Married First, in Love Later: He's So Good at Flirting (Next Book)

[Male Lead Top | Marriage Before Love | Mutual Redemption | Powerful Couple Doting on Each Other | Extra Sweet]

✦ Cold on the outside, crazy and obsessive on the inside, the top: Shen Jinchen | Both parents dead, heart in pieces

✦ Warm on the outside, cold on the inside, ambitious, the bottom: Jiang Yubai | Both parents alive, which is worse than having none

When Shen Jinchen pushed the marriage contract over to him, Jiang Yubai asked only one question: “Why me?”

Shen Jinchen said, “You're suitable.”

Jiang Yubai lowered his head without a word, turned straight to the last page, and signed his name.

Their marriage began with a cold contract. There was no love, only need.

Three months into the marriage, they had never eaten together, never spent more than a minute in the same room, and barely exchanged a few words.

Yet Shen Jinchen felt as though it were all an illusion. He had gone too long without knowing what it felt like to have a home. It was only when he was with Jiang Yubai that he realized he was still alive in this world.

“Forgive me for selfishly dragging you into my world.”

Jiang Yubai had never known a home could be so warm. Even without spending any time together, he still felt it was a gift from heaven. Wherever Shen Jinchen was, there was his world.

“After all these years away, I'm finally worthy of standing before you.”

They thought they would spend the rest of their lives treating each other with polite respect, but their transaction, which had never been founded on love, gradually changed into something else.

At a merger negotiation, they faced off against each other, neither willing to give an inch. The tension was icy, and to everyone else, it looked like they were “seeing red.”

But under the table, their toes deliberately touched. Neither knew who had moved first. They only knew that if this went on, things would get indecent.

At a gathering with friends, their hands were clasped tightly together, their gazes full of affection. Even casual questions sounded like flirtation, and the atmosphere was charged. As everyone egged them on, they embraced, their hands tightening around each other's waists again and again, their desire swelling like the tide, impossible to suppress.

Later, Jiang Yubai looked at the locked drawer, crammed full of his own photographs and unsent letters addressed to “Jiang Yubai,” and smiled at Shen Jinchen, who was leaning against the doorway. “Mr. Shen, is this what you meant by suitable?”

“Mm... suitable.”

“Liar!” Jiang Yubai set down the letter in his hand and locked the drawer again.

“Had enough?” Shen Jinchen asked softly as Jiang Yubai walked toward him.

“I've seen enough.” Jiang Yubai murmured, then fell into Shen Jinchen's arms.

“So he knew all along.”

“So he loved me all along.”

Cover credits: Wuyan Shusheng Chenqing, Shanhu, Fusheng Ruomeng Mingsheng, Yiye Shu A Zhu. Non-exclusive.

Theme: Both loving and being loved are wonderful!