Shen Ruomian transmigrated one day into the body of a poor scholar who had just failed the imperial exam in the Great Yi Dynasty.
Looking at her penniless home, her half-blind father, and her brother, who was as thin as a reed, Shen Ruomian, the only woman in the family, had no choice but to grit her teeth and take responsibility for supporting them.
Just then, a hunter from her village was being pressured by his family to marry. Shen Ruomian, drawn to his height and strength and the fact that he could support a family, proposed they enter a marriage of convenience.
Before the wedding, Shen Ruomian laid down three rules, promising she wouldn't take advantage of him and that, if he wanted a divorce in the future, she would let him go with dignity.
After they married, Shen Ruomian felt guilty for taking advantage of his situation. She did her best to make it up to him and treated him like family.
Later, while he was asleep, Shen Ruomian secretly held his slender, calloused fingers and started figuring out how to make him willingly stay.
Gu Qiu was one of the few older unmarried men in the village. After his parents died, he had to take over his mother's work as a hunter to support his younger siblings.
When his siblings grew up, Gu Qiu reluctantly agreed to marry an older widow introduced by a matchmaker, for the sake of his younger brother's reputation.
But then the poor scholar from the village who'd failed the imperial exam suddenly came to him and asked him to enter a marriage of convenience.
Gu Qiu agreed.
After they married, the poor scholar kept her promise and let him come and go freely. Despite everyone else's disapproval, she treated him with the utmost respect.
Little by little, Gu Qiu fell for the poor scholar. He began doing his utmost to manage the household and earn money to support her as she traveled to the capital to sit the imperial exam.
But the poor scholar was no longer poor. She even passed all three highest imperial examinations and became a promising top-ranked scholar's wife, surrounded by handsome, sweet, and gentle young men.
Looking at his rough, calloused hands, worn from years of hard work, Gu Qiu thought: Those people are right. How could a country bumpkin like him ever deserve a top-ranked scholar's wife, so gifted and beautiful?
She was no longer a poor scholar and didn't need him anymore. He should know when to let go.
1. Marriage first, love later; mutual secret crushes, healing each other, and growing together.
2. The female lead is gentle and adored by everyone. The male lead is three years older than her. His insecurity makes him pretend to be magnanimous, and she helps him heal.
3. Both are virgins, one-on-one, male pregnancy, sweet romance.
Theme: Supporting each other and growing together.
