Free-spirited, mischievous creative type x secretive business tycoon
Five-year age gap | Ambiguous relationship | Unconditional pampering | Guiding type | One-on-one | Both virgins | Happy ending
1.
The first time Ruan Qiao met Huo Tingchen, she was seventeen. At the time, he was one of the men her cousin was seeing.
Wearing an oversized school uniform, she walked toward them like a child who had wandered into the adult world, completely out of place amid all the glamour around her.
A corner of the garden was set with elegant afternoon tea and pastries. Ruan Qiao stood in front of the ice cream machine, studying it with a frown, when a pair of large, long-fingered hands reached out from behind her. He picked up a dessert cup, pressed the button, and filled it with a perfectly shaped serving of ice cream.
Ruan Qiao followed the hand with her eyes and saw Huo Tingchen looking down slightly, his dark eyes fixed on hers.
When she didn't take it right away, he held the ice cream out a little farther.
Ruan Qiao accepted it in a daze. "...Thank you, c-cousin's husband?"
The man's expression shifted slightly. His voice was low as he said, "You're welcome, little sister."
2.
Years later, Ruan Qiao stared in disbelief at the aloof, refined man sitting across from her.
Her cousin's husband, who had once been one of an unknown number of exes, was now her blind date. What kind of hellish fate was this?
Faced with pressure from her family, Ruan Qiao had no choice but to talk things over with Huo Tingchen.
"Mr. Huo, since we already know each other, why don't we play along and appease both our families?"
His gaze was deep as he looked at her. "I look forward to working with you, Miss Ruan."
3.
Huo Tingchen was stern and unsmiling, with a cool, detached temperament. In business, he was decisive and merciless, and he had no patience for people. He hated trouble more than anything.
But after meeting Ruan Qiao, it seemed every one of his principles was broken.
Ruan Qiao enjoyed trying out the characters she wrote in order to find inspiration. Huo Tingchen was willing to go along with it and indulge her, and the man who hated having his privacy invaded even began showing up online because of her.
Until one day, Huo Tingchen realized that Ruan Qiao was gradually distancing herself from him and intended to end their relationship unilaterally.
At a banquet, soon after Ruan Qiao's male companion left, someone quietly approached and cornered her.
"Ruan Qiao, who was the man you came in with?" Huo Tingchen asked, his face dark as he stared coldly at her.
Ruan Qiao wrenched her hand free and smiled faintly. "Mr. Huo, what are you to me? Why should I tell you?"
Huo Tingchen gave a cold laugh and spoke leisurely. "Your boss, your friend, your family's old friend, your blind date... If you'd like, by tomorrow morning I can also be your lawful husband."
Ruan Qiao froze at his words. Her eyes slowly welled with tears, and a hint of grievance crept into her voice. "Huo Tingchen, the woman you truly love has come back. Why are you still tangled up with me?"
"Ruan Qiao, in your stories, men indulge women without limits, letting them do whatever they want and take whatever they please. Why is that?"
"Why else? Of course it's because they're in love!"
"Ruan Qiao, I see. I'm in love with you."
Theme: Follow your heart
