Taking Advantage of the Chaos

(The title may change, and the blurb will be revised.)

Nan Xia had a crush on Chi Dongling for five years and dated him for six months. At last, she waited for him to propose.

But he failed to show up on the day they were supposed to register their marriage. Nan Xia called him again and again. When he finally answered, Chi Dongling’s weary voice came through the phone. “I’m sorry, Nan Xia. I still can’t let her go. She’s sick.”

Nan Xia fell silent. She knew who “her” meant: Chi Dongling’s first love.

She hung up. Three days later, she agreed to a marriage arranged by her family. Her prospective husband was the heir to the Xie family, personally chosen for her by the old master of the Xie family, or so she had heard.

She knew Xie Qichuan. They had met a few times as children. Born overseas and one-quarter foreign, he grew up abroad and only returned to China for three years of middle school.

He was a rebellious playboy, but she didn’t care. It was only a marriage of convenience, after all.

Her only two impressions of him were that his Chinese was not very good and that, in high school, he always used idioms incorrectly when talking to her.

After the wedding, Nan Xia moved into the marital home she shared with Xie Qichuan. Hoping they could simply live in peace, she decided to speak with him first about how they would get along after marriage.

When she entered his room, she spotted The Book of Songs, The Songs of Chu, Records of the Grand Historian, Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance, and even The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon lined up on the table.

The words she had been about to say vanished from her mind.

Nan Xia said awkwardly, “I didn’t expect you to be so well-read now.”

Xie Qichuan leaned lazily against the table and smiled at that. “Someone said my education was lacking, so I studied day and night with books hung from the rafters and an awl pricking my thigh. Want to discuss it in depth tonight?”

Nan Xia: “...”

*

No one knew that Xie Qichuan had heard Nan Xia’s wedding plans had fallen through and had immediately urged his family to take advantage of the situation and arrange their marriage.

Premise posted on 2023.6.3

Theme: True love conquers all.