Ru-yan (如焉 or 如焉@sars•com) is a Chinese novel that was initially published online. Ru-yan is written by Fa-yun Hu to commemorate his deceased wife.
Ru-yan, the central character of the novel, is a single mother of middle age. After her son went to study abroad, she began to have her own life and fell in love with online activities. Ru-yan is her online name. Through the internet, she makes many friends with people who are similarly situated and share the same thoughts. She posts blogs and exchanges messages; she found a new life in the virtual world. Jiang, one of her colleague introduced Ru-yan to a widower Liang, who is vice-mayor of the city. Ru-yan and Liang soon started dating and Liang, a government official, began to be exposed to the online world. Suddenly SARS epidemics hit the city. While Ru-yan and her online friends are spreading the information, the city wanted to contain the bad news. Eventually the conflict led to the break-up between Ru-yan and Liang who chose to put his career over the truth and his love, while Ru-yan and her friends keep struggling.