Casting Nets to Catch a Husband

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Liu Yu, with her exquisite beauty, was sold into a brothel by her heartless parents in her previous life and died on the night she left the pavilion in the most luxurious brothel in Yangzhou City.

When she opened her eyes again, she had returned to the year she was fifteen, just one month before being sold to the matchmaker by her parents.

With her rebirth, there was one urgent matter at hand.
Within a month, she had to find a good husband for herself, escape from the Liu family, and avoid the fate of being sold in her previous life.

She took all the money she could spare, knocked on the door of the matchmaker’s house in Changfeng Town. And as soon as she left the matchmaker’s house, she met a young man. The matchmaker whispered to her, “Lu Chengxiao, the third son of the Lu family, the owner of the Lu Feng Cloth Shop.”

Liu Yu understood; he was her third target.

Recently, Lu Chengxiao had encountered a beautiful woman several times and admired her. He was thinking it was a match destined for marriage.

It wasn’t until one day when they met in the mountains, the beautiful woman twisted her foot and couldn’t move so he carried her all the way.

When he returned to deliver the medicine, he saw the beautiful woman walking lightly, with no sign of a twisted foot. The heat behind his ears receded, and his eyes grew colder. He turned and went back to Changfeng Town.

Several days later, the beautiful woman shyly handed him a purse, thanking him for his help.

Lu Chengxiao sneered, “Thanking me for helping? That day, I turned back and saw the lady walking normally. Why would I need to help?”

“I can’t accept this purse. If we privately exchange gifts, it might be hard to explain later. It’s better for the lady to keep her dignity.”

Alright, this one couldn’t work. Liu Yu took back the purse, curtsied, and walked away…

Lu Chengxiao thought it was a decisive rejection, until several days later, he saw Liu Yu drop an embroidered handkerchief in front of the bookshop where the young man, Chen Sheng, worked. The gentleman picked up the scented handkerchief, and the beautiful woman blushed and thanked him. What a beautiful encounter.

Lu Chengxiao: “…”

A wave of frustration welled up in his chest, and he clenched his teeth as he tossed and turned in his dreams.

Until later, when he saw Liu Yu about to stage a falling-into-the-water scene, Lu Chengxiao panicked. He jumped into the river before Chen Sheng, pulled her ashore, held her slender waist, and couldn’t help but feel both angry and pained. He didn’t even want to ask more questions. He just held her in his arms and almost begged, “Don’t you want a good marriage? I’ll marry you!”

【This is a story that begins with scheming, falls into love, with a heart full of sincerity, and ends up in a marriage. It is also a story of two major businesses rising, with elements of urban and farming life.]

Translator’s Note: It was about a beautiful girl who was sold by her family and became a courtesan.(More like a geisha because she just performs dances and sings for the men.) She died before they can sell her body to the highest bidder and woke up (rebirth) to the time before her family sold her. So she schemed to find a husband to escape her previous life, and they flourished in life together

Associated Names
One entry per line
Zhejun
折君
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
After Rebirth, I was Entangled by a Second Generation Rich Guy Again (1)
Assassin Farmer (1)
Greetings, Ninth Uncle (1)
Recommendation Lists
  1. Historical/ Fantasy BG
  2. God of Transmigration/Reincarnation 3
  3. Started
  4. (4) DESIRES of the HEART part 4
  5. Binge-worthy (Historical) #2

Latest Release

Date Group Release
04/25/24 Second Life Translations c94
04/24/24 Second Life Translations c93
04/21/24 Second Life Translations c92
04/19/24 Second Life Translations c49
04/19/24 Second Life Translations c91
04/16/24 Second Life Translations c90
04/14/24 Second Life Translations c89 part4
04/12/24 Second Life Translations c88
04/10/24 Second Life Translations c87
04/08/24 Second Life Translations c86
04/05/24 Second Life Translations c85
04/03/24 Second Life Translations c84
04/01/24 Second Life Translations c83
03/28/24 Second Life Translations c82
03/27/24 Second Life Translations c81
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12 Reviews sorted by


Alice.H
New Alice.H rated it
April 16, 2024
Status: Completed
It would be a nice story if author did not include unnecessary drama near the end.

