Green Inkstone Knows the Snow

Synopsis (198 characters)

In the sweltering height of summer, Su Xueci, the Taifu's son from the capital, grows tired of court intrigue and the insincerity of the great clans. Frail and ill, he travels to a retreat at Qingxi Mountain outside the city to escape the heat. On his way up alone, he is caught in a sudden downpour and meets Liu Zhe, a young man who lives in seclusion on the mountain, farming and studying. Liu lends him a straw rain cape and invites him into his bamboo hut to wait out the storm and brew tea. On a whim, he paints him a scene of a mountain home amid mist and rain. He is sincere and openhearted, with no longing for wealth or power. In their brief encounter, two hearts long accustomed to loneliness are quietly moved. Su Xueci offers him a jade pendant left by his birth mother in gratitude, secretly keeping the memory of this refined young man from the mountains close to his heart. Liu Zhe, too, treasures the token and waits for the young master to visit again. A nobleman from a prosperous family and a poor scholar from the mountains meet through a summer rain. Despite the vast difference in their status, they spend their days together in the mountain retreat, and a tender, enduring affection slowly takes root. From then on, they will meet among the mountains and rivers, and stay by each other's side year after year.