Chapter One: A Golden Winter Falls from the Sky.

September 2016, Seoul, South Korea.

“Let’s break up.”

Ming Yan spoke calmly into the phone.

“What, you won’t even say it to my face?” The woman on the other end sounded angry, with a hint of reluctance.

“I’m afraid if I see you, I won’t be able to say the word ‘breakup’.”

Though Ming Yan said this, his face showed no trace of sadness.

He gazed leisurely out the car window. The weather today was quite pleasant.

Yes, a perfect day to break up.

“May I ask why?”

“Because I have a daughter, and I don’t want to drag you down.”

A very good and strong reason.

The woman’s voice continued, “When did you have a daughter?”

“I only found out recently. She’s fifteen this year.”

“You’re only twenty-two, how could you have a fifteen-year-old daughter? That’s not how lies work.”

Hearing this, the woman grew even angrier. She could never tell when Ming Yan was telling the truth or lying.

Yet, the more confusing it got, the deeper she fell, desperately trying to unravel the mystery that was him.

“Alright, actually she’s my niece. Anyway, I’ve got an extra burden, so I can’t continue dating.”

Ming Yan thought it was quite a skill to twist two unrelated things together like that.

Whether others believed it or not...

That was beyond his control. As for himself, he believed it.

“Bastard!”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

Ming Yan shrugged as the call ended.

His expression was calm and unreadable, but only he knew what he truly felt inside.

His just-broken-up ex-girlfriend was a good girl, quite different from some flashy, deceitful women he had met in his circles before.

Though she was two years older, her coquettishness was like that of a younger sister.

Well, fate would decide if they met again someday.

---

“Hey, sis.”

Ming Yan answered another call while driving from Seoul to Yangsan.

To most, Yangsan might first bring to mind a certain ancient Chinese classic, but South Korea also had a place by that name. In fact, there were many such place names overlapping with those in neighboring countries.

“Xiao Yan, where are you now?” came a female voice with a slight regional accent.

Ming Yan glanced at the GPS: “I should be there in about... an hour.”

Yangsan was a fair distance from Seoul, roughly a four-hour drive.

“Okay, I’ll have dinner ready for you.”

“Sis, ever since you moved to Yangsan, I haven’t eaten your cooking for years.”

“Then let Dad cook for you. We both learned from Mom.”

“...”

Hearing Ming Yan’s silence, the woman sighed softly before hanging up.

Ming Yan drove silently onward toward Yangsan.

“Sister.”

About an hour later, he arrived at a residential neighborhood in Yangsan.

The woman who greeted him was Ming Yue—his elder sister, though there was a significant age gap between them.

Ming Yan was twenty-two; Ming Yue was thirty-eight, a full sixteen years apart. Their father had children late in life, still becoming a father at forty.

Judging by their names, the family was not traditionally Korean but immigrants from China.

Years ago, Korea’s economy was much stronger than China’s, attracting many to seek their fortunes there, which even caused some social unrest.

Ming Yan’s father came during that period and ended up settling.

The siblings were second-generation permanent residents with green cards, but their ties to China remained intact, preserving their Chinese language skills.

Because their father was often busy and neglectful, Ming Yan spent much time with his sister. However, Ming Yue married when he was six and later moved to Yangsan.

“You must be tired after driving so long,” Ming Yue said, carefully studying her brother.

Ming Yan smiled: “It’s nothing. I drove faster just to taste your cooking sooner.”

“You’re a celebrity now. Drive safely.” Ming Yue patted the nonexistent dust off him. “Your brother-in-law and I watched that new show, what’s it called... The Descendants of the Sun. He said your acting was pretty convincing.”

“‘Descendants of the Sun,’” Ming Yan corrected her.

He reminded his sister that this drama had been a sensation in the first half of the year, even completing all filming at once to air simultaneously in Korea and China.

This was unlike Korea’s usual practice of filming while airing.

“Yes, ‘Descendants of the Sun.’ You’re even more handsome than Song Joong-ki.”

In her eyes, her brother was always the most handsome.

“The director said I was too handsome, so they made me look older.” Ming Yan complained, “My character, Seo Dae-young, was supposed to be in his thirties—quite a difference from me.”

“Then thank Kim Eun-sook. Without her, you wouldn’t have become an actor.”

Ming Yue spoke with deep feeling.

When she first moved to Yangsan, her greatest concern was this young brother. Especially when Ming Yan said he wanted to attend an arts high school, she even slapped him—a rare act.

The Korean entertainment industry was brutal; competition to debut was fierce, and even after debut, life wasn’t easy for artists.

He was purely rebellious.

Ming Yue hadn’t imagined her brother would truly pursue acting and succeed so well.

“I’ve always regarded the director as family. She cares for me deeply.”

“Xiao Yan, actually Dad…”

“Sis, don’t mention him,” Ming Yan interrupted coldly, stopping her from continuing. “Is brother-in-law really going overseas?”

“Yes, I’m going to take care of him there, so Min-kyung will have to rely on you.” Ming Yue hesitated. “If you don’t have time, you can ask Dad…”

“Sis, are you really comfortable with Min-kyung living with me?”

Ming Yan cut her off immediately.

His antics were well known to his sister.

Ming Yue replied softly, “Who else but her uncle? Your brother-in-law and I won’t be in the country, and she wants to become a trainee in Seoul. If not you, then who?”

When discussing this with her husband, they had quite a quarrel.

But Ming Yue trusted her brother to be a good uncle.

Ming Yan listened quietly as his sister finished speaking, then looked over at the shy little girl beside them.

“Min-kyung’s grown up so fast.”