Downstream

Sorry, everyone, but I have to take a break from updating for a while. I haven't been satisfied with the latter half of Downstream for a long time, and there may be some major changes. Work was incredibly busy last year, and it really stifled my inspiration. I'm going to write something else for a bit and try to clear my head.

But I absolutely, absolutely will finish this story. It just might not be anytime soon. Follow me on Weibo: A Walk in a While. I'll post updates and plans there.

(Please, please check out my upcoming stories!!!)

Half a Heart: Cheng Youwei x Shi Jiaxu - romance across borders / intense push and pull / mature leads (a comfort-zone setting)

How About We Start Over?: Chen Zhimai x Fang Yicheng - childhood friends / secret crush becomes mutual / saving each other as teenagers

One-line pitch: "Many years ago, you asked me if I loved you. I couldn't answer. I'd never seen what good love looked like. Even now, I'm not sure what love is. But for these ten years, whenever I've heard someone say the word 'love,' I've thought of you."

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In 2014, Xie Cunshan delivered takeout, and Xu Ran drank with clients. The most extravagant thing they could afford was Brazilian barbecue. Their biggest dream was to go to Beijing and watch the flag-raising ceremony at Tiananmen Square.

In 2015, they moved in together. Xie Cunshan repaired cars, and Xu Ran worked at a lingerie counter. Their rented room leaked when it rained, and they couldn't bring themselves to turn on the heat in winter.

But it was the warmest home Xu Ran had ever lived in.

Then came ten years of drifting apart, swept up in the tides of life, their hearts adrift, each headed in a different direction.

Midsummer, 2024. Old friends reunite.

Liangzi clinked glasses with Xie Cunshan and said, "You two were destined to be together. You can't just drift apart."

Xu Ran arrived late, arm in arm with another man. "Long time no see. This is my boyfriend."

Xie Cunshan held a cup of tea at the other end of the round table, neither happy nor sad. He simply nodded lightly to the newcomer.

One lowered, one lifted: ten years of love and hate came to a calm full stop.

Tea was more intoxicating than wine.

Xie Cunshan thought back to that year: the rented room, the little space heater, snow falling outside the window. Xu Ran's profile was serene and gentle as she reverently copied onto the first page of her vocabulary notebook: "The most important thing is that we should be kind first, honest second, and then..."

"Never forget each other, not ever."

+ Xu Ran & Xie Cunshan

+ Ensemble cast / mystery / stories about ordinary people / stories about rented rooms / no Su-style tropes or golden fingers / spans ten years / they have separated before / neither the leads nor the supporting characters are perfect, and they have moral flaws. Readers who insist on spotless characters, please stay away.

Theme: A life in the gutter, a heart full of sincerity.