Small-Town Fiction | Redemption | Bittersweet and Sweet
Gentle, shy little ray of sunshine × gloomy older female ghost
Hard of hearing × heiress
Three-year age gap | Each other's first love
01.
After graduating from college, Zhu Yu chose to stay in her hometown of Sangzili.
Born deaf in both ears, Zhu Yu grew up gentle and shy.
She wasn't good at socializing, and was slow to recognize her own feelings.
Especially love.
The only time her heart had ever skipped a beat was due to an unexpected encounter in college.
A dazzling, captivating woman dressed in a bold, extravagant style saw how awkward Zhu Yu felt and casually helped her shake off someone who wouldn't leave her alone.
But afterward, Zhu Yu never saw her again.
She assumed it had been a chance encounter, nothing more.
Back in her hometown, she used the savings her late parents had left her to buy a guesthouse. Her life was peaceful enough.
One day, as usual, she went to the elderly woman next door to buy some ingredients.
She opened the door, only to lock eyes with the woman she had met once before.
The difference this time was the woman's disabled legs.
Later, Zhu Yu found herself pinned in a corner by the woman, her hoarse syllables lost in the forceful kiss.
Only when her gaze fell on the hearing aids deliberately placed out of reach on the cabinet did she realize:
That chance encounter had been the red thread binding them together all along.
02.
A kind neighbor was always trying to set Zhu Yu up with girlfriends, since she lived alone.
Zhu Yu could only make up excuses to turn them down. But this time, the neighbor caught her off guard and took her straight to a cafe.
The woman was an English teacher in town, warm and easygoing. They got along very well.
As evening approached, she offered to walk Zhu Yu home.
But at the entrance to an alley, she stopped and said she wanted to take things further with Zhu Yu.
Before Zhu Yu could even open her mouth to refuse,
She saw, over the woman's shoulder,
Wen Ting'er watching her coldly from the alley entrance.
Like a gloomy ghost lurking in the shadows.
Zhu Yu panicked and hurriedly turned the woman down. By then, Wen Ting'er had already disappeared.
That night, Zhu Yu slept fitfully.
It felt as if her body were bound inside a cocoon.
When she awoke in a daze, she realized
that the cocoon was Wen Ting'er.
[Before You Dive In]
1. The older woman is hot-tempered and irritable early on, with a very changeable mood, but she's still good to the younger woman. She's the exception, the one she favors. The younger woman is gentle, but her flaws are that she's timid and can't refuse people. Both her parents are dead, and she's sensitive and starved for affection. Nobody's perfect, and she'll grow. Please be understanding.
2. Later on, the older woman is very much a female ghost, with an intense possessiveness and need for control. She's sensitive, suspicious, and jealous. In short, she's exactly what you'd expect of a female ghost top. If that bothers you, please don't read, dears.
3. Same-sex marriage is legal in this setting, and all the supporting characters who appear are women who love women.
4. To be continued.
Theme: Even the deepest valley has a clear spring.
