Year After Year, Forever with You

After her parents passed away, Suisui lived with the Zhou family next door.

Uncle and Aunt treated her like their own daughter, and Suisui loved the Zhou family, except for that awful Zhou Yunian.

He was the most famous genius in Rongcheng, the kind of kid every parent wished they had.

Suisui had never liked Zhou Yunian.

When she was five, she eagerly went with Uncle to start the adoption process. Zhou Yunian came out of his locked room, expressionless, and tore up the paperwork.

When she was fifteen, she accepted a love letter from the student council president in the class next door. Zhou Yunian gripped the back of her neck, leaned down, and touched the cigarette between his lips to the letter before she could even open it.

At twenty-two, she landed the lead role in a famous director's film and decided to leave home, thinking she could finally escape that persistent nuisance.

But at the meeting with the film's investors, she spotted a man in a suit striding through the crowd toward her.

On the rooftop, the wind blew.

He cupped his hand around a cigarette and lit it, then casually crumpled the plane ticket he had torn to shreds.

"Got too big for your britches and ran off on your own?" He was as domineering and annoying as ever.

Suisui pressed her lips together and turned to leave.

But suddenly, she fell into his burning embrace.

"I get it. Our Suisui hates her big brother the most."

His voice trembled, rough and hoarse, as he pleaded softly, "Could you hate me a little longer?"

When he was ten, the little girl next door lost both her parents. Zhou Yunian saw her standing in the rain, clutching a tattered teddy bear and looking at him timidly.

He chased off the bullies and reached out with his muddy hand to take her cold little hand. "From now on, I'm your big brother. No one will dare bully you again."

But later, he became the one who bullied her.

In the dim light, his eyes were deep and dark. He gently kissed away her tears and murmured soothingly, "Don't cry."

Bonus scene

On a variety show, the host interviewed the newly crowned Best Actress, Chen Sui.

"I hear you don't do kissing scenes. Is it because your family is strict with you?"

The beauty smiled sweetly. "That's right. My big brother is an old-fashioned stick-in-the-mud."

During a break in filming, a guest was late coming back, so a staff member went to the dressing room to hurry them along.

But a man's low voice came from inside.

"This old-fashioned stick-in-the-mud has been off cigarettes for three months. Can I kiss you now?"

*

Wishing you year after year of happiness.

Content warnings

One-on-one romance, both leads' first relationship, happy ending

Six-year age gap.

First posted July 7, 2023. Revised September 6, 2023.

Theme: Companionship is the longest-lasting confession of love