Chapter One

  Every person will meet someone in their lifetime who they can't forget, no matter how hard they try. This person's appearance disrupts all of your plans, turns your world upside down, and changes your original appearance. Their arrival is sudden and leaves you helpless to resist. They bring you unprecedented joy or give you a wound that will last a lifetime, making you cry without knowing why, laugh without knowing what you're laughing at. In an instant, they burst into your heart, take root, sprout, and finally bloom into a flower. In your heart, they open up their own world.

  Before meeting Li Hui, Wang Zhiqiao was a gloomy and taciturn 15-year-old girl. Low-key and unobtrusive, quiet as if she had never existed.

  In the eyes of all her deskmates, she was a weirdo. Every day sitting there silently, holding a book, looking very absorbed, at the beginning of school, everyone didn't understand each other, in order to improve their feelings for each other, still many people would nod and try to talk to her when they met her, every time she would respond to you, but you could clearly feel that actually she didn't want to continue this topic with you.

  She always keeps a distance from people, you talk to her and she listens, but her eyes wander off, making it impossible for you to continue speaking, slowly, fewer and fewer people speak to her, lest their self-esteem be hurt.

  She never took the initiative to greet others, nor would she talk to you. Her silence would make you mistakenly think that she is actually a wooden puppet, without a mouth, ears or heart.

  Her gaze is often hollow, looking at you, yet seemingly not looking at you. Many times people mistakenly thought she was staring at them, only to find that her gaze didn't shift even slightly when they walked away. She just kept staring quietly in the same direction, as if waiting for someone to suddenly pop out.

  She always gives you the feeling of being very cold, she is so close to you yet so far away. Holding a book, one look and it's already been a whole day, living in her own world, indifferent and distant.

  You will never be able to enter her world, and she won't want to enter yours either. Not caring about the outside world, with a "whatever" attitude as if someone tall is holding up the falling sky. Everything doesn't matter.

  However, today she was different from usual, when others talked about gossip, she listened attentively to what they were saying.

  "I heard that our class is going to have a student from X city today." Today, I came to the classroom and heard many people talking about the news, unsure whether it was true or false. The reason why Qiao was concerned was not because he was a transfer student, but because she felt curious, only for one reason, which was that he came from that city. That city, which had left an indelible mark on her heart this lifetime, and had given her so much pain.

  If you met Wang Zijiao when she was still young, before the age of 10, you would see a girl with two braids, fair skin, big eyes and red lips. Her personality is very open-minded, cheerful and lively, always playing with a group of boys. She is especially good at talking and often makes her elders laugh happily, praising "Whose daughter is this? Born so lovely, let me spoil you like a little kid!"

  At the same time, she is also a troublesome ghost who makes many people headache. She will throw stones at your family's little dog until it screams, just because it doesn't listen to her and bite Xiao Pang. She will also sing and dance for you when she's in a good mood, using her childish tone to teach lessons to children younger than her.

  She is the queen of a group of children, spending her days with a bunch of little kids, playing house with girls and fighting games with boys, talented in many ways, and can also be seen at school.

  But all good stories have a however in their stock market ending.

  That autumn, her parents sent her to X City, far away from home, for better education.

  In the autumn of two years later, Wang Zhiqiao returned to her hometown to attend junior high school. She was determined not to go back there to study again. After returning, she changed and no longer spoke, always being very silent. No one knew what had happened to her. Her eyebrows were tightly furrowed, and her eyes had an unscatterable sorrow. She had few friends, and you could count them on one hand. Yang Ruo was one of the few girls among them.

  "Zhi Qiao, do you know that student who transferred from X City? Weren't you also there for a few years? I heard it's a boy." Yang Rui ran to Zhi Qiao and asked curiously.

  "Which school did he transfer from?" Wang Zhiqiao thought for a moment and said.

  "I don't know, you said there are only a few months left until the college entrance exam, why did he transfer here? Is he a bad kid who couldn't study anywhere else, so he came here to study? Otherwise, it shouldn't be like this!" Yang Rui adjusted his arm around Zhi Jiao's waist to a more comfortable position.

  "The classmate at the front desk turned his head and said to Yang Rui, 'Actually, I know the inside story of this matter.'"

  "Really?" Yang Rui's spirit was suddenly lifted, and his eyes sparkled brightly.

  "I've got the scoop, absolutely first-hand information, because... hehe" She smiled and paused for a moment before continuing "Actually, I know him, he's my childhood friend. I've known him since we were kids."

  "Wow, then tell us the inside story." Yang Rui hastily ran to the front desk, with a flattering expression, Wang Zhiqiao shook his head and smiled.

  "It's actually been many years since we last saw each other, but he and Wang Zhiqiao weren't from the same school. He was transferred from xx school. If he didn't study well in that school, his dad would transfer him back. Didn't want him to be with his old classmates, and those he wanted to follow were students with bad reputations, so he was transferred back."

  "That's probably a scarred face, looks particularly sturdy, must look quite terrifying, I won't ask anymore, don't want to know." Yang Rui thought of the appearance of gangsters on TV and suddenly felt it was unnecessary to continue asking.

  "What kind of person is he, anyway." Wang Zhiqiao also thought to herself quietly. She was a bit curious about that boy, the one who had transferred from X City. What was he like, living there for so long?

  This matter was soon forgotten by classmates, just like entertainment headlines, fresh when they first came out, and then mentioned again, it seemed dull and tasteless.

  Life in junior high school is like a spinning top with a wound-up spring, constantly turning, every day there are lessons that can't be memorized, test papers that can't be finished, and chemical formulas that can't be recited.

  Days passed as usual, and that matter was soon thrown behind Wang Zijiao's mind. He got used to such a carefree life.

  It was on such an unsuspecting day that Li Hui naturally walked into her line of sight.

  She would always remember that it was before the first class at noon, the weather was a bit sultry, many classmates were sparsely seated in their seats, because they had just woken up from their lunch break, and their minds were not yet clear. Wang Zijiao never had the habit of taking a nap, and every day at this moment, she always felt like being awake while everyone else was drunk.

  Just as she was smiling at her classmates' various sleepy and silly expressions, someone walked down from the podium against the light, looking refreshed and spirited. Wang Zijiao took a glance.

  Someone once said, "A glance is worth a thousand years."

  It was a face he had never seen before, without the trendy hairstyle and clothes, but with a clean smile. What amazed Wang Ziyu the most were his eyes, which shone like stars in the night sky, deeply attracting other people's attention.

  Unlike what they imagined, it gave people a sunny feeling. Perhaps he felt her gaze, and when he looked over here, Wang Zhiqiao immediately lowered his head. Then he felt him slowly approaching her, then passing by her position to the last row. By the time Wang Zhiqiao raised his head again, he was already leaning on the table, blocking her curious gaze.

  Later, when listening to Wang Fei singing "The Legend" on the road, Wang Zhiqiao always recalls the scene of that moment. "Just because I looked at you for one more glance in the vast crowd, from then on, I couldn't forget your face."

  The arrival of new students always requires a self-introduction, and as he stood on the stage introducing himself with ease, Wang Zijiao took one glance and then looked away, thinking she wouldn't have any further interactions with him. But fate is always unpredictable, and in her later life, his figure appeared frequently. He entered her world and also brought her into others'.