When Li Qing was thirteen, a fire broke out at home. Afterward, she lost all her memories and began to suffer from illness.
The Li family cherished their only daughter and sent her to a quiet town in the countryside, where she could recuperate.
When she was eighteen, one evening after a light rain, Li Qing saw someone who looked as if he'd stepped out of a painting on the "Find You" Bridge in town.
The man wore a blue robe and had exceptionally fair skin. He was especially handsome, but his gaze was vacant and his expression ashen. Then the wind picked up, carrying the strong scent of medicinal herbs from his clothes.
Having relied on Chinese medicine to keep herself healthy for years, Li Qing hated its smell.
Yet, strangely, she didn't dislike the scent on the man. It felt familiar, making her want to get closer and find out why.
Summoning her courage, Li Qing approached and asked rather boldly, "Um... hello... do I know you?"
The man lowered his eyes to look at her. His ashen gaze grew darker, but he said nothing and turned to leave.
Li Qing thought she'd been too forward and was about to chase after him to apologize when she noticed the way he walked. His leg seemed to be seriously injured.
*
When she was twenty, Li Qing's condition had stabilized, and she was brought back to Linfen. On New Year's Eve, she accompanied her elders to the Shen family to pay their respects and saw the man with the injured leg again.
That's when she learned his name: Shen Zhouhe.
Now he was impeccably dressed in a suit, brimming with confidence. He leaned on a cane in his right hand, and his gaze swept over the crowd with the same indifference as before.
Li Qing became lost in his face and didn't notice the servant approaching with a bowl of hot soup. She collided with her head-on.
At the very last moment, she saw the man's usually cold expression change completely. He dropped his cane, then an arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her toward him. They both fell to the floor.
The room descended into chaos.
Li Qing scrambled to her feet and apologized again and again. Her gaze accidentally fell on his right leg, exposed as his trouser cuff had ridden up.
The shocking scars bore the marks of burns
[The only kindness the desolate world ever gave me was that you once remembered me]
* They heal and save each other
* A scheming, gloomy business tycoon with a bad leg x a frail, eccentric female painter
* Blurb written on April 20, 2022
Theme: Healing
