Core mission: Deliver an ending that is both unexpected and, in hindsight, inevitable, while defying the norms of real life.
· Setting: A symbolic place, such as where they first met.
· Plot:
· Option One (Maximum Angst for the Male Lead): Gu Yanshen suffers a permanent disability or becomes a vegetable while saving Su Wan. She eventually forgives him, but not out of love. It is pity and a sense of closure. She takes care of him, but feels nothing for him anymore. He will spend the rest of his life in a world where she is present, yet never win her heart. (Defies real life: In reality, it would be hard for someone to keep giving and waiting for so long without receiving anything in return.)
· Option Two (A Double Death Makes a Happy Ending): After enduring countless hardships, the two seem to reconcile. But Su Wan's body has already reached its limits, and one snowy night, she passes away peacefully. Gu Yanshen takes care of all the arrangements, then shoots himself at her grave, fulfilling their vow to share life and death. (Defies real life: In reality, people are encouraged to cherish life and move on from their pain.)
· Option Three (A Complete Subversion): Gu Yanshen discovers that he is the one who has always been a stand-in. Su Wan has always loved an illusory figure from her memories, and Gu Yanshen just happens to fit the mold. She searches for traces of someone else in him. In the end, Gu Yanshen breaks down, while Su Wan comes to her senses and leaves to find the true “white moonlight” in her heart. (Defies real life: It overturns the power dynamics of traditional stand-in romances.)
