Married Young

For Chen Jinyao's birthday, Shen Xuwu gave him a beautifully made velvet box about the size of her palm. It looked exactly like a box for a pair of wedding bands.

Even though they'd been married for three years, Chen Jinyao was still thrilled that his wife had given him a ring. He was already planning to put it back on Shen Xuwu's ring finger.

Excited, he opened the box and found a palm-sized tombstone inside. It was engraved: "The grave of Chen Jinyao. Shen Xuwu's plot reserved beside it."

Chen Jinyao was confused. "...Reserved?"

Shen Xuwu nodded. "Mm. Cemetery plots are getting more expensive all the time. I bought a double plot last year. This is a model."

Chen Jinyao raised his voice a little. "You gave me my tombstone for my birthday?"

Shen Xuwu nodded seriously. "It's not your tombstone, it's ours. Mine and yours. That's different."

Chen Jinyao looked at her. "How is it different?"

Shen Xuwu replied calmly, "One person's is called a tombstone. Two people's is a testament to love."

Chen Jinyao hadn't expected Shen Xuwu to answer like that. She was always saying particularly romantic things out of the blue, yet she never seemed to realize how romantic they sounded.

Chen Jinyao drew a deep breath. "Shen Xuwu, you really do love me."

Shen Xuwu seemed a little confused, but still answered calmly, "Of course I love you. Otherwise, why would I be willing to be buried with you?"

Later, when their friends heard about it, they asked Chen Jinyao, "What goes on in your wife's head?"

Chen Jinyao boasted, "She's a woman who thinks dying together with me is the most romantic thing in the world."

Friend: "...Your wife really is one of a kind."

Chen Jinyao: "That's because she loves me! She loves me, get it? Forget it. I can't explain it to someone like you, who doesn't have a wife."

Friend: "...What a nutcase!"

* Flashy, jealous peacock x earnest, ambitious, slow-witted wooden beauty

* Supercar racer x cultural relic restorer

* One-on-one, both sexually inexperienced and each other's first love, two-year age gap with the man older, happy ending

* Childhood sweethearts, married as soon as they reached the legal age. He thinks it's a marriage that turns into love, but his secret crush comes true. She thinks it's a natural progression from childhood sweethearts to marriage.

Blurb screenshot, 2026.5

Theme: If you like someone, say it out loud