Love in Its Prime

[Tough, no-nonsense detective x gentle middle school teacher]

[One-night stand + pregnancy first, love later + strangers who marry first and fall in love later]

1.

Xin He has been working for a year, but still doesn't quite fit in.

When the director of studies, who often picks on her, invited her to his birthday party for once, she hesitated for a long time before deciding to go.

Only after arriving did she realize the real reason for the gathering: it wasn't a birthday celebration, but a blind date for his nephew, Xu Xingzhou, a lifelong soldier who was still single.

Xu Xingzhou was a real oddball. He even brought his medical checkup report. He was taciturn and stern, and the conversation kept falling flat.

Xin He was reserved and didn't quite dare look him over.

So in the end, what stuck in her mind most was his rock-hard abs and astonishing stamina. She couldn't remember what his face looked like at all.

2.

A month later, Xin He discovered she was pregnant. Nervously, she asked the director of studies for Xu Xingzhou's contact information.

In the middle of the night, she gathered her courage and called him.

"Hello, do you remember me?"

"I'm the teacher who went on that blind date your uncle arranged for you last month."

"I'm pregnant."

Before he could answer, she got it all out, her voice trembling, a sob creeping into her words.

There was a long silence on the other end of the line. Then he said two things.

"I'll marry you."

"Will you?"

3.

After they married, Xin He and he treated each other with polite respect.

This loveless marriage was, all things considered, quite satisfactory.

Xu Xingzhou was a perfect husband. He never put a foot wrong with anyone, and he treated her well, too.

He brought her flowers every day and took care of her himself throughout her pregnancy, rubbing in stretch mark oil, massaging her cramping thighs, and keeping a close eye on her through the night.

Even when Xin He asked for out-of-season fruit in the middle of the night, he would drive to the neighboring city to buy it for her.

As time went by, she almost started to believe that she and Xu Xingzhou were in love.

Until, at a family dinner, she went to find him when he stepped out for some air, and accidentally overheard him talking with a friend of hers.

"Zhou, you've really fallen for her? Sister-in-law is so gentle. She's really not the type I thought you'd like."

Xu Xingzhou had a cigarette between his lips. His strong features were barely visible in the dim light as he replied nonchalantly:

"She's good enough. My family has been pressuring me."

"Besides, Grandma really likes children."

Xin He's heart sank, and she turned away.

4.

Later, when the man got off the plane after finishing a mission, no one had come to pick him up. Without a hint of hesitation, he called Xin He, dropping his tough-guy act to complain:

"Honey, why didn't you come get me? I was gone for so long. Didn't you miss me? I got hurt, too. It really hurts."

It was just a small scrape on his arm.

Yet he sounded so pitiful.

His comrades following behind him: ...

Note: One-on-one romance, both leads have only been with each other.

Theme: Time slips away, and in the blink of an eye, the years pass like stars and frost.