Snow from the Old Days

[Signed for publication. Updates on Weibo: Mu Tian w] In the summer of 2002, Shen Zhaoqing's family moved into the lane, becoming neighbors with Sang Yue. The lane was in the heart of Shanghai, on Nanjing East Road. Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street was just outside, and the Bund was less than a fifteen-minute walk away. Many families lived in the lane. At one end was Hengdeli Watches and Clocks; at the other, Yonghe Soy Milk, with its sesame flatbreads and fried dough sticks. Mahjong tiles clattered, and the Shikumen houses bore witness to their lives. The TV in Sang Yue's home always played the local news right on time. She couldn't understand it, so she had an idea. Acting like an old friend, she ran over to the new neighbor's house and invited Shen Zhaoqing, “Hello! You're the new neighbor, right? Want to watch cartoons with me? But we can only use your TV.” By 2024, the lane had long since been demolished and replaced by Daimaru Department Store. Not a trace remained of its old, ordinary charm. Memories began to fade. No matter how tumultuous the love and hatred had been, twenty years quietly scattered and broke them apart, gradually drowning them in the tides of the times. Sang Yue held Shen Zhaoqing's hand as they strolled among the tourists. “Shen Zhaoqing, I'm glad you're still here.” Through all the storms, the one thing she could be sure of was that he would never leave her. “In the snow of the past, we searched for a blue sun. The sunset on the Huangpu River could never take away the golden light of old film rolls hidden in an iron box. Together, stroke by stroke, we wrote our lives.” Content Notes: * A slow-burn, everyday story about family life and changing times, set in a Shanghai lane in the 2000s. A modern fairy tale with a gentle pace and an ensemble cast. * The text includes some Shanghainese dialect. * Weibo: Mu Tian w Next up: First Love. Please add it to your reading list in advance~ Blurb: At fifteen, Shu You's biological parents found her, took her home from the orphanage, and renamed her Ji Shu You. It turned out she'd been switched at birth. The girl who had taken her place, Ji Jiaqi, had been with her parents for fifteen years, and their bond was impossible to sever. After much consideration, the Ji parents decided to raise both girls. In the Ji household, Shu You had to put up with Ji Jiaqi's grievances and domineering ways, while still living as a dependent. Little by little, she grew even quieter. With the high school entrance exams approaching, the Ji parents worried that neither Shu You nor Ji Jiaqi would get into No. 1 High School, so they hired the neighbor next door to tutor them both. That was the first time Ji Shu You met Song Yanyue. The boy was very tall, but slender. He wore the No. 1 High School uniform. His eyes and brows were marked by a severe air, and his thin lips were lightly pursed. Handsome and aloof, he looked difficult to approach. For some reason, in an instant, her cheeks flushed and her heartbeat went haywire. They said Song Yanyue was in very poor health, terribly poor. His family carefully nursed him, but in their hearts, they had already given up on him. Yet over the long years that followed, Song Yanyue made it through surgery time and time again, returning to Shu You's side. “I can't die. Shu You, I have to stay by your side forever.” “They don't want you, but I do.” Theme: Cherish the people by your side