A New Lease on Life

Originally titled The Cantaloupe Photo Studio Is Hiring Male Models

After quitting her job, Bu Li moved back from Jiangbei City to her hometown of Huaxi Town and opened a photography studio. She hired a local carpenter, hailed as "the flower of Huaxi Town," to model for her sample shots.

The carpenter was slim-waisted, long-legged, and handsome. He was handy, hardworking, steady, and reliable. Bu Li fell in love with him.

Later, Bu Li returned to Jiangbei, and the carpenter went with her. Her friends all laughed when they saw them, assuming Bu Li was only playing around and couldn't be serious. After all, what rich heiress would spend her life with a poor guy who had no money, influence, or education?

Bu Li's expression darkened. Lowering her voice, she said earnestly to the poor guy, "I really mean it."

The poor guy nodded, but before he could say anything, her friends laughed. They all waited to see when Bu Li would trade him in for someone else.

Sure enough, it wasn't long before she did.

Everyone received an invitation to the wedding of the Bu family's heiress and the young master of the Wen Group.

See? A love between social equals is the kind that lasts.

*

After losing his memory in a car accident, Lu Shisheng knew nothing about his past. From what people told him, he'd gotten into fights, owed money, and dropped out of school. He was a worthless wreck.

After leaving the hospital, Lu Shisheng resolved to turn his life around. He would work as a carpenter in Huaxi Town, deliver packages, earn money, and improve his life.

It was only after meeting Bu Li that Lu Shisheng realized that he was probably just that kind of person, rotten to the core. He had actually dared to think he could selfishly keep Bu Li for himself with his meager, meager means.

He repaired Bu Li's house, carved wooden sculptures, made her breakfast, ignored everyone who called him a pretty boy, and followed her to Jiangbei. When Bu Li went on a date with another man, he went mad and barged into a high-end restaurant.

Then the restaurant manager respectfully bowed to him and called him, "Mr. Wen."

Mr. Wen, Wen Gu: the only son of the Wen Group. He entered Jiangbei University, a top school, at sixteen, enlisted at eighteen, and was selected for the Army Special Operations Force. Unfortunately, he died young, killed in an avalanche six years ago.

Six years ago was also the year Lu Shisheng lost his memory in the car accident.

Wen Gu's life ended that year, and from then on, he became Lu Shisheng.

The Lu Shisheng Bu Li thought she knew:

Poor, uneducated, and suffering from an old injury, but hardworking, tough, well-built, and handsome.

The real Lu Shisheng:

#Born to be a young master, doomed to live as a hired hand.

#Handsome, strong, and miserable.

#Knows he's handsome, but doesn't know he's rich.

*

Everyone said Bu Li was lucky to have found such a treasure.

But only Wen Gu knew that he was the lucky one.

Bu Li had taken him in, and everything he had from then on belonged to her.

"I wandered outside for a long time. Thankfully, you brought me back to the world."

Reading guide:

1. [Laid-back studio owner and genuine heiress VS poor small-town handyman who's secretly rich]

2. The male lead isn't pretending to be poor. He really has amnesia, and things will get pretty angsty for him later. Consider this a heads-up.

3. The secrets of romance among the small town's wealthy families: the charm of an old town and the romance of the modern city.

4. A different kind of reunion after a long separation. They choose each other, heal each other, and are a one-on-one couple with a happy ending.

Please add my new story, Marriage? You Little Pest, to your reading list! It's a marriage-first, love-later story. Here's the blurb:

In high school, Cheng Yan once said that Shen Rouzhi was the person he hated most.

He brought her breakfast every day, bought her medicine when she was sick, and patiently helped her with difficult problems. Yet Shen Rouzhi just coolly told him she liked someone else.

Ten years later, they met again and, through a twist of fate, got married.

It was only a marriage in name, but they were still legally husband and wife.

Yet Shen Rouzhi ignored him every day. None of her plans included him, and she seemed to treat him like he was invisible at home.

Cheng Yan was so fed up that he wanted to shout to the whole world: he hated Shen Rouzhi more than anyone!

*

#What does it feel like to marry someone you hate?

Shen Rouzhi thought Cheng Yan would be perfect for that topic.

After all, he hated her so much, yet he married her.

As for Shen Rouzhi, she didn't hate Cheng Yan. She just found him a little annoying.

In high school, she had to drink soy milk she didn't like every morning. When she was so stressed she pretended to be sick and took a day off, Cheng Yan forced her to take fever medicine. Whenever he explained a problem to her, he sighed and showed no patience...

Now, Cheng Yan was disrupting her plans again.

She went to watch the sunrise, and he insisted on coming along. She bought a little cake, and he demanded half. She cleaned the house, and he had to join in, even insisting they wash their clothes together.

After putting up with it for ages, Shen Rouzhi asked for a divorce.

But Cheng Yan had a habit of refusing to let go. They'd agreed to a contract marriage, but he wouldn't leave. He even rudely pinned her against the wall and gritted out in her ear, "No divorce!"

April 2025

Theme: Loving you, and loving this world