Hydrangea Ball

This is the author's first work, and the serial has been completed! To repay the readers who supported this novel, the author plans to give it a thorough revision by the end of 2026, with bonus stories to follow.

[Blurb]

Money-loving heroine runs away again and again X paternalistic tycoon spends a fortune chasing his wife (Also known as: The Embroidered Ball)

[The Serious Blurb]

“How did the Chen family's young master's embroidered ball, meant to choose a bride, end up in a pot of wontons?”

“The Chen family? The leading family among the four great salt merchants?”

Li Yang never imagined that her parents would disappear, leaving her an orphan overnight. To make ends meet, she had no choice but to set up a wonton stall on the main street. But today, someone had precisely “smashed” her livelihood... Clutching the embroidered ball, she looked up at the culprit on the upper floor: Chen Junbai, dressed in white, with an elegant bearing like an immortal descended from the heavens.

“Ah, miss, are you going to marry him or not? If not, my daughter is just the right age...”

“I'll marry him!”

She had to save enough money to go look for her parents. No one was going to get in the way of her good fortune.

-

At that moment, Chen Junbai's lips were pressed into a thin line, his brows drooping gloomily. He looked just like a... copper coin. He coldly handed over a stack of “betrothal gifts.” “We'll divorce in two years. You can keep all of this.”

A marriage by contract?

Even better. In two years, she could go look for her family.

In the days that followed, she racked her brains to make money. She checked the accounts, uncovered embezzlement, renovated the flower house, ran a teahouse, and developed new teas... What? They wouldn't let her keep making money?

Forget it! Whoever wants to be the young madam can do it.

Oh, this is your house? Then I'm leaving.

Later, her Zhaoyang Teahouse became famous not only in Songshan Town, but also expanded all the way to the capital.

-

Chen Junbai's parents had been at odds since he was a child. To him, marriage could only slow down his money-making.

And so the aging tycoon was forced by his family to go on blind dates.

He casually tossed out an embroidered ball and hitched himself a “wife.” Who could have guessed that the young lady would turn the Chen family estate upside down, leaving chaos and commotion in her wake, and bringing it to life... Mm, his wife was irresistible. Wait, his wife ran away?!

After that, his life went through ups and downs, then more ups, but he could never escape running after his wife and calling, “My dear, wait for me! I've come up with another way to make money.”

May the road ahead be bright, and may the sun, moon, and stars rise for you.

[An Optional Little Scene]

Later, people in Songshan Town loved to talk about the salt merchant surnamed Chen, who had snatched up embroidered balls ninety-nine times and still failed to win back his wife's heart... The fifteenth of this month was another day he'd be trying to catch one. The townspeople brought stools, melon seeds, and tea, ready to watch where the Chen family's young madam's embroidered ball would land this time.

[Notes and Warnings]

1. This is a fictional setting modeled after the Qing dynasty, with plenty of invented details. Please don't nitpick the history.

2. A powerful, paternalistic male lead who is aloof toward outsiders X a clever, charming heroine who goes all out. Both are devoted only to each other, and each is the other's first love.

3. Food, business, street life, warmth, everyday moments, an ensemble cast, cats and dogs, making and counting money, and a romance that unfolds at a leisurely pace.

4. The heroine's maternal grandmother transmigrated to ancient times, but this only appears as background information in the story and has no impact on its social setting. It only means that the heroine's mother was raised with more open-minded ideas than most. Official position: This minor character is not enough to classify the novel as a transmigration story.

5. 80% anti-piracy protection, 48-hour delay.

Theme: Resentment is overcome by having no resentment