Pampering the Sickly Little Husband

Song Tingzhu is the second young master of the wealthy Song family in Xunyang Prefecture. Born to a concubine who died when he was young, he has spent his life confined to the remote Bamboo Garden due to a severe congenital illness. His father, Song Xing'an, built his business empire on a debt of gratitude to Liu Dasheng, a poor villager who saved him from bandits twenty years ago. To honor this debt, a marriage contract was signed between the Song family and the Liu family. The contract originally designated Song Tingzhu's older half-sister, Song Rui'er, to marry into the Liu family. However, Song Rui'er vehemently refuses the match, viewing the Liu family as impoverished country bumpkins who would damage the Song family's social standing. Her mother, Song Madam, shares her disdain and devises a plan to evade the contract without breaking it.

Instead of allowing her favored daughter to marry into poverty, Song Madam decides to send Song Tingzhu in his sister's place. She manipulates her husband into agreeing, exploiting the loophole that the contract does not specify a gender or name, only that a Song child would marry into the Liu family. Song Tingzhu, who has long viewed his life as a burden and his existence as meaningless, accepts the arrangement with chilling indifference. He sees the marriage as a release from the oppressive Song household, preferring to die in the Liu family's care than continue his slow decline in isolation. Before departing, he quietly frees his loyal servants, Qing He and Hongmei, giving them his meager savings to start new lives, and bids a silent farewell to his wet nurse, Granny Liu.

Song Tingzhu is drugged and transported in a sedan chair to Yunxi Village on his wedding day. The Liu family, led by his new husband Liu Hu and his mother Ruan Xiulian, awaits the bride. When the veil is blown away by the wind, the villagers discover that the bride is not a woman but a frail, sickly man. Chaos erupts. The Liu family's matriarch, Granny Liu Cuie, demands the marriage be called off and seeks compensation for the embarrassment and expenses. However, Liu Hu, a simple and strong farmhand, unexpectedly defends Song Tingzhu. Having witnessed the cruelty directed at his new husband, Liu Hu declares that Song Tingzhu is his wife and refuses to let him go. He physically intimidates the opposing relatives, forcing them to accept the marriage.

The Song family's matchmaker leaves, warning the Liu family that they cannot escape the consequences of offending the powerful Song clan. Song Tingzhu collapses from exhaustion and poison shortly after the ceremony. The Liu family, despite their poverty and resentment, decides to care for him. Liu Hu works tirelessly to find a doctor, eventually hiring Zhou Shuyi, a young but skilled physician from the town. Zhou Shuyi diagnoses Song Tingzhu as being poisoned with a slow-acting toxin, a revelation that shocks the family. Although the cure is expensive and likely impossible for the poor Liu family to afford, Liu Hu remains steadfast in his commitment to his husband.

Life in the Liu household is harsh. The family lives in a dilapidated mud house and struggles to make ends meet. Song Tingzhu witnesses the family's poverty firsthand, including the meager diet of wild vegetable porridge and the favoritism shown to the younger generation. Despite his deteriorating health, he finds a strange sense of peace in this new environment. Liu Hu treats him with genuine kindness and devotion, feeding him and sharing his meager resources. Song Tingzhu begins to feel a connection to Liu Hu, a warmth he has never experienced in his life. He hides his dwindling savings, intending to secure a future for Liu Hu even if he himself does not survive. The story follows Song Tingzhu's adaptation to rural life and his evolving relationship with Liu Hu, as they navigate the challenges of poverty, family dynamics, and his failing health.