The Chen Family Moon

In the midst of his busy schedule, Du Shanting took a summer vacation and planned to travel to Paris with a blind date.

Before he could board the plane, a call from his family ruined everything. His troublesome 18-year-old cousin, Du Xiaopeng, had bipolar disorder and was suicidal. He'd run away from home with a suitcase.

Shouldering the hopes of the whole family, Du Shanting went to look for Du Xiaopeng.

His search took him to a thousand-year-old county town in Hebei, three hours by car from Beijing, to a remote little water town beneath the Taihang Mountains.

Du Xiaopeng checked into a small guesthouse called Chen Family Moon and began acting out his mental illness: one moment erupting like a volcano, the next as still as a pool of stagnant water; one moment energetically competing with an old ox at plowing, the next so dispirited he was writing death poems and a suicide note...

The owner, Shen A Chen, was afraid young Du would die in her guesthouse, so she begged him to stay at the psychiatric sanatorium next door. As compensation, she'd bring him a meal every day, along with his favorite roasted sweet potato from Langya Mountain.

As it happened, the guesthouse also had a young co-owner, Chen Mingyue, who had just graduated from university. Her life motto was: Greedy for money, fond of good looks, and never changing her ways.

At first sight, Chen Mingyue took a fancy to Du Shanting's Land Rover. At second sight, she took a fancy to his looks. At third sight, she took a fancy to his status as a single man. She resolved to give their distinguished guest from the capital the warmest welcome.

So she persuaded the senior owner to let the Du cousins stay.

Du Shanting accidentally overheard the young woman say, "Hey! A plump sheep has come right to our door! Hehehe!"

"..." Never mind, he wouldn't argue with a youngster. He still had plenty of hair to spare, so he could let the girl pluck a couple of strands.

From then on, the Du cousins followed the Chen family's spirited little sister, who had turned herself into a tour guide, as they explored the mountains, ate and drank, and got up to mischief, experiencing a completely different life.

In the end, both Du cousins checked into the psychiatric sanatorium next door to Chen Family Moon.

Every day, they clung to the iron bars, hoping the two owners would bring them something to eat, preferably with a roasted sweet potato from Langya Mountain on the side.

A short story. Happy ending. Both leads are each other's first and only.

"Countryside romance with a healing touch"

"Visit the sights around a thousand-year-old county town"

"So close, so beautiful: spend the weekend in Hebei"

Theme: Healing.