Sun Wen sat alone on a hillside, hand resting on his knee, fingers holding a cigarette, but he just kept holding it, never bringing it to his lips.
The ash grew slowly longer, like hope burning and withering away.
The wind started up, skimming over the ground from afar, brushing through verdant grass and plants, blowing over faded memories, sweeping away the long ash and wafting tendrils of smoke.
His family had arranged a blind date for him. Talented graduates returning from big cities were always in high demand, but none succeeded—he was truly finished.
He had secretly visited the hospital, the doctor said it was a psychological issue, but he didn't know whether that stemmed from being kept as a lover, or because of the children Xu Wei took away, or something else.
In any case, he was finished and didn't want to sin anymore.
Yes, a man like him, marrying any girl from the village, would be ruining her life.
So he was inevitably deemed a monster—
