Cherishing Nan Zhi

(The full manuscript is complete before publication. Please bookmark.)

A fluffy little ball of sunshine VS a complete lunatic

Childhood friends / melodramatic but clean romance / family life / cozy sweet romance

-

In the year of their purest love, the pampered young lady, who had never lifted a finger around the house, knitted Lian Yi a sweater herself. She brazenly embroidered the words "Nan Zhi" over the heart.

In the year of their madness, the frail boy, who couldn't even hurt a fly, faced three criminals alone, outsmarting them and taking a terrifying, deadly blow in her place.

At sunset, pink roses bloomed all over the wall. Nan Zhi held an ice cream to Lian Yi's lips. "Vanilla mint. Want a taste?"

Lian Yi gave her an innocent look. "My injury hasn't healed yet. I can't have anything cold."

Nan Zhi's bright eyes rolled mischievously. She lowered her head and took a bite, mumbling, "Then should I warm it up for you?"

Lian Yi didn't catch that. "Huh?"

Before he could close his mouth, the now-warm ice cream was already pressed against his tongue.

Once he'd swallowed, Lian Yi shouted in fury, tripping over his words. "You! You! Don't do such disgusting things to me!"

Nan Zhi grinned impishly. "Then spit it out!"

Lian Yi blushed to the crown of his head. His whole body was burning and swelling, as if the roses had leaped down from the wall and were scrambling to squeeze into his heart.

He thought he was going crazy.

-

Lian Yi had gone mad long ago.

He went mad when he stood before his dying father-in-law and swore, word by word, "Love her? You must be dreaming. I'll torment her until the day she dies."

He went mad when she really did die just as he had wished, and before her cold gravestone he felt the urge to crush the stone in his hands, the wicked desire to dig her out of the dark earth, and the fear that she was too impatient to wait for him.

He went mad one day when he saw his wife, who had been dead for fifteen years, wearing her favorite nightgown as she straightened his suit and berated him for the beastly way he'd acted while dead drunk the night before.

He didn't even dare reach out to touch her. He was afraid that, as had happened countless times before, he would touch nothing and the dream would end.

[Important Warnings]

1. SC + HE. Readers with strong preferences about who tops or bottoms, please be advised.

2. The female lead is two years older than the male lead. She is reborn fifteen years later, at which point the male lead is thirteen years older than her. Before she died, she and the male lead were already married and had twin sons. All these details serve the plot, so please don't read too much into them or mislabel the story.

3. The male lead loves only the female lead from beginning to end. There is a scene where he attempts suicide to join her. He is neither a good husband nor a good father, and there are reasons for that. The story includes many flashbacks and may be a little angsty.

4. The female lead is like a golden retriever puppy, automatically ignoring all the "malice" from the male lead.

5. This story is entirely fictional, set in an invented era. Please don't scrutinize the setting for historical accuracy.

Theme: Cherish the person before you