... more>>
Spoiler

The Mr. Liu who was supposed to redeem MC in past life later kidnapped her because of jealousy, only to be told that he and MC can't be together because they were cousins.

Why adding more villain? The story almost end.

Just let him be a decent person.

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I'm confused with the purpose of the extra story after the main story end like that.

Spoiler

Apparently MC's cousin (the Mr. Liu) was the grandson of the current regent and both of them was unaware of this fact.

And it's just end like that.

I pity the cousin's father, he never know his real father and was confused all his life about the reason why he was abandoned by his mother.

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frostcrystal
frostcrystal rated it
January 6, 2024
Status: Completed
I can see where all the 4-star reviews come from. This is basically 3 stories with different genres inside one.

The first story, about 55 chapters or so, is a tense and tightly-woven story about a girl trying to escape being sold into a brothel. The second, about 140 chapters long, is this very chill, sweet, cute story about a girl, her boyfriend and her brothers building a business empire. And the third is about 15 chapters long and about...

... more>>
Spoiler

surprise extra rich villain love interest????

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And then it ends very abruptly. : (So it really feels like the novel was not finished properly. I feel like the third part of the story could have been majorly softened to be less melodramatic and started a bit earlier to tie off some story threads for characters we've come to love.

(There is also one other negative about this story and it is that it seems like every character shares about 5 surnames so it is hard to keep track of people.) <<less
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midori_13
midori_13 rated it
November 11, 2023
Status: Completed
It's a cute story ☺️.

But it wasn't for me, because I don't like the "daily life" genre, so it was kinda boring in my opinion.

I only gave four stars, because the male lead was a good person, which is rare to find. Since the majority of Chinese novels that I read before, the male leads were all shitty, cold scumbags that treat the female leads very bad. But in this story, male lead was very innocent and gentle and treated female lead very well. He was romantic and fluffy.

Besides, I... more>> really liked how the author portrayed the reality of men and women in a patriarchal society. Highlighting the importance of men in the family, while women are relegated as less important... We can see that in the family of the female lead's stepfather. The daughter in law with a son was favored, and that son was really spoiled, using all the money of the family to be well fed and receive a good education, contrary to the daughters.

But at the same time, I didn't give a five stars because of the behavior of female lead, for scheming and playing with people's feelings, even if it was to save her own life and get a marriage to not be sold, I still think that it was imoral and not right to mess up with the heart of innocent young men.

Another negative point, is how the novel spent so much time explaining about unnecessary daily life events just to rush the plot in the end... the end seemed really incomplete and lacking...

Spoilers! ⛔️

Spoiler

Plot - With a lot of Spoilers!

Spoiler

The story is exactly like described in the summary.

In first life, female lead, Liu Yu, was sold to a luxury brothel and ended up killing herself to prevent to sleep with the pe*vert and nasty client.

In the second life, female lead was yet to be sold by her stepfather's family. To prevent that horrible fate again, she try to find a good and wealthy husband to save herself.

The first young man, the male lead, Lu Chengxiao, was from a wealthy family of a clothes and fabric store. He falls in love with her at first sight, but he ended up discovering her schemes and put an end to her pursuing.

Female lead got humiliated, but since she didn't have much time, she goes find her best second option.

The second male lead Chen Sheng, was also from a relatively wealthy family, that owned a book store. He also falls in love with her at first sight, but his mother doesn't approve the marriage because of female lead's family being poor and have a bad reputation.

Without option, female lead goes find her third option, Master Li, a wealthy widowed that deeply loved his deceased wife but was under pressure by his bedridden mother to marry again. This time female lead doesn't try to scheme, she is sincere about her situation and try to start a contract marriage with the widow... saying that they could live their separate lives and she also could help to take care of his sick mother if he prevented her from being sold. He said he would think about it and give an answer in a couple of days.

But unfortunately before the two days, female lead's stepfather tried to sold her. Female lead were able to run away, and by destiny, she ended up bumping into her father's family, that were looking for her for fifteen years.

