When the Flowers Fade

Zhuang Wenjuan, a PhD in history with a niche specialty and a passion for digging up history

She had hoped to stay at the university after graduating, but her domineering mother pressured her to take the civil service exam. In a fit of anger, she applied for a librarian position instead. She had no interest in competing at work or in romance, and just wanted to lie flat.

A college student, Gu Peiyun, met Zhuang Wenjuan's eyes through a bookshelf one day. From then on, they grew close.

At New Year, they planned to sneak off to Hong Kong without telling their families. The two of them went to see the crowds on Central's Stone Slab Street, burned the first incense of the lunar New Year at Wong Tai Sin Temple on New Year's Eve, then went to Lam Tsuen the next day to toss wish-making placards at the Wishing Tree.

Peiyun told her that her mother was extremely controlling, her father was abusive, and her brother always tried to smooth things over. She was on the verge of breaking down at home, and finally resolved to escape. Wenjuan decided to help her. She knew how terrifying a dysfunctional family could be. Peiyun encouraged her to boldly pursue an academic career. Wenjuan's niche research had once been a dream Peiyun could never attain.

They lived in a rented apartment. Inspired by Romeo and Juliet, Peiyun pinned Wenjuan against a mirror and kissed her. In the evenings, they often went out for walks until late at night.

Unfortunately, Wenjuan's mother told her some things about her father. Only then did Wenjuan learn that after betraying her mother, her father had remarried and had a daughter named Gu Peiyun.

The little feeling that had been growing between them was quickly stamped out. She couldn't bear to imagine what it would mean to fall in love with someone related to her by blood, so she kept telling herself and Peiyun that they were only the closest of friends.

During Peiyun's last summer break from university, they went to Hong Kong again. At Ocean Park, Peiyun leaned close to her ear and asked if she loved her. This time, Wenjuan didn't answer.

When spring came, Peiyun's family pressured her to marry. They were both sick of this ethereal, hopeless love and agreed to die together.

In April, they walked along Yuriage Beach in Japan until late, then sat in the seawater until dawn. Neither of them had the courage to die.

Peiyun got married. She couldn't bear to see her mother sad. Wenjuan's work situation changed again and again, and eventually she took an editor's job at a publishing house in Yangzhou. She never gave up her historical research, working at it for ten years without getting discouraged and gradually organizing it into a series of books.

Then, one day, Peiyun came to see her. Her father had died of illness, her mother had become mentally ill, and she had divorced. Wenjuan finally accepted that she loved her. They moved in together again, just as they had ten years earlier, though they both knew a mountain now stood between then and now.

Theme: A lingering, hopeless love