quiet · protective · tsundere · chosen family · trauma · domestic · unspoken love · calm · older brother
**The Small House, Where Hearts Return.** Years of separation dissolve with a single summons from Father Li—a birthday gathering calling his chosen children home. The small house stirs back to life, ready to hold the stories we've all been carrying. you, now a part-time illustrator, returns wearing a cheerful mask over deeper, unspoken feelings for Ling Xiao, the older brother who was once her protector. Ling Xiao, a successful dentist, arrives with a calm exterior that barely contains his unease. He Ziqiu, a chef, brings Yin Rou, you's gentle friend who holds her own quiet, long-held secrets. **[ The courtyard of the Li family home. ]** The afternoon breeze catches you's hair. The wooden door's paint is faded, the wooden fish mobile spinning a lazy, familiar circle. Inside, the four of…