It’s unclear how things developed to this point, but suddenly it seemed the whole school knew that Deng Qiao from the second year—yes, that Deng Qiao from the soccer team—had suddenly started paying attention to Shan Shan from the first year.
…Yes, the only person in the whole school who used a wheelchair.
Shan Shan didn’t think much of it. Later, she remembered that she had heard the name “Deng Qiao” from her classmates’ mouths before—
She belatedly realized that this name appeared among girls with a frequency rivaling that of “Dai Duo.”
He was very popular.
But because Shan Shan hardly left her classroom last semester and didn’t care much about people outside her class, she had always ignored the so-called popular figures at school.
It’s like how pregnant women walking on the street suddenly notice that the whole street is full of pregnant women, the same principle.
It seemed almost intentional. From the day the rumors started spreading, classmates frequently mentioned Deng Qiao in front of her, saying, “Hey Shan Shan, it looks like Deng Qiao from the second year likes you.”
Who would take it seriously?
No one would.
One day on the way home from school, Shao Xing pointed at the tallest one in the middle of a group of tall boys and said, “Look, that’s Deng Qiao.”
Shan Shan raised her eyelids and glanced ahead.
“Oh, I’ve seen him before.”
That day at the breakfast stall, he had asked for her WeChat but didn’t get it.
Shan Shan casually said, “Why are you being as boring as them?” She didn’t think much of the rumors these days—
To be precise, she was even a bit annoyed.
She wasn’t sure who started these rumors that put her in the spotlight, whether it was to build up the senior’s image or just for fun, but it didn’t make her heart flutter…
People know their worth best.
She was chatting carelessly with Shao Xing when the person who had been surrounded by a group of men in the middle suddenly seemed to sense something and turned around.
They unexpectedly made eye contact.
The boy named Deng Qiao was stunned for a moment. In the sunset, his hair looked fluffy in the orange light, a bit messy, looking quite silly, harmless, and friendly.
—Opposite to Dai Duo’s aggressive appearance.
Perhaps sensing his momentary silence, the people around him noticed, turned around, and saw Shan Shan, and all were stunned for a moment before starting to tease.
Amidst the teasing, Shan Shan calmly “Oh” again. The blurry face of the boy who had spilled soy milk on her newly bought uniform bag that day now had a slightly more accurate outline—
But that wasn’t important.
That bag, which she had waited half a year for, was only used for one day.
Now it was stained with oil and couldn’t be used anymore.
In front of her was a group of second-year boys, childishly pushing the shy boy walking in the middle, while he looked at her.
Shan Shan didn’t have much of a reaction, only reflexively tugging at the school uniform jacket covering her legs, hiding her not-so-attractive legs—
It wasn’t because he was Deng Qiao.
It was just because being stared at by an unfamiliar member of the opposite sex made her feel a bit tense and embarrassed.
After a brief silence, without much encouragement from those around him, the boy stepped towards her and stood in front of her. Shan Shan could feel Shao Xing, who was holding her wheelchair behind her, almost holding her breath…
After all, the so-called “Deng Qiao likes Shan Shan” had only been an unsubstantiated rumor before this.
No one expected him to come over.
The second-year boy from the soccer team was already quite tall, and when he stood in front of the girl sitting in the wheelchair with his long arms and legs, his shadow covered her.
“Um…”
He dragged out the sound.
Then he suddenly stopped speaking, paused for a while, blinked, and without hesitation, bent down in front of her—
The shadow that had been covering her suddenly lowered and disappeared. She watched a fluffy crew-cut head bend down from a very high place, squat down, and become level with her eyes.
“Your name is Shan Shan, right?”
He looked at the person frozen in shock in the wheelchair and asked.
In those narrow eyes, his pupils were jet black, with a clear contrast between black and white. At such a close distance, she could see the clear, slightly blue whites of his eyes.
Shan Shan’s hands silently gripped the cotton jacket covering her empty legs—
She watched the boy raise his hand, and scratch his head, seeming a bit nervous, but smiled to reveal a set of white teeth, instead comforting her, “Don’t be nervous.”
“…”
“That day, I really didn’t mean to spill breakfast on you,” the boy said, “but later when I asked for your WeChat to compensate you, that was intentional.”
“…”
“You still haven’t given it to me.” His voice was probably in the process of changing, with a hint of huskiness mixed in the boyish tone, “I haven’t seen you since, and I couldn’t just go to your classroom to find you, that might scare you.”
In Shan Shan’s silence from start to finish, he looked up and met her eyes.
“I’m asking again now, can I add you on WeChat?”
…Actually, Shan Shan’s thoughts weren’t too complicated at that time.
She was just very confused about what this person wanted to do.
…
After accepting Deng Qiao’s WeChat friend request, another inexplicable person joined the ranks of her contacts.
Pushing Shan Shan into a taxi, Shao Xing, who was supposed to go to tutoring class, squeezed in with her. Judging from her excited state, she thought this gossip wasn’t over yet.
“Is he for real?” Shao Xing tugged at Shan Shan’s sleeve, “Oh my god, he’s for real!”
Shan Shan, swaying left and right from her shaking, “Oh” -ed.
Shao Xing’s eyebrows shot up: “Aren’t you excited! That’s Deng Qiao — don’t pretend! Shan Shan, let me tell you! Pretending will get you struck by lightning!”
Shan Shan took out her phone and glanced at it. The other party had sent her a greeting sticker, and she casually replied with another sticker. She put away her phone and said with a serious face.
“I already like someone,” she announced, “It’s true.”
“Who?”
“Dai Duo.”
“Oh.”
“…”
That’s it?
