When the Loquats Ripen

Complete!

Coming soon: My prospective story, Do Not Speak of Romance with the Eunuch. A prickly, tsundere, gloomy eunuch who says one thing but means another x a carefree little actress with an overwhelming will to survive. If you're interested, please add it to your favorites~

The day Qinghe was forced to marry Yan Jing'an in another woman's place, she hid a piece of pine nut candy in her purse. The wedding veil was never lifted, and they never drank the wedding wine. He collapsed in her arms, coughing up blood all over the front of her dress.

As the whole house filled with deafening cries, Qinghe hid in a corner and finished her candy, hoping that once the sickly man breathed his last, she could use her dismissal money to open a dessert shop.

But she never expected the sickly man to be so hard to kill.

She secretly counted how many times he coughed up blood each day. From early spring to the depths of winter, he was still using pine nut candy to coax her into reciting the seasonal cycles from the Thousand Character Classic.

As a gesture in return, she coaxed him into taking his medicine. His wrist bones pressed painfully into her palm, but he still smiled and said, "Feed me another candied plum, my lady, and I'll live until the loquats ripen."

Suddenly, she didn't want him to die anymore.

Everyone looked down on her for being a fool, but he had stood by her from beginning to end, holding her hand and saying with a steadfast smile, "My lady is exceedingly clever."

*

As a sickly man, Yan Jing'an has spent his entire life steeped in bitter medicine.

His birthday gift is ginseng to prolong his life, his coming-of-age banquet features snow lingzhi, and even his bride is chosen according to their birth dates, a puppet meant to bring him good fortune.

All he wants is to die as soon as possible.

But his little wife foolishly sews him a prayer sash and prays to gods she doesn't even believe in. She coats each of his bitter pills in sugar, and makes him cough syrup from loquats with her own hands... She even climbs the 108 steps to Huici Temple, bowing with every step, then kneels for a long time before the Buddha, begging for mercy...

He is afraid of becoming her burden, but she smiles with the brightest, most radiant joy of her life. Clutching the conviction born of her own ignorance, she makes him an unwavering vow, word by word: "Yan Jing'an, I won't suffer because of you. I never will."

On the eve of the Start of Spring, he coughs up black blood. Her eyes fill with tears, though she doesn't understand that death means a final farewell.

He struggles upright and smiles as he replaces the white flower in her hair with a Qinghe hairpin. "My lady, I'd like to taste whether the loquats you planted are sweet."

His little wife furrows her brow in thought. "Then we'll have to wait until the loquats ripen..."

Suddenly, he wants to live. He wants to live until the loquats in the courtyard ripen a hundred times.

He is willing to cough up blood every day, go without sleep, and spend his life steeped in bitter medicine, all so he can cling to life in this broken, ailing body and grow old together with her.

--Next up: Do Not Speak of Romance with the Eunuch--

[A prickly, tsundere, gloomy eunuch who says one thing but means another x a carefree little actress with an overwhelming will to survive]

Hao Manman thinks she might be the most miserable transmigrator of all.

Other people transmigrate and romance handsome men. She transmigrates and has to serve a eunuch.

He's a favorite of the emperor, young, and has a residence of his own, but his temper is worse than a rock in a latrine.

Everyone says Eunuch Pei is perverse, cruel, and vicious. Anyone who crosses him is doomed.

As the enemy of the entire household, Hao Manman is determined to keep herself alive. Undaunted, she embraces the shameless belief that "no one hits a smiling face" and goes into full-time sycophant mode.

"Eunuch, I've peeled these grapes and taken out the seeds. Would you like to try some?"

"Eunuch, the weather is lovely today, so I aired your quilt. It smells just like sunshine!"

"Eunuch, let me rub your shoulders. You work so hard every day, you must be exhausted!"

Pei Heyu frowns and glances at her, his thin lips parting. "You're noisy. Want to die?"

Hao Manman's smile freezes. Her mind is racing, but her face grows even more ingratiating. "Eunuch, surely you're joking. I still need this worthless life so I can look after you in your old age and see you off when the time comes~"

--

[Pei Heyu's Diary of Taming a Sparrow (crossed out) Falling in Love]

X month X day, sunny.

The new maid is named Hao Manman. Stupid, noisy, annoying. She broke my teacup and still had the nerve to smile. I should sell her off. Forget it, that would cost money.

X month X day, rainy.

She insisted on stuffing that wretched osmanthus cake into my mouth. The taste... isn't bad. But she's so clumsy she got powder all over my face. Damn it, I forgot to hit her.

X month X day, overcast.

I heard that A Bing from the household gave her a love poem. Hah, the brat hasn't even grown his hair. I sent him to scrub the latrines. She came crying and asked why. I couldn't be bothered to explain. Because you're mine. Everything in this household is mine.

X month X day, heavy snow.

She was cold and curled up into a ball. I carried her to the bed. She got scared and cried. Pathetic. But I found that holding her is much warmer than holding a hand warmer.

X month X day, New Year's Eve.

The emperor bestowed a beauty on me. I thanked him and sent her back. Looking at the stupid maid beside me, sleeping sprawled out in every direction, I suddenly thought that women are all alike. My little maid is much easier on the eyes.

X month X day, heavy snow.

I still let her go. I heard her parents are looking for a suitable husband for her. Why? Why did I have to be a eunuch?

X month X day, sunny.

She's back again. The wind was strong and blew sand into my eyes. The stupid girl thought I was crying because of her. Hah, as if. She boldly touched my face and smiled at me. "Eunuch, come ask my family for my hand tomorrow. I want to marry you."

Manman, oh, Manman, do you know what you're saying? Are you really such a silly girl?

Theme: Love and hope are the best medicine for hardship