Preface
Last March, while moving and sorting through old belongings, I came across the diary I kept when I was twenty. Curious about what I'd written back then, I opened to the first page. To my surprise, it listed three goals I'd set for my life: marry a good wife, travel abroad, and write a novel.
I achieved the first goal earliest.
I've more than fulfilled the second.
As for the third, that's the book you're reading now, dear readers. It tells of a man named Luo Ning and how his idea of a good wife changes across different eras. Here you'll find:
His first love, Lu Ming, the woman who held his hand, then abandoned him, leaving him in pain for the rest of his life;
His wife, Ning Yuan, the woman whose hand he held, but whom he gradually came to resent;
His lover, Shanshan, the woman whose hand he could never hold, yet who was always in his thoughts;
And his online friends, several women he wanted to hold hands with but never even got to meet.
Time is the best brawler. One slap from the left makes Luo Ning forget his pain; one from the right makes him bid farewell to those he meets.
I used no writing aids. Every line and every word comes from the author's decades of observation, experience, and emotion: things done, seen, heard, and thought. That's why it took me so long to write: a year and five months to finish.
I'd be glad to hear your feedback.
Thank you!
October 12, 2025
