Letters Through the Fireworks

[Currently serializing a marriage-first, love-later story, "Love Spoken by the Evening Breeze." The blurb is below. If you're interested, please add it to your favorites! Pretty please!]

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Gorgeous actress × steady award-winning actor / gentle romance-game male lead

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Jiang You has two secrets no one knows:

One, she's deeply in love with the male lead of an otome game.

Two, top-tier star Lu Zhixing is her stand-in for him.

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"Jiang You, let's get married."

Jiang You sat in an unfamiliar house, listening as the man across from her proposed marriage. In the dim yellow light, his features were sharply defined, and his gaze stayed fixed on her. He seemed the very picture of tender devotion.

He was Lu Zhixing: a two-time Best Actor, heir to a top-tier wealthy family, someone she could never hope to reach.

"All right," Jiang You heard herself say.

Even though it was only their second time meeting.

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At first, Jiang You only wanted to use the marriage as a shield for her career. Later, she discovered that this "shield" seemed to come with extra benefits.

The junior who used to make snide remarks about her now acted as meek as a quail in her presence.

The famous director who had tried to force her into a casting couch, then threatened and smeared her when she refused, was now scrambling to offer her roles.

The executive who had pretended to value her while secretly exploiting her was exposed and plunged into ruin.

The tigers blocking her path had all turned into kittens. At last, Jiang You began to shake off her reputation as a pretty face and show her true edge.

With the Best Actress award beneath her feet, Jiang You stood in the spotlight and spoke a man's name in her acceptance speech, a name no one had ever heard before.

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Jiang You's instincts were always sharp.

For instance, the tie clip she gave her contractual husband, Lu Zhixing, turned out to match the one worn by Xing Zhi, the paper-doll character in her romance game.

And the little wish she'd shared only with Xing Zhi was somehow mentioned by Lu Zhixing, quite by accident.

Her paper-doll lover, Xing Zhi, began saying things that weren't part of his programming. And her contractual husband, Lu Zhixing, seemed to understand her innermost thoughts for no reason at all.

No matter how much she tried to avoid the truth, the walls between dimensions still came crashing down before her eyes.

Her lover and her fantasy merged, and Jiang You's heart drifted, her sense of security collapsing like a skyscraper.

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Long fingers gently brushed the dampness from Jiang You's cheek.

"Youyou, don't be sad."

"Don't call me that in his voice!"

"But he and I are one and the same."

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Tips:

1. They're each other's first love.

2. The heroine can be prickly at times.

3. Happy ending.

Coming next: "Love Spoken by the Evening Breeze"

Marriage first, love later / deliberate pursuit of love / wolf and rabbit / old flame rekindled / eight-year age gap

Powerful and influential man × obscure actress

"The moonlight kissed you when we first met, so I grew jealous of every moon."

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At twenty-one, Nan Yi, newly debuted, became the mistress of Shang Minglian, using methods that weren't exactly honorable.

Nan Yi knew he was a man born at the heart of Rome, impeccably refined, noble, and out of reach. The look that sparked his interest at their first meeting was already more attention than she could have hoped for.

But she still had feelings for Mr. Shang, even when he ignored her and left her alone in an empty room, like a lonely little bird.

Later, he pushed a marriage contract across the table. "Marry me. Two hundred million for one year."

Nan Yi knew they were worlds apart, and hurriedly nodded. "Sure! But can I pay you back later?"

Shang Minglian tapped the table with his knuckles. "I'm the one paying you."

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A friend came to visit and was shocked to learn that the married couple shared a home but not a bed.

Nan Yi, trying on a dress, turned around and twirled a lock of hair around her finger. "It's normal for a man over thirty to lose interest."

Who could have guessed that the next second, following her friend's gaze, Shang Minglian, who had just turned thirty-one, would be standing in the doorway, his lashes lowered and his eyes dark, saying nothing.

That night, the blush-pink dress was torn to pieces in Shang Minglian's hands, like ambiguous petals strewn across the master bedroom's bed.

The man's large hand twisted her damp hair. "Do you think I have any ideas now?"

Nan Yi's voice was hoarse from crying. "...You have so many ideas, sir."

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At eight that evening, #PopularActressNanYiIsTheOtherWoman surged to the top of the trending list.

The top-tier star's secret girlfriend tearfully made her accusations, claiming Nan Yi had used any means necessary to climb into the star's bed and split up the couple. The whole internet was in an uproar.

The star stayed silent, while the media fanned the flames.

Just as netizens flocked to Nan Yi's profile, ready to tear into her, a post appeared out of nowhere and took over the top spot.

The head of Huanrui, a leading pharmaceutical group, and China's publicly recognized number-one eligible bachelor, Shang Minglian, had finally deigned to post his first social media update.

@ShangMinglian:

[I'm the one who married up. @NanYi]

In the picture, two hands are clasped together. A dazzling diamond ring sits on the ring finger of the fairer hand.

Netizens: ???

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Theme: Love and hard work will never go unrewarded