Kissing the Wasteland

When Xu Xiguang was four, she lost the chance to ever see the light. Only her elderly grandmother, leaning on a cane, stayed by her side, taking one step at a time with the little girl.

Everyone praised Xu Xiguang for being pretty and adorable, but she had no idea what she looked like. She didn't even know what her grandmother looked like. All she could do was reach out again and again to gently feel the wrinkles on her grandmother's face.

Though Xu Xiguang was blind, her hearing and sense of smell were exceptionally sharp. When her grandmother gradually grew too weak to keep taking her to school, Xu Xiguang worked up the courage to walk the familiar route by herself. She had traveled it countless times, yet still nearly lost her way.

"You're going the wrong way. This way."

Her guide cane was gently pulled in another direction, and a pleasant male voice sounded beside her.

"Thank you."

From his footsteps, Xu Xiguang could tell that the person seemed to have an injured leg. He walked with a limp.

Every day after that, she could hear uneven footsteps ten meters behind her, along with the faint scent of lemon soap.

-

On the day new students registered at university, Xu Xiguang hurried toward the gymnasium. She was about to rush through the door when someone grabbed her by the collar. "You're going the wrong way. This way."

She turned around. The familiar scent of lemon soap reached her nose, and she looked in astonishment toward the direction the person had gone.

What came into view was Meng Fanyi's retreating figure, limping away.

*

It wasn't long after the new students arrived that Meng Fanyi became a regular on the campus confession wall. His roommates teased him, but he showed no reaction.

It wasn't until a familiar face appeared on the screen that a flicker of emotion finally crossed his eyes.

One evening, a young woman left the library side by side with an upperclassman. Meng Fanyi followed them all the way until they parted.

Who would have thought that the first thing Xu Xiguang said when she saw him wouldn't be a greeting, but: "Meng Fanyi, does your foot hurt?"

The man didn't answer. He only said, "Your taste is still terrible."

"Yeah, it's awful." Xu Xiguang recalled being rejected after confessing to him in their final year of high school and gave a self-mocking smile. "So are you planning to reject me twice?"

Her taste was so awful that she'd been in love with a cripple like him for all these years.

Theme: Nobody is perfect, but everyone deserves a happy life