Wutong Perch

| Hard-luck optimist who loves pain x cold-faced, soft-hearted, devoted cat | SC | Boarding school romance | Geography researcher x archaeologist |

1. Wen Qingwu moved into the Shang household at seventeen.

She was grateful to have escaped that endless cage, so she kept her head down and did everything she could to please the Shang family.

Everyone said she was pretty and well-mannered. Even Uncle Shang, who rarely smiled, praised her at the dinner table.

Everyone except the sharp-eyed, sharp-tongued eldest son.

The young man was proud and aloof, with piercing eyes. Aside from his pure white German Shepherd, no one else seemed to meet his standards.

She tried to get close to him countless times, but all she got in return was a cold, mocking, "Don't waste my time."

She took the hint and kept her distance. They had no further contact.

Until one day, when she was searching for a collar in the icy water of a pond, and his warm palm pulled her out of the abyss.

Perhaps out of simple decency, he gradually accepted her, a girl with a pitiful background. He went with her to Lidong, and they raised a cat together.

On the day she left the Shang household to visit her family, he joked with a smile that at least he'd have a few peaceful days.

But seven years passed, and she never came back.

2. They met again seven years later, when Shang Xingyue's archaeological team partnered with the resource bureau in Chadong.

Everyone joked that the team had a bookworm who did nothing but study. He was quiet and reserved, and couldn't even bring himself to flatter his superiors.

He lowered his eyes and smiled faintly, thinking that no one in the world could be as sweet-tongued as she was.

After dinner, he stood looking exhausted in a corner of the guesthouse when he saw her bend over, coughing violently.

He offered her some medicine, but she refused it.

Later, on a quiet, rainy night, she knocked on his door of her own accord and returned the necklace to its rightful owner.

He answered, but his warm fingertips pressed against her ribs.

"After all these years, does it still hurt here?" He wiped the warm tears from the corners of her eyes and watched her turn away.

He gripped her chin and forced her to look up. His eyes were red. "Just say a couple of sweet things to comfort me, and I won't be angry anymore."

*A withered tree can still meet a desolate spring.

Note: The heroine's family relationships are complicated and melodramatic. Read with caution if that bothers you.

Theme: Love can come with a time difference.