Sharp-tongued but soft-hearted rich girl vs. taciturn poor boy
Zhao Beiya's first impression of Xu Qingchang was:
He looked like a sickly bamboo stalk that never saw daylight.
The boy was handsome and delicate, wearing a faded T-shirt and ripped jeans. His black hair hung over his brow, and he seemed dull and lifeless.
Her father dragged him into their home and said that he was two years older than her.
From now on, they were family, and she had to call him big brother.
Zhao Beiya sneered. "He's not my brother. I don't accept him."
Xu Qingchang was gloomy and withdrawn, speaking softly, like the moss that grew in a damp corner during the plum rains.
But her own brother, Zhao Yacheng, had been like the sun: passionate, free, and carefree. He had died five years ago saving her.
How could she accept an imitation, a shadow of him?
So she provoked Xu Qingchang, ordered him around, and tripped him up at every turn.
But Xu Qingchang accepted it all, neither resisting nor arguing back.
Zhao Beiya couldn't understand his patience.
Until one afternoon, she pushed open the door to his unlocked room without thinking. Xu Qingchang had his back to her, his shoulders trembling, his stifled pant reaching her ears
"...Beibei."
*
The day Xu Qingchang left the orphanage, rain poured from the sky.
He moved into the Zhao home and became Zhao Beiya's brother in name.
He knew Mr. Zhao had taken him in partly to do a good deed, and partly because he valued Xu Qingchang's steady nature and wanted him to look after Zhao Beiya and help her move on from her grief.
So he remembered their kindness and let Zhao Beiya order him around.
One rainy night years later, Zhao Beiya leaned on the railing and called out to him from a distance: "I'm so awful to you. How come you never get mad?"
Xu Qingchang didn't answer.
Through the faint sound of the rain, he suddenly remembered
When people at school had poked him in the back and called him a "freeloader," Zhao Beiya had rushed over, kicked the culprit to the ground, and slapped him across the face.
She'd caught him washing dishes in the back of a restaurant. Scowling, she'd dragged him home and tossed him a tube of frostbite ointment, snapping, "Is the Zhao family not feeding you or giving you clothes? Don't ever go there again."
The last memory was the night he turned eighteen. Only one little lamp was lit in the room, its light dim and hazy. Zhao Beiya sat across from him, impatiently urging, "Hurry up and make a wish. The candle's almost out."
Back then, he closed his eyes.
He had only one wish: May she be happy, may she find joy.
-
Only later did Zhao Beiya understand:
Some love begins in the smallest moments and grows in silence. By the time you notice it, it has already lived quietly for many years.
Reader's note:
1. Both leads are inexperienced, and the male lead has a secret crush on the female lead.
2. The female lead's feelings change gradually, from cruelty to care. The male lead remains loyal and obedient to her throughout.
3. A story about two little bitter souls healing each other.
Theme: Amid the crowd, you and I met
