Notes on a Winter Wedding

To avoid a family-arranged marriage, Wen Yi heads to his maternal grandparents' home in Jiangnan for a three-month stay. Who could have guessed this gentle waterside town would come with a years-old betrothal? The cold, unruly young master Wen treats it with indifference and plans to escape again. His grandfather angrily drags him to a Pingtan teahouse. Wen Yi assumes he's been brought on a blind date, so he finds fault with everything. Grandfather: “It's lovely here. I often come for tea and a chat.” Wen Yi, expressionless: “Apart from the tea, there's nothing interesting.” The strings begin to play, and he lazily raises his eyes. Onstage, Gu Shuyun wears a smoke-colored qipao, with only a light touch of makeup. Her features are cool and clear, like a painting among the clouds. Her soft Wu dialect rises and falls with the pipa melody, like fine rain drifting down onto a river where moonlight and mist gather among the sandbanks. That unreasonable Jiangnan rain wet him through. After that day, his grandfather stops bringing up the betrothal and starts introducing him to new blind dates instead. He says calmly, “A betrothal is just a verbal promise. We can call it off.” Wen Yi crosses his long legs and says coolly, “Grandfather, a person should keep his word.” “What, changed your mind all of a sudden?” His grandfather pauses pointedly. “But now the other party may not agree. If you like her, make an effort.” Wen Yi gives a casual laugh. “Then, Grandfather, why don't you teach me?” _ When his friends hear Wen Yi has finally returned to Jingbei, they send a car to pick him up as soon as his plane lands. But all evening, he seems distracted, his eyelids drooping as he lounges there, looking lazy and sleepy. Friend: “What's with you? Don't tell me you're jet-lagged. It's only a two-hour flight from Sucheng.” Wen Yi, voice low: “I want to go home and be with my wife.” His friend stares at him in shock. “Be with... what?” After saying that, Wen Yi stands up and leaves without a backward glance. But only a few minutes later, he pushes the door open and comes back in. His friend snickers. “You don't need an excuse like that just to go out for a smoke.” Wen Yi raises an eyebrow. “Sorry, I left my marriage certificate here.” Friend: !!! You mean it, man? Seriously, who carries their marriage certificate around? _ Gu Shuyun's life has always gone according to plan, smooth and steady, until the year she turns twenty-three, when everything descends into chaos. Then someone says to her, frankly and boldly, “Please let me into your world.” The sudden flutter in her heart is like the fireworks that bloomed that night. The heady feeling of being loved makes her begin to look forward to marriage, too. But on her wedding night, she already has some regrets. Later, a friend asks if there's anything about married life she's unhappy with. Gu Shuyun answers in a tiny voice. But her friend's loud repetition reaches his ears: “There is? More than once?” Wen Yi's expression changes several times on the spot. That night, he tries all kinds of ways to fish for an answer. “...” Gu Shuyun tugs at the quilt. “We agreed on three. No more...” [Pingtan beauty × cultural relics conservator] ** "A Cold Night of Jade": bickering rivals to lovers The Xi and Yu families have been close for generations, and their elders arranged a marriage between them. Yu Tinghe and Xi Chaoyue grew up together, but they never got along. No one knows that Yu Tinghe had a genuine crush on him throughout all three years of high school. Xi Chaoyue's declaration that he would “never marry her” finally killed her feelings for him. Yu Tinghe is dazzlingly beautiful and has never been short of admirers. Strangely, though, none of her relationships lasts long. At first, she thinks they just aren't compatible, until one day she sees Xi Chaoyue sitting in a cafe with her boyfriend. As Yu Tinghe gets closer, she hears a laugh full of unmistakable mockery. “...If she disappears for ten days or half a month and you can't find her, can you put up with her spoiled, willful temper?” “What about her lifelong dream of holding her wedding in a medieval aristocratic manor, going on private yacht parties with her friends on a regular basis, and buying priceless treasures at auction? Can you give her all that?” The man across from him clenches his jaw. “What are you trying to say?” “Isn't it obvious?” Xi Chaoyue says coolly. “Break up with her. You two aren't right for each other.” The man flies into a rage. “Who are you to interfere in our relationship?” Xi Chaoyue leans back in his chair, looking half-lazy. “I'm her brother.” The mockery from the shadows makes Yu Tinghe's expression darken. She strides over with a frosty gaze. She raises her hand and splashes a cup of coffee on each of them. - A few months later, the families restructure their business interests and bring the betrothal back onto the agenda. When Yu Tinghe is tricked into arriving at the engagement party, she's still wearing her ski suit. A familiar figure stands in front of the poster, wearing a sharply tailored bespoke suit and looking unusually restrained and ascetic. As he turns, she sees the words that had been hidden: Engaged: Xi Chaoyue and Yu Tinghe “Xi Chaoyue, since we've both been tricked into coming here, why don't we run away together?” “Both of us?” Xi Chaoyue lifts his eyelids, his voice casual. “Who said you could spread rumors about me?” Yu Tinghe: ??? [Bonus scene] Under the night sky, the city lights grow ever more hazy. Heat rises, and the glow of the lamps cannot hide the damp, intimate atmosphere. Before Yu Tinghe can catch her breath, he launches into another fierce, deep kiss. No matter how many times she tells him to stop, he doesn't listen. At last, Xi Chaoyue's lips brush her ear, his voice thick and husky. “We've been married for half a year, and you're still calling me by my name?” Yu Tinghe breathes unevenly. “What would you like me to call you?” A beguiling smile curves her lips, and her voice turns soft and sweet. “How about ‘big brother’?” Xi Chaoyue's brow twitches: ? “But how can a big brother sleep with his little sister?” Without the slightest hesitation, she yanks the quilt hard and kicks him out of bed without mercy. Xi Chaoyue: ... ** Theme: Love will find its way to the people destined for each other.