Bai Yutong felt strange and puzzled. Bei Yao asked her, "Can I come in and see Pei Chuan?"
The girl's voice was clear and sweet, carrying a nasal tone that made it sound particularly soft. Bai Yutong secretly resented this, thinking, "God knows if that stepbrother of mine is dead or not. What if he's infected and turns into a rabid dog, biting anyone he catches?"
She and her mother didn't dare to check, so Bei Yao's arrival was just perfect.
Bai Yutong stepped aside to let Bei Yao in.
Cao Li and her daughter exchanged a glance but remained silent. They watched as Bei Yao walked to the tightly closed door.
The girl knocked gently with her knuckles: "Pei Chuan, are you okay?"
Pei Chuan, his gaze somewhat vacant, sat up from the bed: "What are you doing here?"
Suppressing her sobs, Bei Yao said, "I saw you were injured. Let's go to the hospital, okay?"
Pei Chuan replied softly, "You should leave. I'm fine."
Bei Yao, filled with worry and sadness, couldn't possibly leave. Pei Chuan knew she was still outside, and Cao Li and her daughter were surely there too.
Pei Chuan glanced at the broken prosthetic leg in the corner of the room and closed his eyes. Because the injury was on his calf, when people saw his torn pants, their first instinct was to look at his unique prosthetic leg rather than the gruesome wound.
This room felt like a prison. Without his prosthetic legs, he couldn't even walk out on his own.
"Pei Chuan." Bei Yao's voice was soft as she pressed against the door. But she couldn't find the words to say.
Pei Chuan didn't need her pity, after all.
He and Bei Yao had been apart for a year, during which he had lived and worked like a normal person. He had learned to play basketball and cards, and he persisted in practicing boxing. How he wished that when he first met Bei Yao, he had been healthy and normal.
He longed to be a strong, normal man, not the cripple who relied on sympathy to get close to her, as he had been in his childhood.
But once his prosthetic leg broke, he struggled even to get up from the ground.
Pei Chuan knew that if he stayed any longer, Pei Haobin would surely return and take him for a check-up.
He didn't want that outcome. For so many years, not even his own biological father had seen his severed limb again.
Pei Chuan took out his phone: "Wang Zhan, my prosthetic leg is broken. Come pick me up."
Pei Chuan wasn't one to sit and wait. After a while, he moved to the edge of the bed and pulled over the wheelchair he hadn't used in a long time.
This was the wheelchair the Pei family had bought for him when he was fourteen or fifteen, far inferior to the one he used later when he lived alone in his apartment. Yet, relying on the strength of his arms, he easily settled into it.
In autumn, his blanket was still thin. Pei Chuan pulled it down to cover his legs.
He wheeled himself over, collected the prosthetic leg from the corner, stored it in a box, and locked it in a cabinet.
After doing all this, only his hands were stained with the wild dog's blood.
Pei Chuan lowered his eyes and opened the water kettle in the room.
The water was scalding hot—Cao Li had boiled it to show her "concern." But Pei Chuan didn't wait for it to cool. Bei Yao had been standing outside his room for too long. He poured the water into a cup, letting it run over his fingers. His hands trembled slightly, but he said nothing as he washed them thoroughly.
After tidying up, he opened the door.
Bei Yao hadn't expected the door to open suddenly. Tears still glistened silently in her eyes, like dewdrops on tree branches at dawn.
The young man's lips were pale. He glanced at Bei Yao and said, "Go home. I'm fine."
He was used to it, wasn't he?Cao Li was surprised that Pei Chuan would come out, yet she didn't know what to say either. Bai Yutong's reaction was much more direct—she had always known her stepbrother had no legs, but every time she saw him before, he wore his prosthetic legs, looking no different from an able-bodied person.
This was the first time she saw Pei Chuan sitting in a wheelchair, clearly realizing he was disabled.
Yet this disabled man was exceptionally difficult to deal with. She still remembered vividly how that dog's brains had splattered, so terrifying that she didn't dare mock Pei Chuan.
Soon the doorbell rang. This time, Pei Chuan didn't look at anyone. He pushed his wheelchair over to answer the door.
Sitting in the wheelchair, his fingers were long and powerful, yet his palms concealed redness and swelling no one could see.
