Summary
Xu Youyou returns from the countryside with a wedding already arranged for her.
The agreement between the Xu and Lin families has existed for years, and by the time she arrives in the city, most of the important decisions have already been made. She doesn’t have strong feelings for her fiancé, but she is willing to give the marriage a genuine chance. Unfortunately, someone else has occupied his thoughts for much longer.
The wedding never takes place.
What follows is several days of awkward conversations, disappointed relatives, endless gossip, and a growing realization that the failed marriage may have solved more problems than it created. Xu Youyou has little interest in competing for a man who cannot make up his mind, especially when there are more pressing matters demanding her attention.
Adjusting to life in the Xu family is difficult enough on its own.
Years spent away from home have left her unfamiliar with many of the people now calling themselves family. Some welcome her return, others keep their distance, and a few seem determined to remind her that she grew up elsewhere.
Somewhere in the middle of all this is Mo Shenbai.
Their paths cross under circumstances neither of them planned for, and Xu Youyou quickly discovers that understanding him is harder than she expected. He rarely explains himself, dislikes unnecessary conversation, and often leaves people guessing what he is thinking.
The problem is that he keeps appearing in her life.
As old relationships become increasingly messy and new ones develop in unexpected directions, Xu Youyou finds herself dealing with situations she never considered while growing up in the countryside. The future she imagined has already fallen apart. Whether the one replacing it is better or worse remains an open question.