Monster

[Main story complete]

Yao Lele is the notorious wild child of Qingxi Town.

She's bossy, domineering, and unreasonable, always causing trouble despite her young age:

In the morning, she stands at the school gate and loudly argues with her teacher. At noon, she gets into a fistfight with boys half a head taller than her. In the afternoon, she drags her younger brother out of school to skip class and play. In the middle of the night, she smashes a relative's windows to pieces with a brick.

Everyone says Yao Lele's parents must have done something terrible in a past life.

That's the only reason they would have given birth to such an obnoxious little monster in this one.

Then one day, a real monster comes to town.

*

The day Qiao He moved to Qingxi Town, the sky was cloudless.

The midsummer air was hot and humid. Wearing a thick mask that covered most of his face, he avoided the crowds and walked alone down a small road. He hadn't gone far when something slammed into him with tremendous force.

Qiao He fell facedown. Cowering with his hands over his head, he watched in terror as a girl fought a stray dog like a madwoman, then triumphantly snatched a filthy steamed bun from it.

Yao Lele turned around with the bun in her mouth. The moment she saw the boy lying in the alley, she screamed in fright and bolted away.

*

"Why did you fight a dog for food that day?"

"I was hungry."

"Then why did you come back to find me?"

"I was afraid you'd fall over dead and extort money from me."

"…"

"So, Qiao He, what exactly do you like about me?"

"I like that you're a monster no one likes, just like me."

It wasn't until we grew up that I learned we weren't monsters. We were just a little different from everyone else.

[Read these warnings first]

1. The male lead has extensive scarring on the right side of his face, and it will not heal [Important]

2. Both leads have serious personality issues as children.

The female lead is exceptionally hot-tempered and fierce. This includes, but isn't limited to, beating a dog mercilessly with a slipper, flinging a snake one-handed against a wall and knocking it out, charging into a relative's home on New Year's Eve and flipping the dinner table, and siccing a fierce goose on the male lead's parents.

The male lead is extremely timid. This includes, but isn't limited to, calling the female lead to save him when there's a snake in the house, fainting after getting startled by a leech clinging to his leg while he handles crabs, getting stung by bees until his face swells up like a pig's head after poking a hive, then eating honey through his tears, and clinging to the threshold of the female lead's home, crying and refusing to leave her.

3. It's partly children's literature, starting in the upper grades of elementary school.

4. At heart, it's a relaxing rural story about eating, drinking, and having fun, with lots of food scenes.

5. The story begins in 2012.

6. Leaving room for warnings I haven't thought of yet.

Here's a recommendation for my next story, "Thirty Seconds"

"Thirty Seconds"

- 6:00 p.m.

Xu Jianian is dragged into a milk tea shop by a group of friends. The girls by the window immediately turn to look at him. Someone pats his shoulder. "Jianian, that rich girl from the class next door is looking at you again."

Xu Jianian curls his lip, unconcerned. "What does that have to do with me?"

- 6:05 p.m.

At her friends' urging, the rich girl shyly pushes another girl forward. "Ask him for his WeChat." Everyone in the shop hears her.

The girl in a faded school uniform gets up in silence.

- 6:07 p.m.

As everyone watches, expecting a show, Lin Chu slowly walks over to Xu Jianian's table and looks down at the boy lounging in his chair.

He speaks first. "No."

Lin Chu says, "She likes you."

"So?"

Lin Chu says nothing.

Xu Jianian watches her with an almost-smile, tapping a straw against the table with his fingers.

Click. Click. Click.

Thirty seconds later.

"So," Lin Chu says calmly, "will you go out with me?"

*

The biggest gossip of the year at Jiangcheng No. 1 High School: the bold, unruly Xu Jianian was won over in half a minute by a shy new transfer student. The rich girl who had a crush on him cried and stormed out, without getting so much as a glance from him.

The second-biggest gossip of the year at Jiangcheng No. 1 High School: not long afterward, Xu Jianian and Lin Chu became strangers and stopped speaking to each other. They had obviously broken up.

Nobody found it strange.

Xu Jianian was a rebel, carefree and arrogant. He and Lin Chu had only gotten together on a whim, just to amuse themselves.

What nobody knew was this.

That evening, after everyone else had left, Lin Chu expressionlessly pulled her hand from Xu Jianian's palm, using all her strength, little by little.

"Let's break up."

Red marks from his tight grip stood out on the back of her hand. "Now."

*

On the night the college entrance exams ended,

Lin Chu received a text from Xu Jianian.

"A Chu,

Your thirty seconds, my ten thousand years."

Theme: Pay attention to left-behind children, care for marginalized groups, let technology drive the economy, and let education change the future.