Top 10 Contract Marriage Chinese Dramas to Watch (Modern Romance Picks)

Contract marriage is one of the most popular tropes in modern Chinese dramas. The setup is simple but irresistible: two people enter a fake or contractual relationship for practical reasons, only for real feelings to slowly get in the way.

Set in modern workplaces, family, driven storylines, and everyday urban life, contract marriage dramas blend romance, drama, and emotional growth in a way that keeps viewers hooked. 

What starts as an agreement often turns into genuine love, misunderstandings, and unforgettable moments.

In this list, you’ll find 10 modern Chinese dramas built around the contract marriage trope,  perfect for viewers who enjoy slow-burn romance, forced proximity, and emotional payoff.

1. The Best Day of My Life

Xu Mu, a planner at Shangxin Advertising, has just failed her sixth blind date. Despite her parents’ pressure, she’s focused on her career rather than rushing into marriage. During a client meeting, she unexpectedly reunites with her high school deskmate, Xie Shi, now a cold, scheming director. After a drunken misunderstanding, Xu Mu posts on social media that Xie Shi is her boyfriend. To avoid awkward questions, they agree to pretend to be a couple and start living together. As they grow closer, Xu Mu remains unaware that Xie Shi's feelings for her have been growing for years.

2. My Boyfriend

The domineering CEO, Yi Ning, must marry in order to inherit her family business. Thus, she chooses a “supportive husband” — the charming private chef, Shen Qian Ze to start a contract marriage. Following their role reversal, Yi Ning finds herself falling for him. However, little does she know that Shen Qian Ze harbors a shocking secret. As he deliberately draws closer, she unknowingly surrenders to his love...

3. Guess Who I Am

Song Yao has an unusual power: the ability to make wayward rich men fall in love with her just by making them look into her eyes. She has used this ability to bend wealthy scumbags to her will and reform their ways. But has she met her match in Ji Cheng Chuan, aka Qin Hao? The latter is a conman posing as the heir of a powerful business group. A battle of the wits ensues - but will Cupid emerge the winner?

4. Liars in Love

As soon as Zhou Yu, the heir of the Zhou Group, returns to China, he encounters Jiang Lai, a woman skilled in lying and disguising. To protect her snapdragon farm, which her father has rented out to the Zhou Group without her consent, Jiang Lai decides to pose as Zhou Yu's never-before-seen fiancée to get close to him. During this period, Jiang Lai faces one identity crisis after another, encountering numerous difficulties. Will she be able to resolve them cleverly?

On the other hand, Zhou Yu is deeply entangled in internal corporate struggles and inheritance disputes within the Zhou Group. What secret does he carry upon his sudden return to the country? As these two equally matched individuals meticulously advance their respective agendas, they unexpectedly begin a romance founded on lies.

How will they confront their true feelings, break through layers of deception, and embrace each other? What secrets lie hidden beneath their identities?

5. You from the Future

Xia Mo, a recent college graduate, dreams of becoming a popular blogger. She decides to reclaim her parents' coastal house, currently occupied by Shen Jun Yao, the CEO of a tech company who has installed scientific equipment there. After negotiations, Xia Mo and Shen Jun Yao agree to share the house. Surprisingly, Xia Mo discovers that her upcoming job at "C Station" is part of the same group as Shen Jun Yao's company, StanTech.

Living together, they initially find each other annoying. Luckily, an intelligent robot named "Starlight" recognizes Xia Mo as its owner, and Shen Jun Yao gradually uncovers her lovable qualities.

6. A Date with the Future

Ten years ago, firefighter Jin Shi Chuan saved high schooler Xu Lai during a deadly earthquake, and she vowed to find him again. Now, as a fire captain and reporter, their paths cross once more when Jin saves her from a highway accident, but he doesn’t recognize her and dismisses her as a troublemaker after her report sparks online criticism of the fire department. Undeterred, Xu Lai becomes a dog trainer for rescue dogs in hopes of getting closer to Jin, but with his emotional scars from the past, she must fight to heal his heart and win his love.

7. Warm Meet You

Zhao Nuan Nuan is a comic artist with outstanding drawing skills, who has always dreamed of becoming China's top original comic artist but has repeatedly failed. Hopeless, she is forced to go on a blind date but mistakes Gu Yi Chen, who is just passing by, as her blind date. Zhao Nuan Nuan’s only shortcoming is that she has extremely poor luck, but in a twist of fate, she accidentally discovers that as long as she gets close to Gu Yi Chen, her luck changes for the better.

In order to change her twenty-year bad luck, Nuan Nuan does not hesitate to dress as a man to apply for a full-time cleaning job in the CEO, Gu Yi Chen's office, to get her luck, not knowing that Gu Yi Chen suffers from an unprecedented "opposite gender touch allergy".

8. Mr. Insomnia Waiting for Love

Popular musician Lu En Tong and technology firm president Song Yan Xu both suffer from chronic insomnia. They come to discover that by touching one another, sleep befalls them both in a matter of seconds.

9. Once We Get Married

Gu Xi Xi is a fashion shopper, who runs a small online shop from home, and buys Alex's couture wedding dresses for her clients. During a private reception, she gets acquainted with Yin Si Chen, the black-bellied president who came to discuss business cooperation with Alex. An incident occurs leading to them to temporarily maintain a contract cooperative marriage relationship for a win-win situation pertaining to Alex. The two with opposite personalities gradually find love in this contract marriage.

10. Cute Programmer

After falling in love with genius programmer Jiang Yi Cheng, Lu Li enrolls into the school he once studied at, and also took up the same major - computer programming. Setting Jiang Yi Cheng as her role model in her heart, she achieves good grades in school. However after graduation, she did not expect that Jiang Yi Cheng's company does not recruit female employees. Lu Li decides to disguise as a man and enter the company. 

However, she met difficulty both in dealing with Jiang Yi Cheng's demands, as well as hiding her identity. Finally with her perseverance, she grabbed hold of an opportunity and managed to come to an agreement with Jiang Yi Cheng. The two would become a "contract couple" and stay together for one year. Slowly, Jiang Yi Cheng finds himself falling for Lu Li.

Contract marriage Chinese dramas continue to be a fan-favorite because they balance romantic fantasy with emotional realism. Set in modern environments, these stories explore love that grows from obligation into something genuine and meaningful.