Chapter 14 The Earliest Mark
From childhood, I never liked Liang Ye.
He was smart, full of energy, and full of bad ideas—like a little demon king.
Compared to him, I preferred Gu Xun. But Gu Xun got taken abroad by his family in junior high.
After that, only Liang Ye remained.
I hated him. Yet he loved tormenting me.
Dead frogs on my windowsill.
Glass jars stuffed full of cicadas in summer, chirping so loud I couldn't sleep all season.
Snowballs shoved down my collar in winter.
I hated him to death.
But the same infuriating guy would also go berserk and fight anyone who bullied me.
Arm broken, he'd still force himself to pinch my face.
In his young, stubborn eyes—
"Xiao Miao, only I get to bully you!"
"Don't cry."
He became the fiercest mark of my youth.
I couldn't escape, couldn't hide, couldn't avoid him. In the end, he burned straight into my flesh.
Then one day,
that mark suddenly said to me, "Xiao Miao, I like you."
My dazed eyes widened.
Panic flooded the silent night.
So he panicked and ran to knock on the door of the gentle older brother next door.
"What happened to Xiao Miao?"
Soft words calmed my heart.
After hearing everything, Xu Muchi poured me a cup of hot water.
He analyzed it all with unusual seriousness.
"Do you hate him?"
Memories of all those years flashed by. I shook my head.
"Then... you like him?"
Like him?
"...I don't know."
The man across from me blinked.
"I see... so you haven't figured it out yet. You need more time to sort your feelings."
"Then how about dating me first, Xiao Miao?"
I froze.
"Why?"
"So he backs off. And... we can test if he's really serious."
The sudden emotion crushed my mind.
I somehow ended up with a boyfriend just like that.
Liang Ye's hurt look still haunted me.
"Xiao Miao, do you really hate me that much?"
I froze.
I hesitated too long to deny it. That hesitation made the hate real.
After that, Liang Ye rarely appeared in my life.
After graduation, he became a professional boxer.
In corners he never knew about, I watched every single one of his matches.
And emotionally, I grew more and more dependent on Xu Muchi.
Until Gu Xun came back to the country.