Chapter 2 Part 2 - Where It Begins Ten Years Ago

Translated by: Jellylynn

If you enjoy my translations, please support me by , recommending this novel to friends, and/or leaving a comment! Thank you.

Proofread by: Lian

This novel is to be only hosted on Foxaholic; copies found elsewhere are stolen or worse, plagiarised.

Names mentioned in this chapter (which can also be found in the glossary ):

-俞知乐( yú zhī lè )- Yu Zhi Le, the female protagonist.

-余子涣( yú zǐ huàn )- Yu Zi Huan, the male lead

-小亮( xiǎo liàng ) – Xiao Liang, the young boy living in the apartment where the female lead stayed in 2015

-四中(sì zhòng)- Fourth Middle School, the name of the Middle School in the neighbourhood.

“Little illegitimate child, who allowed you to play football with us?” Yu Zhi Le’s attention was caught by a duck-like and raspy voice that belonged to a teenage boy whose voice was deepening during puberty. She followed the sound and saw a group of boys from the age of eleven or twelve to thirteen or fourteen years old. They gathered in the open space of the activity site nearby, including Xiao Liang, who lived in the house Yu Zhi Le rented ten years later in 2005.

The boy that spoke was probably the head of this group of young boys. He was very tall in the group of small bean sprouts. However, boys have puberty at an older age. As he is currently changing his voice, he would be limited to a height of about 1.7 metres in the future.

Yu Zhi Le had no interest in the fight between children, but the boy’s insults were too harsh. As an adult, she felt sad that the flowers of this country were contaminated by the dirty world.

Alright, she just wanted to watch the commotion.

The boy known as “little illegitimate child” was surrounded in the middle. Compared with the boy who was the ‘boss’ that developed prematurely, he was still a child. His slender body was weaker compared with his big arm and waist. He was teetering as he was pushed.

The ‘boss’ kept repeating ‘little illegitimate child.’ He also provoked him by saying that his mother had heart disease. He must have them as well. He told everyone not to play with him and to be careful of getting infected by him.

As Yu Zhi Le listened, she felt it was getting out of hand. She really wanted to intervene and stop them. While she was about to get up, she was shocked when she saw the cold light in the eyes of the boy who had been hanging his head and letting the ‘boss’ mock him.

He has a pair of beautiful eyes, but at this time, the cold and ferocity in his eyes were accurately transmitted from the soft hair on his forehead. At the next second, he pounced on the ‘boss.’

Hearing a howl as if a pig was being slaughtered, there were three bloodstains on the ‘boss’s’ face, but the boy didn’t plan to stop at this point. He pressed his opponent down and punched him several times. However, he was quickly dragged away by the other boys.

The ‘boss’ who realized what had happened flew into a rage out of humiliation. He punched the boy who fell to the ground and asked the others to do it as well.

Yu Zhi Le panicked. She stood up and shouted, “Which class are you from in Fourth Middle School [1] ?”

Fourth Middle School was the nearest middle school in this community. Yu Zhi Le deduced that these boys should be students there. Moreover, she seemed to be able to scare people in this attire, so they mistakenly thought that she was the teacher of Fourth Middle School.

This roar frightened these half-grown children. They stopped moving and whispered to each other softly, saying that they seemed to haven’t seen this teacher before. Yu Zhi Le took advantage of the opportunity and continued, “Don’t dare to run. Tell me which class you are in, and let your parents…”

To say “Don’t dare to run” was implying they should run faster. As expected, before finishing her sentence, the seven or eight children dispersed into the crowd and went back to their homes to find their mother, leaving only the boy who was beaten up in the same spot.

Yu Zhi Le squatted down and tried to help the boy up, but she had been pushed away mercilessly. The boy stood up with much effort. As he wiped the blood on his forehead, it resulted in a mix of black and red colour on his fair forehead. He looked even worse than before.

But he didn’t care. His hands covered his stomach and went back limping.

"

"

Yu Zhi Le felt the cold wind rustling in the air in the early summer evening. Can’t all the boys in this area see her? Xiao Liang was the same, this person was the same as well. Does her sense of existence make them run back home?

“I think you’re seriously injured. Do you need to go to the hospital for a medical examination?” Yu Zhi Le decided to express the concern for the younger generation in this country, to be selfless and respectable. She couldn’t even handle her own problems, and yet she went to ask with concern. This made her feel that her image improved a lot.

It was not because the young boy was good looking.

The boy looked at her coldly. He didn’t agree or disagree. He stared at Yu Zhi Le for a long time, which made Yu Zhi Le uneasy. He said, “You are not a teacher from Fourth Middle School.”

Yu Zhi Le, who was exposed in her face, was embarrassed.

Why does she feel embarrassed when she had saved the child?

For once, Yu Zhi Le was warm-hearted. She suddenly felt it was pointless and drew back her hand angrily. However, when she saw the boy was staggering and sitting on the side of the road, her hand was faster than her brain and held him.

She didn’t get pushed away this time, probably because the boy was severely injured.

Being supported by Yu Zhi Le, he went to his door. He frowned and tried to take out the key from his pocket to open the iron door. However, he couldn’t move because of the sprain at his right hand. So, he had to use his left hand awkwardly, which touched the bruise on his abdomen. He tried his best to suppress it, but he still let out a soft groan between his teeth.

Yu Zhi Le looked up at the building. It was a coincidence. She also had the key to the front door. So Yu Zhi Le released her hand that was supporting the boy. The boy slightly tilted his face as he did not understand her intention.

Yu Zhi Le took out the key given to her by the landlord in 2015 and gently held the boy. She secretly sized up his small body and asked, “Which floor do you live in? Can you still climb the stairs? Would you like me to carry you up?”

The boy didn’t respond. He went straight to the stairs and didn’t wait for Yu Zhi Le. He seemed to be stubborn because he was looked down upon by her.

Yu Zhi Le was stunned, and she hurriedly went up. She dared not say anything more and was afraid that she accidentally touched the young man’s sensitive nerves who had just entered adolescence. She followed the boy not too far or too close to him so that she could help him If he couldn’t bear it anymore.

The two slowly climbed to the fourth floor, and the boy stood in front of Room 401’s door. He struggled to take out the key to open the door and enter the apartment. Yu Zhi Le stood in front of the door stupefied. She rented the Room 301, which was just a floor below, but Xiao Liang’s family currently lives there. It seemed that there are many children in this community now. How can they become so desolate and dilapidated in ten years?

The boy didn’t close the door before he entered the apartment. When he was in the living room, he noticed that Yu Zhi Le didn’t follow him in. He looked back at her silently, and a light flashed by in his eyes.

Yu Zhi Le looked around. She was convinced that he was looking at her and said hesitantly, “May I come in?”

The boy quickly looked down and turned around, “Help me to dress my wounds.”

[1] 四中(sì zhòng)- Fourth Middle School/No. 4 Middle School. It is the name of the middle school which was in the neighborhood.