Disabled Childhood Sweetheart: A Humble Puppy Begs for the Young Lady's Pity

【wedge】

In winter, on a vast expanse of white snow, two children wearing open-crotch pants squat on the ground.

"Zhou Jingchen, what is this?"

"This is my little sparrow."

"May I play with your little sparrow?"

"No, tell Auntie that other people can't play with it."

"Hmph~ What's so special about it? If you won't let me play, I'll go play with Fang Haoyu's. He has a little sparrow too."

"...Alright then, Wenxi, you can play with it, but you can't play with Fang Haoyu's anymore."

-

Winter, 2006, Lin-Shen City.

A news report that "planet Aetheria will collide with Earth on the last day of the year, and the end of the world is coming" has set the world ablaze.

On Xinghe Forum, founded by Zhou Jingchen, discussion posts about the topic of "doomsday" have surged.

Riding the wave of success, the company's operations team launched marketing campaigns for themed products such as "Doomsday Ark" and "Doomsday Ticket" postcard canvas bags, and held an essay contest titled "What if tomorrow is the last day?"

In less than a week, the number of registered users exceeded 600 million, the daily post volume reached millions, and the peak number of concurrent online users exceeded 80.

Xinghe quickly became the forum website with the largest traffic in the Chinese Internet at that time.

The celebration banquet was very lively that night. Zhou Jingchen sat for a while, told his assistant to make sure everyone had a good time eating, drinking and having fun, and then left.

He drove aimlessly around the city.

After wandering around several places, I finally parked the car randomly under a noisy overpass in Jingwei District.

Zhou Jingchen glanced out the window. This was the most densely populated and vibrant old town area near Shenzhen.

Outside the car window, the city lights shone brightly, with hair salons, tobacco and liquor stores, and massage parlors lining both sides of the road; steaming mist billowed from the manhole covers on the ground; and dense crowds of people wearing hats and scarves mingled shoulder to shoulder, some hurrying along, others pausing to haggle at the vendors' stalls.

Suddenly, the cell phone on the passenger side vibrated.

The ringtone echoed clearly in the enclosed space: "You have such long eyelashes, one blink and tears fall, my heart begins to ache, every time I am inescapably guilty..."

The ringtone has been set for several years, and the deep male voice sounds very nice.

He answered the phone; it was his friend Lin Xujie.

"Jingchen, there's been a lead on that girl you asked me to investigate."

Zhou Jingchen suddenly gripped his phone tightly, listening to him continue.

"She previously studied at an art college in Pingjiang City, majoring in dance, but dropped out before finishing her third year."

The man in the car frowned slightly, sat up straight, and said in a slightly hoarse voice, "Dropped out of school? How could that be?"

"I don't know why, but after dropping out of school, I haven't heard from her at all. I've asked around with some of her former classmates, but none of them have seen her since. However..."

The other person paused for a moment, then continued, "Someone said that a relative of theirs had seen her in Yunquan Township."

"The land of clouds and springs?"

"Yes, that's the health resort. Yunquan has a pleasant climate, and its high-temperature sulfur springs have special therapeutic effects. People who go there are usually seriously ill."

Zhou Jingchen curled his fingers, lowered his eyelashes, remained silent for a long while, and then his voice became even hoarse:

"Thank you, Xujie. Please continue to help with the investigation. I must find her."

The two exchanged a few words and then hung up the phone.

Zhou Jingchen felt a tightness in his chest and couldn't breathe properly. He rolled down the car window, and the winter chill rushed in all at once.

The cold air rushed onto his face. He took a deep breath, and the white mist drifted in, the cool air seeping into his chest, but he still felt stuffy.

He simply opened the car door, got out, and walked aimlessly forward, climbing the steps of the overpass next to him.

A thin layer of ice had formed on the steps, and he walked carefully.

The stalls on the overpass were packed together, some selling used mobile phones, some selling hats and gloves, roasted sweet potatoes and sugar-roasted chestnuts, and some selling CDs.

Zhou Jingchen, dressed in a black overcoat and black leather gloves, was young, handsome, and had an outstanding presence, attracting the attention of many.

