Spring Honey

[The complete story is finished. For a similar marriage-first, love-later romance, see Winter Love Letter in my author’s collection. Please add it to your favorites!]

On her seventh blind date, Lin Mitang unexpectedly met her childhood friend, Cheng Dingyuan.

Eight years had passed. Back from overseas, Cheng Dingyuan was now the boss of a promising tech company in China.

The man was proud and distinguished, with an extraordinary air about him.

Lin Mitang, on the other hand, was just a junior employee at an ordinary company.

She was shy and socially anxious, and her monthly salary barely covered the basics.

They were mismatched in every possible way, not to mention that they already knew each other. There was no way they could become husband and wife, an intimate relationship like that.

Lin Mitang figured Cheng Dingyuan had probably been pressured by his family to go on the blind date too.

Besides, childhood friends who’d grown up together could easily conspire to placate their elders.

But Cheng Dingyuan’s first question was, “Lin Mitang, you’re twenty-seven this year?”

Caught off guard, Lin Mitang answered honestly, “Uh... yes.”

Cheng Dingyuan: “Then do you remember the vow I made to you?”

“That if you still weren’t married by the time you turned twenty-seven, I’d have to marry you?”

Lin Mitang: ?

When did that happen?

Was it when she and Cheng Dingyuan played house together at the age of three?

-

After signing a marriage contract with Cheng Dingyuan, the only thing they agreed on was to stay out of each other’s business.

Lin Mitang behaved herself and swore she would never develop any other feelings for Cheng Dingyuan.

Except

One night, a heavy storm raged outside the window in City A, lightning flashing and thunder booming. Lin Mitang trembled with fear.

The man, usually so lazy and unserious, reached out and pulled her into his arms, gently patting her back.

His low, clear voice soothed her by her ear. “Don’t be scared, Mitang. Let me stroke your fur. You won’t be scared anymore.”

Lin Mitang was frail, getting a minor illness every half-month and a major one every month.

The day her fever reached 38 degrees, Cheng Dingyuan scolded her by the bedside. “You finally gained a few ounces, and now you’ve lost it all again.”

After scolding her, he coaxed her into taking her medicine one sip at a time. “Be good, Mitang. One more sip, then I’ll give you candy.”

Lin Mitang got into an argument with her family.

Cheng Dingyuan, busy enough to barely keep his feet on the ground, made time to take her to an amusement park and even gave her a kitten.

Lin Mitang said, “Cheng Dingyuan, you don’t have to go to all this trouble to cheer me up.”

After all, they were only married by contract. It would be perfectly reasonable for Cheng Dingyuan not to concern himself with her.

But the ears of the man, usually such a rogue, turned slightly red.

“Lin Mitang, you’re my wife. If I don’t cheer you up, who will?”

-

Later, Lin Mitang asked, “Cheng Dingyuan, when did you fall in love with me?”

Cheng Dingyuan pinched her cheek with a roguish grin. “I fell for you, so I fell for you. Who makes a point of remembering exactly when it happened?”

What he didn’t tell Lin Mitang was

Cheng Dingyuan had known Lin Mitang for twenty-five years.

His love for her had likewise spanned twenty springs.

[Reading Guide]

1. One-on-one romance, one true pairing, everyday life, secret love becomes mutual.

2. Neither lead is perfect. Please don’t attack the characters if you dislike them.

3. Hope you enjoy reading. Sending love~

Winter Love Letter: Blurb

Meng Zhi had just graduated from college six months ago, after being forbidden from dating in high school, when her parents began setting up blind dates for her.

They kept bringing up one potential date after another, as if they were afraid she’d never get married.

Meng Zhi was so fed up with their constant nagging that she lashed out at them.

“Enjoy pushing me to get married, do you? One of these days I’ll find someone about your age and marry him. Then you’ll learn your lesson.”

Later, Meng Zhi didn’t find a blind date around her parents’ age.

But she did meet Lu Chongyang, who was eight years older than her.

-

Lu Chongyang was wonderful in every way, and Meng Zhi was very pleased with her new husband, whom she’d married on a whim.

The only imperfection was that sometimes Lu Chongyang was like an old fogey.

Meng Zhi was practically driving onto the highway, while Lu Chongyang was still going “Maka-baka.”

Meng Zhi worriedly complained to a friend over the phone: “Tell me, could Lu Chongyang be no good in that department?”

“Don’t people online say that once men are past twenty-five, they’re just like they’re sixty-five?”

Lu Chongyang, passing by: ?

-

Early the next morning, Meng Zhi lay in bed with an aching waist and weak legs, cursing Lu Chongyang as a jerk.

Lu Chongyang brought over a bowl of hot congee and fed it to her one spoonful at a time, his expression unchanged.

Smiling faintly, he asked, “Zhi Zhi, can a sixty-five-year-old keep you from getting out of bed too?”

Theme: Always love life.