Upcoming novel. (No idea when I'll start writing it. I'll change the cover once I do.)
"Where are you headed, my friend? Dismount and tell me your plans. Come, have a drink with me. How many people truly understand one another?"
"I have no money and no horse, so I rode a bicycle to come see you."
The first time Wen Yongfan met Zhang Qishan, he was sitting on a yellow shared bike and pedaled over to her. Looking her up and down, he asked, "Excuse me, miss, are you Ms. Wen?"
Wen Yongfan wasn't from some fabulously wealthy family, but she had a home and a car in the city. Her apartment was an old, run-down ninety-square-meter place in a lousy neighborhood, and her car was secondhand, but she had enough to live comfortably and was perfectly content. That was until her great-aunt's third sister-in-law from back in her hometown introduced Zhang Qishan to her, supposedly just so they could get acquainted.
Zhang Qishan was a university graduate from a tiny mountain village outside a town. He'd never even been to the county seat. His "house" was a courtyard house perched alone on a godforsaken mountaintop, and his "car" was a bicycle passed down by his grandfather, dating back to the 1990s.
Wen Yongfan frowned. "Why are you following me? What can you do for me?"
Sitting on his bicycle, Zhang Qishan rubbed his head. "Just let me stay by your side. I can cook, do the laundry, wait on you hand and foot, and do anything you need. I'll work like an ox or a horse. I promise you'll be satisfied!"
Wen Yongfan gave a cold snort. "What do you want?"
Zhang Qishan raised a hand and put on a miserable face. "Please, miss, have mercy! I'm going to die soon. If I don't stay with you, I might get hit by a car the very next second!"
"It's my destiny to work like an ox and a horse for you! That's what Heaven said!"
Notes:
A lighthearted yet serious supernatural tale about strange beings and spirits.
A poker-faced, levelheaded heroine protected by good fortune x a lively exorcist Taoist who works as a housekeeper.
The male lead comes from a family of exorcist Taoists. His family has fallen on hard times, so he clings to the heroine for support. A childhood fortune-telling told him he had to find her if he wanted to survive.
The blurb is provisional and may change.
Moral: What people call destiny is really a matter of choice.
