The Fourth Brother’s Life of Romance and Turmoil

The Shen family, who lived halfway up a hill in Haicheng, had once been one of the most prominent silver merchant clans on the coast. Seventeen-year-old Shen Yanchen was peerlessly handsome, the refined and courteous fourth young master of the Shen family in everyone’s eyes. Born into wealth and privilege, he saw through the ways of the world, yet remained aloof and indifferent. Kindness came naturally to him, but so did a certain callousness. Lin Wanshu, daughter of the Lin family, friends of the Shen family for generations, had adored him since she was young. The elders considered them a match made in heaven. But Shen Yanchen was destined for a life of romance and intrigue. Over the following decades, as his family rose and fell, he passed through prosperity and ruin, meeting one woman after another who loved him sincerely. One gave him a young love that ran deep; another stayed by his side through years of hardship. They gave him all their passion, yet none could keep him for long. He watched the tides of Haicheng rise and fall and embraced countless springs of earthly beauty. But when he looked back on his life, romance was everywhere, and he had no place to call home. A story of the rise and fall of a wealthy family in old Haicheng, and of a man’s long life of love, hatred, wandering, and loneliness. A slow, detailed portrayal of courtyard life and the scenery of mountains and sea, the daily rituals of tea and meals and the changing seasons, all concealing love and regret that endure in silence. The theme: Prosperity is a dream, and no amount of sincere love can bind a wanderer’s heart. No matter how deeply someone is cherished, in the end, each person must make their own way through life.