Will It Snow This Christmas?

* Convenience store girl vs. handsome, down-on-his-luck older man

Older man/younger woman / Healing / Realistic / Unrequited love

Lin Shu was born in a small town in the south and had never seen snow as a child.

She went to Beijiang because of a line from a Korean drama: “If it snows on Christmas Day, you'll be happy forever.”

It was almost the northernmost place on the map.

But her local roommate told her that it didn't snow every Christmas.

It was a rare occurrence.

Lin Shu was terribly disappointed, but still held on to a sliver of hope.

While her classmates and roommates were busy dating, Lin Shu worked at the only Lawson convenience store in Beijiang.

One bleak morning, Lin Shu sat dozing in front of the steaming oden pot.

A handsome man in a black coat pushed open the door.

The moment Lin Shu opened her eyes, she was struck by the indescribable air of defeat about him.

“One pack of Changbaishan.” Li Chinian's voice was deep, with a hint of a lazy nasal twang.

“Six yuan.” Lin Shu took a pack of cigarettes from the shelf behind her and handed it to him.

Li Chinian paid and turned to leave, but he didn't go far.

From inside the store, Lin Shu watched him stand in the cold wind outside and quietly smoke an entire pack.

After that, Lin Shu noticed that this distinguished-looking man came by almost every Tuesday morning to buy a pack of cigarettes, then stood outside and smoked them all.

She became intensely curious about him.

Then one day, she saw how pale he looked and how unsteadily he held his cigarette.

She handed him a steaming bowl of oden. “Warm up. You should smoke less.”

That was the first time Li Chinian looked at her properly, without blinking.

Lin Shu blushed and fled in a fluster.

As time went on, an unspoken understanding seemed to develop between Lin Shu and the strange older man.

Every Tuesday, he came to buy cigarettes, and she gave him a bowl of oden.

Then one day, Li Chinian suddenly said, “I'm leaving Beijiang. Let me take you to dinner.”

Lin Shu was stunned and disappointed, but she still went.

Over an expensive Western dinner, Li Chinian was elegant and poised, while Lin Shu was ill at ease.

After they finished eating, Lin Shu looked out at the desolate world around them and asked,

“Will you come back?”

Li Chinian instinctively reached for a cigarette, but stopped himself when he remembered something.

He gazed at the gray sky. “I will, when Beijiang gets its first snowfall.”

When Beijiang got its first snowfall, the convenience store's doorbell rang countless times.

But Lin Shu never saw that familiar figure again.

As she changed into her uniform to start her shift, a familiar voice suddenly came from the television in the store.

Lin Shu stared blankly at the screen. The man on it was poised and distinguished, answering the host's questions with ease.

The caption beneath him read: Beijiang's famous philanthropist and entrepreneur, Li Chinian.

Theme: Love yourself before loving someone else