Chapter 1
The fire escape of Nancheng No. 1 Middle School is Su Rui's only refuge.
The air was thick with old dust and the greasy smell of the distant cafeteria, seeping into the walls. He curled himself up in the shadows of the staircase corner, resting his forehead on his cold knees, trying to suppress the dizziness and nausea that grew stronger and stronger. The low-grade fever was like a ball of velvet-wrapped needles, pricking his nerves.
His stomach ached from emptiness. He nearly vomited after moving the vegetables today, but he couldn't ask for leave. For a temporary worker in the cafeteria, taking leave not only cost him a day's pay, but also meant losing his free lunch.
I haven’t bought grandma’s medicine for this month yet.
A huge, unexpressed sense of grievance and exhaustion finally broke through the young man's stubborn defenses. Tears fell silently, hitting the dusty concrete floor, quickly spreading and disappearing.
Just then, footsteps were heard upstairs.
Not too fast or too slow, but leisurely and rhythmically.
Su Rui suddenly held his breath and buried himself deeper into the shadows, his heart pounding with embarrassment. He was afraid that anyone would see him in such a state of disarray.
Then, a pair of spotless white limited edition sneakers stopped on the next step. The owner of the shoes didn't even stop completely, just a slight pause in his steps.
Through her tearful eyes and the gaps between her arms, Su Rui saw those legs and that figure—it was Ling Yao.
Ling Yao, with his dazzling family background, top grades, and a seemingly aura of light, seemed to have strayed into a dark, dilapidated space that didn't fit in.
Su Rui's heart tightened, and shame almost overwhelmed him. He prayed that the other party was just passing by.
Ling Yao's gaze seemed to casually sweep across the corner, without a pause, as if he had merely caught a glimpse of an insignificant shadow. Then, without the slightest hesitation, the pair of white sneakers continued upwards, leisurely moving away.
He left.
As expected. Su Rui breathed a sigh of relief, but a huge sense of loss and even deeper embarrassment gripped him. Look, he felt it was dirty to even look at her for a second longer.
He was the only one left in the world again, sobbing silently.
But, a few minutes later.
The familiar, unhurried footsteps came back again.
Su Rui almost thought he was hallucinating. He raised his head stiffly.
Ling Yao returned. He stood in the same spot as before, his face expressionless, his expression of nonchalant indifference. He didn't even look at Su Rui, but at the mottled wall opposite, his brows slightly furrowed, as if he was a little impatient.
Then he stretched out his hand.
Between her slender, clean fingers, she held a pack of soft and expensive-looking tissues and a shiny, individually wrapped piece of fruit candy.
His grip loosened.
The two things fell down lightly and landed right at Su Rui's curled up feet.
After doing this, he seemed to have completely solved some trouble. He put his hands back into his pockets, turned around and went downstairs. The footsteps quickly disappeared without leaving a word.
Only a very faint, crisp scent of cedar remained in the air.
Su Rui was stunned for a long time before she reached out her trembling hand and carefully picked up the paper wrapper and the candy.
Orange flavor. The transparent candy wrapper reflected a faint but dazzling light under the light leaking in from the air vent.
He peeled off the candy wrapper and put the orange-yellow candy into his mouth.
A cheap yet sharp sweetness suddenly exploded, brutally suppressing the bitterness in the throat and the burning sensation in the stomach.
At that moment, the surging grievances seemed to be strangely smoothed out by this sudden sweetness.
He tightly grasped the wrinkled candy wrapper, placed it in the palm of his hand, and smoothed it out bit by bit with great care.
To Ling Yao, this was probably just a casual favor that even had a bit of charity in it.
But for Su Rui, who was huddled in the dust on that sultry and desperate afternoon, that little bit of sweetness was the only light named Ling Yao that shone into his dark world.
It is enough to make him remember it for the rest of his life and throw himself into the fire of love.
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