Long story short, her father's family wasn't wealthy and were composed by her auntie and three cousins but treated her super well. Male lead Lu Chengxiao, when discovered that female lead was being sold, did everything he could to find her, and in the end, he found her with her paternal family.

After a while they got engaged and married. Female lead opened an embroidery shop, while male lead became a merchant together with her cousins.

That's when the daily life genre begins... the story basically started narrating how they started an embroidery shop and dealt with the merchant business, how they bought a house, saved money and started expanding their business, sprinkled with some fluff moments between the main couple. Since I don't like "slice of life", it was a little boring 😴...

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But like I said before, if you like sweet and gentle male leads, the novel is really worth.

Spoiler

Despite his love for female lead, being a little forced to me, I think it's really possible to fall deeply in love at first sight, sometimes we can't explain rationally the chemistry and attraction between two people. But of course, that the stunning appearance of female lead must have helped.

Anyway, he was so polite and cute ☺️... I really liked this guy.

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What I didn't like in the story was the female lead.

Spoiler

For me, she was too schemy and cunning.

Rationally speaking she was doing what was best for her.

But morally speaking she was such a bad and selfish person that was playing with people's feelings.

I know it's hard, but I wish she could be a good person and chose a honorable path to solve her situation... like running away and trying to find an occupation like working in an embroidery shop or something like that without playing and manipulating with people's heart.

Or at least she could be honest and explain herself, that would be better than deceive people... like saying that she approached those guys with second intentions but she was desperate because her family was going to sell her off. I know she did explain herself, but only with the third target, she didn't explain herself with the first and second targets, she only tried to seduce and manipulate them.

I think she represents the worst side of a woman, trying to use seduction to get ahead. I know that's the reality of ancient women, especially because they didn't hold any power, since they had to obey and follow their fathers and husbands. Their only power, was to try to manipulate the men in their lives... but still, reading that does leave a bitter taste...

Especially because, it was really sad to see how the second target, Chen Sheng, got heartbroken by the manipulation of female lead.

I also think that was really strange... in the beginning, female lead was really thick skinned, not caring in manipulating people and act coquettish to save herself. But after she got rescued by her paternal family, she got all thin skinned, very shy, acting all lady like, prude and innocent with things related to the opposite s*x. It was a 180° change from the beginning.

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My favorite character was Babao, the male lead's servant. He was very cute in the way he advised male lead about love 🥰.

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RadBABYYYY
RadBABYYYY rated it
October 20, 2023
Status: c213
MTL is easy to read

aaaaaah this novel gives you a fuzzy feeling truely cute and lighthearted.

Big thanks to Sansukini from Second life translations for the great translations ❤️

The ML is a walking green flag with a smart FL and the great plot mwah chef’s kiss 😙🤏

its been a long time since I enjoyed a novel like this worth giving it a shot!
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Naimena
Naimena rated it
November 1, 2023
Status: Completed
The premise was interesting enough. FL was pretty good, ML was basically perfect.

The first part was quite well done. Deep, heartwarming relationships and familial bonds. Business journey. Deserved a 5/5

Sadly, that's it. In contrast, second part was poorly solved and the ending was abrupt. Extras didn't help at all. Where did that come from? I felt like the author ended it in a rush, and it shows.

Promising start, well-rounded characters with a disappointing finale.
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kyrez
kyrez rated it
January 19, 2024
Status: Completed
I like the romance (even the cringy 'scheming'/'calculating' part where I have to avert my eyes or just skip altogether and then come back again) ..

... more>>
Spoiler

I also like how the FL was actually wary and scared that she herself was a ghost (I guess ancient people think like that, but here the author actually put in writing the FL's confusion and predicament of her rebirth) .

So she's not a super woman who is omnipotent, thus her clumsy plan to 'seduce' a husband (and failed on 2 of her plans) . She smartened up on her 3rd plan, but it didn't go through.

1st target is the ML who fell in love with her at first sight (FL was a fairy apparently, since everyone loves her except the villainous Liu family).

