An orchid continues to bloom even in harsh conditions.
"Its fragrance, like an orchid's, never changes; its heart, like an orchid's, never wavers." From Family Sayings of Confucius.
[Setting: The 1970s]
More than ten years ago, amid steady rain and a scheme of traps and pursuit, Xu Jiping did everything she could to become the factory director's wife.
But the director's son got in her way. On a stormy night, the director's car crashed, killing everyone inside. Xu Jiping disappeared from the scene. She got nothing, married someone else, and yet seemed like the victor.
More than a decade later, Xun Lan grows up and meets a street tough who loves Cantopop and denim.
He shields her when she nearly gets caught in a street brawl. When he sees how afraid she is of riding a motorcycle, he switches to a bicycle and takes her for a ride, then treats her to the best steamed buns in the neighborhood.
On a blazing summer day, golden pineapples soak in salt water inside a glass jar.
Imitating a Hong Kong movie, he asks her, "Girl, want to hang out with me? I'll buy you pineapples every day."
Shadows from the trees flicker across the boy's jaw.
Xun Lan lowers her head, remembering her mother's words. After a long pause, she says, "My mom won't let me hang out with boys who get bad grades."
She hurries away and even leaves money on the stall for the steamed buns she ate.
The next week, the principal announces the school's top student from the platform on the sports field. Someone looks down at her from the stage. Xun Lan follows that gaze and discovers that the boy she called "bad at school" is none other than the first-place student everyone else thinks is out of reach, Xu Xudong, the street tough and, moreover, the former factory director's son.
He likes tapping on her window and sending little notes to her through other people.
Until one day, Xu Jiping tears up the note she found in Xun Lan's schoolbag, slowly and with a knowing smile, right in front of her. Then she gives Xun Lan a contemptuous smile and says, "You don't look like your father. Your nose and eyes look more like that man's. What a coincidence. The former factory director's precious son was good at putting on an act from a young age, just like his father. He was the happiest of all on the night his father died in that car crash."
[Family Sayings of Confucius:
"An orchid grows in a deep valley and does not cease to be fragrant simply because no one is around. A virtuous person cultivates the Way and develops virtue, never changing principles even in hardship. Thus it is said: Live with good people, and it is like entering a room filled with orchids. In time you no longer notice the fragrance, for you have become accustomed to it. Live with bad people, and it is like entering a fishmonger's shop. In time you no longer notice the stench, for you have become accustomed to it. Vermilion makes what it touches red, and lacquer makes what it touches black. Therefore, a virtuous person must be careful about their surroundings." ]
* Faux mystery
* Faux alternate world
* No puppy love, but there may be a conspiracy
(Things have been more suited to sweet romance lately, so I may not write this kind of story again. The blurb may change.)
Theme: A virtuous person is like an orchid; kind thoughts endure.
