Name: Butterfly on the Front Line [Miao Village]
Author: Man Shu

Synopsis

Next up: Screened Waves Mountain in Late Spring:

● A fearless heroine × a deeply devoted hero

● Nine-year age gap | Bows for love | Possessive

It was a night when the late breeze stirred. Jiang Man got drunk and, beneath the glow of an octagonal palace lantern, kissed Liang Songsheng, fully aware of what she was doing yet giving herself over to it. The next day, however, she told him, "A drunken moment of confusion and passion shouldn't be taken seriously."

That was when Liang Songsheng became determined not to let her go, but it wasn't when she fell for him.

She approached him with a heart that was only one-third sincere, for the sake of a long-buried past. Liang Songsheng knew this, but he thought that his love was real, and if he treated her well enough, he could still win a happy ending. In reality, he could never break through the indifference in her eyes.

Later, she got what she wanted and left for Hong Kong Island. As they parted, Liang Songsheng thought back to her junior year of college. It was probably one of the few peaceful times they had shared, so much so that, with a wistful smile, he said, "We should have stopped right there, in that year, at that moment. Nothing more, nothing less. It was just right."

But Jiang Man only looked at him coolly and said in a detached voice, "You know me. I stop at nothing."

She left without a trace. In the years that followed, she became a past Liang Songsheng could never speak of. He tried hard to forget her, but she grew clearer in his mind in the deep stillness of night. He never admitted it, though.

Until one year, sitting in his room, he glanced up and saw that the cherry tree outside the window had yet to sprout. Only then did he realize that spring had come a little late to Pinglan Mountain that year, and that he had never forgotten her.

"So after you left, even spring began to arrive late."

"So I'm still in love with you."

On the day they reunited, a torrential rain fell over Qiongzhi. She strode into his view in a long green dress. As they gazed at each other, she was just as she had always been. Liang Songsheng seriously wondered if he should scheme against her one more time.

In those reckless years, Liang Songsheng took Jiang Man to every place she wanted to visit. He never dared ask whether she loved him. Then, one year, when they returned to Gusu, beneath a winding covered walkway, she was feeding fish food to the koi in the pond. He could hold back no longer. Grabbing her wrist, he asked her:

"Jiang Man, do you love me?"

All his life, he had sought an answer from her.

[Novel Blurb]

Yue Xiliu encountered a paranormal phenomenon: whenever she fell asleep, she had the same dream over and over.

In the dream, mountain ranges stretched into the distance, and stilt houses crowded one above another. She walked across a stepping-stone bridge as the river murmured below, then turned and called out to a man in Miao clothing and silver ornaments, "Brother."

She thought they must be lovers, but then the scene shifted. She was standing on a sheer cliff, leaping into an abyss thousands of feet deep. The last person she saw before she died was the man she had called Brother.

After she woke, a butterfly would always land on the back of her hand, beating its wings as if trying to show her the way.

But there were no butterflies in winter.

Later, following its directions, she went to Jiuli Miao Village and met a man.

She asked the question that had been hidden in her heart.

"Brother, can you use gu?"

The man answered, "I can't use gu."

Pei Jindu had waited in the Miao village year after year, until at last the person he had been waiting for arrived.

That day, she walked into the village wearing a coat and drank the threshold wine he had poured for her with his own hands.

As he looked at her, memories buried by time surged into his mind.

"Little sister, it's been too long."

Pei Jindu couldn't use gu. The gu he intended to plant had been sown in a past life.

As the years turned and the seasons overlapped, he remained in the Miao village. As long as she didn't come, he wouldn't leave.