I really like the ML here. He's actually a pretty innocent and straightforward guy. He 'threw a tantrum' when he realised that FL may not be sincere. But once he acknowledged his feelings, he turned back to chase after the FL. And their communication and effort to understand each other is admirable. FL truly trusts him. And that's the best romance~

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Face-slapping in the story isn't really loud or painful, but it's there. Some people got 2nd chances to redeem themselves (from being greedy and annoying, they got enlightened and take proper and rightful ways). Some people stay (or even become more) hateful and got their retributions.

Since it's a slice of life, they can get pretty mundane sometimes, but that's just life, I guess~ There are mysteries along the way, but some are solved, and some are just ignored.

The ending was a bit sudden (it's even quite abrupt when you read the extras, or maybe there was more but I didn't get access) ..

Spoiler

The 'villainous rival in love' who seemed 'soft-hearted towards the FL' (but cold and cruel towards others) actually triggered the 2nd 'let's severe our ties' plot, which became the ending of the main story.. I also felt a bit regretful of these plots, but I do understand how strongly the main leads wanted to severe all ties with the villain.

The villain claimed himself in love but what the FL said was true- he didn't actually love the FL. He just took for granted his advantage to exert power and control over the FL. So when things got out of his control and the FL died, he went on rampage and tortured others just to remedy his guilt and satisfy his own selfish desires.

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Recommended reading 🌈🌥️ <<less
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Shortk
Shortk rated it
November 5, 2023
Status: Completed
Omg. There were so many ways to end this (I didnt read the extras btw). But the author didn't need to do that for the drama. I took away a star because he didn't need to be a villain. It was so unnecessary. ... more>>
Spoiler

ok maybe the author needed a trigger to tell LYZ he is her cousin, but did we need to kiddnap her? Did we?

Also like why does the author like to punish old dudes and break up family relationships because of younger people all the time. It happened only twice but it was just so abrupt especially the 2nd time bc it was literally the last chapter and her older brother is like "forget your 30yr loyalty, my grandfather's old faithful Servant, our family has no relationship with you and your family anymore and I'll make sure to tell my mom that. Bc ur grandson kidnapped our sister." THE END.. of the novel. That is literally the last chapter before the extras.

Ok uh I mean valid, but also not valid because the grandson LYZ was not a bad person at all until he kidnapped her. They could have had a meaningful heartfelt moment of a conversation of their past and. Moving on and etc especially considering he did love. Her. That would have been refreshing. THAT WOULD HAVE. BEEN DIFFERENT. THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN INTERESTING. To read.

But no. I got for my last chapter a super macho dramatic kidnapping "f*ck u and your family too" burn this bridge btw you're related ending. For the guy who loved her in her past life.

Ok. I love that. I mean valid response. Just boring and stereotypical. Like ok. I kinda just was hoping for idk a good ending but this was I guess an "exciting" but hardly unpredictable ending. And imo boring ending but whatever.

Edit: OMG I slept on this I JUST realized that this is a plot point the author did TWICE in the EXACT SAME WAY for both the ML & MC for some reason??? A little uncreative. Idk why.. what deep meaning ??except to show they're both hot I guess.

1ST TIME:

  • Adopted father of the ML (saved by the ML so out of his gratitude helps and loves the ML like his own son) has a daughter who is in love with the ml
  • The daughter finds out he's engaged, gets influenced by a social climbing maid to drug him, but is overall a coward who neither takes responsibility, has confidence to do it, nor can move on from the ML even after everything
  • Her mom is biased so ruins the ml's family business underhandedly to break off the relationship between the families without her husband knowing
  • The ml's family finds out, finds out their daughter plotted against their son, cuts the relationship
  • The adopted father finds out, does right by apologizing and agreeing to cut off his status as adoptive father, gets uninvited to the wedding, cries very sadly

The author explained why this plot had to happen and initially I accepted it, but the fact this formula of younger generation falls in loves with the lead, does stereotypical bad thing according to their gender (drug - as female char, kidnap - as male char), and so old dudes who genuinely cared about the families suffer from a Broken relationship HAPPENED TWICE.

