When the Flowers Fade

Set in the same world as Chasing Fragrant Dust, this is a story about a woman in a brothel.

Originally written as a forum roleplay diary, it's rather brief, with short chapters...

Four years have passed. I never left, because now and then, when you had some free time, you would come back to see me.

I was sixteen then. Now, all I see is the wear and tear of time. I sit alone by the window, drinking by moonlight.

I don't need you to take me away. Perhaps I no longer want to leave.

I only hope you'll come by often and stop my hand when I reach for the wine or wipe my brows.

When drinking with others, I drink only light wine, never enough to lose my poise.

But when I drink alone, I have to open a matured huadiao, its rich flavor just like the way I think of you.