Outside was Wang Zhan.
Wang Zhan, wearing a white lab coat, was panting heavily. He had driven over and then run all the way into the residential complex.
"Pei Chuan?"
Pei Chuan nodded. Understanding, Wang Zhan began pushing him away.
Cao Li and her daughter remained silent. His arrival had quieted the family, and his departure left the air just as still—as if he were merely a passerby in this home.
Pei Haobin, still out on duty, hadn't returned yet. Pei Chuan was no longer the helpless child he once was; he had the ability to arrange his own path and leave the neighborhood with his back straight.
Bei Yao wiped her tears and silently followed behind them.
Wang Zhan glanced back in surprise. As a doctor, he didn't interfere with Pei Chuan's personal affairs. This young girl was strikingly beautiful, hard to ignore. Yet his client, Pei Chuan, who usually had a terrible temper, didn't chase her away, so Dr. Wang could only pretend not to see her.
Navigating the stairs in a wheelchair was extremely difficult for Pei Chuan.
Moreover, Pei Chuan's build wasn't frail, and Wang Zhan, being more of a scholar, struggled to carry both him and the wheelchair down.
Their old residential complex had no elevator. By the time they reached the second floor, Wang Zhan had run out of strength. His hand slipped, and the wheelchair started rolling downward. Wang Zhan's heart leaped in fright, but he saw Pei Chuan grab the railing with one hand, steadying both himself and the wheelchair.
Yet Pei Chuan's expression showed no relief. Because of that movement, the blanket covering his legs slipped downward.
His other hand only managed to catch the edge of the blanket. Almost instantly, he chose to release his grip on the railing, preferring to fall down rather than let the cloth lift and reveal his empty pant legs.
The scent of lilac drifted over as her delicate little hands tugged the blanket upward, properly covering his legs again.
He looked down, meeting the young girl's red-rimded almond eyes.
Pursing her lips, she tried hard to help Dr. Wang straighten the wheelchair. Pei Chuan grasped her slender wrist and moved her hand away from his wheelchair. Wang Zhan sighed softly and resignedly mustered all his strength to help this young master downstairs.
~
On a September evening, nightfall crept in quietly.
Wang Zhan assisted the prosthetist in fitting Pei Chuan with new prosthetic legs. Over the past two years, Pei Chuan had been growing, and the data for his severed limb no longer fit, requiring replacement. As Pei Chuan's primary physician, Wang Zhan was well aware of his condition.
The team worked busily until 8:30 PM, when the city's neon lights had already lit up.
After the prosthetic legs were installed, Wang Zhan breathed a sigh of relief, but he couldn't help chiding, "What did you do? Even prosthetic legs can break."
Pei Chuan's prosthetic legs were simulated, waterproof, and represented a relatively advanced level domestically. For them to be damaged beyond use was truly alarming.
"Killed a stray dog."Wang Zhan stared wide-eyed, thinking he was joking: "W-what?" He quickly said, "Let me check you over."
Pei Chuan brushed his hand away: "No other bites."
Pei Chuan found it ironic too—it was actually his prosthetic leg that had saved his life.
He got off the hospital bed, and Wang Zhan said: "She's still waiting outside."
Who knew what this damned kid was thinking, actually letting that young girl follow him all the way here.
Pei Chuan gave a low "Mm," he knew.
He pushed the door open. The autumn night was somewhat chilly, the city lights flickering on one by one. Bei Yao sat properly on the blue hospital waiting bench, and the moment she saw him come out, her big eyes fixed on him nervously.
He walked over and asked her: "Are you cold?"
Bei Yao shook her head. She was afraid to ask about the result, but still trembling, she asked: "Are you okay?"
Pei Chuan said: "I'm fine."
She opened her mouth slightly. Everything that had happened today had almost overturned years of her understanding. The fickleness of human relationships—Pei Chuan had long seen through it all. Only she lived so innocently and happily, hoping he would be a good person.
But with everyone treating him this way, what reason did he have to be a good person?
The parents of the children were all anxiously watching over their own treasures. Even Zhao Zhilan had nearly fainted from fright over her own son, Bei Jun.
Bei Yao felt extremely sad. She felt ashamed.
