Stealing Dreams

This is a story about feelings, machinations, calculations and love. He spent his life proving that true wealth lies in loyalty to one's beliefs. In the early years of the Republic of China, Shanghai. Shen Yan, the heir to the Shen family, is cold, shrewd and extremely cruel. A powerful plot that led to his father's unjust death made him understand the weight of power at a young age. After returning from studying abroad, he mercilessly forced away his uncle who coveted the family property - not because of personal ambition, but because he wanted to do something more important than making money: to seek justice for his father and do what he should do for this country. He needs power and privacy. Lin Ruoyu, nineteen years old, her father Lin Shuming was once a famous surgeon. Because he was involved in an old case of the Shen family, he saved someone he shouldn't have saved, and was retaliated against. Lin Ruoyu had to give up her studies and go out to make a living. She was quiet and taciturn, with a long braid hanging down on her chest, as clean as a piece of white paper. Because of her grandmother's old friendship with the old lady of the Shen family, she was selected to move into the old house of the Shen family and became Miss Yulin's piano teacher. Later, Yulin went abroad with her parents. Lin Ruoyu was struggling on the edge of unemployment, but unexpectedly received an appointment letter from Shen Mansion - Shen Yan personally arranged a piano room for her and let her stay. From then on, Shen Yan became her only audience. In that piano room with only two people, she clearly felt the exhaustion and loneliness under the ice of this cold and depressed young man. And he also understood her pure and good nature and the tenacity of her suddenly falling behind in her family background through her clear black and white eyes and trembling hands. One rainy night and an accident, they crossed the line. But she didn't know that there was more than just the sound of the piano in his world. Shen Yan's true identity is a red agent wedged deep into the enemy's heart and a sponsor of frontline combat funds. She never knew what a great thing he was doing, she just trusted him unconditionally - even if everyone betrayed him and stabbed him in the back, she would not change his ambition. But he couldn't protect her life. Women of the old style can only survive by being trapped by fate. She doesn't know anything about him, but she supports him unconditionally, accompanies him, waits for him, and doesn't let him get distracted. She allowed him to take off his disguise and exhaustion and rely on her wholeheartedly when he returned to her after dealing with the devil and fighting alone. His study room, which is always brightly lit, is filled with not only documents and accounts of the family business - but also the huge amount of money he has secretly raised for the hidden front. He has handled countless funds, but never left a penny to his family. The network of connections he had knitted became tighter and tighter, and he even wore a Kuomintang major general collar badge - "Red Capitalist" and "Major General Senator". In the eyes of his old friends and wife, he is just a disgusting and extremely cold-blooded man who "sees money" and "doesn't hesitate to associate with the devil." No one knows where every copper he earns is used, and no one knows what kind of devil this "big boss" is dealing with every day. He dances with golden shackles, walking alone in the darkest hour, ready to disappear at any time. When the familiar sound of the piano poured out from the antique piano room, the heaviness in his heart that had been blocked for more than ten years was slowly lifted by the clear melody. He had seen her back from a distance under the verandah of the old house that had been dusty for many years - the long braid hanging down on her chest and the gray ribbon tied to the end of the braid swaying slightly in the wind, like an untouchable light. He locked her into the secret garden he had arranged with his own hands, blocking out all the visible filth. But his fiancée Sun Yanmin still came to the door. The old man of the Shen family, Shen Hongyuan, came in a wheelchair, determined to take away the pregnant Lin Ruoyu - the marriage between the Shen and Sun families must not be ruined by a commoner woman. This young man who never bowed his head knelt down for the first time in his life: "I beg you, Grandpa." The old man compromised: he would not hurt her, but she and the child must not stay here. On the night of Shen Yan's wedding, Lin Ruoyu was secretly sent back to his childhood home. In the east wing where only Ariel was guarding, Lin Ruoyu gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl. A year later, she became pregnant with his third child but the child was miscarried because of him. She waited silently, just like he was guarding this land he was deeply attached to. For fifteen years, she was deeply hidden in that unnoticed courtyard, quietly raising her children and playing the piano. Like a patron saint who never goes ashore, Shen Yan quietly puts on invisible armor for her and the house. He came occasionally to see the children, but was unable to take her out of the house. Step by step, he became the real leader of the Shen family, completely disintegrating the power of the Sun family; and the cold political marriage between him and Sun Yanmin eventually died. After fifteen years of waiting, he could finally walk towards her openly. But he suddenly discovered that the distance of fifteen years could not be filled by just saying "I'm here." What Shen Yan didn't know was that she tied all the waiting days for more than 20 years and the diaries filled with loneliness, suffering and concern one by one with gray ribbons and locked them in the wooden box that he had never seen before. It's not that she doesn't feel aggrieved. She just felt that her grievances were nothing compared to what he had been burdened with over the years. Although he never told her the reason, she still believed in him, she only believed in him. She had not thought about asking him to repay anything - he had already filled her countless lonely nights with the piano room that lit up the lights for her, those rare musical scores that she had never seen before, the quiet building where Shen Yan's mother's antique piano was hidden, and the gorgeous fireworks that had never been lit. What she didn't even know was that the countless funds he had handled, converted into today's purchasing power, had already exceeded billions; but when his son asked "Why did the family have no money?", He only said the answer that made her cry with heartache: "Because the work dad does is not to make money." Many years later, the eldest son Shen Xian silently dedicated his life to the country in the nuclear industry, finally inheriting the feelings of family and country that he had never really spoken of. The second daughter Shen Shen left the haven that her father had provided to isolate her from the wind and rain, and single-handedly supported thousands of women and children. He is the most loyal warrior on the hidden front and her most silent hero; he is the "cold-blooded capitalist" in the eyes of everyone, and he is also her only audience. She spent