Arranged marriage, then love / Age gap
1.
The first time Shen Huining met Xie Shiyan, she was so afraid of him that the fear sank into her bones.
She attended Old Master Xie's eightieth birthday banquet with her elders.
The Xie family's sprawling estate was a maze. Her elders took her younger sister along and forgot about Shen Huining, so she wandered into the rear garden through the misty rain.
White walls and dark roof tiles, with the eaves sweeping up at the corners.
That day, a gentle rain fell over Nanjiang. She saw a man seated in a pavilion, wearing a brand-new suit that looked entirely out of place, his expression aloof and his manner stern.
Several members of the Xie family, usually so arrogant and domineering, stood before him.
As he brewed tea, Xie Shiyan calmly admonished them until their heads drooped and their faces turned pale and red by turns.
When his narrow eyes glanced her way, Shen Huining, spying from a corner, was too frightened to make a sound.
Later, he walked over, taking his time, his voice devoid of warmth. "Are you really that scared?"
Just then, her elders found her. "Ningning, this is your Uncle Xie."
She was sixteen that year, too afraid to look him in the eye.
She never imagined that one day, after the world had turned, she would become Mrs. Xie of this illustrious family.
2.
The marriage alliance between the Xie and Shen families of Nanjiang, which brought Shen Huining and Xie Shiyan together, was an accident.
The Shen family's unloved daughter was marrying into the Xie family, and no one had much faith in the match.
Shen Huining heard the Xie family's arrogance and neglect, as well as the rumors circulating throughout the city.
In the year they were married, she saw him only a handful of times. She went to study in the capital alone, and he never once came to visit her.
Even then, Shen Huining knew that she was Mrs. Xie, but Mr. Xie would never love her.
3.
Until the year of the Xie family's ancestral rites, when the entire clan gathered in force.
On a mountain path of stone steps, he lifted the hem of his coat and carried her up all 1,118 moss-covered steps.
Everyone watched, and no one dared look down on her again.
Before the resting place of their ancestors, he held her hand, solemn and tender.
"Ningning."
"You became Mrs. Xie because I asked you to."
Later, she happened upon two extra lines on their marriage certificate.
They were written in his strong, vigorous hand.
"Ningning, I will be with you."
"Through frost, wind, snow, and rain, in life and in death."
Her heart gave a sudden tug.
Their remaining years would be long and unhurried. She would stand with him and protect this illustrious family.
Theme: .
