Zhuo Yingjing was completely stunned, her eyes involuntarily drawn to the boy's legs.
For a moment, she thought Pei Chuan was playing a prank, like many teenage boys his age who enjoyed teasing girls.
"You think I'm joking?" Pei Chuan lowered his voice, his tone cold and detached. "My lower legs were severed when I was four. Now I only have two stumps fitted with prosthetic legs. Want to see?"
The sounds of classmates playing and roughhousing in the back of the classroom suddenly felt distant. Pressed by his suppressed and mocking tone, Zhuo Yingjing retreated a step, her face pale. Not daring to look at Pei Chuan again, she stumbled toward the storage area at the back of the classroom to fetch a cloth.
Her hands trembled as she wiped the windows. Standing outside on the balcony, she watched Pei Chuan through the transparent glass.
The young boy was bent over, holding a mop and cleaning the floor alongside everyone else.
Dust filled the classroom. His expression was blank, unlike the other students who joked and played while sweeping. He repeated the monotonous motions, quiet and silent, as if those harsh, malicious words he had spoken to her were merely her own imagination. Zhuo Yingjing found it absurd and terrifying.
Her face still pale, she finished cleaning the windows. In the end, she couldn't resist the urge to verify whether this was some cruel joke.
Zhuo Yingjing stopped a female classmate returning from the restroom and asked quietly, "Do you know about our classmate Pei Chuan's legs..."
The girl looked at Zhuo Yingjing in surprise, remembering that she was Pei Chuan's new deskmate. Her gaze grew awkward for a moment, then she glanced at Zhuo Yingjing with something akin to pity and sighed softly before lowering her voice as well. "Him? He has no lower legs. I heard he wears prosthetic legs. If you pay attention to how he walks, it's different from normal people."
Zhuo Yingjing felt as if struck by lightning. She never would have imagined that the aloof, detached boy carried such a horrifying physical imperfection.
～
On the road leading out of the middle school campus was a basketball court. As Pei Chuan walked past with his backpack, a basketball flew straight toward him.
He raised his hand and steadily caught the ball that had nearly hit him.
The group of boys on the court broke into a cold sweat. One of them, who had been retrieving the ball, said, "Sorry, sorry! We didn't mean it! Are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
"You're really quick! You've got good reflexes. Want to play with us sometime?"
It was the first time Pei Chuan had received such praise, and he found it both ironic and laughable. He didn't respond, turning away from the basketball court with his backpack.
Pei Chuan was deeply unhappy.
Truthfully, he hadn't expected that the thing he minded the most would one day be revealed by himself in such an extreme manner. Yet Pei Chuan felt calmer than he had imagined. He could almost predict Zhuo Yingjing's thought process—she would verify the truth with other classmates, then gradually distance herself from him.
If it got worse...
If it got worse, she would ask the teacher to change seats.
After winding through the twisting paths, he reached a cluster of pomegranate trees. They had already passed their blooming season, now withering with a touch of autumn bleakness.
Deep among the flowers, Bei Yao sat on a rock, hugging her knees, her backpack clutched to her chest.
Dressed in her red and white school uniform, she quickly followed when she saw Pei Chuan passing by.
"Pei Chuan," she said, holding her backpack. "I didn't understand the last math problem Teacher Qin explained today. Do you get it?"
He remained silent, not looking at her. "No."
"Then I'll study it when I get home and explain it to you later, okay?""No need."
"Are you angry?"
"No."
She bit her lip, unable to hold back a laugh: "Pei Chuan, you should change your name to 'Pei Unhappy'."
Pei Chuan was extremely annoyed. He couldn't even explain what he was angry about, and it probably seemed childish and unreasonable to her. "Pei Unhappy" glared at her with a cold expression, his dark eyes giving her a glance.
Bei Yao said: "Don't be upset, I'll give you my nine-linked rings puzzle, okay?"
She lowered her head and took out an intricate nine-linked rings puzzle from her backpack. This was something Bei Licai had specially bought for her. Bei Yao hadn't even had the heart to play with it yet, as it was said to be very difficult to solve.
She smiled and shook the nine-linked rings, making them jingle.
Pei Chuan took it with a cold face and, under her surprised gaze, solved it link by link. The entire puzzle was unraveled in less than two minutes.
He shoved it back into her hands and walked forward without a word.
Bei Yao hugged the neatly solved puzzle, momentarily stunned before catching up with him. The autumn wind ruffled the boy's black hair as she walked beside him, deliberately messing up the rings again.
Bei Yao tried to solve it herself but couldn't figure it out no matter what.
She wasn't angry at his aloofness. Walking beside him, she softly hummed a tune. She was singing from Joey Yung's 2003 new album "My Pride".
"Pride in your eyes
Rewriting the second half of my life..."
