A Business Marriage in the Nineties

When Gu Rui woke up, she'd returned to the 1990s, an era of rapid economic growth that was also facing a period of transition.

Her eldest brother had taken over their father's job, and her eldest sister had taken over their mother's. She was the only one who hadn't gotten into college, and her future looked bleak.

Considering the factory's poor performance and the wages owed to her eldest daughter and son, her father had to choose between asking around to find Gu Rui a job and finding her a husband. He chose the latter.

The man was the son of a coal boss, born to a local woman while his father was working in the countryside. And he was also...

Gu Rui's boss in her previous life.

Thinking of her boss, the coal tycoon who was still an elegant gentleman at fifty, and remembering the rumors at work about her being the boss's former blind date...

They said she was too blind to recognize a good thing, found herself another boyfriend, and went south to work to put him through school, only to disappear without a trace...

When it came down to choosing between the blind date and looking for a job thirty years early, Gu Rui decisively chose the job.

But on the day of the blind date, the young man sitting across from her looked like a complete loafer, with a bruise at the corner of his mouth from a fight.

"I'm no good at much, but I'm great in bed. I've got a huge appetite. How about letting me try you out first?"

Gu Rui stared at him for three full seconds. "Sure. The woods or the cornfield?"

He fled in a panic.

*

Pei Zheng had only just been brought back to the city when his father introduced him to a date through his newly married stepmother.

She had no education, no job, and nothing but a pretty face. He'd heard she was as beautiful as his stepmother.

He was annoyed, but had no choice but to go, so he deliberately teased her...

For years afterward, whenever Pei Zheng struggled to win his wife over and she beat him to the punch in business, he wanted to travel back in time and ask his younger self:

"Pei Zheng, are you an idiot? Are you? Couldn't you have kept that smart mouth of yours shut?"

Theme: Success never comes easily.