Xie Lin x Shi Wan (Wanlin)
Childhood sweethearts, innocent and carefree together
The second young master of the Xie family, a mere scholar
The Shi family's daughter, skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting
After the Shi family falls on hard times, Shi Wan has no choice but to join an embroidery house to pay for her mother's burial.
She's the best dancer around.
She used to sing opera, but someone jealous of her ruined her voice, leaving her with no choice but to work as a dancer at the embroidery house.
Xie Lin searches for Shi Wan for many years, but finds no trace of her.
He doesn't know that his childhood companion is the embroidery house's famous courtesan, Shixiu.
Xie Lin often visits the embroidery house to write opera scripts, and in time, Shi Wan notices him.
At first, Xie Lin is simply curious about what the famous courtesan looks like, but he never expects to fall for her at first sight.
Like countless other suitors, he offers her a kiss.
There is no trace of emotion in her eyes, as though it's all just an act.
She never tells him that she is Shi Wan.
He begins by writing nothing but passionate love stories. When he looks at the person before him, he often can't put pen to paper for a long while.
He doesn't understand why he would fall for an actress, a dancer like her.
But there has never been a place for him in her eyes.
The two secretly go on a date during the Qixi Festival. Lin Shiwan wears the hairpin Xie Lin gave her many years ago, the only one she never pawned.
Xie Lin writes an opera about her, portraying her as utterly pure.
But she sees an opera by Xie Lin that mocks all the actresses in the world.
She gently sweeps her sleeve, pushing the script back in front of Xie Lin, and coldly says, "A thousand men have tasted those vermilion lips, and this is what you think of me? Fine. So be it."
The once-famous courtesan Shixiu dies of illness. Some say she took her own life. Xie Lin receives a rust-covered hairpin.
Theme: I still love you, and I can still pick you out of a crowd at a glance. But we never even had to begin for it to already be over.