Shan Shan lifted her eyelids in confusion to look at Shao Xing, who didn’t seem surprised at all, still holding her sleeve. She shook it casually: “I’ve seen you come down from the second-year classrooms upstairs a few times. I didn’t ask because I didn’t want to meddle and annoy you… Dai Duo brings you breakfast every day now, right?”
Without waiting for Shan Shan to answer, Shao Xing smiled: “People have seen you two buying breakfast together. Then with Deng Qiao’s thing coming out, there are quite a few people talking bad about you now.”
“Oh.”
“Is Dai Duo your boyfriend?”
Feeling the taxi driver glance at them in the rearview mirror — probably finding it interesting to hear high school girls discuss these issues?
Early love is impossible.
“No,” Shan Shan shook her head honestly, “He’s my brother’s friend, ordered to take care of me.”
“There you have it.”
Shao Xing let go of her sleeve and leaned back.
“You’ve never had a boy approach you with friendly intentions since your legs became like this. How do you know you’re not just confused for a moment?”
“Hm?”
Shan Shan looked a bit bewildered.
“Has Dai Duo shown any different feelings towards you?” Shao Xing rephrased her question.
Shan Shan was speechless for a few seconds: “He rarely swears at me, does that count?”
“Oh, it does.”
“Huh?”
“That’s Dai Duo, number one in rudeness and coldness.” Her friend said expressionlessly, “Being able to speak nicely to someone does indeed seem quite different. The way you put it, I can understand you a bit.”
“…”
Bro, how bad must your reputation be?
“But consider Deng Qiao too,” Shao Xing’s eyes rolled, changing the subject, “At least he’s not being nice to you on your brother’s orders.”
“Who knows what his intentions are? When you can’t figure out the truth, it’s better to stick with someone sent by your brother.”
Mumbling as she lowered her head, Shan Shan tugged at the clothes covering her legs again.
“Why are you so stubborn!”
“Because I don’t believe there are beings in this world as pure-hearted as angels and as blind as the blind,” Shan Shan said calmly. “Rather than being on edge all the time, it feels more reassuring to fall for a demon from the start.”
…
That night.
Shan Shan finished washing up and came out of the bathroom, supporting herself in the wheelchair with one hand as she moved towards the bed. She glanced at her phone screen, which was lit up with several unread messages from someone who wasn’t set to Do Not Disturb floating at the top of the screen.
[The One Who Only Barks: (Image)]
[The One Who Only Barks: (Image)]
[The One Who Only Barks: You added this guy on WeChat?]
[The One Who Only Barks: Impressive.]
[The One Who Only Barks: Look away for a second and you mess up.]
[The One Who Only Barks: You think he’s a good guy?]
Six consecutive unread messages occupied the screen, blocking her cute wallpaper.
But.
This was Shan Shan’s favorite lock screen view in recent times.
No contest.
In her chest, her heart started pounding. The WeChat contact she had been staring at countless times but had always been as quiet as a corpse finally sent a message—
That moment of elation was sweeter than being in a relationship itself.
The confusion that Shao Xing had instilled in her that morning vanished completely. As she picked up her phone, she was certain that if this wasn’t called liking someone, then all the novels and TV dramas in the world would be lying.
Her hair was still dripping “plop plop” as she unlocked the screen and looked. She found that Dai Duo had sent two pictures earlier—
One was a photo of Deng Qiao changing clothes in the locker room by the soccer field, half undressed. To be honest, it’s impressive for a high school student to have abs, but the problem was that this person had a tattoo on his waist.
The second was of Deng Qiao in a middle school uniform, holding a girl’s hand, half bent over talking to her.
“…”
Well, well.
A seemingly innocent bad boy…
And his ex-girlfriend.
This revelation came as swift as the wind, though she hadn’t been impressed to begin with.
Shan Shan first sent back a “…” and then a “?”.
The other side probably had his phone in hand, immediately showing “typing…”.
[The One Who Only Barks: I told your brother, he’s furious.]
[The One Who Only Barks: Get ready to be scolded.]
[The One Who Only Barks: Just focus on your studies, think about all that nonsense and I’ll twist your head off.]
[The One Who Only Barks: Starting tomorrow, I’ll take you to and from school.]
Shan Shan’s lips were about to split to her ears—
If she had known that adding someone’s WeChat could have this effect, that day in front of the breakfast shop, she would have tiptoed to add Deng Qiao’s WeChat first no matter what.
She thought for a moment, then started her green tea act.
[Accumulating Virtue: ?]
[Accumulating Virtue: With so many people watching, how could I refuse?]
[Accumulating Virtue: What if he hit me?]
The other side was silent for ten minutes.
For those ten minutes, it kept showing “typing…”, obviously rendered speechless by her “innocent” statements and trying hard to organize his words.
After ten minutes, he squeezed out a short sentence—
[The One Who Only Barks: Are you sick in the head?]
Ah.
She got scolded.
So happy.
Like a genuine late-stage Stockholm syndrome patient, today’s happiness instantly maxed out. Shan Shan put down her phone, dried her hair, lay on her desk, and carefully completed an entire physics paper.
Looking up, she found it was noon. She put down her pen and slowly packed her school bag.
Then she crawled back into bed and replied to him—
[Accumulating Virtue: Anyway, I’ll go to and from school by myself, don’t follow me.]
She didn’t know how good her acting was.
At least it was very effective on Dai Duo.
As she was holding her phone, drowsy, the other party probably just finished gaming and switched back to WeChat, replying to her—
[The One Who Only Barks: How many drinks did you have? Even if you just had some peanuts, you couldn’t be this naive.]
[The One Who Only Barks: Did I sound like I was negotiating with you?]
Oh wow.
That night, it was so perfect that even her dreams were pink.