[Mutual devotion + Groveling for her back + Powerful CEO + Treats her as his one and only + Size difference + Clear-headed heroine who doesn't overthink]
On a stormy night, Sang Yu, a down-and-out heir to a perfume-making craft, accidentally trespasses into the private meditation room of Shang Zhi, the head of the Shang family.
The man is on the verge of losing control from a migraine, but the moment he catches the herbal scent on her, he falls into a peaceful sleep. Everyone expects Sang Yu to be thrown out, but instead she becomes the exclusive aromatherapist to the Buddha-like young master.
She brews tea and massages him, even enduring the scorching heat of a blazing fire as she carefully develops the “Nine-Turn Tranquility Balm” for him.
Thinking their feelings are mutual, she is shattered at the moment she is most in love when she overhears him casually sneering to a business partner in a corner of the garden:
“Sang Yu? She's just a pawn I use to treat my headaches.”
As if struck by lightning, Sang Yu quietly takes back the balm.
She makes no scene. In secret, she buys a ticket to Jiangnan.
The day she leaves, Fu Shiyan wakes to find the space beside him cold. All that remains is a box of scented balm and a dignified letter:
“Mr. Shang, the medicine is ready. You were right, I'm just a pawn. Now this pawn is leaving the game. We'll never meet again.”
The man who had always been in control feels his mind explode. He crushes the medicine spoon in his hand on the spot.
Months later, in a rainy alley in Jiangnan.
Sang Yu opens an incense shop, living a peaceful and lovely life.
Until one rainy day, Shang Zhi, untouched by worldly concerns, stands outside her shop beneath a black umbrella, his eyes red and his pride in pieces.
Sang Yu smiles politely. “Mr. Shang, here to buy incense? If not, please stop blocking my customers.”
In the pouring rain, the man who once refused to back down clings desperately to the hem of her clothes, utterly humbled:
“Ruan Ruan, don't leave me... If you'll just stay, I'll give you my life. Please, have mercy on me.”
