This story is about a married woman seeking love in her marriage.
**Chapter 1: First Love**
Rose was a woman perpetually dissatisfied, always yearning to live more exceptionally than others. This "exceptional" life didn't mean vast wealth, but the desire to possess things others didn't have. From a young age, she mastered this art, meticulously seeking out a husband who could provide a stable life. She planned to conceive intelligent children with a high-IQ partner, even screening potential family members through facial features. This seemingly prudent strategy did smooth her path in life. However, the price of comfort was the dimming of her own inner light. For the sake of her family, she willingly sank into the fortress of marriage, convinced that the so-called "seven-year itch" was mere myth. Witnessing numerous unhappy marriages among her friends, she concluded that a woman must play the roles of the understanding, the interesting, and the sexually harmonious partner.
But she was wrong. Even when she poured all her energy into fulfilling these roles, conflict arrived right on schedule—marriage is never just about two people, but the entanglement of two families. As she struggled to better herself, the intangible yet suffocating atmosphere at home crushed her spirit.
Adrift in boredom, she logged into a chat app. Faced with a kaleidoscope of people, she maintained strict boundaries, seeking only interesting topics and engaging individuals. Since family pressure offered no outlet, she focused on self-improvement, observing how women her age lived. That's how she met a certain "elder sister." This sister, nearly forty, was dating a twenty-two-year-old college student. To Rose, this seemed unrealistically beautiful—no exchange of interests, just two hearts, late-blooming or not, clumsily extending affection. The sister, financially comfortable, didn't look down on her young lover. The boy, however, gave his all, spoiling her like a cherished girlfriend. Strapped for cash, he worked tirelessly for scholarships; when 5,000 yuan came in, he'd spend half without hesitation to buy her a coat she liked—a coat he himself probably wouldn't splurge on. The sister treated him well in return, and their daily sweetness filled Rose, the listener, with envy. Having married young, she seemed to have never truly tasted such pure romantic bliss. The sister encouraged Rose to try finding love herself. Rose's heart lifted. Yet, she hadn't given up without a struggle; she still tried to mend her relationship with her husband, attempting to rekindle that flutter in her family life. Sadly, whether she played coy or yielded, it always ended in arguments. Burdened with the pressure of providing, her husband's stress far exceeded her understanding, leaving no room for her delicate emotional needs.
Rose finally abandoned the struggle and chose a new path for herself—a dream of a beautiful romance with a younger man took root and quietly sprouted in her heart. Yet, true love isn't so easily found. Her search inevitably led to deception and disappointment. Meanwhile, the sister's romance remained cloyingly sweet. Rose could only pass her tedious days by vicariously enjoying the happiness of others.
Until one day, amidst the noisy stream of messages, a bright, cheerful greeting unexpectedly caught her eye. Compared to others' clear agendas or dull chatter, this greeting pulsed with vibrant energy. Instant replies, lively topics, spontaneous sharing of daily life and reflections—it injected a sliver of color into Rose's monochrome existence. A simple "We're both from the Central Plains" (Zhōngyuán) acted like a key, inadvertently unlocking the journey of their serendipitous connection.
At first, Rose didn't pay this person much attention. But he chatted enthusiastically with her every single day. During one exchange, he sent a photo of his office workspace. Rose's heart skipped a beat—the office building was right near her workplace! This unexpected discovery astonished her. Someone who never met strangers offline, she found herself mentally labeling this cheerful "young boy" as a friend. In a casual moment, she offhandedly suggested, "Want to meet for lunch sometime?" To her surprise, he readily agreed. Hearing the boy always ate takeout, Rose specially prepared a lunch and arranged to meet at the library.
This meeting was like opening Pandora's box. Rose concealed her marital status and true age, appearing before the boy with minimal makeup and an air of understated elegance. The age gap made her anxious, her nervousness barely concealed. The boy brought a special gift—a single red rose, carefully nestled inside a Little Prince cookie tin. Exchanging gifts, Rose softly suggested he go find a book he liked, while she slipped away to a corner, urgently searching for a volume large enough to hide her flustered expression. As her gaze wandered, a beam of sunlight spilled through the gap between bookshelves, spilling gently onto the boy's fair cheek. Caught in her peripheral vision, a gaze—intense yet clear—pierced the same gap. It followed her ardently, brimming with unmistakable affection and delight. The undisguised joy in that look made Rose's heart skip a beat. For a dizzying moment, she felt transported into a beautiful manga panel. She couldn't believe a scene straight out of a story was unfolding for her. Lost in the memory of that smile she hadn't dared meet directly, she could only frantically hide her burning cheeks behind her book.
That moment was etched into Rose's heart forever.