Autumn Chestnuts Stored for Winter

After her grandfather passes away, fifteen-year-old Ye Qingbai returns to her family's hometown with her parents to pay their respects.

She has only met the old man a few times, so they weren't close. The ceremony is long and dull, and she takes the opportunity to slip away.

But she doesn't know the area and accidentally wanders into a wedding next door, where several girls around eight or nine are playing house.

One of them, who calls herself Ban Lizi, is especially friendly. She rises onto her toes to put a veil on Ye Qingbai, holds her hand tightly, then asks with a blush, "Will you be my wife?"

Ye Qingbai: "..."

Ban Lizi takes her silence as a yes and hooks their fingers together, swinging their hands. "Then can I kiss you?"

With that little mouth missing two front teeth? Ye Qingbai thinks. But she still says nothing.

Growing bolder, Ban Lizi puckers her lips and plants a little smack on Ye Qingbai's left cheek.

*

After that, Ban Lizi often sticks by Ye Qingbai, calling her "Wifey, wifey" without the slightest shame.

When the funeral is over and Ye Qingbai is about to leave, Ban Lizi clings to her and sobs her heart out. "Wifey, you're not leaving me, are you?"

Ye Qingbai still doesn't say a word.

She never expected that the two of them would be apart for ten years.

Afterward, Ye Qingbai regrets almost every day that she didn't leave Ban Lizi her address.

*

Their sudden reunion happens in a cafe downstairs from Ye Qingbai's office. The young woman smiles brightly, her sweet, chestnut-like charm unmistakable. "Hello, what can I get you?"

Ye Qingbai stares at her for a long time, certain that Ban Lizi, ten years later, has completely forgotten her.

Good.

So, for their third meeting, Ye Qingbai comes prepared.

The potato chips and yogurt Ban Lizi loved as a child, the cloth dolls and Rubik's cubes she liked to play with.

And the letters Ye Qingbai wrote to her, a whole drawer's worth, all returned unopened.

But when Ban Lizi shows up as promised, she keeps a safe distance. "Sis, that was just playing house."

Ye Qingbai can't accept it.

Why pretend not to know her when she remembers? Why call it playing house after recognizing her?

"If you didn't like me, why did you kiss and hug me?"

"You can't just dismiss it all with a casual 'we were playing house'!"

"Why not?" Ban Lizi shrugs, unconcerned.

Ye Qingbai's expression grows darker.

She has her ways. This time, she won't let Ban Lizi slip away again. She'll tie her up and make sure she can't go anywhere.

Childhood sweethearts / The passage of time / Reunited after years apart / Sweet romance

Innocent, simple Ban Lizi x Miss Ye, the big-city heiress who seems perfectly proper on the outside but is actually vicious, likes playing rough, and is mentally unwell in private

Theme: Treating others sincerely benefits not only them, but yourself even more.