[The aloof beauty descends from his pedestal | Picking yourself up after abandoning your lifeline in adversity | Fallen-dog literature]
After graduating from university, Peng Yunzhi lived frugally with her boyfriend of four years in a tiny apartment in a big city.
Neither of them had any luck finding work. They searched for jobs while lying awake night after night, kissing and making love with abandon, each trying to cling to the last scraps of sanity in the other.
Later, her boyfriend interviewed at a foreign company. The boss's daughter came to inspect the workplace and took a liking to him. The story was as predictable as they come: after weighing his options, he left Peng Yunzhi.
With both her career and love life in ruins, Peng Yunzhi finally returned to her hometown, disheartened. She used the money she'd saved from part-time jobs and scholarships at university to open a small shop. Its few dozen square meters of space and shelves sustained her year after year.
Over five years, she watched her chronically ill father pass away and helped her mother put her younger brother through university. She thought this was probably all her life would ever amount to.
One Spring Festival, Hua Yiqun, who had returned to China after years of studying abroad and finally started working, came to the small town where his mother had retired to celebrate the holiday. His mother had run out of cooking wine for the dumplings and sent him to the supermarket to buy a bottle.
Peng Yunzhi happened to be minding the shop that night. It was the first time Hua Yiqun met her.
One was an eagle ready to take flight in a big city; the other was a mole living peacefully in a small town.
After that, he often heard news of Peng Yunzhi from his mother: how she beat up a few drunken thugs who came to cause trouble, went to a relative's home with her ledger to collect years of unpaid credit, and dealt with a useless blind date...
In short, she was a bold, fiery woman with a sharp tongue who was not to be messed with.
His mother was incredibly fond of her. "If I didn't know you weren't into women with this kind of personality, I'd want Yunyun to be our daughter-in-law."
Hua Yiqun was silent for a while, then asked, "How do you know I'm not into women with this kind of personality?"
Original work by the author. Do not borrow ideas. Title and blurb written on [2025.12.14].
Screenshots saved as proof.
◆ I don't have many ideas, so I'm putting this one up as an upcoming story for now. The idea dates back to early 2022.
◆ The female lead has no sexual experience; the male lead does. The male lead is a true aloof beauty.
◆ The female lead's previous relationship won't be covered in much detail.
◆ The title sounds rather pessimistic, but you have to break things down to build them back up.
◆ The female lead's life isn't glamorous or refined. It's ordinary life in a northern small town.
◆ The female lead's younger brother is normal. Don't label her a brother-obsessed enabler.
◆ More to come if I think of anything else.
Theme: No matter when, you must have the courage to get back up and try again
