Love at First Sight [Marriage Before Love]

My new novel, His Long, Long Night, is now available.

#WhatShouldIDoWhenMyOlder,StuffyHusbandAlwaysWantsToCuddle#

Read the blurb below.

--- Blurb ---

Lu Mingying first met Meng Hebi at her teacher's teahouse.

The young woman was wrapped in a modified cheongsam of bright yellow, her pale arms bare as she slept soundly by the rain-spattered window.

"Is she Old Xu's daughter?" he asked.

The person who had come with him covered a smile and, mindful of his status, hurried to explain, "She's Old Xu's student. She's young, but she's gentle and considerate, and the easiest person to get along with."

Lu Mingying narrowed his eyes and raised a brow.

He really did think she was easy to get along with.

That is, until he tried every way he could to help her out of trouble and still couldn't get a single kind word from her.

In the chairman's office, the young woman had been cornered by her family and had nowhere to turn. Her clear, almond-shaped eyes were red from crying as she looked at him, yet she seemed even more self-assured than he, seated high on his dais.

"Mr. Lu, I won't be a mistress or a canary in a cage."

She was down on her luck, but that didn't mean she'd settle for just anything.

Looking at her stubborn little face, Lu Mingying gave a helpless, quiet laugh. He put a little force into his arm and pulled her into his embrace.

He brushed the back of his finger across her red lips and spoke in a low voice:

"Who said I'd make you either of those? Marry me, all right?"

/

A boss and a female student are hardly a suitable match for marriage.

Raised with conservative values, Meng Hebi didn't believe him and insisted on a marriage contract.

She would sleep with him, but once two years had passed, she would go abroad.

Lu Mingying gazed at her with dark eyes, then finally agreed.

But when the contract marriage ended, the divorce proceedings didn't go smoothly.

Meng Hebi called him, barely containing her irritation as she spoke with sarcastic politeness. "Mr. Lu, when will you be back from your business trip? We need to take care of the paperwork."

There was a long silence on the other end before the man's controlled, even voice came through. It sounded just like the way he'd comforted her the night before:

He respected how hard she'd worked, but still wanted to go one more round:

"Baby, what paperwork?"

"The only paperwork I'll do with you is for our marriage."

◎ Daily updates | 9 p.m. every night | Completed novel: Shepherding Smoke Beyond the River (Marriage Before Love)

◎ Marriage Before Love | Sweet-and-sour everyday life | Nine-year age gap

◎ Gentle but prickly, pretending to be sweet x Love at first sight, truly calculating

◎ PhD student in agricultural science x chairman of an agricultural technology company

#AHeartwarmingStoryAboutAnOlderManFallingInLoveAtFirstSight,PlottingToMarryHer,andRefusingToLetHerGoWhenTheirMarriageContractEnds#

· The blurb is from the male lead's perspective; the novel is told from the female lead's.

· Both leads have only had each other.

Blurb written on March 10, 2024, revised for the third time on August 16, and saved in a screenshot.

--- Upcoming novel: His Long, Long Night [Marriage Before Love] ---

An older man's secret love comes true | Marriage Before Love

#WhatShouldIDoWhenMyOlder,StuffyHusbandAlwaysWantsToCuddle#

On the day she broke up with her first love,

Lin Youxin got home dead drunk.

There happened to be a guest at home, so her grandfather took the opportunity to urge her to get married.

With her head pounding, Lin Youxin pointed at random. "Him. If he's willing to marry me, I'll do it."

The guest, Zhou Bingshan, was inexplicably the one she pointed at.

Of all the children of her grandfather's old friends, Zhou Bingshan was the one Lin Youxin least wanted to marry.

The Zhou family was strict and had plenty of rules. Their eldest son was restrained and reserved, with an upright manner and a considerable distance between himself and others.

Of course, none of that mattered.

What mattered was that, back then, when she was passionately in love with her first boyfriend, it was this eldest Zhou who delivered her confession letter.

Once they were married, Lin Youxin spoke frankly:

"I can't forget him, and I'll never love another man. I'm sorry."

"That's all right. When would you like to get the marriage license?"

-

After the wedding, Lin Youxin thought of theirs as a sham marriage meant only to mend the old ties between their families.

Zhou Bingshan had often traveled abroad for work before their marriage, staying away for months at a time, which suited her perfectly.

Who could have guessed that after they married, he'd come home more and more often, and make one request after another?

"Youxin, may I hug you?"

"You can touch me wherever you like. Anywhere."

"Bite me harder."

Lin Youxin: ?

Zhou Bingshan had spent decades walking the path of a gentleman, but one secretly opened letter was enough to ruin it all.

Every line was full of a young girl's thoughts, ideals, and wild ambitions, all shared with someone else.

They had been young lovers, their souls touching.

He could only cling to what remained, suffering again and again through the long, long night.

He knew she didn't love him, but that was all right.

"If our souls can't touch, then our bodies can. Don't you think so, Youxin?"

Reading guide:

1. A winter story: a short, cozy, healing tale of eating, drinking, and making love, with food, Northwestern scenery, and the leads' careers.

2. Both leads have only had each other, happy ending.

3. A pure-hearted, calculating older man whose secret love comes true, and a chili pepper from the northwest who gives in physically before falling in love.

Written on October 19, 2024. Reposted with a screenshot saved.

Theme: Please walk with me through this difficult life.