The Bickering Couple [The 1980s]

To Shu Yu, marriage was a business deal.

And a business deal couldn't afford to lose money.

So when her younger female cousin came to her saying she wanted to introduce her to someone, Shu Yu was taken aback for a moment, then started doing the math.

One meter eighty, decent looks, no bad habits: ten points.

Money and a house: thirty points.

And a driver who spent his days behind the wheel: fifty points.

Shu Yu slapped the abacus and stared intently at her cousin.

With such good prospects, would her ever-competitive cousin really be willing to let this one go?

Her cousin said the matchmaker had introduced the man, but now she thought he wasn't as good as her first love and wanted to go south with him. But she'd already agreed to the blind date, and was afraid of offending the matchmaker by standing the man up. So she wanted Shu Yu to take her place.

Shu Yu refused, but the next day she lost the money she'd earned selling things at her stall, and couldn't help wavering.

How many more years would she have to live like this if she didn't get married? She shared a forty-square-meter home with her father, her stepmother, and her stepsister's family.

Shu Yu married Pei Yan.

To Pei Yan, whether he married or not made little difference. Life would go on the same.

So when Shu Yu took out a ledger on their wedding night and proposed that they keep their accounts separate, he only fell silent for a moment before agreeing.

And so the couple's daily life became:

"I bought fish today. It cost two yuan and fifty cents, and after using one yuan's worth of coupons, that comes to one yuan and seventy-five cents each."

"Yesterday I bought buttons. Add that to the cost of mending the clothes."

"You still owe me four yuan, eighty-six cents for this month's living expenses."

But the more Shu Yu kept track of the books, the stranger she found Pei Yan.

They'd agreed to keep their accounts clear, but this guy was getting more and more careless about it.

"Whatever you want."

"It's up to you."

"You keep it."

Shu Yu grew very wary. Could this guy be after her money?

Pei Yan: Maybe I can pretend to be drunk tonight and hold her for a while...?

[Please note]

1. The male and female leads are not perfect people.

2. A couple's everyday journey to build a better life.

3. An alternate setting, ensemble cast, feel-good wish fulfillment, everyday life, food and drink, marriage first and love later.

4. The female rival is reborn; the male and female leads are natives of this world.

Core theme: Change your life, stand on your own feet, and strive to be strong.