Embroidered Years

[Romance Blurb]:

Zhou Heng has been someone else's moonlight, someone's vermilion birthmark, and even someone's clingy burden.

The day someone scraped her off their clothes, she thought she would never get back on her feet.

Until that person stood before her.

That day, Wuhan was hit by torrential rain and severe flooding. He thought she was trapped in the storm, and waded through waist-deep water just to reach her.

He said, "I'm telling you I love you, not because I expect you to be with me or because I need us to have an ending.

I just hope that when you're at the lowest point in your life and doubting yourself, you'll always remember that someone was captivated by your charm. I was then, and I still am now.

I have no particular attachment to Wuhan. I came back countless times only because you were here."

Love doesn't happen only once. No matter how much time has passed, we should have the courage to begin again.

[Family Blurb]

If the world really were to end, Zhou Heng would want to be with the woman who gave birth to her and the one she gave birth to.

Dear Mom, she's so glad you also gave birth to a daughter, so the three of you could be this close.

In the end, she grew from being her mother's daughter into being a daughter's mother.

Much later, she came across a passage online that said:

Feminism isn't an outcome, but a process. Through the efforts of generations of mothers and daughters, we pass on the torch of our beliefs. One day, a generation of women will say, "I want to live like my mother."

She will keep fighting, passing the torch from one generation to the next. Even if it means exchanging bloodied blades, she won't be afraid.

Zhou Heng (Heng, as in "eternity")

A friendly note from the author:

1. This isn't like the traditional romance novels I've written before. It follows three generations of mothers and daughters, with the middle generation as the main viewpoint throughout, and some later shifts to the third generation. It explores the passing of ideas between generations and solidarity across generations.

2. This is my first story set in my hometown of Wuhan. The place names are real, but the story and characters are fictional. Please don't assume it draws on my personal life. The heroine was born in the 1970s, while I'm a 90s-born writer. This is not an autobiography.

3. There's no entrepreneurship, and this isn't a wish-fulfillment story. The novel focuses on the growth of three generations of women and explores marriage, love, and personal growth. It's realistic in tone and has an ensemble cast. There may be a little angst, but there are sweet moments too.

4. This is a new phase of growth and reflection for me after turning thirty. I can't promise this book won't touch on any of your personal deal-breakers, but I can promise I've put my heart into writing it.

Theme: Through the efforts of generations of mothers and daughters, we pass on the torch of our beliefs.