Chapter 1

On an evening in August 1993, a green train was parked on Platform 1 at Meilong Station in Shanghai. This train had originally come from Guangzhou to Shanghai Railway Station, but by the time it reached Meilong, a southern station in Shanghai, there were only a few passengers left in one of the hard-seat carriages.

In the middle of Carriage 8, two girls who looked to be around fifteen or sixteen years old were sitting side by side. One of them, wearing a light yellow knee-length dress, had a beautiful face, the kind that only one in a thousand could have. She was in the bloom of her youth, still maintaining a natural purity without any makeup, and her clothing was not particularly sophisticated. If she learned how to dress herself a bit better in a few years, she would likely attract the attention of talent scouts and wealthy men.

Beside her sat a girl wearing a white的确良 (a type of fabric) short-sleeved shirt and jeans. This girl had an above-average appearance, soft and graceful, but she exuded a gentle and serene aura.

The gentle girl seemed to have suddenly caught a whiff of something, and she frowned slightly but made no other movement. Her beautiful companion, however, dramatically pulled out a handkerchief sprinkled with floral water and held it in front of her nose.

"Why did Wang Meng have to get off the train at this moment? He's never around when I need him!" the beautiful girl complained, frowning.

"He'll be back in a bit. He went to the platform to buy you some sunflower seeds. Daiyun, why don't I go with you to the carriage entrance to wait for him?" the gentle girl asked, concerned for her friend.

However, the beautiful girl, Daiyun, clearly didn't want to wait passively as her friend Li Wanying suggested. She stood up and turned to look at the smoker behind them.

The smoker was a bare-chested, muscular man, his body almost entirely made up of square muscles. He had thrown aside his sweat-soaked blue work uniform and was fanning himself with a newspaper while smoking vigorously.

The smoke from the man's cigarettes rose in clouds and was fanned toward Wang Daiyun. "Cough..." The still innocent and pure teenage beauty tried to suppress her cough, as she had asthma and hated the smell of smoke the most.

Even though the smell of smoke would make her allergic in a short while, the teenage beauty didn't dare to directly scold the man—she thought he clearly had low morals. What if she scolded him and he started to tease or bully her? It would be embarrassing to be teased while having a suitor around.

Wang Daiyun, who was used to making all the boys around her do her bidding, began to look around for a male she could use to the fullest.

After a quick scan, she noticed that there were only two boys who seemed to be around her age and an old man with a little girl in the carriage.

One of the boys, sitting by the aisle, was a fair-skinned, handsome young man. He was about 1.8 meters tall, not extremely handsome, but his fair and clean appearance gave him a gentle and intellectual air, making him quite popular among girls.

The other boy, sitting next to him, was average in looks, height, and clothing. This average boy wore a very retro, large black plastic-framed glasses and was reading a book with his head down. Wang Daiyun always felt that such a studious boy was only useful for helping her with exams and had no other value, not even worth using.

Across from the average boy and the fair-skinned handsome boy sat an old man in a Zhongshan suit with a little girl. His collar button was tightly fastened, giving him the appearance of a stern old revolutionary.

Although it seemed like the old man should be the one to help, considering she had no experience dealing with men of such a large age gap, the delicate Wang Daiyun ultimately chose the fair-skinned handsome boy as her target. She covered her nose with her handkerchief and walked to the fair-skinned handsome boy, looking pitiful and asking softly, "Classmate, can you help me with something?"

"What kind of help?" the fair-skinned handsome boy asked, looking up. Unfortunately, his eyes didn't light up with surprise or admiration when he saw Wang Daiyun; she seemed like just another ordinary girl to him.

Although a bit disappointed and annoyed, Wang Daiyun continued to look pitiful and said softly, "Classmate, I have asthma and can't stand the smell of smoke. There's a man behind our seats smoking heavily. Can you ask him to smoke somewhere else?"

After saying this, Wang Daiyun thought that even if the handsome boy didn't see her as a rare beauty, he would surely be chivalrous and step in to help her.

But at that moment, something absurd happened—she saw the fair-skinned handsome boy turn to look at the average boy, as if waiting for him to make a decision.

Before Wang Daiyun could recover from her surprise, the average boy looked at her, then at the smoke, and nodded slightly to the fair-skinned handsome boy.

Then, the fair-skinned handsome boy got up and walked toward the smoking man. Although this was what Wang Daiyun had hoped for, she was confused, looking back and forth between the fair-skinned handsome boy and the average boy. "What's going on? The handsome boy is listening to the average boy?"

"Hey, stop smoking. The girl behind you can't stand the smell of smoke!" the fair-skinned handsome boy said coldly, standing next to the man.

Wang Daiyun looked at the man hopefully, but he first sized up the fair-skinned handsome boy, then glanced at her, and spat. "Don't like the smell of cigarettes? Take a taxi! Can't afford a short-distance train? Pretending to be noble and delicate? Do you really think the world revolves around you? I won't cater to you!"

