Marriage First, Love Later (X) | Mutual Secret Crushes (?) | Gentle and Steadfast X Mischievous Puppy Boy |
[Currently working hard to build up a backlog. Favorites are very welcome!]
1.
Back in high school, Xia Ting had a crush on her childhood friend’s good buddy.
He was a bright, carefree young man, passionate and uninhibited, always surrounded by admirers.
He belonged to a world completely different from hers.
After the college entrance exams, he was going abroad to study. She once thought about gathering the courage to confess, but all she received was a rejection message from him.
“A rainbow hanging high at the edge of the sky can never be touched.”
Xia Ting thought he must have sensed her feelings and was hinting that she shouldn’t dream of reaching for him.
Her confession had never been spoken aloud. Heartbroken, she deleted him and shut her heart away.
2.
After Xia Ting’s script was bought by the renowned animation studio Chaoyu, she received a huge payment.
Suddenly rich, she hadn’t even decided what to do with the money when she ran into her high school crush at a class reunion.
She heard that his startup had failed, and that the once-golden boy had fallen into the mud. Usually mild-mannered and reserved, Xia Ting suddenly had a rebellious thought.
After the reunion, she boldly stopped him in a corner of the corridor and lied, her voice trembling.
She claimed her family was pressuring her to marry, and offered him five million yuan for one year of his time.
One year as her husband.
3.
After they married, Shao Xingchi diligently fulfilled his duties as a husband. He took thoughtful care of her in daily life, supported her work, and also...
became the bedroom partner who suited her best.
Until one day, the first domestic animated fantasy film about pure love premiered and earned over twenty million yuan at the box office in a single day.
Afterward, a behind-the-scenes interview with the Chaoyu studio was released, and a photo of its founder inadvertently became public.
Xia Ting glanced at it. The person in the photo was none other than the contract husband she had been keeping.
4.
She figured Shao Xingchi wouldn’t keep letting that five million yuan cloud his judgment, so she proposed a divorce that evening.
Shao Xingchi tilted his head and agreed, then slipped into her room that night.
As their clothes fell to the floor and they lost themselves in passion, he lowered his voice and asked hoarsely, “Do you know the line that comes before ‘A rainbow hanging high at the edge of the sky can never be touched’?”
Xia Ting turned her head away, her voice choked with tears.
“I won’t force you to stay. Let’s get divorced tomorrow.”
Shao Xingchi: ?
Wait, isn’t that a poem from the poetry collection you used to carry around all through high school?
The next day, their marriage contract lay on the bedside table, weighted down by a check and a note.
The note bore two bold, decisive characters:
“Renew.”
-
“I miss you, but I cannot tell you, just like that rainbow hanging high at the edge of the sky, forever beyond anyone’s reach.”, “I Miss You, But I Cannot Tell You,” by Emily Dickinson.
The clouds cleared and the rain stopped. At last, the young man’s feelings were laid bare.
His confession was heard, no longer a monologue.
What Xia Ting didn’t know was that every chance encounter between them had been part of his long-laid plans.
1. Mutual secret crushes, both virgins, each other’s first love.
2. Told in reverse chronological order: first the high school crush, then their reunion in the city.
3. The heroine is an expert at backing out. There’s more to the hero’s poetic confession than meets the eye.
Theme: Love is like tending a flower. You have to keep nurturing yourself.
