At Last, a New Life

A refined, aloof, beautiful, strong, and tragic gong x a sincere, healing shou who grows wild and free

For over twenty years, Yu Shenyuan's world had been cold and quiet. Then, after friends and family betrayed him, a warm, blazing fire came into his life.

His birth mother told him, "It would be best if you lived and died alone. Then no one would even know when you died, and I'd be happy."

The boy hiding in the house summoned the courage to run out and kneel beside him. His eyes reddened, and his heart shattered.

For the first time in their lives, they told someone about their past.

Later, the friend who had asked him to look after the boy came to visit.

His friend said very seriously, "Shenyuan, you're not the same as you used to be."

He reflexively asked, "Really?"

But soon he said, "Yes."

The warmth of someone's fire had thawed him.

Later, whenever Yu Shenyuan and his boy introduced each other, they would say, "He's the second stroke of good fortune in my life. At last, I found a way to live."

The first stroke of good fortune was having the chance to come into this world and meet each other.

Reader's Guide: 1. Gong-centric, though the shou has more perspective early on. The gong's courtesy name is Shu'er, from the Book of Songs poem "A Dead Deer in the Wilds."

2. The gong and shou heal each other.

3. I'm terrible at writing blurbs, but I did my best.

4. I'll be revising the story soon, correcting typos and fixing bugs, but the overall direction won't change.

Theme: In the face of hardship, be steadfast and persevere. Keep going, and things will eventually change for the better.