[Age gap] [Bad ending]
At fifteen, Qing Ju lost everything and was taken in by the Yu family. Under that quiet roof, she met Yu Zhi, who was staying with his uncle.
He was a favored son of heaven, heir to a future business empire, and her brother in name only. She watched the girls flutter around him and saw his carefree, wild ways, all the while carefully hiding her humble crush for three whole years. Then, one drunken night, a hurried kiss shattered the balance between them.
“She’s just a little girl. I’m only looking after her as a younger sister for a few years.”
She heard his flippant words with her own ears, and they crushed every last bit of hope she had. She left without a word.
Only after she vanished did Yu Zhi discover the truth in a box at the temple, filled with hundreds of prayer plaques: “Please keep him safe,” “Please make him happy,” “Please make him stop fooling around”... The newest one was smudged with ink: “Please make him forget me, so he won’t hurt anymore.”
He finally came to his senses. He cast aside his pride and pursued her, clumsily trying to win her over, even apologizing before a crowd. Her frozen heart began to thaw.
But when family obligations and the shackles of a business marriage descended, and their trust was once again strained by secrets, Yu Zhi had no choice but to make the ultimate decision between power and love. He tried to reason with her, but she saw through to the heart of it.
“You want your grand plans and your responsibilities. I want my dignity and a love untouched by deceit.”
“What we want was never the same thing.”
They once thought love could bridge the gap. Only later did they understand that some distances had been impossible to cross from the very moment they met.