When they were young, the world seemed incredibly beautiful, but some things forced boys and girls to grow up.
It was already quite late. Bei Yao had told Bei Licai before going out, but the bus from the city hospital back home wasn't easy to catch. Pei Chuan hadn't driven his own car here, nor did he suggest having Wang Zhan give them a ride.
He led Bei Yao forward.
The night breeze was gentle, the young man with his hands in his pockets. Pei Chuan had always been a man of few words. If no one spoke to him, he could stay quietly by himself all day.
The moon had come out, hanging high in the sky.
Bei Yao slowly followed his pace, the redness at the corners of her eyes not yet faded. The more she thought about it, the sadder she became. If Pei Chuan hadn't come back on his own, would she have lost him forever in the passage of time?
Some things had nothing to do with naive love.
She looked left and right and spotted an old man selling hydrogen balloons. Bei Yao said: "Pei Chuan, wait for me."
Pei Chuan stopped and watched her jog over, gesturing to the old man and pointing at the balloons above. The old man handed her a dragonfly balloon.
Holding it, she jogged back.
Countless children watched her and her balloon. Her voice was nasal, carrying the soft, sweet tone unique to girls: "Pei Chuan, hold out your hand."
He clenched his fist and extended his left hand from his pocket, not letting her see the lingering redness and swelling on his palm.
Bei Yao tied the balloon to his wrist. She made a knot, and the pitiful balloon drifted back and forth between them, looking utterly ridiculous.
But Pei Chuan didn't take it off.
The inflated dragonfly floated lightly in the air, like the accidental touch of her fingertips.
His pride couldn't suppress his longing, so she was here with him now.
Pei Chuan asked softly: "What are you doing?"
Bei Yao said: "I'm sorry, it's all my fault. When you left home a year ago, were you very sad?"
He looked at her quietly.
The girl nervously offered a smile, like dewdrops falling from a branch, incredibly beautiful under the moonlight, quietly waiting for his answer.
In that moment, the arrogance and flamboyance he had carried for the past year faded away, replaced by a pang of heartache.
He said: "No."He was inherently bad by nature, so how could he feel sorrow? He simply left when he wanted to.
She said, "When I was little, I almost got lost once. My mother tied a hydrogen balloon to my wrist, saying she could spot me at a glance and bring me back. Pei Chuan, I'm sorry I couldn't find you. Please forgive me."
His gaze rested on her.
The autumn night was chilly. She wore a beige mid-length sleeve shirt, shivering slightly in the cool breeze. Yet her smile brightened as she stretched out a fair, delicate hand: "You can hit me once. Will you forgive me?"
Just like when they were children and he grew furious at her constant boundary-crossing, she'd timidly ask, "You can hit me once. Will you forgive me?"
On the long street.
The wind whispered in his ears, and his heart suddenly softened entirely.
What fault did she bear? All along, he had been the one treating her poorly, so much so that even he was surprised to realize he liked her. His return was driven by mere passion and selfish desire.
She hadn't changed—he had grown worse.
He wanted even more to hold this hand. Originally, letting her follow him was meant for just that. Yet, in the end, he didn't.
Despairingly, he thought, he was done for—he liked her even more now.
So he said, "Let's go home."
All his cunning schemes were useless, powerless against her genuine, immediate smile. It turned out someone had never thought of abandoning him.
The last bus home arrived as scheduled, swaying along the route.
For the first time, Bei Yao slept so peacefully.
Pei Chuan sat beside her, the window cracked open slightly. The streetlights along the road were dim, and the tree shadows couldn't obscure the moonlight. Outside, only an old record shop played an even older song. He listened intently—it was Hacken Lee's "Moonlight Serenade." He turned to look at her: her long lashes lowered, defenseless in deep slumber—
...
But my heart, every moment, is still occupied by her
She is like the moon, still not speaking
The violin solo plays alone under the autumn moon
My worries, my longing, continue until later
Still leaning in sleepless nights, gazing at the stars in the sky
Still hearing the violin, weeping and pleading, teasing again
Why is only a crescent moon left in my sky?
After tonight, all news is cut off
People are like the moon in the sky—impossible to possess
His heart ached with bitterness and sorrow, yet he felt relieved that he hadn't truly hurt her yet.
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