A Sudden Rebellion

[Scheming, Gentle, Seductive Black Swan VS Timid, People-Pleasing Little Lamb]

Age gap | Gentle, fatherly type | Married first, love later | Mutual pining becomes reality | Mutual salvation

1.

During the summer break of her sophomore year, Jiang Zhuyu was overwhelmed by a mechanical engineering competition. Passing a book cafe, she was drawn to a book in the window:

"The Greatest Mechanical Handbook Ever Written! If It Doesn't Work, I'll Eat Crap!"

Its ridiculously long title covered almost the entire cover, and the lettering was as flamboyant as crap.

Her curiosity got the better of her, and she pushed open the cafe door.

She didn't find the book, but she did get a good look at an elegant, gentle-looking man in a wheelchair.

She fell in love at first sight.

He worked at the book cafe. Before leaving, he "begged" the owner for the day's leftover bread, then wheeled himself out of her sight, looking pitiful from behind.

Jiang Zhuyu jumped to the conclusion that he was struggling to get by.

All summer long, she brought him a meal from the campus cafeteria every single day, finding every excuse she could to protect his pride and make sure he didn't go hungry.

2.

When school started for her junior year, a tall man wearing gold-rimmed glasses walked to the front of a new elective class, a black-and-gold cane in hand.

He was poised and composed. "My name is Shi Ruocheng. I'm a doctoral advisor in the School of Economics. I look forward to working with you this semester."

Jiang Zhuyu: "...!"

It's him!

The struggling guy who worked in a wheelchair!

Their eyes met.

Her face turned bright red with embarrassment, and her toes curled against the floor.

His inscrutable gaze was hidden behind his lenses. The attendance sheet was as light as a cicada's wing. Smiling, he circled her name with a finger.

3.

Because of his friendship with Jiang Zhuyu's father, her father had arranged her marriage without asking her. She heard her future husband was a rich cripple.

She soaked her pillow with tears all night. The next day, she went to meet her fiance with puffy eyes, determined to call off the engagement even if it killed her.

But the refined, proper man, wearing gold-rimmed glasses like a birdcage ready to trap her, had been waiting for her for a long time.

His cane struck the ground with a heavy thud, ringing in her ears. He approached to the beat of her pounding heart. "Not running away anymore?"

Huddled in the shadow of his tall, broad frame, she blushed and stammered softly, "Professor..."

"I resigned."

Shi Ruocheng smiled, warm as jade, though a strange darkness crept into his expression. "Professor isn't as nice a title as the other one."

[You gave me courage I had never known, and the defiance to fight against convention.]

P.S. The blurb was revised on 2024.11.25 and saved as a screenshot.

Intention: Have the courage to be disliked.