● A slow-witted, wooden-headed sweetheart X a fatherly, aloof beauty
◎ Art museum docent X university professor Daddy
[Fake] teacher-student relationship / married first, love later / old flames rekindled / ten-year age gap / stealing someone else's love
Ming Zhi had been entangled with her top-tier star ex-boyfriend for five years.
They broke up and got back together, keeping things so secret that they didn't even dare tell their families.
After he dumped her yet again, she agreed in a fit of pique to a blind date arranged by her family.
The date was at a private teahouse.
Ming Zhi pushed open the door absent-mindedly. Through the misty tea steam, she saw the man sitting across from her.
A white shirt, gold-rimmed glasses, and an aloof air as cold as mountain snow.
It was Shi Yue, her university love-course instructor and her ex-boyfriend's uncle.
Back when she and her ex-boyfriend were at their most tumultuous, Professor Shi had repeatedly stepped in as an elder to help them work through their relationship.
Ming Zhi thought he'd long forgotten her. Hoping against hope, she lowered her head and tried to pretend she wasn't there.
But the man set down his teacup. His deep gaze cut through the steam and landed squarely on her.
“Ming Zhi.” “Here!”
Ming Zhi jumped up as soon as her name was called, as awkward as a student who hadn't turned in her homework. She greeted him sheepishly: “P-Professor Shi, hello.”
Shi Yue smiled and pushed a cup of hot tea toward her, gently correcting her: “Ming Zhi, calling me Professor Shi isn't quite appropriate on a blind date.”
-
Every morning at seven, Shi Yue got up on time to wash. When he opened the door, he found the girl sleepily squeezing toothpaste onto her brush, about to wash up too.
The moment she saw someone enter, she woke right up. Startled, she trembled, squeezed a huge mound of toothpaste onto her brush, and even flicked a blob onto the side of the sink.
In a panic, she grabbed a face towel and tried to scrub away the toothpaste mark without even wetting it. She stammered out a greeting: “G-good morning, Professor Shi...”
Shi Yue picked up his toothbrush. While waiting for her to finish with the toothpaste, he asked, puzzled, “Am I really that scary? Is it because of my job?” His tone had unconsciously turned stern, like a teacher calling on a student in class.
Ming Zhi squeezed toothpaste onto her brush again and muttered under her breath, “Sorry, Professor Shi. It's not just you. I was scared of my parents as a kid, scared of teachers at school, and scared of my boss at work...”
So it was just because of his profession. Shi Yue took the toothpaste, looked at her, and corrected her again: “But I'm your husband now.”
Ming Zhi was about to turn on the tap. Her wrist jerked, and the toothpaste she'd just squeezed out went flying onto the side of the sink with a splat.
Shi Yue turned sideways and watched the girl clutch her toothbrush in both hands as she fled the master bedroom and headed straight for the guest bathroom.
She stumbled as she ran. He couldn't help laughing, and thought of the day his mother had shown him her photo for the blind date.
Looking at the picture, his first thought had been: Has this little girl, who cried through an entire pack of tissues in the office, finally broken up with that good-for-nothing nephew of mine?
So the first thing he blurted out was, “Isn't the age gap a bit much?”
His second line was the excuse he always used to turn these things down: “Mom, how many times have I told you? I'm not getting married.”
“I'd been perfectly healthy all my life. Then I met you, and came down with an incurable case of wife devotion.”
[Reading Guide]
1. The couple: a slow-witted sweetheart with a fear-of-teachers complex, who gets patiently guided by the hand later on, and a calm, emotionally observant man who gradually awakens to his desires, transforming from gentle and refined to a cunning, flirtatious Daddy-type older beauty.
2. 158 cm x 191 cm. Sagittarius woman x Capricorn man.
3. The heroine isn't a virgin; the hero is. The author is fond of the “Has he been to XX too?”, “Who taught you that?” school of romance. There are lots of vulgar kinks, and this is one of them.
4. The heroine had already turned 18 when she met the hero. There is no romance while their teacher-student relationship is ongoing. Calling each other “teacher” and “student” is a lingering effect of their first impressions, and part of their roleplay.
[Starts October 26. Kisses and thanks to everyone whose support helped get this story started!]
[Warning to everyone with wife devotion: Your wife is an independent person. Stop being possessive of her. She can do whatever she wants. Damn it, who are you talking to, honey? Who did you chat with today? Can't I be the only one? Why aren't you replying to my messages? Damn it, you're smiling at someone else too? Are you trying to kill me?] @From the internet
25.8.23 / Revised 26.5.5 / The premise hasn't changed.
Next novel: Sparrow Harbor
Theme: Freedom and love
