Bright and gentle x gentle and scheming
Marriage before love | Rekindled romance | Regret and pursuit | The powerful one bows their head
[You are the love and longing I will never forsake, even in death]
1.
Shortly before graduation, Lu Jingyu returned to attend her grandfather's funeral.
When she heard that her childhood sweetheart was engaged, her heart sank, and she agreed to her parents' arrangement for her to marry.
Her prospective husband was Gu Zhiqi, the famous young master of the Gu family in Yuhai, a ruthless wolf feared by everyone in the business world.
He was cold and cruel, with ruthless methods. He cared only about profit and never showed anyone mercy.
But he had been celibate for years and had never been linked to anyone.
So rumors started spreading that the ruthless young Master Lu must have some unspeakable affliction.
When Lu Jingyu heard, she thought it was exactly what she wanted.
2.
But on their very first night as newlyweds, her fantasy was shattered.
She clutched her bedding and headed for the guest room. The man, wearing a black silk robe, blocked her way and looked down at her.
"Mrs. Gu, I have no intention of sleeping in separate rooms."
Gu Zhiqi was gentle with her and granted her every request, except in bed.
He always seemed to have endless energy, finding all sorts of ways to wear her out. Every lesson in intimacy and every new experience she had came from his gentle guidance.
On the night her childhood sweetheart got married, a drunk Lu Jingyu asked him a foolish question.
"Tell me... what is love?"
Gu Zhiqi gripped her chin, his gaze cold. "Don't think that just because you climbed into my bed, you can talk to me about feelings."
Later, when their one-year term was up, she ended their marriage of convenience without looking back.
What she didn't know was that on the night she left, Gu Zhiqi got blackout drunk and turned the Gu household upside down.
On a flight to Europe, he appeared before her, haggard. The man who had always stood above everyone else was now humble for the first time in his life.
"Jingyu, let's start over."
She looked at him coldly and threw his own words back at him. "Don't think that just because you've slept with me, you can talk to me about feelings."
"What if it's like this?"
His bloodshot eyes fixed on her as he calmly tore the share-transfer agreement in his hands to pieces.
Lu Jingyu knew he had married her in the first place just to get that agreement.
"What if I returned everything to the way it was at the beginning?"
He brought out the inheritance agreement, then frantically prepared to destroy everything he'd spent years plotting to achieve.
3.
Gu Zhiqi wanted to return everything to the beginning, when there was no money or power, only sincere admiration and the desire to be loved.
The first time he met Lu Jingyu was in Vienna.
During a break in a meeting, he went downstairs for some fresh air and came across a Chinese girl in the garden, practicing a violin piece and the words she'd use to confess her feelings.
He thought she was silly, yet her sincerity and love inexplicably moved him. He even found himself quietly jealous of the boy named Chen Xu she'd mentioned.
Later, at the concert hall, he witnessed Chen Xu's grand confession, bouquet in hand.
But the girl he confessed to wasn't her.
Without thinking, Gu Zhiqi looked for Lu Jingyu. When he spotted the disappointed girl in a corner, he found himself walking toward her.
Upset, she accidentally spilled the wine in her hand on him as they passed. He caught her by the arm.
"Miss, are you really going to leave just like that?"
She hurriedly apologized. "I'm sorry, sir. I have to catch a flight. I'll pay for your clothes as soon as I get back to China."
He gave her his business card then, but never got the call he was waiting for.
Not until they met again at Old Master Lu's funeral.
[Reading Guide]
* Told from the heroine's perspective, this is a marriage-before-love story. From the hero's perspective, it's a long-planned pursuit. Sometimes the hero says things that make no sense because of a misunderstanding.
* First couple for both leads, happy ending. The powerful one lowers his proud head.
---Initial blurb draft, written on 2024.7.28 and saved as a screenshot. It may be tweaked when the story is published, but the story itself won't change.
Theme: Work hard and strive for success.
