Better Than Summer: A Marriage Before Love Romance - Chapter 1

It was early April, and the entire Puxi area was immersed in the beauty and fragrance of blooming flowers.

But for Shen Tingxia, an office worker who had finally made it to the weekend, all she wanted was to lose herself in sleep.

At 4 PM, Shen Tingxia was awakened by the doorbell. Irritated, she rolled over, pulled the quilt over her head, and pressed her hands tightly against her ears, trying to block out the noise.

After two minutes, the doorbell finally stopped. But it was immediately replaced by the even more urgent ringing of her phone.

Shen Tingxia initially ignored it, but the phone seemed determined to ring until she picked up.

Arms emerged from under the quilt, pushing it down to reveal her head and messy hair. She let out an exasperated sigh, groped for the phone beside her pillow, glanced at the caller ID, and resigned herself to answering.

“Tingxia, are you home?”

Shen Tingxia held the phone loosely to her ear and lazily mumbled, “Mm-hmm.”

The door was locked. Qu Mama knew the passcode. If she entered the code and still couldn’t get in, how could she not know if Tingxia was home? What a pointless question…
“Then why did you pretend not to hear me ringing the bell for so long? Open the door quickly, I need to talk to you.”

Shen Tingxia almost got blasted off the bed by her mother’s roar. After hanging up, she took a deep breath, threw off the quilt, got out of bed, and shuffled in her pajamas and slippers to the entryway to open the door for her dear mother, Madam Qu Xianglan.

Madam Qu had just retired this year. She never had many hobbies when she was younger, and now that she was free, she was a bit at loose ends.

To put it bluntly, her mother had entered a phase of “looking for trouble.”

The door opened. Shen Tingxia glanced at her mother and walked back inside.

Qu Xianglan entered, closed the door, deftly took out her own slippers, changed into them, and walked further in.

Seeing Shen Tingxia sprawled inelegantly on the sofa in her pajamas, with one leg tucked under her, Qu Xianglan walked over, patted her leg, and said disdainfully, “Sit properly!”

Shen Tingxia opened her eyes reluctantly, moved the leg she was sitting on out from under her, shifted her body, and sat up with slightly better posture. Her voice was hoarse from sleep. “What did you want to tell me?”

At this, Qu Xianglan perked up. “Your Aunt Fan has a friend whose son is two years older than you. He graduated from Jiao Tong University, works at a foreign company like you, is 1.8 meters tall, tall, thin, and fair-skinned. Are you interested in meeting him?”

Shen Tingxia listened patiently. She glanced at her mother and saw her looking at her with eager anticipation. But Shen Tingxia’s cold water was mercilessly poured. “Not interested.”

Instantly, Shen Tingxia saw her mother’s face stiffen, the smile vanishing instantly.

“Shen Tingxia! Then tell me what kind of guy you do like! I’ll find someone according to your requirements! Look at you, huh? You’re 28 this year, aren’t you? Not dating anyone! Every time I introduce you to someone, you either think they’re too short, too fat, or too dark! This time, I found you someone tall, thin, fair, with a similar education and work environment, and you still don’t want to go! Tell me, what exactly do you want? And is looks really that important? Isn’t it enough if he treats you well?” Qu Xianglan frowned, utterly perplexed.

This wasn’t the first time. Shen Tingxia had heard her mother invent these “friends” at least four times already.

The first two times, Shen Tingxia cooperatively added them on WeChat, only to mute their messages after two days. That was the end of that. The next two times, Shen Tingxia was forced to meet them. She’d talk for barely two or three sentences before excusing herself with work and running off, not even remembering their names.

Today, Shen Tingxia stopped pretending. She raked a hand through her hair and laid it out plainly. “Mom, I’m already exhausted from work all week. Why do you have to steal my rest time and force me to socialize with irrelevant people?”

Qu Xianglan tried to persuade her daughter with her own logic, speaking earnestly. “Your life is all work! When I ask what you’re doing, you’re always busy! You can’t devote all your time to work! What can work give you back? Are you going to spend your whole life with your job? You’ll get married eventually. If you don’t start dating now, by the time you want to, all that’ll be left are other people’s cast-offs! Taking a step back, even if you don’t date, at least make more friends! Enrich your life! Don’t become a machine that only knows how to work!”

Shen Tingxia listened while mentally rebutting every point.

Busy was an excuse – couldn’t she tell? She was busy with work, but not so busy she spent 18 hours a day at the office. Besides work, she wasn’t only working. She had casual hookups too, and hung out with friends! She hadn’t devoted all her time to work.
As for what work gave her back? Money, of course! A 400,000 yuan annual salary job wasn’t easy. But besides money, it also gave her a wrecked body and somewhat unhealthy mental state.

What was wrong with spending her life with work? At least work wouldn’t betray her. She chose the work, not the other way around.

Dating someone else’s leftovers? Impossible. She’d be the one leaving leftovers for others. Though lately, she’d been “well-behaved,” not dating much, just maintaining one regular sexual partner.

And she really wasn’t short on friends. When you’re good enough, plenty of people want to be your friend.

Honestly, her life was pretty fulfilling. It certainly wasn’t as bleak as her mother imagined, not entirely consumed by work.

But all this, Shen Tingxia only muttered to herself internally. If she said it out loud, she might give her mother a heart attack. That wouldn’t be worth it.

“Is there anything else besides this?”

Shen Tingxia didn’t want to discuss this with her mother.

“Only this today!”

Hearing this, Shen Tingxia stood up immediately and walked straight back to her bedroom without looking back. “Then you should go home. I won’t meet him. I have work to do. Please close the door properly on your way out.”

