A Word from the Author

And that brings the main text of this book to an end. Thank you all for accompanying Song You and Three Flower Lady through twenty years of mountains and rivers, witnessing their growth and changes.

I have hardly taken any breaks in nearly a year, with leave requests few enough to count on one hand. Most of the time, updates came right on schedule; only in the final month did I start running late more often. I should still give myself a thumbs-up for that persistence and attitude.

Writing to this point, I really am reluctant to let go.

Perhaps because I have always written stories I like, never compromising just to put food on the table, Jasmine has feelings for every book. I did consider writing a little longer. After all, this book's results were there for all to see: it ranked in the top ten of the monthly ticket list for several months, its bestseller ranking remained very stable, it won the Gold Award at the first Yuejian Intangible Cultural Heritage Awards, and it had just narrowly missed the annual top ten on the monthly ticket rankings. Every extra month of writing would have brought in a great deal more money.

But then again, for a professional webnovel author to keep writing only the books they like, without considering the market or the audience, and still be welcomed by readers—that truly is a fortunate thing.

The more authors I come to know, the more I realize how rare and precious that is.

And none of it would be possible without the support of you dear readers.

Jasmine has nothing to give back to everyone, except to write a more complete story—not leave it unfinished, not abandon it halfway through, and not drag it out with watered-down padding. To