Bei Yao's voice was light and soft, and she sang beautifully.
Pei Chuan slowed his pace to walk side by side with her. The girl's steps were lively, carrying the gentleness and vitality of spring despite it being autumn.
"Pei Chuan, do you think our Chinese teacher is pretty?"
Pei Chuan paused: "No."
"Oh." Bei Yao was somewhat disappointed. The Chinese teacher was a pure and charming woman. In Bei Yao's memory, when she had slimmed down in eighth grade, she had roughly the same aura. So Pei Chuan must think she wouldn't be pretty in the future either.
"Pei Chuan, let's make up."
He pressed his lips together.
"The new puppy at Granny Zhou's house keeps barking at me whenever it sees me. I've been scared to go home these past few days."
Pei Chuan suddenly turned around, looking down at her. He spoke word by word: "So, my only use is to chase dogs away for you."
His reflection shone in her almond-shaped eyes, and then those eyes slowly curved like the most enchanting peach blossoms that once covered the fields: "No, when you're with me, I'm not scared. If it charges at us, I'll protect you."
The inflated balloon in his heart felt as if it had been pricked by a needle, suddenly deflating.
When they reached home, she hesitantly asked him: "Pei Chuan, are we okay now?"
He said: "Shut up and go home."
Bei Yao understood what he meant and smiled happily.
~
Pei Chuan felt particularly weak-willed. He hadn't planned to forgive Bei Yao so easily, yet somehow they had made up without him realizing it.
Zhuo Yingjing went to ask the teacher to change seats but hesitated to explain the reason, so the seat change never happened.
In the spring of their second semester in seventh grade, something major happened for the children in the neighborhood—Fang Minjun's family bought an apartment in the city center. After the New Year, the whole family would move out of the community. This matched Bei Yao's memory exactly: Fang Minjun's family would gradually become wealthier because housing prices would rise in the next couple of years.
A large group of teenagers watched Fang Minjun get on the motorcycle with reluctant eyes. Bei Yao went to see her off too.
In seventh grade, Bei Yao wasn't very tall yet and could only stand at the back of the crowd. She had saved a month's allowance to buy Fang Minjun a small rabbit coin purse.The arrogant Fang Minjun accepted gifts from everyone, then nodded with her chin held high.
Pei Chuan watched coldly from afar, appearing completely out of place with them. He knew Bei Yao had been saving her pocket money - she hadn't bought a single piece of candy or any drink for an entire month.
Bei Yao waved vigorously: "Minmin, come back to visit!"
Looking at the young boys and girls behind her, Fang Minjun felt a touch of melancholy amid her joy about moving to a new home. Clutching her coin purse, she looked at Bei Yao with complex emotions. Having competed with Bei Yao for over ten years, Fang Minjun didn't like her, yet found it impossible to dislike her either.
Bei Yao was like a gentle little moon, without any sharp edges.
However, looking at Bei Yao's delicate yet still baby-faced features, Fang Minjun almost instinctively felt a sense of crisis.
The current Bei Yao still looked like an adorable child, but what if one day she transformed into a beautiful young girl? Then the one thing Fang Minjun had over Bei Yao would be gone.
"It's fine, I'll still be attending the same school as you," Fang Minjun waved her hand before getting in the car and leaving.
In late spring, Chen Hu and Li Da were digging up an ant nest when Pei Chuan passed by the corner while taking out the trash.
Li Da said with a grin: "Chen Hu, you've been unhappy these past few days. Is it because Fang Minjun left?"
"No."
"Don't lie to me. You like her, don't you?"
Chen Hu's ears turned red: "N-nonsense, of c-course not."
"If you like her, you should tell her, or walk her home after school."
Chen Hu muttered: "I want to, but my cousin said 'distance creates beauty.' Girls don't like clingy boys. If you get too close, they'll just see you as a brother. When I become tall and handsome, I'll go find Minmin."
Pei Chuan tightened his grip on the plastic bag, waiting until they left before going out to throw away the trash.
The next day after school, Bei Yao discovered that Pei Chuan, who had already reconciled with her, didn't wait for her and left alone.
Bei Yao had been feeling a sense of crisis lately because in her memory, Pei Chuan's parents had divorced during middle school, but it seemed that hadn't happened yet.
As they were about to enter eighth grade, many significant events would occur during this year.
For instance, Pei Chuan's personality would drastically change.
Like how Fang Minjun's appearance would begin to transform, and how the Hong Kong star Chang Xue would fall from grace due to her involvement in someone else's marriage.
And Bei Yao... she had finally regained memories from tenth grade.
She looked at her fair, soft face in the mirror.
In her memory, after this winter... she would begin to transform like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon.
The memories were too vague and distant, making Bei Yao doubt whether she would truly become that stunning school belle from the high school division.
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