Via Lactea opened preorders for Living to Suffer and Till Death Us Do Part, a reincarnation danmei duology by author Tangstory. Preorders run from April 24 – May 25, 2026. [Source: Twitter/X]
The two novels are sister works, and will be published as two individual single volumes. Together, they tell the tale of a pair of star-crossed lovers over the course of two lifetimes: from their tragic relationship in ancient China (Living to Suffer) to their eventual reunion in the 1930s Republican era (Till Death Us Do Part).
Living to Suffer will be offered in both paperback (perfect bound) and hardcover editions. However, Till Death Us Do Part will only be offered as a hardcover, which a representative of Via Lactea explained is due to the long length of this individual volume. (Source: Twitter/X) A large page count in a given book can contribute to wear and tear, which paperback editions are less equipped to handle than their hardcover counterparts.
Both volumes will be available for purchase individually, and each comes packaged with special merch, which includes a postcard, three paper bookmarks, and an acrylic keychain.
The publisher is also offering the books as a two-volume boxset, which comes with its own additional freebies that include a photo card and a sticker sheet.
Buyers who select the boxset may also receive a very special freebie: a handwritten author autograph card. This freebie is only available while supplies last, and interested buyers should order directly through Via Lactea’s site, as there is no guarantee that the offer will be honored via a third-party retailer.
Living to Suffer and Till Death Us Do Part are available for preorder from Apr. 24, 2026 to May 25, 2026. Both volumes are set to ship to buyers on Oct. 24, 2026.
Preorders are currently available from the below retailers:
Living to Suffer: Where to Buy
Paperback (Perfect Bound)
U.S.:
Canada:
International:
Hardcover
U.S.:
Canada:
International:
Till Death Us Do Part: Where to Buy
U.S.:
Canada:
International:
Living to Suffer + Till Death Us Do Part Boxset: Where to Buy
Paperback + Hardcover
U.S.:
Canada:
International:
Hardcover + Hardcover
U.S.:
Canada:
International:
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Living to Suffer
活受罪
[Synopsis Provided by Via Lactea:]
In a ruined shrine, a torrential summer rain becomes the canvas for a fateful encounter: Shen Liangsheng, gravely wounded after a mission, lies bleeding until Doctor Ch'in Ching discovers him beneath the umbrella's painted reeds—fragile as hope, urgent as necessity.
What begins as an act of mercy—a healer rescuing a broken weapon—spirals into a passionate, inevitable entanglement of love and loyalty. A stalk of a nocturnal herb. A brush dipped in vermilion. A bowl of noodles on a chilly night. An alley carpeted in red... Each step they take together is a step closer to destiny.
Yet their love, fierce and fleeting, blooms amidst the pain of impending doom. It's a devotion drenched in unknown longing, a luminous moment in lives bound by sacrifice: the doctor tempting fate, and the warrior discovering the stirrings of emotion too late.
Living to Suffer is a tragic, incandescent story of two souls colliding in anguish and aching beauty.
Living to Suffer (活受罪) is a single-volume danmei novel by Tangstory, first published in 2015 by Mugeng Studio. It is a prequel to Till Death Us Do Part (长相守).
The series has received an audio drama adaptation.
You can learn more about Living to Suffer in the DanmeiNews catalog.
Till Death Us Do Part
长相守
[Synopsis Provided by Via Lactea:]
In 1930s Tientsin, a city caught between a fading dynasty and encroaching empires, two lives cross like ink strokes on fragile rice paper. Ch'in Ching, a schoolteacher and crosstalker whose patriotism smoulders beneath his calm exterior, moves through the world with a scholar's grace and a loyal heart. Shen Liangsheng, a cunning playboy and heir to a powerful warlord-turned-capitalist, wears his elegance like a mask, hiding wounds that wealth and privilege cannot mend.
Their meeting is like a half-remembered melody, distant yet familiar. What begins as curiosity sharpens into something more—an intimacy both tender and perilous, at once a refuge and a battlefield. Their bond grows quietly, like ivy scaling old walls, steadfast even as the world shakes beneath them.
Yet differences cast long shadows. Loyalties clash, choices divide, and years of silence settle where closeness once lived. And when the waters rise to swallow the city, so too do emotions once thought buried surge back with undeniable force. In a world ruled by power and peril, desire and duty, wealth and conscience, they must decide what remains when everything else is swept away.
Till Death Us Do Part is a story of devotion sustained through war and peace—beautifully inevitable, poignantly eternal.
Till Death Us Do Part (长相守) is a single-volume danmei novel by Tangstory, first published in 2015 by Mugeng Studio. It is a sequel to Living to Suffer (活受罪).
The series has received an audio drama adaptation, available on the Manbo app.
You can learn more about Till Death Us Do Part in the DanmeiNews catalog.
Source: Via Lactea (Twitter/X)
