author's profile for the blurb! Theme: Love others, and love yourself.