Back to My Parents' Youth

#You love my awkwardness because you've never been truly loved#

#Going back in time to raise my parents all over again#

The three people Shen Xiao loves most in this life are also the three people she feels for the most.

Her parents and Lin Ye.

Her father and mother were both the least-loved children in their families.

Their marriage was arranged, too. They met once through a matchmaker, then embarked on the long, uncertain years that followed.

In Shen Xiao's memory, her parents often argued, full of resentment toward each other. Those hysterical scenes were a painful embarrassment she never wanted to remember.

But there were also many tender moments.

From the time she first babbled to the time she turned thirty, her parents were the sails that cleared the way for her, and behind her, they became the waves that gave everything they had to lift her up.

Shen Xiao loves them and feels for them, but she doesn't want to become them.

So on her thirtieth birthday, she carefully refused Lin Ye's proposal.

*

When she returned home, her parents were slumped on opposite ends of the sofa. They wore matching, sleepy expressions and loosely held their phones. Cooking tutorials and melodramatic short videos played at the same time, as if they were chatting from across a distance.

Shen Xiao walked over and sat between them. Her tightly furrowed brows drew their attention.

They put down their phones. Neither asked what had happened. One took a cake they'd made earlier out of the fridge, while the other went to the kitchen to cook a bowl of longevity noodles. They warmly wished her a happy birthday.

The candle's faint light and gentle heat fell across her face. Shen Xiao closed her eyes and thought reverently: I have a wish.

*

The next morning, she opened her eyes and found herself in a brick-and-tile house.

Someone beside her gently fanned her with a palm-leaf fan, stirring the stifling air.

She saw him smile awkwardly and shyly. "Sis, I think we've ended up in 1980."

Only then did Shen Xiao catch a hint of something familiar in the scene around her. Stunned, she pushed open the door and ran down the muddy country road, slick from the rain.

Within an hour, she saw her father, drenched in sweat as he waded through the water, planting rice seedlings one laborious step at a time, and her mother driving an ox cart and threshing wheat under the blazing sun in an open field.

She turned around. Lin Ye stood right behind her, never leaving her side, his eyes full of hope.

Shen Xiao caught her breath and asked him, "What are we to each other here?"

Lin Ye thought of the marriage certificate he'd hidden first thing that morning. He smiled and said, "Siblings?"

*

In all his life, Lin Ye has loved one person most. She's also the only person he feels for the most.

He knows all her concerns, understands every one of her thoughts, and respects all her choices.

His one regret is that he couldn't grow up alongside her and be with her through all the moments that still trouble her.

*

I have one wish: that someone would have loved you well when you were little.

I have one wish: to grow up before you, so I could take your hand and lead you through every moment of uncertainty.

*

I have one more wish: to love you for a while without hesitation, without a single other thought.

• A strong heroine who's gentle but sensitive x a younger male lead who sometimes comes across as older

• A heartwarming story, absolutely, absolutely, absolutely no angst

• Blurb written on March 8, 2026

Theme: I hope you are loved.