Chapter 574
Extra: A Small Wish
As you can see, this is a side story. Since too much explanation would take up space in the main text and waste your money, I've included the author's notes at the end.
Winter has been here in Lincheng for quite some time now.
But even as New Year's Eve approached, Xiao Xiaoxiao did not see a single snowflake.
The sky was a hazy, cottony gray, weighing down the bare tree branches, and the wind swept through the streets, carrying a dry chill.
She tightened her coat and stared blankly at the billboard in the distance.
It was an advertisement for a cake shop, filled with pictures of all kinds of cakes. Perhaps to welcome the arrival of New Year's Eve, even the billboard was covered with colorful lights, adding a lot of festive atmosphere.
Xiao Xiaoxiao had almost forgotten when the last time she spent New Year's Eve was.
She was a naughty child who was disobedient everywhere, so she naturally couldn't have any freedom. On lively days like New Year's Eve, no one would let her go out and cause trouble, so she was often locked at home and not even allowed to watch TV.
This was probably the first time she had seen the streets on New Year's Eve since her parents sold her. If she had to say what she felt, it was that it wasn't as lively as it had been when she was a child.
Just then, a large hand gently pressed down on the top of her head.
"I was only gone for two minutes, why are you already looking so listless?"
I know who it is without even turning around.
She slapped the hand away, adjusted her woolen hat, and said in a harsh tone, "It's all because you were too slow. I'm freezing."
She regretted it as soon as the words left her mouth—just like every time before. She clearly didn't want to speak like that, she clearly wanted to answer properly, but she seemed to have long been accustomed to using a sharp tone to deflect everything, even from this guy.
Even though we've been living together for months, she still seems like that unpleasant, naughty girl.
"You know it's cold, yet you still leave your scarf behind?"
Han Zhou smiled and, as he spoke, wrapped the scarf around Xiao Xiaoxiao's neck three times to the left and three times to the right.
Do you even know how to tie a scarf?
Xiao Xiaoxiao slapped his hand away again, ripped off her scarf, and re-tied it according to the method she learned from TV.
Han Zhou pushed the wheelchair and said with a smile, "How you tie it doesn't matter, keeping warm is the most important thing."
"If you can't do it, you can't do it. Why make it sound so nice?"
"Honestly, you're such a grown man, and you don't even wear a scarf. Stick your head over here..."
Xiao Xiaoxiao turned around irritably, intending to mercifully tie the scarf for this guy as well, but when she saw that his neck was bare, she couldn't help but frown slightly, "Where's your scarf?"
Han Zhou smiled calmly and zipped his jacket all the way up: "Do I look like the kind of person who needs to wear a scarf?"
"picture."
Xiao Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes at him without any mercy. She hadn't forgotten what she had heard in the ward that day: this guy was a patient with a terminal illness.
Thinking of this, she felt a tightness in her chest, but she couldn't show it, so she asked again:
Where did your scarf go?
Han Zhou was a little embarrassed and hesitated for two seconds before answering, "Lost."
"Lost?!"
Xiao Xiaoxiao's tone suddenly rose several degrees.
"I lost it on my way back last night." Han Zhou was unusually embarrassed.
Actually, it was torn at Guzheng's house last night, but that's another story.
"You're so clumsy! It's one thing to be forgetful all the time, but to lose your scarf in this cold weather? I don't know what you wouldn't lose..."
Xiao Xiaoxiao was furious. Muttering to herself, she pulled the scarf off her neck and was about to throw it at the forgetful guy when she heard him say with a grin:
"We won't lose each other."
In all honesty, Han Zhou simply smiled as usual, but in Xiao Xiaoxiao's eyes, it was clearly a smirk.
Her hand paused, and she looked up angrily, only to see the other person's nostrils. Even so, she still said with great force, "What do you mean? Do you think I'm something?"
Han Zhou knew that "whether a person is a thing or not" was an age-old question, so he cleverly avoided answering. He took the scarf and wrapped it around Xiao Xiaoxiao's neck three times to the left and three times to the right, and said with a smile, "You've got a way back to our house, so you definitely won't get lost."
Upon hearing the words "our home," Xiao Xiaoxiao was slightly lost in thought, but when she realized that "not getting lost" meant this, a surge of anger inexplicably rose within her: "What if I want to leave on my own?"
Han Zhou laughed: "Where do you think you can go in a wheelchair?"
"Go to the Arctic, go to the Antarctic!"
If anyone else had dared to joke about the wheelchair, Xiao Xiaoxiao would have already lost her temper, but at this moment she just looked unconvinced and said defiantly, "Go to a place where you can no longer find me!"
"Haha, if you can go to the Arctic, then I can go to the M78 Nebula."
What is the M78 Nebula?
"Land of Light".
"And what is the Land of Light?"
