Qiao Wanwan was completely stunned. "What did you say...?"
“I said, I’m looking at you.” Zhan Jingting looked at her earnestly. “Qiao Wanwan, I’m looking at you.”
"How is this possible?" Qiao Wanwan exclaimed in disbelief. "I've never seen you before!"
"Of course you don't know me." Zhan Jingting looked at the photo on the coffee table and slowly said, "You're right. That was the darkest and most helpless moment of my life. I was in a car accident and my leg was crippled. The doctor said that unless there was a miracle, it would be difficult for me to stand up again. This was undoubtedly a fatal blow to me."
“I couldn’t take it anymore. I locked myself in my room and threw tantrums every day. I hated myself and I hated the injustice of fate. I hated that it made me live in endless pain for the short thirty years of my life.”
“My mother tried everything, including seeing a psychologist, but nothing could help me. The psychologist suggested that I go out more and that if I could interact with and live with more people, it might help a lot. So my mother took me to Beijing University. It was on that day that I met you through that glass wall.”
Qiao Wanwan frowned and said, "The Imperial Capital High School and the university are separated by only one wall. It's said that this is so that we high school students can see what the university seniors look like, which will inspire us."
"I'm grateful for that wall. Without it, how would I have ever met you?"
Qiao Wanwan was even more confused. "How come I didn't know you were looking at me?"
Zhan Jingting smiled and said, "That day you were being beaten. Several girls surrounded you and punched and kicked you. You couldn't beat them, so you could only protect your head."
“At the time, I watched coldly, thinking it was just simple school bullying. But I didn’t expect that after they stopped and turned to leave, you got up from the ground, picked up a brick, smashed it on one of the girls’ heads, and then beat her alone. When the others saw that you were so fierce, they didn’t dare to touch you and ran to call for help.”
Qiao Wanwan quickly remembered, "That's right. When I first came to the capital to study, many people looked down on me, this country bumpkin, thinking I was weak and easy to bully. I'll eat anything, but I don't like to suffer a loss, so of course I'll get my revenge."
"After you finished fighting, you stood up, looking disheveled, but your eyes shone with a fierce and stubborn light, revealing a tenacious spirit in your bones."
Qiao Wanwan scratched her hair shyly. "I really didn't expect you to see me at my most embarrassing moment. That incident caused quite a stir. My dad... Qiao Shengguo was very angry. I refused to go to the hospital to apologize to that girl, and he had to pay a large sum of money to settle things."
"But I made an example of someone to warn others. After that, no one at school bullied me anymore; they just isolated me."
“I noticed it, because ever since then, you’ve been wandering around the playground alone every day.”
Qiao Wanwan was surprised, "Don't tell me that you've been observing me ever since that day!"
Zhan Jingting smiled and said, "Wanwan, I found the meaning of life in you."
Qiao Wanwan: "......"
"Just because I got into a fight, you think I'm tough?"
"It's not just because of that, but also because I saw your loneliness, which made me realize that there are people in this world like me. You, a girl, are so strong, how can I be weak?"
Qiao Wanwan's nose tingled with tears. "Do you know that it was because of that stranger in the wheelchair that I felt like I wasn't alone? Even though I didn't know you, I really felt like you were always with me at that time, so I ran to the playground as soon as get out of class was over."
Zhan Jingting was shocked. "Really?"
“Of course.” Qiao Wanwan’s tears flowed uncontrollably. “It turns out that we had already redeemed each other a long, long time ago without even knowing it.”
Zhan Jingting raised his hand to wipe away her tears. "Wanwan, do you still doubt that I have someone else in my heart?"
Qiao Wanwan stared at him intently. "From the night we met, you recognized me, didn't you? That's why you wanted to marry me?"
Zhan Jingting nodded. "Yes, I recognized you at a glance."
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
Zhan Jingting spoke with difficulty, "Wanwan, I've felt inferior before. When I wanted to get closer to you, I looked down at my crippled leg and asked myself, what can I use to get close to you, and what can I use to protect you?"
“Zhan Xiuwen is watching me. Everyone around me will be implicated. I can’t even protect myself, let alone you. So I never went to the playground to see you again after that.”
Qiao Wanwan quickly recalled, "No wonder you disappeared after a while."
"I'm not afraid to admit it, but although I haven't seen you again, your image is etched in my heart and I can't shake it off. When I'm sitting in a wheelchair suffering from the torment of hereditary disease, I always think of your stubborn face. Wanwan, you gave me the strength to live."
Qiao Wanwan stared wide-eyed, feeling as if she were dreaming.
"I quickly found out your identity and learned that you were the Qiao family's biological daughter who had just been found. I have been waiting, waiting for me to become strong, waiting for a miracle to happen, for my leg to heal and for me to be able to stand up again, so that I can openly and honestly stand in front of you and meet you." Zhan Jingting smiled bitterly, "But later, I received news that the Qiao family and the Gu family were going to arrange a marriage between you, their biological daughter, and be betrothed to Gu Xulin."
“I’ve been in pain and struggled, but I didn’t have the courage to come to you. How could I come to you in a wheelchair and tell you that you can’t marry Gu Xulin? More importantly, not long after, you had an accident while trying to save Gu Xulin. You risked your own life to save him!”
“I think you must really like Gu Xulin. I was heartbroken and thought I would never be able to have you in this life, so I never looked into your news again. I went abroad to treat my legs and take charge of the Zhan Group. Until your eighteenth birthday, I couldn’t help but secretly come back to see you.”
Qiao Wanwan was in tears. "Did you come back to see me that day on purpose?"
"yes."
"But unexpectedly, we all had an accident that night."
"Yes, but what I didn't expect was that this was a huge joke God played on us. It turned out that we were the ones together that night." Zhan Jingting cupped her face in his hands. "Wanwan, you will never understand how I felt when I found out that Eleven was our child."
“I even feel that the car accident that left me disabled for so many years was all worth it, because God gave me everything I wanted, and that is you.”
Qiao Wanwan finally couldn't hold back anymore, hugged him tightly, and cried out, "Why didn't you tell me this sooner? You should have told me!"
"I dare not say." Zhan Jingting held her and closed his eyes in pain. "Because I hate myself. If I had been braver back then, and had gone over that glass wall and stood in front of you, maybe you wouldn't have crossed paths with Gu Xulin, and that accident wouldn't have happened."
"Wanwan, I've wanted to tell you countless times that I've liked you for a very, very long time, but I didn't dare to say it because we've missed out on so much and caused so many regrets. Do you understand?"
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