The ground was slippery, so he walked slowly, calling out to each vendor he passed at a loud voice:

"Sweet and fluffy roasted chestnuts!"

Nokia phone, practically brand new, selling cheap!

"Cotton socks, stockings, leggings, hats, gloves, scarves~"

The cold wind stung my face.

He stopped as he passed a roasted sweet potato stall, and an older woman called out to him, "Want a roasted sweet potato?"

The plump sweet potatoes emitted an enticing aroma. His dark eyes were deep and unfathomable. As if he had thought of something, he chuckled softly, waved his hand, and continued forward.

As I passed a stall selling pirated DVDs, a girl's voice suddenly rang in my ears: "Don't miss out! High-definition DVDs, classic movies, nostalgic old songs, Japanese blockbusters—all available! Three for ten yuan, take your pick!"

The voice was clear and sweet, with a sense of familiarity, as if from another world.

Zhou Jingchen froze, suddenly stopping in his tracks diagonally opposite, and subconsciously glanced at the female vendor.

A tall, burly man conveniently blocked the female vendor's view. He squatted in front of the stall, a cigarette dangling from his lips, and asked in a rough, blunt voice, "Do you have any CDs of *Sky*?"

"Yes, yes," the girl said, pulling a stack of CDs from her backpack and spreading them out in front of him. The images on the CDs were extremely erotic. She expertly held up her hand and gestured, "Choose one, I'll give you seven for twenty dollars."

The sound was clear and distinct. In an instant, Zhou Jingchen's eyelashes trembled slightly, his fingers clenched tightly, and his blood seemed to boil and surge within him.

The man carefully selected the items for a while, then said, "These are all I want!" He took out twenty yuan and handed it to the other person, before picking up the black plastic bag and leaving.

The obstruction obstructing his view was removed, and the scene before him suddenly and clearly came into Zhou Jingchen's view—

The girl was wearing a white coat, a light blue beret, two braids, and a blue scarf around her neck. She was sitting on a small stool, her head down, sorting through DVDs.

While neatly stacking the discs, he continued chanting: "Discs, discs, high-definition uncensored, Japanese blockbusters, latest movies..."

She had long eyelashes, slender, fair fingers, and a small, light brown mole on the web of her left hand.

With just one glance, Zhou Jingchen's breath caught in his throat.

His heart pounded violently in his chest at an abnormal frequency. He swallowed hard and walked forward slowly, incredulous.

The girl, who had been keeping her head down, immediately smiled and looked up when she saw a pair of black leather shoes approaching: "Handsome, I want a disc..."

Her smile vanished abruptly when she saw the familiar yet unfamiliar handsome face of the man before her—

Wenxi's heart suddenly clenched, and her fingers unconsciously gripped the hem of her dress. She looked at him with her red lips slightly parted in surprise, then lowered her eyes and glanced around in a flustered manner.

Just then, anxious shouts came from afar: "The urban management officers are here! The urban management officers are here!"

The scene erupted into chaos.

Almost without hesitation, she swiftly gathered the discs in front of her, stuffed them all into her backpack, grabbed a folding stool, and ran off.

Zhou Jingchen immediately took off after her, almost roaring as he called her name from behind: "Wenxi!"

A group of urban management officers behind them, wielding sticks, chased after the vendors who were running around in all directions. The overpass was in complete chaos and noise.

Wenxi quickly ran down the steps in the northeast corner, and Zhou Jingchen hurriedly followed behind her, his eyes fixed on her through the chaotic crowd, afraid that she would disappear in a flash.

"Wenxi! Wenxi!" He called out to her as he weaved through the crowd, his voice carrying through the noise to her ears.

She ran away even faster, as frantically as a rabbit.

A considerable distance had already grown between them. Zhou Jingchen followed her retreating figure, his breathing heavy and his steps hurried, as if he wished rockets could be mounted on his feet.

Suddenly—

He accidentally stepped on a slippery ice surface, stumbled, and fell heavily to the ground. "Hiss—" A clear stinging pain came from his left calf.

"Wenxi!" He knelt on the ice, his eyes brimming with tears, and shouted blankly ahead.

The girl's figure had blended into the dense crowd and disappeared completely.

The icy wind blew into the man's collar, chilling him to the bone.