Xiao Xiaoxiao was a little curious, but she quickly became wary. "No, don't talk to me in a way I don't understand. Even if I haven't been to school in a long time, I'm not that easy to fool. There's no such place in the world, right?"
Upon hearing "hasn't been to school in a long time," Han Zhou's smile gradually faded. Fortunately, Xiao Xiaoxiao was sitting in a wheelchair at the moment, so she couldn't see his expression unless she turned around.
"Is your wish to go to the North and South Poles?" he suddenly asked, pushing the wheelchair.
Xiao Xiaoxiao was taken aback: "Why are you asking this?"
"Everyone needs to plan for their future, right? We've known each other for so long, and I still don't know what your wishes are," Han Zhou said with a smile.
"Plans for the future..."
Xiao Xiaoxiao thought for a long time, then looked up and stole a glance at him, but still only saw two nostrils. She was immediately annoyed and said in a huff, "I just mentioned the North and South Poles, and I also said I wanted to go to a place you can never find again. Doesn't that count as my wish?"
"A wish is something you genuinely want to achieve. You can fool me, but don't fool yourself."
What does it mean to deceive yourself?
The girl, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, said angrily, "You just wait! Once my leg is healed, I'll run away to a place you'll never find again and make you furious!"
The wheelchair crunched over the cracked pavement.
Actually, she didn't want to say such things at all.
There's a TV, hot meals, and a hot shower anytime. There's also a simpleton who doesn't mind her disability or that she's a bad kid.
Although life was tough, she experienced a happiness she had never known before—even though she didn't quite understand what happiness truly was.
She only clearly remembered that since the night she met this guy, after it rained, not a single drop of rain had fallen from the sky.
She didn't care about finding someone to adopt her, about getting a second education, or about reintegrating into society.
She didn't want to go anywhere; she just wanted to stay in this house, which wasn't too big or too small, for the rest of her life.
Her only fear was that she would become a burden to this guy.
Actually, she had wanted to sneak away late at night for a long time, but she always ran into trouble as soon as she stepped out the door.
Because she is in a wheelchair and cannot go down the stairs.
The more she felt this way, the more she realized that her existence was a burden to Han Zhou. Her words just now were less a fit of pique and more a test.
She wondered whether this guy would be happy or sad if she really disappeared one day.
Unexpectedly, Han Zhou's answer came quickly and seriously this time.
"Did you run off to a place I can never find again?"
As he passed the billboard, he turned his head and caught a glimpse of the girl's hesitant yet stubborn expression reflected in the glass. He smiled and said, "You're overthinking it. No matter where you go, I will definitely find you."
Xiao Xiaoxiao's heart skipped a beat.
Before she could even feel touched, she heard Han Zhou slowly add, "My legs are much longer than yours. If you can run to a place, do you think I wouldn't be able to find it?"
Xiao Xiaoxiao's expression froze, her small chest heaving violently. She suddenly ripped the scarf off her neck, grabbed both ends, and threw it behind her, accurately looping it around Han Zhou's neck before pulling it tight.
"Go to hell!"
The two chatted and laughed all the way to the street corner. Xiao Xiaoxiao looked up casually and suddenly froze.
The streets, which had seemed deserted just moments before, suddenly came alive like a surging tide.
A cacophony of voices filled the air, and lanterns lit up the entire street, forming a flowing river of light in the twilight, illuminating the whole street as bright as day.
Red couplets adorn the doorways, their golden characters gleaming under the lamplight. Brightly colored candied hawthorns are piled on street stalls, their glistening sugar shells reflecting a clear, yellow light.
A faint smell of gunpowder lingered in the air, and occasionally a few firecrackers exploded in the distance, creating faint echoes, but they were quickly drowned out by the louder noise.
"So, are you no longer bored going out?"
Seeing Xiao Xiaoxiao staring intently, Han Zhou smiled and said.
"When did I say I was bored going out?" Xiao Xiaoxiao snapped out of her daze and immediately retorted.
"So you hide at home all day and are afraid to see anyone?"
"You're the one who's too ashamed to show your face! You have to go to school during the day and don't come home until late at night, so someone has to stay home and watch the house, right?"
Han Zhou knew she would say that, and said with a half-smile, "Since you're not afraid to see people, why don't you come with me to meet my friends later?"
Xiao Xiaoxiao panicked a little, quickly looked around, and then buried her head in her scarf like an ostrich, her voice muffled but her tone still defiant: "I don't want to!"
"why?"
"They're your friends, not mine. Why should I see them?"
"Look at what you're saying. Once you meet them with me, won't they become your friends?"
"Anyway, I don't want to see them!" Xiao Xiaoxiao was very resistant to this.
"There must be a reason, right?" Han Zhou said patiently.
"I just don't want to, there's no reason needed!"
"I see..."
