The 1970s: The Frail Heiress Is Spoiled by a Rugged Man

1972, deep in the mountains of the northwest.

Su Tang is the village's much-despised "sickly girl." Born with a heart condition, she is not expected to live past twenty. No one knows she is the only daughter of a missing officer from the capital, or that she keeps a jade pendant capable of turning the world upside down close at hand.

Lu Yan is the village's terrifying "madman's son." At six, he broke someone's fingers; his gaze is colder than a wolf's.

No one knows he's been secretly leaving herbs, wild rabbits, and eggs on her windowsill for four years.

She says, "Don't come looking for me anymore."

He says, "All right."

But the very next day, dried charcoal and a packet of cough medicine are waiting on her windowsill as usual.

Everyone in the village says he's crazy.

Only she knows his hands are steady, and the way he applies medicine is impossibly gentle.

Later, when the wind dies down, someone comes to take her away in a military jeep.

She turns and runs toward the figure heading into the mountains. "You have a family now, too."