This is an urban tragedy intertwined with misunderstanding, betrayal and belated repentance. It uses a marriage like a "bird in a cold pool" as a guide to reveal the truth concealed by the fire and a love-hate entanglement that has not healed until death.
Bai Zhi married into the Lu family, the top wealthy family in Lin City, and became the wife of Lu Yingchuan, chairman of the Lu Group, but she lived in the shadow of a gorgeous cage. Due to the tragedy of the fire in his childhood home and the death of his mother in the fire, Lu Yingchuan believed that Bai Zhi was the only "survivor" and "murderer", and treated her with extreme indifference and humiliation. He regarded her as his wife in name only, and used the cruelest words and attitudes to trap her in a cage called "The Young Wife of the Lu Family". Bai Zhi lost her memory due to the car accident after the fire and was unable to explain herself. She could only suffer the double torture of body and soul silently with Lu Yingchuan's hatred and the hypocrisy of his "friend" Yao Zhenzhen.
When Bai Zhi accidentally discovered that Yao Zhenzhen had fabricated the lie of "lifesaver" to win her love, and when the diagnosis of terminal gastric cancer announced the countdown to her life, her love for Lu Yingchuan was completely frozen, and she only wanted relief. Under the investigation of his assistant, Lu Yingchuan gradually uncovered the truth about the fire - it was Bai Zhi who saved him, the car accident was Yao Zhenzhen's conspiracy, and there was an unknown secret behind his mother's death. Regret overwhelmed him like a tide, and he frantically searched for Bai Zhi, but only saw her in the nursing home, looking haggard and despairing.
The three words "I'm sorry" seemed so feeble before Bai Zhi's death. She left with exhaustion and relief from the past, leaving Lu Yingchuan in the empty Lu family mansion, guarding her belongings and endless confession. The hurt of the past was like the embers of a fire, burning his soul, and Bai Zhi was like a gardenia destroyed by the embers. Even if it faded away, it would leave an indelible mark on him for the rest of his life.
The novel uses delicate writing to depict the power imbalance in marriage, jealousy and betrayal in human nature, and the irreversible tragedy after the truth is revealed. When Lu Yingchuan finally understood the despair of the "bird in the cold pool", when the gardenia burned out and left only ashes, the love destroyed by misunderstanding finally became an unhealable scar in the lives of the two people. After telling the "embers", only eternal regrets and regrets spread in time.
Concept: "Seemingly pure love hides unknown secrets, just like the white petals of gardenia may hide insect-eaten scars."