A Broken Pot Lid, a Warm Stove

[Family life + building wealth + heartwarming + no outrageous characters]

No System! No pocket dimension! No golden finger! No outrageous characters!

Zhao Qingshan is the most skilled carpenter in the village, but after his wife elopes with another man, he becomes the laughingstock of everyone and his family falls into decline. Lin Xiuyun is the best embroiderer in the neighboring village, but rumors that she's cursed keep her unmarried. A rushed marriage of convenience, along with an orphan they'd taken in, binds two unfortunate people worn down by life together.

She tends her tiny vegetable patch, cares for the innocent child, and keeps as quiet as a shadow. Gossip sprouts like weeds along the field ridges, mocking him for "taking someone else's leftovers" and sneering that she "threw herself at him."

Then, one winter, heavy snow seals the doors shut. The wife who once abandoned him is dragged back by her greedy family despite her illness. She cries that she wants to "put their marriage back together" and blocks the doorway. Villagers gather three deep to watch the spectacle.

For the first time, Zhao Qingshan, who has always kept silent, steps in front of Xiuyun. Facing the blizzard and countless stares, his voice is as heavy as bedrock beneath frozen earth. "My wife is Lin Xiuyun."

Lin Xiuyun, who has always kept her head down, slowly straightens her back and takes the rough, calloused hand beside her.

Even a broken pot lid can keep a cooking stove warm. Even a cold brick bed can be warmed by two people who stay devoted to each other.

This is a story about two people "left behind" by life, and how, amid its rough hardships, they use the clumsiest acts of protection and the most diligent work to mend their broken days bit by bit and warm them through, finally creating the warmth of spring in the depths of winter.