It's giving a lack of creativity ngl because she obviously needed a way to showcase a plot point.

Idk maybe my expectations are too high. It's just a little weird it had to happen twice in the same way for both the leads. Like ok we get it, the leads are so hot and so?

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Like most novels, the beginning is the best part. It moves slowly, the plot, but it is well written and researched. Let's try not to remember this is set in the Qing dynasty so the guys hairstyles are all half bald (bc of their high hairlines...). Lol. Every character really has their chance to shine and although this novel is very strongly a romance novel for 1/3 of the boook, I would mostly recommend this for business fans. This is heavy on commerce and business - it actually quite educational and inspiring in a way. The capitalism vibes are addictive to read no doubt. Overall an satisfying read with likeable characters, but I will say that once the author really focuses on the business, I feel like the focus on the main leads' personalities outside of them making plans and doing business weans at an exponential rate and the level of telling over Showing writing gets more frequent.

The details are still overall good, and the scenes of other characters and business ideas are incredibly engaging to read. It's biggest flaw imo is truly the dramatic abrupt ending
Spoiler

and I think honestly I don't know why the author made LYZ into that ending last villain. I feel like he was wronged as a character, like he could've been so much more deep and less stereotypical macho crazy kidnapper especially considering his love for her. Esp bc HE WAS NOT BAD at all to her ever until literally the last chapter. Like idk. I just think it's such an injustice. But whatever. Ancient china ig.

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Eeria
Eeria rated it
March 7, 2024
Status: Completed
It’s an interesting story and most of the story delivery is good. The ending is abrupt although extras resolve some of it, few plot holes are also left unresolved.

The FL is a little smart brave and quite open minded. The ML is the perfect match.
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Anastrisha
Anastrisha rated it
November 28, 2023
Status: Completed
The story is great... Well until the finding Paternal Family part.

It just felt quite rash and had it end from there I would just think that author had something in rl that made them quickly finish this story but the story continues. It just feel like author trying to stretch it.

Still giving it a 4 for the good memories in the beginning.
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MamaBear
MamaBear rated it
November 8, 2023
Status: c20
It’s an abrupt start, thrown into the thick of things, then with a regression, she gets a 2nd chance at surviving her future - relatives are detestable, but that’s how things were back in those times... hoping to see her get a break so she can escape the awful fate of her first life...
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rhymeep
rhymeep rated it
March 17, 2024
Status: c55
the story is good, a genuine 4-star enjoyment at this moment. the FL and ML are both cute. I like the progress on this relationship, and actually I like the ML's thought. he didn't know why MC scheme to get him, so despite his heart saying he miss her, he couldn't accept her easily. I find that a plus actually.

Wen Shi is such a good character (she's in though situation but still try to help bits), also I hate Wang Shi the most, she doesn't care about anyone other than... more>> herself, I mean!! I'm selfish but even selfishness know some bounds, not like her....

also, I usually read good translations from Second Life Translations, but surprisingly this one was... idk, there are a lot of mixup pronouns, one of it which even made me questioning Babao's gender because the translator use he and she for him. I also think there are some mixup with Wen Shi and Wei Shi, it make me incredibly confused on some parts. though it's still readable I guess. <<less
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Roxasfleur
Roxasfleur rated it
February 20, 2024
Status: Completed
Definite 4.3 rating.

I am very dissatisfied with the abrupt ending and unfilled loopholes created at the end but 7/8 of the story is nice.

Story starts off very bleak for MC but she is very strong and smart. I love how she struggles and bend her pride as condition dictate as much as she can. After the rotten family arc passed, it enter into the smooth journey of business building. I love this part, MC and ML shows they are a great partner in everything. I love MC & ML family... more>> and their interaction. However the story truly ends at a kinda odd part.

Spoiler

just imagine how messy it is. We were on the last 10 chapters of the story. MC past caught up to her, there are new revelation, misunderstanding, jealousy and even kidnapping. However it ends up at the point where ML saved MC, MC and the kidnapper guy is revealed to be half-cousin and then done. Like what?

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