In the seventeenth year of the Republic, Shanghai was cold with rain, and the world of opera felt bleak.
Xiang Ningxue had once given her whole heart, spent every penny she had on her training, and offered her unwavering devotion, only to be betrayed by the man she loved and humiliated in public.
Xie Chengyi called her naive and stupid, said she was lowborn and insignificant, and claimed she was unworthy of standing beside him and the daughters of wealthy families.
Trampled mercilessly into the mud, she still refused to bend her stubborn spine. She endured grueling days with the opera troupe, singing through every night, until she became Shanghai's most dazzling leading lady.
Onstage, she sang of every joy and sorrow under heaven. Offstage, she concealed the scars of half a lifetime.
Rising from the dust, she took every step in blood, and every step made her prouder.
Ye Yunshang was a young marshal's son, lofty and untouchable, with finely sculpted features and power enough to sway the city. He had seen the coldness of worldly affairs and the hypocrisy of the human heart, yet for her alone, he stopped and stayed.
He never spoke of being moved or professed deep feelings. He simply stood by her when she stumbled and quietly comforted her when she suffered.
He understood the hatred in her lyrics, the stubbornness in her very bones, and the vulnerability and tenderness she never showed anyone.
He protected, respected, cherished, and waited for her. He took his time and loved her sincerely, from love at first sight to falling for her for life.
In time, everyone in Shanghai knew.
The Tianchan Theater had a peerlessly beautiful leading actress, with the most untouchable and devoted man in all of Shanghai standing behind her.
Xie Chengyi was consumed with regret. He knelt and surrendered every last shred of dignity, yet he could never win even one backward glance from her again.
She made the opera stage her battlefield and her unyielding spirit her weapon.
He made the rest of his life her protection, and his devotion her shield.
Once, she was cast out into the storm and faced it alone;
from then on, whatever tempest came, he would face it all for her.
She sang amid the mire and stood firm in the freezing snow.
He watched her through the clamor and loved her through the years.
He never said, “I love you.”
