As She Wished

"May you never face anything in life that leaves you with no choice."

Xia Shiwei spent four years as a top student at university, only to face one setback after another once she graduated and started working.

Once again, her boss pointed at her and yelled, "What kind of garbage is this video? Did you buy your college diploma?" Then he threw a termination notice in her face and refused to pay her a cent in compensation.

With fate showing her no mercy and every path leading to a dead end, Xia Shiwei came across an online ad for a shared rental and hurriedly fled to a small county town that wasn't hers, just so she could catch her breath.

Xu Xiangyi was astonishingly beautiful and knew it. Yet when she stood behind the counter shaking milk tea, she insisted on wearing a mask.

Xia Shiwei leaned against the counter waiting for her order. Xu Xiangyi handed her a milk tea with extra toppings, then casually brushed her fingertips over the back of Xia Shiwei's hand. "Let's get barbecue tonight. My treat."

Xu Xiangyi earned 16 yuan an hour shaking milk tea, 100 yuan a day, and could cheerfully spend 80 of it without worrying she'd starve the next day.

And when Xia Shiwei pulled off her mask and kissed her fiercely, Xu Xiangyi never worried that Xia Shiwei would leave her the next day.

Keywords: A story of healing and redemption, a capital-H happy ending, small-town fiction

Characters: Xia Shiwei, 23, from new media operator to struggling freelancer, with the mindset of a small-town exam ace

Xu Xiangyi, 24, born and raised in the county town, working odd jobs, a peerless beauty with an extraordinary sense of ease

2024.9.4 No adaptations, please.

Dedicated to all young people who feel lost and discouraged.

Theme: Live as if you have already faced death.