Getting Married Is All About Showing Up

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Miss Wen got engaged at eighteen, and she had always been very laid-back about her arranged-marriage match, Shang Zhi...

As long as he wasn't disfigured and was still breathing, that was fine.

They could each do their own thing, and just put on a show at important occasions.

With families like theirs, marriage was all about showing up.

If it worked out, they could stay together. If not, they could divorce.

Only after moving into their new home did Wen Qingxue realize that her husband, who threw his weight around in business, had some pretty wild private “hobbies”: bird-watching, gardening, fishing, practicing calligraphy, and collecting so many Yixing clay teapots that they filled an entire cabinet.

A body in its twenties, with the mindset of someone in their seventies.

Miss Wen couldn't help wondering: They'd said their age gap was five years, so why did it feel more like fifty?

Did this count as marriage fraud?

But then she thought, “A grandparent-grandchild sort of relationship is as bland as water. At least it won't stop me from having fun.”

She never expected...

One day, she had just said goodbye to the hot young guy she'd met at a singles mixer and returned home. Before she could even change out of her sexy outfit, her usually desireless husband caught her red-handed.

He raised a hand and tugged open the thin strap behind her neck. His possessiveness was unmistakable. “If you think married life like this is too dull... Qingqing, would you like to see how I play, or how wild I can get?”

Little scene:

Everyone had heard that the eldest Miss Wen had married young, to a reclusive wealthy businessman with old-fashioned hobbies, a passion for health, and no sexual ability. Rumors ran wild at Zhehai University: her husband had to be an old man with one foot in the grave. All she wanted now was to wait until he was gone, inherit his enormous fortune, and keep herself supplied with hot young guys...

Rich people's marriages are terrifying!

At the start of the new semester, the older girls who stopped by the dorm were surprised to find a young, handsome man bending over to make Wen Qingxue's bed. The two were acting very intimately.

They exchanged glances: A new man had appeared. Could the old man from the rumors have already gone to meet his maker?

Miss Wen introduced him through gritted teeth: “He's my... um, husband.”

Right.

It was clear he was a man, but he didn't seem...

that old?

The older girls teased her: “A new one?”

Wen Qingxue gritted her teeth. “The old one.”

While everyone was still marveling that the rumored old man could apparently grow young again, Wen Qingxue had already been pulled into the arms of her “old husband.”

No one knew what he whispered in her ear, but the usually bold Miss Wen promptly blushed and stammered as she repeated, “Just one... Really, you're the only one...”

* One-on-one sweet romance, five-year age gap

* Marriage first, love later, lots of everyday romance

[Pre-Collection: Don't Use a Kitten Knife to Flirt with Me] Synopsis

Miss Baili tossed aside her eighteenth arranged-match profile.

Her friend was shocked. “Seriously? You don't even like Shao Bairu? He's old money from Wucheng, with a solid family fortune and a great income!”

She lifted her eyelids and showed off her limited-edition handbag and luxury car keys. “Do I look like I need money?”

“He's also so handsome!”

“Do I look like I don't have handsome guys chasing me?”

“He has a villa in Ziyu Mingdi!”

“Do I look like I can't afford a villa?”

Her friend fell silent for a moment. “I heard Shao Bairu has seven cats in his villa! Every one of them is plump, sweet, adorable, obedient, and well-behaved! Some of them are celebrity cats who've been in magazines and TV dramas!”

“Do I look like...”

Baili Yu, a cat lover, suddenly lost her words.

I do.

Two days later, rumors spread through Wucheng's high society that the Baili and Shao families were about to arrange a marriage.

The prospective groom said he had seven children.

Baili Yu said she was happy to become a mother without the labor.

*

They married only to appease their elders. After the wedding, Baili Yu and Shao Bairu agreed not to interfere in each other's lives and to divorce whenever either of them found true love.

Onlookers sighed. The fake couple both had strong tempers, so living together was bound to be rough.

Some people even claimed they'd seen the eldest Miss Baili sneaking out of the mansion alone at dawn with a cat carrier on her back, wiping away tears as she went. Apparently, her husband had mistreated her, and she was planning to steal the cats and run...

Her friend called and patiently urged her, “If things aren't going well, you should get divorced sooner rather than later.”

At that moment, Baili Yu was lying on the double bed at Ziyu Mingdi, with her seven little brats, Numbers One through Seven, in her arms. Frowning helplessly, she said, “I consulted a divorce lawyer. The cats won't be awarded to me.”

Before she could finish speaking,

a well-defined hand reached over and rudely hung up on her, then coaxed away the cats clinging to Baili Yu.

Shao Bairu pulled his wife close.

Even the lofty young master had a moment when he had to plead in a soft voice: “For the sake of the seven children, please don't bring up divorce again.”

Theme: Becoming better people together