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

It's May, a warm breeze is blowing, the grass and trees are lush, and even the air is filled with the vibrant sounds of birdsong.

Chen Xu first took the initiative to visit Wenxi on a Friday afternoon.

It was during the break between the second to last class. He leaned against the door of Wenxi's classroom, attracting everyone's attention and curiosity like a bee.

"Hey, look, the school heartthrob is here to see Wenxi." His deskmate Qiao Yan nudged Zhou Jingchen's arm, gesturing for him to look at the door.

Zhou Jingchen glanced over and saw Chen Xu hand Wenxi a beautiful letter and whisper a few words in her ear.

"No way? She's already given him a love letter? The school heartthrob has a crush on her?" Qiao Yan asked in shock.

Zhou Jingchen lowered his head again and continued doing his homework, but he was already somewhat distracted, and the mechanical pencil lead broke again and again.

If this matter still doesn't prove anything, then there's another thing that makes him even more certain that there's something between Wenxi and Chen Xu.

For a while, the corner store sold all sorts of very thin, colorful plastic threads with little bells or crystal beads. We bought them and braided them into pretty bracelets. As soon as get out of class ended, the girls in my class would start braiding them; some would wear them themselves, and some would give them to someone they liked.

One evening, Wenxi also started braiding that bracelet. She asked Zhou Jingchen to hold the end of the thread for her while she braided it little by little.

The thread used is green, and the design is clearly meant for a boy.

It just so happened that Zhou Jingchen's birthday was coming up soon, and he thought that the bracelet was made by Wenxi and was meant to be a birthday present for him.

The boy couldn't help but feel secretly delighted for several days.

The bracelet was quickly braided.

Two days later, Zhou Jingchen ran into Chen Xu on the playground and saw that he had an identical green bracelet on his wrist, braided in the same way as the one Wen Xi had made.

Zhou Jingchen's heart was dead, completely dead.

Although he had never dared to hope for anything, knowing this fact was still like a devastating blow.

During that time, he became more taciturn and rarely stayed at Wenxi's house. Every day before school, he would leave home alone with his crutches before dawn, and he would not walk with her after school.

Wenxi sensed something was wrong. On her way to PE class, during free time, she cornered him against the wall, tilted her little face up, and glared at him angrily.

"Why haven't you come to my house lately? Why don't you wait for me to go to and from school anymore?"

Zhou Jingchen looked away and said calmly, "Grandpa hasn't been feeling well lately, I need to stay with him."

"You're lying!" Wenxi stood on tiptoe and stared into his eyes: "Zhou Jingchen, I've noticed something's off about you since the third year of junior high."

The boy's heartbeat paused for a few seconds, his breath hitched, and he gently swallowed: "You're overthinking it."

"Heh, am I overthinking this?" Wenxi sneered, feeling a strange pang of sadness as she thought about his lukewarm attitude towards her these past few days.

She raised her hand and rubbed her chest, saying sarcastically, "I know you've grown up, become wild, and don't want to be oppressed by me anymore. You want to rise up and sing your own song."

He remained silent. His hair was ruffled by the wind, his eyes were lowered, and his long, straight eyelashes cast a shadow over his eyes, concealing the emotions within them.

"Zhou Jingchen, I'm not playing with you anymore. You're no fun. Don't ever come to my house again. I'm cutting all ties with you!"

Although Wenxi had said the phrase "cut ties completely" many times since childhood, this time it was extremely damaging, like a sharp blade scraping away at Zhou Jingchen's flesh piece by piece.

He froze for a long time before slowly squeezing out, "Okay."

Wenxi frowned, stomped on his foot hard, and ran away.

On the playground, several girls from the same class gathered together, discussing who was the most handsome in the school.

Wenxi absentmindedly picked up a small stick and scribbled on the ground, writing a few words in haste: ungrateful wretch, bastard...

She secretly vowed that she would never reconcile with Zhou Jingchen in this lifetime, and that she would never speak to Zhou Jingchen again.

A girl next to her nudged her arm: "Wenxi, what do you think?"

"Huh?" She snapped out of her daze. "What?"

The girl pointed to Zhou Jingchen, who was sitting alone reading a book not far away, and whispered:

"We're discussing who's more handsome, Zhou Jingchen or the school heartthrob Chen Xu. What do you think?"

The lonely boy was sitting on the steps. He was slender with long legs, and his school uniform was clean and neat.

