Green Bamboo

[My fourth novel, My Daoist Partner Keeps Forcing Me, is now updating~~ Welcome!]

Everyone in the surrounding villages knew that Jiang Zhu was an orphan whom Jiang the Bamboo Artisan had found at the foot of the mountain. After his adoptive father passed away, he was left all alone on Bamboo Mountain, making a living by cutting bamboo, digging up shoots, and weaving baskets.

One day, Jiang Zhu “found” a strange man on his mountain.

The man was handsome and fair, with fine manners and captivating eyes. He looked every bit like a pampered young master from a wealthy family.

His hair was just a little short.

His clothes were a little strange.

He was spoiled and picky about food, and he loved to lie.

One moment he claimed to be a mountain god, the next a giant panda spirit who loved eating bamboo, and then he said he had an incurable illness…

Jiang Zhu treated his wounds, carried him to the doctor, and provided him with food and shelter. The man had him wrapped around his little finger, and Jiang Zhu grew more and more convinced that he was like the pampered little dog from the rich household in town, always coming down with some ailment.

But Shen Qingyue wasn’t like a dog.

He could talk and tease people. He was more domineering than a dog, but he didn’t bite people at random.

He also had a strange bundle full of curious things: a lamp that lit up in the sun, a mirror that could draw people and sing, and all sorts of odd little gadgets…

Most importantly, he protected Jiang Zhu from being bullied.

Jiang Zhu thought maybe he really was a god who had fallen on hard times.

But so what?

Whether he was a fallen young master, a deserter from a neighboring kingdom, or a mountain spirit, Jiang Zhu had found him, so he was Jiang Zhu’s!

Shen Qingyue was born with asthma and raised in comfort. On his first hiking trip, a mudslide sent him transmigrating into an unfamiliar ancient world.

He had little medicine, a broken leg, and pain that made him want to cry. He was also stranded in the middle of nowhere.

Shen Qingyue mocked himself: Everyone dies eventually, so why did he have to die twice?

He was tired. Let the world end, for all he cared. He didn’t much want to live anyway.

He lay down to wait for death, only for Jiang Zhu, a guileless and gullible young man, to carry him home.

Jiang Zhu looked after him, comforted him, fed him, and thought about him every moment of the day, yet never bothered to take care of himself.

Seeing how Jiang Zhu was all alone, dark and skinny, pushed around and bullied, Shen Qingyue thought that he ought to repay the boy somehow before he died.

He would teach people a lesson on Jiang Zhu’s behalf, protect the bamboo grove, and help him uncover his past.

He would trick him into eating more meat and putting on weight, then teach him a few ways to make money.

When it was time for him to die, he could sell the solar-powered camping lamp, phone, tablet, and other things in his backpack. Then Jiang Zhu would have more than enough to live on.

[About the pairing: I think I need to clarify this]

While working on the draft, I realized I had originally gotten the pairing backwards. The child grew up differently from what the parents expected (tvt), so I changed it to Jiang Zhu gong and Shen Qingyue shou. I sincerely apologize to the readers who followed the original preview (drops to knees).

Note:

① Happy ending.

② Jiang Zhu is gong (younger); Shen Qingyue is shou.

③ Set in an alternate ancient world. An everyday, healing story about daily life and family affairs, told through a series of slice-of-life vignettes. The pace is quite slow (important).

④ A gentle but strong, capable, younger native bamboo artisan x an asthmatic, sharp-tongued, older beauty of a designer

Theme: Heal loneliness through companionship and build a better life together.