Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Zhou Xingzhi had been hospitalized for three days, and the woman he had always loved hadn’t come to see him even once.

I was the only one who showed up every single day to change his bandages and bring him meals.

That car had come out of nowhere, crashing into us far too fast.

Zhou Xingzhi’s first instinct had been to lunge forward and shield Shen Xiao.

Under his protection, Shen Xiao escaped with only minor injuries.

I, curled up in the back seat, had been lucky enough to avoid the brunt of the impact, coming away with only a scraped arm.

Only Zhou Xingzhi suffered. When he threw himself forward, a shard of flying glass sliced across his face.

The fragment tore a deep gash from between his eyebrows down to the corner of his mouth, effectively disfiguring him.

The doctor said that even after it healed, it would leave a permanent scar.

I was the only one who refused to believe it. I ran from hospital to hospital, even seeking out old practitioners of traditional medicine.

But the answer was always the same: unless he underwent plastic surgery, the scar would never go away.

I sobbed uncontrollably in the hospital, drawing stares from everyone passing by.

Even Zhou Xingzhi couldn’t take it anymore. While I was changing his dressings, he finally asked me, “Lin Yuan, do you really love me that much?”

“If your face is ruined, I don’t want to live anymore.”

I let out a hitching sob, my eyes filled with nothing but pity and heartache as I gazed at his face.

“Stop crying. It looks pathetic.”

Zhou Xingzhi reached out as if to wipe away my tears, but he pulled back at the last second with a mocking smirk.

“I never would have guessed. To think the belle of Peking University is actually such a hopeless romantic.”

Between the two of us, Zhou Xingzhi was the one who pursued me first.

Back then, I was cold to him and never gave him the time of day, but that didn’t dampen his enthusiasm. Rain or shine, he was always there, walking me to the cafeteria and back to my dorm with unwavering persistence.

Finally, on Valentine’s Day, I accepted his confession and officially became his girlfriend.

But everything changed a year into our relationship, the moment Shen Xiao returned to the country.

Zhou Xingzhi started picking fights over every little thing. He complained that my family was poor and that I wasn’t gentle enough.

He would lose his temper at the drop of a hat and humiliate me for my appearance.

He even abandoned me on the side of the road on my birthday.

Before the accident, Zhou Xingzhi had already brought up breaking up, but I hadn’t agreed to it.

“Aren’t you pathetic? I already dumped you, yet here you are, still taking care of me.”

That’s what Zhou Xingzhi said, but seeing my eyes red from crying, he paused before adding, “Fine. If you really can’t accept it, we don’t have to break up.”

I didn’t even hear what he said. I just stared at his face and asked through my sobs, “Zhou Xingzhi, can you please get plastic surgery?”

Zhou Xingzhi: “?”

Because of that one sentence, Zhou Xingzhi stopped speaking to me again.

After finishing my shift at the convenience store, I ran to the market and bought half a pig’s head.

It cost fifty yuan-a bit expensive, nearly half a day’s wages-and I paid in full with tears in my eyes, feeling the sting in my wallet.

That evening, Zhou Xingzhi flew into a rage the moment he saw the plate of braised pig’s head meat. He refused to even touch his chopsticks.

I tried to persuade him. “Eat the part you want to mend. Don’t be such a picky eater.”

His expression was dark, but under my expectant gaze, he begrudgingly ate some.

Before I left, I told him I had something to do tomorrow and wouldn’t be able to come, so he should find someone else to look after him.

“What do you mean? I thought you loved me? It’s only been a few days and you’re already tired of coming?”

Zhou Xingzhi’s face twisted. He immediately started berating me, even refusing to let me finish applying his medicine.

I had no choice but to cancel my shift for the next day. It took a long time of coaxing before his anger finally subsided.