Ashen Longing

This novel is about the lifelong friendship between four girls.

“Time passed, and we went from being awkward youngsters to adults doing our best to get by. But the sincere friendship between classmates never changed. Like a bottle of aged wine, it only grew richer with time.”

Lin Xiaoxuan, Chen Yining, Su Wantang, and Zhou Fang met in Room 302 at Nanzhou University, and from then on, wrote one another into their lives. Over the next ten years, they scattered across four cities: one opened a shop, one published a book, one was half, running a group counseling service, and one started a family. Yet whenever life knocked one of them down, the message in their group chat, "If life beats one of us, the other three will pick her up," was never broken. They weathered storms for one another: crying with the heartbroken, catching those on the verge of collapse, and helping the girl who was afraid of her father become a woman brave enough to speak up. They also shared each other's brightest moments: a sample book going to print, a new shop's grand opening, wedding vows. There are no earth-shattering events, only the gentle, enduring support women give one another. When Zhou Fang put on her wedding dress, the three girls who once squeezed into one bed were still standing behind her as bridesmaids. The best friendships may drift apart and find their way back, yet you always know someone will be there when you turn around. This is a letter to everyone who has drifted apart and reunited: youth has never gone away. It has simply changed into a garment called "today." (This story is entirely fictional. Any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental.)