The Tale of Hu Guzi: A Drunken Autumn Sequel! Love Endures Though Heaven Grows Old

Tao Zui and Su Qiu were my first CP obsession more than ten years ago. They’re my moonlight, and their story still leaves me yearning for what might have been. Even after all these years, I still regret abandoning the story I once posted on Tieba for various reasons. Now I want to finish it and give Tao Zui and Su Qiu an ending, even if it’s still a bad one. Isn’t dying together a happy ending, too? My writing is limited, and this may read like a simple chronological account. The idea came to me more than ten years ago, so I’ve added some personal interpretations that might be outdated by now.

A brief summary of the original Hua Gu Zi: Hua Gu Zi is a roe deer spirit, while An Youyu is a servant in the Zhong household. He is in love with Zhong Suqiu, but by chance he meets Hua Gu Zi, who has taken human form. Tao Zui is a bamboo spirit who has always loved Hua Gu Zi, but she sees him as an older brother. At a poetry and painting competition to choose a husband, Zhong Suqiu falls in love at first sight with Tao Zui, who has submitted a painting. But humans and demons belong to different worlds. Hua Gu Zi chooses An Youyu and becomes human for a year, and the two have a child together. Heartbroken, Tao Zui prepares to leave. Suqiu is willing to follow him despite the divide between humans and demons, but Hua Gu Zi interrupts and begs Suqiu not to go with Tao Zui. She wants Suqiu to stay and help care for the widower and his child. The truth is, Tao Zui has feelings for Suqiu, but the divide between humans and demons is an insurmountable obstacle. Silly bamboo, is it really so hard to admit you love Suqiu?

In my version, Hua Gu Zi doesn’t come to interrupt them on the snowy night or ask Suqiu to stay. The story picks up from the scene in the bamboo grove where they’re about to part ways… Any similarities to other works are purely coincidental.