half her life waiting for an answer, and he spent half his life learning how to redeem himself. It's not that he doesn't love her, he just dedicated this love and his hot heart to the land he loved most. He spent his life proving that admonition: "Follow the trend but not the evil." True wealth is not money, but loyalty to faith and to those worth protecting. She finally understood in the end that the longest distance in the world was never from the coast of the East China Sea to the border of the Far East. It was that she could clearly touch him, but she could never truly enter the deepest, darkest, and bone-filled secret tunnel in his heart. And everything he concealed from her was just to protect her for the rest of her life. Between his family and his personal feelings, he chose to abandon her and the children and keep a distance from them. He would rather she and the children hate him, but he has never told them his true pain. He couldn't say it, and he couldn't say it out loud. He shouldered all the scolding and blame alone. However, on the lonely road, there was always someone who understood his pain and loneliness and silently stood by him. And the way he repays her is not with wealth and splendor - it is with power to carve out a quiet tea mountain, a worldly tea garden without the disturbance of ordinary people, so that she can have enough time and effort for the rest of her life to heal his unspeakable scars in those years, and to accompany him who can never heal. Intention: Some people spend their lives walking in the darkness, not for themselves, but for the land behind them that they love so much and the person who is waiting for him to go home. In the context of the Republic of China, a powerful family heir and an ordinary piano teacher fell in love for fifteen years. Identity, family status, political marriage - these external forces separate them time and time again, but they cannot erase the love in their hearts. 1. About the weight of belief Shen Yan has spent his life proving that "being with the same stream but not being tainted" is not an empty phrase. He circled among the devils, danced with golden shackles, and handled countless amounts of money, but never left a penny to his family. He was misunderstood, spurned, and regarded as a cold-blooded speculator by those closest to him—but he never offered a word of defense. Because he knows that some things are more important than reputation and more important than life. 2. About the meaning of waiting Lin Ruoyu used fifteen years of youth to prove that waiting is not a passive acceptance, but an active choice. She didn't know what he was doing, she didn't know why he couldn't give herself a name, and she didn't know what kind of thrilling things were hidden behind those long separations. But she still believed him - not because he gave her an explanation, but because she never needed an explanation. She just spent every lonely night wearing the ring he bought her, holding his photo in her dreams, and then silently raising children for him. 3. About the Guardian of Silence All Shen Yan concealed from Lin Ruoyu was not because of distrust, but because he cared too much. He would rather she hate him than be frightened by him. He blocked all the filth from her world and carried all the infamy on his shoulders. His love was never spoken out, but he had already filled all her loneliness with the piano room with lights on for her, the strange music scores she had never seen before, and the quiet tea mountain. 4. About silent loyalty Shen Lie's love is the most silent and important thing in this story. He has been with Shen Yan since birth, and his life has never been his own. When Shen Yan fell, he pushed him to the bottom; when Shen Yan was bullied, he clenched his fists to block him behind him; on the day Shen Yan was sent to France, he stood at the dock with tears streaming down his face and swore to guard his home and wait for his return. He can't express it. He would only do one thing - if Shen Yan asked him to go east, he would never go west; if Shen Yan asked him to die, he would not even frown. This is his loyalty to Shen Yan, which is deeper than brothers and heavier than blood ties. It is carved into his bones and melted into his blood, and he is determined to do so without any reason. But his protection of Lin Ruoyu had nothing to do with Shen Yan from being entrusted by Shen Yan at first. That was the only thing in his life that the young master didn't order him to do, but he had to do it with all his life, to protect her. She was the only person besides the young master who made him work hard. He is just a bodyguard, a servant, and a roughneck. She is the love of the young master's life. He has no right to miss her. He cannot stab Shen Yan in the back. So he hid that thought, in the protection of every silence, in every inadvertent look back, and in the glass of wine he drank alone late at night. He watched her enter Shen Yan's life, watched her give birth to a child for Shen Yan, watched her grow old little by little during the long wait - and all he could do was stand outside the door, guarding the door, like a speechless sculpture. He never said "I love you" to her, never even let her see any clues. But his whole life, he lived for her. Also died for him. Not because he couldn't break free, just because he wanted to. He was willing to spend a lifetime of silence in exchange for a lifetime of stability between her and him. He is willing to be the person who always stands in the shadows and watches them happy - even if the happiness is not given by him, even if she doesn't even know his intentions. His whole life was just to protect his brother and the people his brother loved. His love was never spoken, but he kept saying it his whole life. 5. The choice between home and country Between family and personal emotions, Shen Yan chose the former. It's not that she doesn't love her, it's that she doesn't dare to turn this love into a burden for her. He hid her and the child in the safest place, kept the farthest distance from them, and guarded them in the most silent way - and also guarded the land he was deeply attached to. 6. About understanding Lin Ruoyu didn't understand until the end: the longest distance in the world was never from the coast of the East China Sea to the border of the Far East. It was that she could clearly touch him, but she could never truly enter the deepest, darkest, corpse-filled secret tunnel in his heart. But she didn't need to go inside. All she needed to know was that he was there and she was waiting for him, and that was enough. As for Shen Lie, he didn't need anything. He just needs to live, live to protect them, live to see them well, that's enough. --- Some people walk in the dark so that those behind them can see the light. She spent half her life waiting for an answer, and he spent half his life learning how to redeem himself. It's not that he doesn't love her, he just dedicated this love and his hot heart to the earth he loved most. Protecting everyone with a lifetime of silence - no one knows his name, and his love has never been spoken, but his life has proven that there is a kind of love in this world called silence. --- "True wealth is not money, but loyalty to faith and to those worth protecting."