Nian Nian [Rebirth]

[A redemptive coming-of-age tale of growing up alongside your wife.]

Chen Nian first learned about Fang Zhizhu during a talent competition show on Satellite TV Station. Fang Zhizhu’s singing voice was beautiful, and her smile revealed sweet dimples. Chen Nian secretly borrowed her mother’s phone to send a ton of voting texts for her.

That year, Chen Nian and Fang Zhizhu were both only fourteen years old.

At twenty-four, Chen Nian had become a modestly famous photographer back home. She was invited to shoot Fang Zhizhu’s birthday photoshoot. She spent an entire month buzzing with excitement. On the day of the shoot, she accidentally smashed a camera worth two hundred thousand yuan. Fang Zhizhu just smiled and told her not to worry, then invited her into the bedroom to grab another one.

That was Chen Nian’s first time. She never could have imagined developing that kind of relationship with her idol.

Over the next six years, Fang Zhizhu steadily rose to the top of the entertainment industry. She brought her lover onto the red carpet and came out of the closet to the entire world.

The camera flashes lit up the night like broad daylight. Chen Nian clutched Fang Zhizhu’s hand tightly, convinced that every ounce of luck in the world had landed squarely on her.

That same night, they claimed a major award before boarding a grueling ten-plus-hour flight back home.

Dusk was settling in as Fang Zhizhu stood on the top-floor balcony, dressed in her most stunning gauze gown. She turned to Chen Nian with a smile. “Niannian, I’m sorry.”

She repeated “I’m sorry” again and again, her voice as soft and fragile as a butterfly just emerging from its chrysalis. Then she jumped, painting a crimson flower against the pavement below.

At thirty, Fang Zhizhu’s life came to a permanent end. She had shattered Chen Nian’s heart into a million pieces.

For the ten years that followed, Chen Nian replayed every word and every expression of Fang Zhizhu’s in her mind, day after day. She kept thinking that if she could turn back the clock by just one second—one single second—she might have been able to save her.

The best girl in the whole world.

Then Chen Nian was reborn. This year, she was only seven years old—and so was Fang Zhizhu, back at the Children’s Welfare Home…

~~~