[Young married couple] [Mutual healing] [This really is a modern romance]
[Easygoing optimist with a stable temperament x a short-fused powder keg who calms down as soon as she's coaxed]
The He family of Beicheng is powerful and prestigious, but its many branches are locked in bitter infighting. After their daughter, who had been missing for over a decade, is found and brought home, she is dragged into the murky waters of their open and covert power struggles.
During the first month after Yuan Xi returned to the He family, people watched her from every direction.
Beneath her thick, straight bangs was a pair of bright, clear eyes. She wasn't thin or dark-skinned. On the contrary, she was well-proportioned and fair, hardly like a girl raised in the countryside.
Under her elders' arrangements, she studied and learned etiquette, on her way to becoming a perfect bargaining chip for a political marriage. The threat she'd pose if she attached herself to a powerful family was unimaginable.
But just as everyone held their breath, shocking news arrived.
On the first day after turning twenty, the newly returned eldest Miss He defied everyone's objections and took her household register to the civil affairs bureau.
Her husband-to-be was an unknown nobody. Only after making inquiries did people learn that he had grown up with her in the mountains.
Just some poor kid, nothing to worry about. Everyone secretly mocked He Yuanxi for being stupid.
-
In the remote mountains of the northern frontier, the population only ever shrank, year after year.
The neighbors all knew one another, and they knew there was a poor girl living halfway up the mountain.
A father who was never home, a biased mother, a greedy, lazy younger brother, and a life of oppression. She did the farmwork and the housework, and on top of earning money, she worried about every household necessity.
A frail little girl shouldering half a family's burdens. The neighbors helped whenever they could.
One winter, frost-laden winds swept across the land and snow blanketed the forest. Yuan Xi's hands froze whenever she did the laundry.
A short-tempered, hot-headed boy moved in next door, living there alone.
Yuan Xi felt sorry for him, so she brought him food when he was hungry and cared for him when he was sick, helping him out whenever she could.
Later, when she was driven from home amid a torrent of abuse, she had somewhere to go.
Later still, when the Yuan couple demanded an outrageous sum, Fang Mingshuo somehow came up with the money and paid without hesitation. After that, she cut ties with the Yuan family completely.
And she went with him.
Fang Mingshuo took her to live in town, paid for her schooling, and worked tirelessly to earn money. A year later, he took her to the city, enrolled her in a top provincial high school, and rented the most expensive apartment in its school district.
He used to be able to do nothing but wreck the kitchen, but he learned to cook beautifully and made sure she was well-fed and plump.
He bought her every trendy thing young women liked, without checking the price.
She never had to do any of the housework she'd done before. He took care of it all.
Yuan Xi never suffered again.
-
After Yuan Xi's birth parents found her, on the day she turned twenty:
The He family was hosting a lavish banquet, and Fang Mingshuo was an uninvited guest.
His cars were parked in all four districts surrounding the He residence. A helicopter was even waiting on the roof of the nearest high-rise.
He had come to ask for her hand. If they refused, he had come to take her by force.
But as soon as he entered the He estate, he spotted a figure sneaking around.
Dressed in a gorgeous gown, Yuan Xi tried to climb over the wall for the fifth time, and finally succeeded.
She dusted off her hands, ready to make a run for it, then thought her eyes were playing tricks on her when she saw the man of her dreams.
The moment their eyes met, Fang Mingshuo said, "Is there a thief in the He family?"
"???"
Yuan Xi rushed into his arms. "I'm not... I stole the household register so I could marry you!"
#Still sounds like a thief
#No need to go to the police station, but the civil affairs bureau is a must
#Enough! My heart aches for her! Those damn He family members! Locking her up is bad enough, but she didn't even have shoes when she escaped! If you can't take care of her, don't raise her!!!!
#Um... I was actually the one who threw my shoes away
Reading guide:
1. Written to satisfy my personal tastes, made just for myself.
2. The female lead is very clever. Things are a little rough for her at first, but never too rough.
3. The leads meet as teenagers and rely on each other from then on. They marry only when they are legally old enough. I consider them a "young married couple."
4. I'm older now and only like writing sweet little stories. The beginning is difficult, but it's never angsty. The whole story is one big, bold, mutual crush ^O^
Theme: I understand you
