Lin Xia's youth was illuminated by a boy who appeared suddenly and then quietly disappeared. He became an obsession buried deep in her heart, unknown to anyone. More than ten years after they parted, she still remembered him year after year.
As she grew up, she accepted Yi Cheng's long companionship. Ever since she had cared for him at the age of eight, this man had vowed to stay by her side. He gave her all his tenderness and affection, willingly accepting every mood swing her old feelings stirred up.
Yi Cheng's older sister, Yi Huan, mistakenly thought Lin Xia was selfishly stringing him along. She repeatedly stepped in to stop them, and conflict between the siblings flared again and again. A bracelet Yi Cheng had personally given Lin Xia sparked an especially fierce dispute, and the siblings were estranged for a time. But Yi Cheng endured the humiliation, retrieved the keepsake, and remained just as devoted as ever.
As time passed, Ya Xuan, who was in love with Yi Cheng, appeared and joined forces with Yi Huan to persuade him to let go. After watching Lin Xia for a long time, Yi Huan finally saw the truth behind her erratic emotions and learned about the long-lost first love she had never forgotten.
Unable to bear seeing him trapped in a deception, Ya Xuan laid out the whole truth. In fact, Yi Cheng had already suspected it, but chose to deceive himself. He would rather live in a gentle illusion, willingly becoming a substitute.
In the days that followed, Lin Xia and Yi Cheng lived side by side. At times, sadness came surging back with her old feelings; at other times, they found joy in warming one another. Meanwhile, Ya Xuan, who loved Yi Cheng without being loved in return, watched the two stay together as jealousy gradually took root in her heart.
A single moment of attraction, half a lifetime lost to love. The four of them were tightly bound by obsession, devotion, family ties, and resentment. They grew from youth into adulthood, yet in the end, none could escape their fate, leaving only regrets behind.
All humble efforts cannot bring you any sincerity, and no matter how long-term tenderness is, it cannot fill the original vacancy in a person's heart.