Speechless

[Soft-spoken mute girl x sunny, cheerful boy]

When she was born, the nurses all praised her clear, bright laugh, saying it sounded like the lark from a fairy tale. So her parents named her Yuyan.

Then, when she was six, little Yuyan came down with a high fever. The doctor misdiagnosed her, and she was given the wrong medicine. After that, when she tried to speak, all she could manage were short, stunted sounds.

Ever since she was little, she had done her best to protect herself.

Her family, looks, clothes, and grades were all average. Nothing to criticize, nothing that stood out.

Her teacher hesitated for a long time over her student record, unable to remember whether the student even existed in his class.

Only when the teacher at the next desk reminded him did he suddenly remember.

"Oh, that little mute."

She scraped into the best high school in City A by the skin of her teeth on the high school entrance exam.

Everyone thought she'd secretly studied hard or pulled strings to get in.

Only she knew the truth.

She'd just gotten lucky.

High school seemed different from middle school. Good grades didn't necessarily make you popular, and bad grades didn't necessarily make you a target.

So they turned their attention to the little mute in the corner.

Her books kept disappearing, her test papers were switched, and someone scribbled on her desk...

In her first year, she had considered telling a teacher. The teacher promised to give the bullies disciplinary records.

But in the end, the bullies didn't get punished. Instead, the teacher was fired.

So Duan Yuyan grew even quieter, while the bullies got worse.

That was until Zhou Rao showed up.

He kicked over the chair covered in glue, sat Duan Yuyan down in his own seat, and smiled at her. Then, loud enough for the whole class to hear, he said,

"My new deskmate, let's switch seats."

Later, Duan Yuyan still couldn't understand why Zhou Rao liked her.

If she was a pearl, she was the most ordinary kind, and one with cracks in it.

No one would be foolish enough to pay a high price for a damaged pearl.

Zhou Rao clasped her hand tightly.

"But it's still one of a kind."

"And it's right in front of me."

Reading Guide: 1. The heroine is ordinary throughout. She won't suddenly become beautiful or clever.

2. This story includes some bullying at school and takes a critical view of it.

Theme: Love and peace