The Seventh Year After We Parted: Marriage Before Love

* Currently updating: another story in the same genre, "Voice After Voice" *

Radiant, outspoken investigative reporter X reserved, obsessive film sound engineer

[False Replacement | Marriage Before Love]

Li Xuwen impulsively married a stranger she'd met only twice.

No one in their social circle thought the match would work. They said a king could not live alongside another king. With her ability and beauty, Li Xuwen had grown arrogant and proud. How could cold, aloof, high-and-mighty Qi Xun possibly put up with her?

Li Xuwen, however, didn't agree. After they married, Qi Xun was attentive and protective, nothing like the icy man people described.

Until she realized that Qi Xun was looking at someone else through her.

So she was just a cheap replacement.

That night, torrential rain swept across all of Jingyu.

The man's eyes were bloodshot. He held himself up against her door several times, his breath like that of a trapped beast. "Listen to me. Just one sentence, please?"

Li Xuwen leaned lazily against the door and gave him a mocking smile. "Fine, but on one condition."

"Either go find that first love of yours, whose fate is unknown, right now,"

"or, just as you did for her, spend another ten years trying to win me back."

Beneath the thunder, she saw the same downpour in Qi Xun's eyes.

"Fine." He lowered his gaze, the veins on the back of his hand slowly standing out as he clenched it. "Li Xuwen, remember what you said."

Their breakup had been so ugly that Li Xuwen never expected to see Qi Xun again.

By then, she was a renowned war correspondent, reporting from a battlefield thick with smoke.

The man wore a blue UN rescue uniform. His face was still handsome and aloof, but his bearing had grown steadier and more commanding.

He looked at her with the certainty of someone who had weathered countless storms.

"Long time no see."

"Ms. Li, I've come to keep our date."

I followed the sound of your voice toward you, like a believer walking toward his god.

*

Bonus scene

One day after their reunion, the two of them argued over something trivial.

Li Xuwen glared at him furiously. "You keep saying you're here to keep our date, but you know my taste in men has changed, right?!"

"Oh? Has it?" Qi Xun smiled and leaned closer, his breath stirring warmth against her ear. "That's not what you said that night, Ms. Li."

", The synopsis below is for this story, "

[Childhood Friends | Reunion After Years Apart | Marriage Before Love]

※ Gentle schemer X office worker who loves a laugh

※ Sweet romance, happy ending, fully written, daily updates

In December, when the water froze solid in Beicheng, the ultimate office drone Wen Jinyao met her end.

After losing a proposal because of her own carelessness, she had to apologize to the marketing department of Hongxi Group on behalf of the whole company. She didn't meet the department head, but instead ran into Pei Yuheng, Hongxi's CEO.

He was known for his ruthless methods and for daring to take on even his own uncles, yet he had a handsome, refined face.

Everyone exchanged glances, silently reaching the same conclusion: the apology dinner had become Wen Jinyao's last meal. The atmosphere was oppressively strange. From office workers to bosses, no one dared raise their heads. They all hoped to get this over with as quickly as possible.

Only Wen Jinyao raised her glass. "Mr. Pei, whatever the losses are, I'll take full responsibility."

Everyone drew in a sharp breath. Their hearts, which had been hanging in suspense, finally gave up.

Pei Yuheng wore a suit, his manner warm and polished. A meaningful glint passed through his eyes. "I'm afraid what Miss Wen owes me isn't that simple."

From then on, Wen Jinyao made a name for herself as the only person in Beicheng who dared negotiate with Pei Yuheng.

-

In an exclusive interview with a financial weekly, Pei Yuheng, head of Hongxi Group, revealed that he was married.

In the photo, the man looked elegant and carefree, dressed in fine clothes, but his left ring finger was bare. He hadn't even bothered to wear a plain band.

Everyone understood: she was just a convenient excuse.

No one could have guessed that Pei Yuheng would later show up at Wen Jinyao's office and, in front of the entire company, tenderly slip a wedding ring onto her finger. "You've always been so absent-minded, losing things left and right. Fine, lose whatever else you want, but how could you lose your wedding ring?"

#This husband is pretty great, and quite the catch.

#It'd be even better if he hadn't seen my R18 book.

Theme: Break free from restraints