Waiting for a Rainstorm in Beijing

◎ Updates around noon. If there's no update, I'll post a note to say I'm taking the day off~

Jiang Yu and Zhao Yunting's marriage began as a union of convenience.

When they first met, she was his friend's girlfriend.

Among that group of jovial young heirs, he wasn't the most talkative, but he was generous and easygoing. Every so often, he would give a deep laugh and tap the table twice with his long fingers. His smile was infectious.

Everyone else eagerly sucked up to him and called him "Fourth Brother." She alone, stiff and proper as ever, said, "Hello, Mr. Zhao."

Zhao Yunting's hand paused briefly. He raised an eyebrow slightly and looked over at her.

The gap between them was too great. For the next two years, she stayed clearheaded and never dared to fall for him, waiting only for the day it all fell apart.

When a friend got into trouble, she had no choice but to ask him for help.

Zhao Yunting smiled. He didn't make things difficult for her, only teased her casually. "When you need something, I'm Yunting. When you don't, I'm Mr. Zhao. Mrs. Zhao, you're impressively flexible with your forms of address."

-

"You know he married you with another plan in mind from the start, right? If your families fall out someday, will he still treat you this way?" her friend warned.

Jiang Yu's lashes trembled. She knew the truth all too well.

Later, the Jiang family collapsed, and she became the target of rumors. Everyone blamed her for holding him back and getting in the way of his future.

Some even said he was going through a midlife rebellion, that he'd lost his mind and was ready to ruin everything he'd built in the first half of his life for a woman. He only laughed it off.

What she never expected was the betrayal that came from her: a divorce agreement.

"Let's never see each other again." She didn't dare look up into his eyes.

He gave a scornful laugh. "So even I, Zhao Yunting, can be played for a fool. Jiang Xiaoyu, you've got some nerve."

Later, when he returned to the capital, he'd gotten everything he wanted and climbed to the position he'd dreamed of. Up on the high platform, he stood all alone.

She thought they would never cross paths again. At a gathering with friends, he didn't even spare her a second glance, brushing past her as if she were a stranger.

That day, a male colleague walked her home. As she took out her keys to open the door, a pair of gleaming leather shoes came to a slow stop in her field of vision.

The keys slipped from her startled fingers, only to be caught firmly by a large hand.

She bit her lip, wary and resistant. His gaze burned like a torch, threatening to consume her inch by inch.

"I've been so good to you. How can you be so heartless?!"

"Is it really so hard to just admit you were wrong to me?"

☆ A marriage alliance, a love story between two strangers who marry first

☆ Powerful capital-circle heir x naturally gifted actress

☆ Seven-year age gap, both have never been married, a passionate love story of heartbreak and reunion

Core theme: Only by bravely moving forward can we welcome a better life.