Chapter 2
Chapter 2
I had always been the golden child-the one other parents compared their kids to. I had excellent grades and a wealthy family.
My parents were the model couple everyone envied: deeply in love and inseparable.
I was supposed to have a happy, beautiful life.
But one day, without any warning, they started fighting.
Later, I found out that my father was having an affair.
He claimed to love my mother and begged for her forgiveness, yet he continued to entangle himself with the other woman.
My mother couldn’t accept it. The torture of love and hate transformed her into someone unrecognizable.
She would grab the other woman’s hair with all her might, and the two of them would brawl.
My father, however, would protect the mistress, accusing my mother of being relentless and unforgiving.
Once the facade was completely shattered, they began fighting desperately for my custody.
I became a masterpiece they had painstakingly cultivated, a prize to be snatched back and forth.
No one ever asked me if I wanted any of it.
Every time they argued, the twisted hatred on their faces was etched deeply into my mind.
I would hide under my covers, pressing my hands tightly over my ears, not wanting to hear a single word.
I stopped believing in love. I stopped believing in marriage.
I even stopped believing in human emotion altogether. All things beautiful were just mirages-fragile and easily shattered.
I started becoming very irritable, often unable to control my temper.
Whenever my emotions fluctuated wildly, my nose would bleed, with thick gushes of blood pouring out.
I would try desperately to wipe it away, only to end up with my face and hands smeared red.
My classmates were terrified.
From then on, whenever they saw me, they avoided me like the plague.
I even heard them whispering behind my back. “Xu Chi is sick. We have to keep our distance, or we’ll catch it.”
“Her mom is sick, too. I heard she’s mentally unstable.”
I listened to them calmly, like an outsider.
Maybe they were right. I was sick-very sick.
“You’re the ones who are sick, spreading rumors like that.”
A low, cool voice interrupted their gossip.
Looking toward the sound, I saw a lean boy leaning against the railing.
His name was Duan Yi. He was a well-known eccentric at school. He was unusually handsome and exceptionally brilliant, but the strangest thing was that he had repeated two grades.
No one knew why.
The crowd dispersed with muffled curses. A sharp gust of wind swept past, ruffling the boy’s short hair, and my gaze was drawn to him.
A surge of warmth hit my nasal cavity, and my nose started bleeding again.
I tilted my head back. Duan Yi walked toward me and handed me a snow-white handkerchief. “Xu Chi, let me help you.”
If every story must have a beginning, it wasn’t the sudden gust of wind, the blindingly white school uniform, or the blood-stained handkerchief.
The true beginning was when he frantically hoisted me onto his back and sprinted to the infirmary.
Dizzy and fading, I leaned against his bony shoulder and caught the faint, fresh scent of mint.
Just before I blacked out, I saw the red blood blooming into a large stain on his white uniform.
Later, Duan Yi transferred into my class and became my seatmate.
My memory was getting worse and worse; I was always losing things.
But Duan Yi could always see right through me.
He could easily find anything I had lost.
Once, I forgot my period was coming, and I didn’t realize my pants were stained bright red.
A few thuggish boys whistled and mocked me, their mouths full of filth.
Duan Yi was usually calm and composed, but that day, he acted as if he’d been ignited. He lunged at them, landing punch after punch on their foul faces.
They brawled until no one else could pull them apart.
It wasn’t until the Dean of Students arrived that they were forcibly separated.
Duan Yi wasn’t just covered in bruises; he also received a major demerit on his record.
While I was tending to his wounds, I couldn’t help but ask, “Duan Yi, are you being nice to me because you pity me?”
Duan Yi looked at me firmly, his dark eyes bright and clear. “Xu Chi, I just want you to be a little happier.”
I suddenly broke down. Biting my lip hard, my tears flowed uncontrollably.
All the suppression and grievances finally found an outlet and came pouring out.
During those dark, hopeless days, Duan Yi stayed by my side, walking with me step by step.
He was always finding ways to make me smile.
On the way home after school, he would always have something I liked in his hand.
In the winter, it was a steaming roasted sweet potato; in the summer, it was a refreshing white peach oolong tea.
He said he would love me forever, and that traitors would go to hell.
He once carefully interlaced his fingers with mine, the warmth of his palm always sincere and burning hot.