I Have a Bird-and-Flower Painting [Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio]

Miss Ma Sulian is a renowned beauty, famous far and wide. She remained unmarried until she was eighteen.

When her parents asked her about it, she said she would choose a husband through a literary contest.

Once the room was empty, a strikingly handsome man, as beautiful as a painting, suddenly stepped down from the bird-and-flower painting hanging on the wall.

He walked over to the table, sat down, took the book from Miss Ma’s hands, and made her look at him.

His voice was clear, but the ends of his words were slightly husky, with a strangely bewitching quality. “Why do you want to choose a husband through a literary contest, Miss? Do you also love the poor scholars in those romance stories?”

Ma Sulian looked up at him, her voice cool. “I don’t. But who says scholars have to be poor? Shu Ning, you know I love talent more than anything. A literary contest is the most sensible way to find a husband.”

Shu Ning was so exasperated he had no way to argue back, so he had to find another approach.

At last, one day, he got his wish and held Miss Ma in his arms. As he gazed at her eyes shimmering with desire and the blush at the corners of her eyes, he couldn’t stop himself from leaning in to kiss her neck, leaving a mark that belonged to him alone.

“Miss... do you love me?”

“I do.”

Elegant, cool, book-loving noblewoman x stunning, bewitching male spirit

From the heroine’s perspective:

When Ma Sulian was young, a wandering Taoist came to her home and said he wanted to take her as his disciple. She wasn’t particularly interested, until she saw that bird-and-flower painting.

Later, a little boy emerged from the painting. She chose several names for him, but he insisted on changing Shuning to Shu Ning. “‘Shu’ sounds like ‘Su.’ I want you to have peace and safety.”

From then on, Ma Sulian followed her master’s advice and immersed herself in books.

As his literary aura grew, Shu Ning gradually changed from a little boy into a young man, growing more and more beautiful, with a peerless appearance.

Ma Sulian had only meant to help him become an immortal, but she never expected him to develop other feelings first.

So she went along with his wishes.

But what belonged to her should stay by her side for all eternity.

A story about a male spirit who tries every trick in the book, believing he has successfully won the upper hand, when in fact he was already in an unbeatable position from the very beginning.

A mutual pining and healing romance. They pine for each other and heal one another.

Both the hero and heroine eventually become immortals. The setting is reminiscent of Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, and it may be a loosely connected collection of stories.

Theme: Always hold on to kindness, no matter the circumstances