Sweet Kisses and Gardenias

"A conservative, celibate old man from Hong Kong x a glamorous, pampered heiress from the capital's elite circle"

Lin Mingzhi is the heiress to the Lin family's pharmaceutical company in the capital, as well as the granddaughter of the Ye family, a distinguished family of practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine in Hangzhou.

Raised in the palm of everyone's hand, doted on and adored, she's the very picture of a wealthy, pampered beauty.

Yet the Ye family's century-old Crane Year Hall is suddenly caught up in a storm over a potential acquisition by a Japanese company.

To protect Crane Year Hall, Lin Mingzhi agrees to a business marriage and weds the heir to one of Hong Kong's top families, a man rumored to be impotent.

On the day they register their marriage, a light rain falls over the capital.

A black Maybach pulls up by the roadside. The suited man holds an umbrella, his handsome, deep-set features veiled by the rainy haze.

He reaches out to Lin Mingzhi and says with composed courtesy, "Miss Lin, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Fu Yanzhou, your future husband."

*

Fu Yanzhou's wedding gift to Lin Mingzhi is full ownership of Crane Year Hall.

In return, Lin Mingzhi solemnly promises to combine Chinese and Western medicine and do her utmost to develop the most potent aphrodisiac for him.

Fu Yanzhou: "...?"

On their wedding night, from nightfall until dawn.

His little wife clutches a thin silk quilt on the bed, her blush still lingering and her hair in disarray, like a pristine gardenia battered by a storm.

Fu Yanzhou leans down. Sensing her tremble, he asks in an increasingly hoarse voice, "Now, madam, do you still plan to make medicine for me?"

-

"Your fragrance mingles with my dreams. From now on, day and night, between your peerless beauty, my heart shines, blossoms, and sways with joy. The shadow of my soul appears upon your face." - "A String for the Heart," Rabindranath Tagore

*Marriage first, love later / devoted couple / eight-year age gap

*The male lead's old flame catches fire. He's very potent, extremely potent.

*The heroine graduated in pharmacy and joined Crane Year Hall after graduation to develop medicines. For more details, see the story.

*Synopsis dated July 14, 2023, screenshot archived.

*Weibo: @Jinjiang Xiao Zhou Yaoyao

Theme: The gardenia stands above all other trees; there are truly few like it in this world.