Child Bride [Red and Blue]

A gentle, mature, elegant, scheming older woman VS an emotionally clueless, blunt younger wife

Xu Qingyuan: I'm so lonely on my own.

Lin Yan: Get a dog.

Xu Qingyuan: I want one that can tell when I'm cold or warm.

Lin Yan: You're not senile. Can't you tell whether you're hot or cold yourself?

Xu Qingyuan: Look at how skinny you are. You're flat as a board.

Lin Yan: You're skinny too!

Xu Qingyuan: I have everything I'm supposed to have. What about you?

Lin Yan: I can go upstairs without getting tired, go downstairs without jiggling, wear clothes without feeling restricted, and run without needing support.

Xu Qingyuan: ...You win.

Life with a blunt woman means a different kind of sharp-tongued remark every day. There's no warmth or tenderness to be found.

(Note: This is a realist-themed story, not set in a world where same-sex marriage is legal.)

Xu Qingyuan is Lin Yan's child bride, the kind who was added to the Lin family household register.

She entered the family at ten, then fled far away at eighteen. When they meet again, she has built a successful career and thriving business, while Lin Yan has only just entered the working world, an eager young novice.

Just as when they were children, the balance of power is unequal.

The farther she ran back then, the harder it is to win her back now, especially when her romantic rival is even younger than her sweetheart.

With her younger wife wanting to pair up with a puppy-like girl, Xu Qingyuan can only try to stay sprightly with age.

Lin Yan: Back then, I thought, when I needed you, you weren't there. So you don't need to be there from now on either.

Xu Qingyuan: That was back then. Think it over again this year.

Lin Yan: Thinking it over again means: you weren't there then, so don't be there from now on either.

Xu Qingyuan: The fortune-teller said water and fire can coexist in harmony. I'm your water.

Lin Yan: The ancients said water and fire are incompatible!

A year later...

Lin Yan, unable to sleep at night and addicted to playing with water: The fortune-teller said water and fire can coexist in harmony. You're my water.

Xu Qingyuan pushes away her wandering hand, turns over, and hugs the quilt: The ancients said water and fire are incompatible.

Blue represents sorrow, and red represents joy. Their childhood was blue, but later on, it turned red.

The two female leads are seven years apart.

Modern setting.

Theme: Though youth may be troubled, the bond endures after years apart