[Republican-Era Angsty Romance | Mutual Restraint | BE Aesthetics | Espionage and Intrigue | A Long-Awaited Return That Never Comes]
Rain veils Tianjin, the Beiyang era is dawning. Amid the turmoil of a fractured age lies a profound love with no happy ending.
Song Zhiyu has a photographic memory, and is perceptive and resilient. Once a carefree girl from a quiet courtyard, she is swept into the treacherous Beiyang Governor’s Office, caught in political undercurrents and a secret web of intrigue.
Ji Wenye has extraordinary senses, and is reserved and obsessive. Burdened by childhood wounds and a lifetime of guilt, he becomes her shield, protecting her year after year. Yet in the end, he cannot overcome the merciless times or defy fate.
The courtyard of their youth, sweet osmanthus cakes, weathering storms together, three people and a dog, safe and happy through the years: these are the tender days they can never return to, no matter how long they live.
The young man sets out with sword in hand to roam the land, and the girl stands beside him to unravel the mystery. They travel through the villages of Luxi and endure the storms of the Beiyang era, exposing one conspiracy after another and glimpsing the darkness of the world.
But love in turbulent times is both the cheapest thing of all and the most sincere.
He protects her in silence, plotting each step and willingly walking into mortal peril for her;
She stays clearheaded and restrained, hiding her feelings and enduring in silence, only to pass him by in the end.
The Beiyang fireworks fade, while the land remains safe and sound.
That year, rain fell over all of Tianjin. The one she waited for never came home.
Through the long years of her life, year after year, all that remains is a belated farewell: “Mr. Ji, it’s been so long. Goodbye forever.”