Han Zhou shook his head with feigned regret, "But if you don't come with me, you'll have to eat New Year's Eve dinner alone tonight."
"I'll eat it myself then!"
These words seemed to pierce the girl's heart, and she immediately pushed her wheelchair into the crowd.
No matter how fast she pushed the wheelchair, Han Zhou always kept up calmly beside her, a smug smile on his face: "Are you really sure about this?"
"I've thought it through!" Xiao Xiaoxiao didn't even look at him, just sullenly lowered her head.
"Will you be able to cook New Year's Eve dinner without me?"
"If I have ingredients, I can cook!"
"Okay, I'll go buy groceries now, and you can cook me New Year's Eve dinner tonight."
"I won't give it to you..."
Xiao Xiaoxiao, unable to bear it any longer, was about to give him a headbutt when she suddenly realized something and asked in a daze, "Weren't you going out tonight?"
"When did I say I was going out?" Han Zhou looked at him with a half-smile.
He had been alone for a long time, so of course he understood what this equally lonely girl wanted.
In order to have New Year's Eve dinner with the other party tonight, he stayed at Guzheng's house until after midnight last night and completed his daily task ahead of time, but he lost a scarf as a result.
"You didn't say that, but you... no, you're playing me?"
Xiao Xiaoxiao finally realized what was happening and headbutted him in the stomach.
She actually wanted to throw it at his chest, but she just couldn't reach it.
Han Zhou wasn't angry. He simply pressed down on the girl's head and pulled her woolen hat down a bit. The girl's vision went black, and she could only wildly swing her fists, making him laugh out loud.
After Xiao Xiaoxiao finally managed to straighten her hat, she saw that Han Zhou did not go to the supermarket, but instead pushed her into a cake shop.
She was taken aback, her little face full of surprise: "Is today your birthday?"
"No."
"Then come here..."
She was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized, "How did you know it was my birthday today?"
Han Zhou smiled and said, "You let it slip when you were talking in your sleep last night."
"Oh, I see... Wait, you sneaked into my room last night?"
"Isn't that my room?"
Xiao Xiaoxiao wanted to say something more, but the two had already entered the cake shop. A friendly shop assistant immediately came over and smiled, "Hello, are you here to buy a cake?"
"Correct."
"Do you need me to recommend someone?"
"Thank you, but we'd like to choose ourselves."
While Han Zhou was chatting with the shop assistant, Xiao Xiaoxiao couldn't help but look around and swallow hard. When Han Zhou looked over, she immediately put on her previous arrogant look: "Why buy a cake for no reason? Isn't today New Year's Eve? It's a holiday."
From childhood to adulthood, because her birthday falls on New Year's Eve, she has never properly celebrated her birthday, nor has she ever had a birthday cake of her own.
Since being sold, she has often struggled to even get a full meal because of her disobedience, let alone cake.
"A birthday is a birthday, and a holiday is a holiday; we still need to maintain a sense of ritual."
"That's true..."
In a sense, this guy's hypocrisy is comparable to Guzheng's stubbornness... Han Zhou chuckled inwardly, interrupting the girl and saying, "Pick a cake you like, we still need to go grocery shopping later."
Xiao Xiao hesitated for a long time, but in the end she couldn't bear to say "Let's not buy it". She had never bought a cake before, but she guessed that it must be very expensive. Unfortunately, the two of them didn't have much money, so she said somewhat guiltily, "Then let's buy a smaller one".
Seeing her unusually embarrassed expression, Han Zhou chuckled and asked, "How small is considered small?"
Xiao Xiaoxiao stretched out her hands, put her index fingers and thumbs together, and tentatively gestured: "Is this size okay?"
She was petite to begin with, and her hands weren't much bigger either. When Han Zhou took a closer look, they were only the size of a palm, and he was immediately at a loss for words.
Are you serious?
Xiao Xiaoxiao thought she had chosen a size too big, so she quickly switched to one hand, using her thumb and forefinger to make a smaller circle, her tone a little hesitant: "Then... is this size okay?"
The gentle smile on Han Zhou's face gradually faded.
He knew Xiao Xiaoxiao's past; the girl's childhood was extremely unfortunate, so unfortunate that she lost many things that ordinary people should have. Therefore, he quickly realized that she did not have a clear concept of the size and price of the cake.
A slight ache came over my chest.
So he stretched out his hand and made a tiny circle with his thumb and forefinger in front of Xiao Xiaoxiao.
"Buying a cake—"
He deliberately dragged out his words, and under the girl's increasingly uneasy gaze, slowly pulled his hands apart.
The small circle grew larger and larger with each step he took backward.
Until his arms were fully outstretched, forming a large circle that was almost an embrace.
"—Of course it has to be this big."
Xiao Xiaoxiao was stunned. (End of Chapter)