Peach Blossoms in Midlife

At forty-two, Xu Hui is a successful vice president at a tech company in Shanghai. She has been single for years and is long accustomed to shouldering everything alone. At forty-eight, Wu Jiangyu applies for a director of IT operations position. He submits a handwritten résumé, is widowed, and has a daughter in her first year of high school. At their first meeting, Xu Hui thinks he seems like a dependable middle-aged man. The first time they work together, she discovers that he is highly skilled but never takes credit. The first time they work late into the night, he silently pours her a cup of hot water and says nothing.

Two people made rational by life’s hardships slowly come to see each other’s vulnerabilities through their many clashes and collaborations at work. When she breaks down, he is the only one who doesn’t ask why, simply handing her a tissue. When his daughter goes through a rebellious phase, she is the only person he feels comfortable confiding in. Then, on a business trip, an accident takes them across that line.

Middle-aged love comes without grand vows. There are only cautious attempts, hopes they hardly dare to entertain, and a certainty that arrived years late but has grown all the more precious. When love blossoms unexpectedly in the autumn of their lives, they finally understand: some bonds are worth waiting half a lifetime for.

This is a story about maturity, responsibility, and starting over, written for everyone who still believes in love after all these years.