Bitter Rain

Second chances | Angsty and bittersweet | Rented-room romance

Zhu Shiyuan and Tan Xu first met in a tiny rented room in Youwei Alley, so cramped there was nowhere to stand. Moss covered the walls.

Born into a wealthy family, Shiyuan had never seen such a shabby room. For a moment, she even wanted to turn around and leave.

But she had just ruined her father's carefully arranged marriage alliance by making a scene at her engagement party. He had canceled all her cards, and she had only a thousand yuan in cash left.

Tan Xu was the room's first tenant. His hair was still half-wet, and he wore nothing but low-rise jeans, showing off his lean abs and handsome dimples at his lower back.

He was twenty-three, with no parents, no ties, and no one to worry about. As long as he could feed himself, he was fine.

Tan Xu made music, but the sound of his guitar was swallowed up by the noisy bustle of the urban village. Even he couldn't hear it.

Only Zhu Shiyuan listened closely. Tan Xu asked her, "Can you understand it?"

She just shook her head. "I don't understand it, but I know you're sad."

He played, and she listened.

Tan Xu wrote a demo for Zhu Shiyuan called "Iris." He liked sitting on the windowsill at dusk, playing it during the blue hour.

Back then, Zhu Shiyuan would squint happily and say, "Tan Xu, write songs your whole life. I'll listen to you for the rest of mine."

But she also said, "I'm tired of your songs. I'm tired of you, too."

She moved out of Youwei Alley and left Tan Xu's life without a word.

Three years later, Tan Xu had become a sensation in the music world. His old songs were popular across the country, and he had millions of fans. But no one knew that the singer who had become famous for his music suffered from severe aphasia. He could no longer sing or make a sound.

Zhu Shiyuan's departure had taken away the voice he had once been proudest of.

They met again at a charity gala.

Tan Xu walked the red carpet in a suit, while Zhu Shiyuan stood close to her fiance, her arm linked with his.

Backstage, Tan Xu grabbed Zhu Shiyuan.

After a long silence, he finally found his voice again, trembling as he asked the question he had kept buried for so long.

"I finished that song. Will you still listen?"

·Very angsty. At its heart, this is the painful process of two utterly incompatible people trying to make things work.

·Neither of them knows how to speak up. They each have their own difficulties, but neither says a word.

·Both are virgins. 1v1. The heroine and her fiance are only pretending to be together.

Theme: Pay attention to mental health and build a better life together