After Three Years in Hiding, I Stole the City’s Tenderness in Changde

After his finances collapsed under a mountain of debt, he fled in humiliation from the frozen Northeast and headed south, taking refuge in the small, misty city of Changde. Morning fog drifted over the lakeside path around Liuye Lake. Hidden deep among the willows, he quietly watched a young woman named Su Wan. With nothing to his name, he didn't dare approach. All he could do was watch from afar, keeping his surging love buried deep in his heart. He made a vow: He wouldn't see her until he succeeded, and he wouldn't confess until he had put down roots. After three years in hiding, he gritted his teeth and built a business, traversing every street and alley in the city and enduring countless agonizing nights. The once-destitute northerner had now established himself in Changde, built a career, and made a home. Amid the clamor and lights of the night market, he finally came face-to-face with the girl he had longed for, lost in the crowd. The love he'd kept restrained for years finally broke through the ground. Can this one-sided journey, which began in the morning mist of Liuye Lake, find its way to a tenderness shared by two? A city by the lake, one unwavering heart. I'll give everything I have just to walk toward you with my head held high. Theme: Work hard to grow for the light in your heart, love someone as an equal, and find the tenderness of two people choosing each other.