Overview

This is a story written by Zhang Ailing, about how two individuals fall in love and finally  get married  to others. 

The heroin has a very frustrating fate and a sad ending. The hero finally married someone he hated before. 

The story happened in the last century in Shanghai. Hero, named Shen Shiyun came from Nanjing and Heroin, named Gu Manzhen,  came from Anhui.

Shen Shiyun was born in a traditional Chinese Family. His father was a business man and has two wives. His mother was his father's first wife. His father lives with his second wife long ago. Shen Shiyun lived with his mother, his sister-in-law and his nephew before he came to university in Shanghai . His elder brother died young.  His mother and sister-in-law were not happy because of his father's absence for a long time. He dislikes the way his father make a living. So after graduation from college, he finds a job in a factory and eager to build a career by himself.

Gu Manzhen had a big family. She had an elder sister and two younger brothers. Her father died when she was very young. So her sister became a dancing girl in Shanghai in order to raise the whole family. She went to college supported by her sister. She lived with her sister, mother, grandmother and two brothers in a house which is a gift for her sister Gu Manlu from some man.

After college, Manzhen worked as a typer in a factory. She met Shen Shiyun in this company.  Shen Shiyun was an intern engineer at that time. He has a good friend Shuhui who worked in the same office with Manzhen.  Naturally they  three went to have lunch together. 

Then Manzhen and Shiyun begin to date.

Like every couple just falling into love, they always wish they had more time to stay together.  Closer distance is always easy to cause misunderstandings.  Because of one of the misunderstandings, or maybe because of their weak faith in each other, or maybe because  Manzhen's sister was too cruel, they missed each other.

More unfortunately, Manzhen married to a man she has been hating while Shiyun married a girl he hated before.