Raising a Clingy Childhood Friend in the 1980s

A father who abandoned his wife and child, a mother who's lost her mind, and a grandfather addicted to gambling raised Lin He to be cold-hearted.

She trusts no one in the world. After her mother dies, she spends all her time planning her escape from Xiangzhang Village.

But when she is ten, her grandfather tries to sell her, and the attempt brings her a childhood sweetheart she can't shake off.

Her name is Ye Zixiang.

She's foolish and dim-witted. The first time they meet, she spends all the money her family had saved to build a house to rescue Lin He.

She can't read the room, either. No matter how coldly Lin He treats her, she keeps clinging to her.

Even after learning how heartless Lin He is and bursting into tears in frustration, at night she still can't keep her hands and feet to herself, wrapping herself around Lin He like a spiderweb.

But perhaps there's always someone who can tame the untamable. Foolish and dim-witted as she is, Ye Zixiang can somehow tame a heartless person.

When the chance to escape Xiangzhang Village finally comes, Lin He chooses to hold Ye Zixiang's hand.

After that come the floods that drown their village, the relocation of the whole community, factory work, and their adventure in Shenzhen. They lose countless people along the way,

but Lin He never lets go of Ye Zixiang's hand.

During the hardest year, they work from dawn till late at night. When they get home, all they have the strength to do is sit back to back and chew on a steamed bun.

After finishing hers, Ye Zixiang says in a plaintive voice, "It's so hard! Once I make some money, I'm gonna eat soft honey bread that sticks to your teeth!"

Lin He listens quietly.

Ten years later, Xianglin Group has expanded to Shanghai, and the company's flagship product is still that soft, sticky honey bread.

And Lin He is still standing beside Ye Zixiang, holding her hand tightly.

-

Have they ever let go of those tightly held hands?

Well, they almost have. Once.

The first summer after their business took off, Lin He ran around handling deals until she was thin as a rake.

Ye Zixiang's mother couldn't stand watching her anymore, so she decided to marry off her daughter and find a son-in-law who could help Lin He with the work.

At her second matchmaking date, Ye Zixiang is sitting in a private room at a restaurant, listening to a man brag...

The private room door is kicked open with a bang. Lin He, dark and gaunt, strides in looking as grim as the King of Hell.

After scaring the braggart away, she grabs Ye Zixiang's hand and grits out, "Got too big for your boots?"

In the end, Ye Zixiang does get married. She just marries a woman.

Ye Zixiang thinks it should really be called taking a wife.

(That way, she can blame being henpecked whenever she does everything Lin He says. Strike that.)

Theme: Hold hands and face every hardship together.