As Wang Daiyun was about to burst with anger, she suddenly felt a warm hand on her shoulder and heard a deep, gentle voice, "Sorry, my nephew is a bit impulsive and seems to have made things worse. Please forgive him. But it's not a big problem, I'll be right back."

Before Wang Daiyun could turn around, she saw the figure she had been ignoring pass by her. Her wide eyes saw the average boy walking forward calmly.

"Nephew?" she suddenly realized, "The average boy said the fair-skinned handsome boy is his nephew?"

While Wang Daiyun was puzzled by the word "nephew," her friend Li Wanying was secretly observing the average boy. The always clever Li Wanying seemed to have noticed something unusual about him.

He looked very serious, unlike the frivolous teenagers, but he wasn't frowning, showing that he was confident and in control. His steps were neither too fast nor too slow, indicating that he didn't think the situation was dire, yet he wasn't moving sluggishly.

All of this seemed different to Li Wanying. She had a strange feeling that everything about this average boy was something she had never seen before, as if a wise and experienced middle-aged man was hiding behind his fifteen or sixteen-year-old appearance...

Under Li Wanying's gaze, and not just hers, the old man with the little girl and Wang Daiyun's friend were all curiously watching the average boy. To their surprise, when the average boy reached the smoking man, he didn't say anything. He just frowned slightly, as if thinking.

"Is he still thinking about what to say?" For some reason, Wang Daiyun was now worried about the average boy. She hadn't thought much of him before, but now that he was standing up for her, she felt a sense of guilt, as if she was sending a weakling to the front lines.

"Where's Wang Meng? Why isn't he back yet?" Wang Daiyun anxiously looked around for her suitor, thinking that if he didn't show up, she would have to protect the average boy herself. But thank goodness, the boy who had gone to buy sunflower seeds for her finally returned!

She hurried to his side, "Wang Meng, you need to help..." But before she could finish, the smoking man, feeling uneasy under the average boy's continuous gaze, snapped, "What are you looking at?"

"I'm just calculating how much you'll have to pay," the average boy said calmly, a statement that left everyone, including the anxious Wang Daiyun, puzzled.

"What do you mean, pay?" the man asked, confused.

"The girl who can't stand the smell of smoke has allergic asthma. Do you know what that means? It means that after smelling smoke, her throat will swell up in a short time, eventually blocking her airway. If not treated in time, she could die. According to Chinese law, you will be charged with involuntary manslaughter for smoking in the carriage. You'll definitely go to jail for a few years, and her family will sue you for compensation."

After saying this, the average boy turned to leave, not caring about the smoking man's reaction.

But after taking a step, he stopped and turned back, "Oh, I forgot one thing. Since I've already told you this, if you smoke again and cause her asthma to flare up, you'll be charged with intentional murder. After all, you will be fully aware that your actions could endanger someone's life."

With that, the average boy walked back with the fair-skinned handsome boy, leaving everyone in shock.

Wang Daiyun stood there, dumbfounded, as the average boy returned to his seat. She felt that his words didn't seem to be about helping her but rather cursing her. Why did it feel like he was treating her like a stray cat or dog, as if he was only stopping her from dying to avoid trouble for himself?

Not just Wang Daiyun, but her friend Li Wanying, her suitor Wang Meng, and even the old man watching from the side, all felt the same way. Wang Meng was even angry enough to confront the average boy!

But at that moment, Wang Daiyun noticed the smoking man's movements out of the corner of her eye. The man looked at her in fear, stubbed out his cigarette, and fled, as if afraid that any mishap would be blamed on him!

"Sorry," the average boy said with a polite smile, "I didn't have to say it that way, but my nephew was too impulsive, and his words made the situation worse. To make the man leave quickly, I had to scare him."

As he spoke, the average boy patted the fair-skinned handsome boy's head and bowed slightly to Wang Daiyun.

"So that's how it is!" Li Wanying sighed in relief, and the others watching also breathed a sigh of relief.

But Wang Daiyun was still confused and asked the average boy, "But... how did you know I have allergic asthma?"

"Really?" the average boy was surprised, "I was just bluffing to scare him..."

Hearing his uncle's words, the fair-skinned handsome boy, standing next to the average boy, tried hard not to laugh. He thought his uncle was such a show-off! When the girl asked for his help, she had mentioned her asthma and allergies, which clearly pointed to allergic asthma. How could his uncle still pretend to be clueless?

While his nephew was trying not to laugh, the average boy noticed a curious gaze watching him from a distance. He turned to see Li Wanying observing him curiously and thoughtfully. When she noticed their eyes met, she quickly turned to look out the window.

"This girl seems mysterious too, barely speaking and always observing. Could she be from the same world as me? If so, I'll have to use all my tricks, charm, and sweet talk to win her over, and maybe even use a fresh, nostalgic love story to bring her into my world..." The seemingly average but actually charming glasses-wearing boy smiled kindly, but his thoughts were quite different.

{Piaotian Literature www.piaotia.com Thank you for your support, your support is our greatest motivation}

Previous Page AD starts

Previous Page AD ends