Spring at the Altar

🌺 The fan song for this novel, "Caged Bird," is now available on NetEase Cloud Music. Gorgeous, charismatic director x refined yet depraved kingpin of Suzhou's underworld #The celibate older man goes mad for love# Sometimes after school, Ni Sui would pass by that garden. Damp and shadowy, just like its owner. She never imagined that when her mother had to move abroad for work, she would be sent to live in that garden as a child. The first time she saw Jiang Anian, he was sitting in the covered walkway, listening to opera as he sketched a Suzhou embroidery pattern. His gaze was as gentle as spring water beneath the veranda, meeting hers tenderly across a stretch of misty rain. Only she knew that the refined, angelic man everyone saw was, behind closed doors, a deep and turbulent tide. "When you said you'd let me go, did you mean you were leaving your big brother?" On a cold, rainy night, his unhurried footsteps echoed through the gardens of Jiangnan. She had never won a game of hide-and-seek with him. The one time she did win, she had gone to great lengths to escape, and never came back. From then on, there was no more Jiang Shuyue, the gentle beauty of Jiangnan. There was only Ni Sui, living freely in Jingzhou. - Four years later, Ni Sui had no choice but to return to Jiangnan after being invited to film a tourism promotional video for her hometown. The wildcat appeared in the Jiang family garden with a cigarette in her left hand and defiance in every step. He was still elegant and gentle, smiling as he watched her wary defenses. "We're both adults now, Sui Sui. You don't have to be so afraid of me." Then one day, she accidentally found thirty-six round-trip tickets to Jingzhou in his room, along with a stack of candid photos taken from a private point of view at every event she had attended. The man explained softly that the tickets were for business trips, and the photos were from the internet. On the night of the first snowfall, he even sighed, his sickly body dragging behind him: "When the snow stops, forget about your big brother." A skilled hunter never startles its prey. It lures it into the cage one step at a time. - Years later, at a banquet where she appeared with her fiance, the guests were chatting when the lights suddenly went out. In the darkness, the sound of shattering glass and screams filled the room. When the lights came back on, someone's composure had completely shattered. He stood at the second-floor railing, looking down at the chaos. "I'm looking for a bird with no conscience that flew far away." She suddenly remembered an autumn night years ago, when they shared their first kiss. At the end, he had said just three meaningful words: "Still haven't learned." That bird never learns. Twice, it flew into the same cage. That bird never learns. Twice, it believed it had truly been set free. - Everything a deity ever bends down for is to hear your prayers. Reconciliation after a breakup + a meticulously laid trap + mutual secret love "A love that's been cut to pieces is the only kind that feels alive." -- Blood-Soaked Love Story Both sexually inexperienced, a hot-tempered wild rose x a dangerous, refined villain "I often remember your goodness, and long for the quiet hills." -- Dream of the Butterfly Reading guide: 1. The male and female leads are not related by marriage or blood. They are eight years apart in age. 2. The male lead should not be viewed as a normal person. His gentleness is an act. But there are reasons behind how he treats the female lead early on. Synopsis screenshotted on June 21, 2022. Theme: Live positively; the road ahead is bright.