“Lin Yue, take a hit, and you’ll get 10 demon power.”
In Rong Rong’s ledger, the entry for “Asset 001” has been there for five hundred years.
When she was still a little fox spirit with her hair tied up in pigtails, she brought home this unbreakable “meatball.” He can’t feel pain and won’t break, but after suffering a serious injury, he falls into a deep sleep for years, sometimes decades at a time.
She talks about “the cost of waiting,” yet keeps vigil for a hundred years beneath the Bitter Love Tree. He may seem slow-witted, but he clings to the thought of “waking up and seeing her” as his reason to keep living.
When the shadows beyond the Circle close in, he becomes a living seal to plug the rift. As his soul is torn apart, he hears her shouting from outside the barrier: “Lin Yue! You still haven’t paid back the demon power you owe me. You’re not allowed to sleep!”
It turns out that five hundred years of keeping accounts came down to “I’m afraid you won’t wait for me” and “I’ll wait for you, no matter what.”
All the red-string matchmakers at the Tushan Bureau know that the second-in-command’s ledger holds one debt that will never add up, and its only subject is the unbreakable Lin Yue.
“Now that you’re awake, are you leaving again?”
“I’m not going anywhere.” He takes her hand. “I’ll spend the rest of my life slowly paying you back.” (Some parts have been changed because the story can’t be exactly the same as the original.)
It feels very special. Come on, keep writing.
Beautifully written. The best I've ever encountered.