His black hair was neatly styled, his fingers with distinct knuckles held the book, his long eyelashes were lowered, and his dark eyes revealed a faint sense of aloofness.

With a high, straight nose, thin, slightly pursed lips, and well-defined features, he exudes a cool and aloof air, possessing the refined and elegant qualities of a young man.

Wenxi glanced at him and said indifferently, "I don't know."

She was telling the truth; Wenxi really didn't know if Zhou Jingchen was handsome or not. She saw him every day, and the two were as close as conjoined twins. She thought Zhou Jingchen had always looked like that since he was a child.

The girl said, "We all think Zhou Jingchen is more handsome, but it's such a pity he's disabled..."

Wenxi muttered, "So what if he's disabled? His disability doesn't affect his studies, nor does it affect his ability to walk, eat, or live a normal life."

The other girls clicked their tongues and didn't say anything more.

Everyone knows that Wenxi and Zhou Jingchen have a good relationship. He grew up in her house, and Wenxi's mother even helps Zhou Jingchen attend parent-teacher conferences. The two are like siblings.

They've all grown up; they each have their own thoughts, and it's not so easy to thaw the ice in their relationship.

This time, the two had a cold war that lasted for almost a week, longer than usual.

Wenxi stopped passing notes to Zhou Jingchen, and they went their separate ways to and from school. When she cleaned the classroom and passed by his seat, she acted as if she didn't see him and didn't make any eye contact or communicate with him.

Zhou Jingchen sat in the last row of the classroom every day, like a dejected and lost puppy, quietly gazing at her back from the corner.

Back then, it was very popular for girls to wear halter-neck vests under their school uniforms, with all sorts of straps tied behind their necks.

Wenxi has a beautiful neck—long, slender, and snow-white—with a ribbon tied in a bow at the nape of her neck. In short, no one is as beautiful as her.

During the break, Zhou Jingchen sat by the window and saw Wenxi and Chen Xu talking on the playground through the window.

He noticed that Wenxi often sat on the playground watching Chen Xu play basketball, so she must really like athletic guys.

The two of them were very close. The wind blew Wenxi's hair, and strands of hair fell onto Chen Xu's face. He smiled and tucked them behind her ears.

"Hey, what are you looking at?" Qiao Yan asked him lazily.

"It's nothing." Zhou Jingchen's eyes suddenly stung a little. He blinked a few times and silently looked away.

Qiao Yan looked out the window and clicked his tongue twice: "They're a perfect match, a perfect match. Wen Xi is so beautiful that only someone like the school heartthrob Chen Xu could be her equal."

The boy was doing his homework with his head down when his ballpoint pen pierced the paper, leaving a thick black stain.

Not only did my eyes sting, but my heart also felt like it had been thrown into a sauerkraut jar, thoroughly ravaged, and gushing with sour liquid.

Wenxi is so beautiful, like a princess. Her father is a factory manager and her mother is an accountant. Chen Xu's parents are senior employees. He is fit and handsome, and looks great when he sweats on the court.

Yes, they are a perfect match, just like a princess and prince in a fairy tale.

And he himself was an abandoned orphan, a cripple.

He was only fit to grovel at the princess's feet, putting on her shoes or socks, hoping to occasionally elicit a smile from her or touch her delicate skin to satisfy some of his dark desires.

But now he's squandered even this small opportunity.

Wenxi hasn't spoken to him for five days.

These five days felt like an eternity; Zhou Jingchen felt like he was dying.

It rained lightly on Friday after school; the sky was overcast and the rain was drizzling.

Students gradually went home with umbrellas or were picked up by their parents. People and cars came and went at the school gate, and the rain showed no signs of stopping.

Wenxi didn't bring an umbrella and stood blankly at the school gate, staring at the continuous drizzle, feeling a little irritated.

Suddenly, a black umbrella was held over her head: "Wenxi, let's go home together." The tone was soft, as if pleading.

Wenxi turned around and saw Zhou Jingchen. His hands were long and fair, holding a black umbrella handle. The blue veins on the back of his hands were clear. His face was hidden under the black umbrella, and his dark eyes were fixed on her.

Do you want to make up with her?

He ignored her for five days and didn't try to coax her. Why should she make up with him?

But things didn't go his way!

"No!" Wenxi was fierce, pushing his hand away and running into the rain.