With that, Shen Tingxia closed her bedroom door. Immediately after, she heard her mother’s scolding voice from behind the door: “Shen Tingxia! If you won’t go meet him, who will introduce you to anyone later when you finally want someone? You reject them one after another! Soon, no one will bother introducing anyone to you! You stubborn girl! If you don’t date, don’t get married, just see what you’ll do when you’re old!”

Shen Tingxia had heard these words too many times; she was immune. As if getting married solved all problems, changed your destiny, bought you foolproof insurance for your old age…

Although Shen Tingxia wasn’t anti-marriage, she wasn’t that optimistic about it either.

She stopped listening to the rest. The last thing she registered was the sound of the front door slamming shut.

Hearing it, Shen Tingxia let out a huge sigh.

She opened her laptop. She really did have work to do.

The PowerPoint presentation needed for Monday’s meeting wasn’t finished even after working on it until 4 AM. She’d been so hungry she ate instant noodles before finally going to sleep without even showering.

Now, sitting cross-legged at her desk, she casually picked up a shark clip and pinned up her long hair. But after staring at the PPT on the screen for nearly ten minutes, she hadn’t typed a single word. Her mind was filled with the image of her mother looking for trouble.

Before retirement, Qu Xianglan had been especially kind and amiable. Nothing like this.

So frustrating!

Shen Tingxia slammed her laptop shut, yanked off the shark clip, and tossed it carelessly onto the desk. She rubbed her itchy scalp roughly with her hands, stood up, found some clothes, and headed for the shower.

Standing naked before the shower, Shen Tingxia turned on the hot water. But after waiting and waiting, it didn’t get even lukewarm.

Wrapping a towel around herself, she went to the kitchen to check the water heater. She didn’t understand it. Seeing a service number on it, she dialed. The person on the other end said the technicians were short-staffed; the earliest they could come was Monday.

After hanging up, Shen Tingxia slumped into a chair. Even more frustrated!

Why couldn’t one thing go smoothly today!

Suddenly, Shen Tingxia thought of someone. Come to think of it, it had been almost a month since they’d last met.

Since work started back up after the New Year, she’d been genuinely swamped, busy beyond belief, working overtime until 8 or 9 PM every night. By the time she got home, ate, and washed up, she just collapsed into bed, wanting to do nothing, completely devoid of any personal life.

At this moment, Shen Tingxia actually felt Madam Qu might have a point…

Changing back into street clothes, Shen Tingxia grabbed her phone and car keys and headed for that person’s house.

Twenty minutes later, Shen Tingxia stood at his door and pressed the doorbell once.

She wouldn’t be like Madam Qu, pressing it incessantly.

After a while, no one answered. Shen Tingxia realized he might not be home.

She hadn’t called or messaged him before coming. After all, their work situations were different; he didn’t have fixed weekends, working shifts instead. Showing up unannounced like this, an empty house was to be expected.

Just as she turned to leave, the door suddenly opened.

Shen Tingxia looked up at the sound. Standing before her was a tall, well-built man. He looked like he’d just showered, dressed in casual clothes, revealing tanned skin. He was still damp, his hair wet and uncombed.

Usually, when she came, it was after 8 PM. It was rare for her to show up at his place before dark.

Perhaps because of the long time apart, or perhaps surprised to see her at this hour, the man froze for a moment before stepping aside to let her in.

“Make yourself at home,” he said, then headed towards the bedroom.

Shen Tingxia took her slippers from the shoe cabinet, put them on, and walked familiarly to the kitchen. She opened the fridge, grabbed a can of soda, and as she closed the fridge door, the sound of a hairdryer drifted from the distance.

She returned to the living room, sat sideways on the sofa with one leg tucked under her, popped the tab on the can with a fizz, pulled the ring off, took a couple of sips, and placed it on the table behind her.

Looking around, Shen Tingxia surveyed the apartment. It was no different from her previous visits – always clean and tidy. Unlike her own place, which, to be polite, was “organized chaos,” or to be blunt… well, best not to say…

Within a couple of minutes, Xi Chengnan came out of the bedroom holding his phone and walked straight to the kitchen.

“Have you eaten?” A deep voice reached Shen Tingxia’s ears.

She turned her head towards the kitchen. Xi Chengnan stood at the island counter, his hair now dry. His large hand rested on the countertop, sleeves pushed up slightly, revealing a forearm with prominent veins. He radiated a clean, refreshing aura.

Shen Tingxia shook her head. “No.”

She’d only had a cup of instant noodles since the early hours of the morning and a couple of sips of soda. Now that he mentioned it, she felt a bit hungry.

Before she could say more, she heard him ask, “Want to eat something together?”

Without waiting for her answer, she saw Xi Chengnan move his hand, turn around, and open the fridge.

Shen Tingxia watched his fluid movements from the sofa, feeling no apology for her sudden intrusion. She started making small talk. “Did you just get off work?”

“Mm. Just got back from the hospital. Chicken wings?” His reply was casual. They knew little about each other’s daily lives. The clearest understanding was of each other’s sensitive spots on their bodies.

Shen Tingxia shrugged. “I’m fine with anything.”

But she felt… strangely distant? Had a month apart created this gap?

Xi Chengnan took half a head of cabbage, a small piece of meat, and some chicken wings from the fridge.

His hands kept busy, he voiced his question. “Why so early today?”

Shen Tingxia couldn’t possibly tell him she was so frustrated she needed to vent, and also wanted a shower.

She pushed the thoughts aside, deliberately standing up with a faint smile and walking slowly towards the kitchen doorway. “Wanted to see if you have any other partners besides me.”

Xi Chengnan’s hands stilled. He glanced sideways at her, eyes narrowing slightly, brows furrowing a touch. His voice lowered slightly. “And? What do you see?”

Shen Tingxia nodded thoughtfully, her smile faint. “I’ll go shower first.”