Flowers Bloom on the Ridge

[The entire story has been revised. The pirated version differs from the official version, so please support the official release. This story has been signed for publication. Follow @CishuNeedsEncouragement for updates.] A powerful man who bows his head | An older man who lifts her up | Love grows over time A young woman from a border-region ethnic minority vs. a former diplomat In the summer of 2008, eighteen-year-old Yiduo left her mountain village for the first time, leaving her hometown behind. On the bustling, unfamiliar streets of Shanghai, she accidentally knocked over a young man's coffee, staining his snow-white shirt. Before Yiduo could apologize, an angry rebuke came from someone nearby. Flustered, she could only apologize again and again, her eyes reddening. The man gave the other person a cool glance, then turned back and gently said it was all right. But as he tossed the coffee cup into the trash, he still sighed regretfully: "What a waste of coffee." That was the first time she had ever heard the word coffee. In 2012, while herding cattle in the mountains, Yiduo found a man who had crashed his car. The gentle warmth of before was gone. His face was cold, his gaze distant. But all she wanted was to thank fate. They had met again. Later, he stayed in Yunnan on official business, encouraged her to grow coffee, taught her how to deal with people, and helped her see the world beyond her home. They knew each other for many years. But that was all there was to it. He was born into a family of great wealth and status, was learned and well-read, and stood to inherit a major conglomerate in a big city. She was just an ordinary girl from a small village on the southwestern frontier. She never dared to dream of anything more. She kept her feet on the ground, growing coffee, building an estate, and creating a brand. She brought Yunnan coffee to the international market and helped the village women see the world. Then she got married, and later quietly divorced. That autumn, she returned to Shanghai with her specialty coffee and received an award of her own. Beneath the stage where the award was presented, she saw him again. An old acquaintance reunited, back where they had first met. Yiduo was overwhelmed with emotion. She was about to remark on how quickly time had passed, how ten years had gone by in the blink of an eye. Then she saw him suddenly take off his hearing aids. Under her astonished gaze, he took her hand, his smile bleak. "Take me home with you, too." Wen Yubai lived an upright life, always acting honorably. Even after losing his hearing later in life, he carried himself with dignity. But in the eighth year after meeting Yiduo, he did something utterly undignified. He asked her to take him home while she was still married. Over the years they had known each other, he had traveled to the borderlands time and time again to see her. He thought their bond was growing slowly, like a gentle stream, but reality hit him hard. She didn't know that when he heard she and her husband had been living apart all these years, the dead embers in his heart caught the light and quickly flared back to life. / You say I don't love you. But all those times I traveled to the frontier to help you, over all those years, had already embedded my love in my bones. I took off my hearing aids because I didn't want to hear you give up on me again. Reader's notes: - A subtle secret crush, first love for both, happy ending, older man. His deafness was caused by aftereffects of the war evacuation in the Middle East. The characters are imperfect. The story is entirely fictional. - A bittersweet, slow-burn story involving specialty coffee and construction work along the Yunnan border. There are no real-life models. The references are documentaries and many books, and much of the story is fictional. - Since I'm not part of an ethnic minority either, some customs may not be entirely accurate. If anything is wrong, please point it out gently. - Archived on 2025.11.11 Theme: The growth of a cattle-herding girl into a leading entrepreneur