"They're all boys, Grandma always liked boys."
The little girl stated it with such certainty.
"..." Yu Wenli paused for half a second, then retorted, "Isn't your father a man?"
The little girl was stunned again, her expression momentarily bewildered.
That's right.
Dad is also a man, why did Grandma like Uncle so much?
Is it because he's the youngest?
If that's the only reason, isn't it a bit absurd?
Clearly, she was also younger, and just because she was a girl, she deserved to be treated like that?
What about her cousin?
He was also a boy, was it just because he came from Auntie's womb that he was destined to be less precious than the one from Auntie's womb?
The little girl's mind was a jumble, and she couldn't sort out a single thread of thought.
She vaguely felt that the love of her grandmother, which she had valued so much before, now seemed utterly unreasonable.
And rather boring.
Just like her grandmother, uninteresting and rigid.
As if a shackle had been broken, countless questions flooded her mind.
Right, wrong, conventional, rebellious, a messy jumble.
It was packed full.
The little girl blinked her long, thick eyelashes and looked up at the sun in the sky.
After a moment, she finally asked the question hidden deepest in her heart.
"Brother Yu, why are you so good to me?"
Clearly, you have no shortage of girls around you, those who are eager and those who are hidden. With just a beckoning gesture from you, they could line up from the school gate to your doorstep.
But why her, specifically?
"Because it's you."
The youthful voice answered crisply and decisively.
Wen Tingxue blinked down in confusion: "Mm?"
Her eyes, scorched by the sunlight, felt a little hazy.
After a long while, she saw him holding out a peeled candy to her mouth.
In that instant, it seemed as if no reason was needed.
He was simply good to her, exceptionally so.
As the little girl bit into the candy, Yu Wenli folded the wrapper and said slowly,
"Emotions are beyond reason. Just like my goodness towards you stems from my heart, beginning as an instinct, so..."
He put the candy wrapper, folded into a star-shaped ring, onto her pink fingertip and said, "The reason for my favoritism is never your obedience, but you.
"Whether now or in the future, everyone you meet, everyone who is good to you, will be so because of your inherent personal charm.
"Not because you are obedient enough. Obedience is just a minor virtue you possess; whether you have it or not does not affect our liking for you."
The young man knelt before her, his posture as reverent as if proposing.
Years later, Wen Tingxue still remembered this scene. It wasn't particularly beautiful, but it was enough for her to remember for a lifetime.
Because it was the brightest light in her barren life.
Brighter than the sun above that dispelled darkness and illuminated the world.
Because the sun couldn't illuminate her heart, but he could.
In the more than ten years of her life, what she had endured most was the self-recrimination and the condemnation of her relatives.
Whether right or wrong, she was always the one who bore the responsibility in the end.
To the point where, often, she didn't even know if it was truly her fault.
Regardless, she had been wounded beyond repair, body and soul, in the abyss of countless failed attempts to defend herself.
Even though her aunt and cousin believed her, their brief belief could not heal the long-term damage.
So, sometimes, even when she knew the mistakes weren't her fault.
Even when she was a victim herself.
Her inherent insecurity would always make her doubt herself: was it because of her that all this happened?
It was as if, regarding Grandma's request for money, she knew she had done nothing wrong.
But to ask Yu Wenli directly, she still lacked the courage.
She would feel that she was wrong, and she was afraid he wouldn't side with her.
It was contradictory, twisted.
Yet, this imperfect her received his complete attention.
He never disdained her. Even when their thoughts differed, he never showed the slightest contempt.
Instead, he broke down the reasoning piece by piece and explained it to her, again and again, tirelessly.
He made her believe that he truly liked her as a person, not for her obedience.
In fact, she could feel that he hoped she would become less obedient.
Wen Tingxue lowered her eyes and fiddled with the star ring on her fingertip, suddenly realizing that what her grandmother said might not be entirely correct.
Girls didn't necessarily have to be well-behaved; girls had many paths they could choose.
But her mind was still a mess, so much so that she couldn't make a decision.
Yu Wenli knew she needed time, so he didn't rush for an answer.
"You've rested enough. Brother will carry you upstairs."
...
Class 2, Grade 2, Class 4.
Wen Di was drawing a diagram on the blackboard with chalk, not paying attention to the doorway.
It wasn't until a gasp from the students below that he turned his head.
He happened to see Yu Wenli carrying Wen Tingxue in, the two of them backlit, their silhouettes beautiful.
He had heard that she had fallen, but he didn't know she had fallen so severely.
When he and the physical education teacher had gone over, Xie Jin'yi said she had just applied medication and was resting.
So, they didn't disturb her, thinking she wouldn't attend the last class.
Who would have thought that the little girl, with a determined spirit despite her injury, would show up.
Wen Di felt a sense of being moved. He thought she wasn't such an unreasonable girl after all.
As for the family matters, he would find time to talk to her properly.
It was class time, so Yu Wenli couldn't stay long.
But he still thoughtfully helped the little girl find her physics textbook, even flipping it to the correct page for her.
This scene, along with the photo of Yu Wenli showing up at the supermarket to buy sanitary pads, simultaneously topped the popular posts on the forum.
Below were a string of comments shipping them.
[Oh my god! The big shot personally went to buy sanitary pads?! This is true love, right?]
[The only one who can make the big shot this patient is Wen Tingxue, definitely the first.]
[Does no one think the photo of the little girl resting on Yu Wenli's back looks beautiful? It's like a drama!]
[The moment the big shot carried the little girl into the classroom was truly like a drama! Too bad there's no photo.]
[This is no longer the category of neighbors, is it?]
[This is love.]
...
Wen Tingxue was completely unaware of this. When school ended, she just curiously asked,
"Why didn't Yu Yahe come to class?"
Xie Jin'yi remembered the look Yu Wenli gave her before he left.
There were no overt emotions, yet it was suffocating.
She knew Yu Yahe wouldn't have fallen for no reason. Moreover, Yu Wenli had gone out in the interim. She suspected...
Xie Jin'yi forced a smile and said, "She fell down the stairs herself. Perhaps it's karma. She'll probably need some time to recover."
Wen Tingxue was stunned by the news. She wasn't particularly happy, nor did she feel pity.
She could only say, she brought it upon herself.
She didn't think much of it.
...
It was crowded after school. Wen Tingxue had intended to walk by herself, but Yu Wenli wouldn't allow it.
Either he would carry her, or she would ride on his back. There was no third option.
The little girl had no choice but to climb onto his broad back, attracting a lot of attention along the way. The forum buzzed again.
She was still oblivious to everything. All she knew was that she couldn't go to school this afternoon.
Because Wen Di had called Yu Xiuxiu, and then Yu Xiuxiu and Wen Zhong'en had rushed back and insisted she shouldn't go to school.
She had to lie down and rest at home.
Conveniently, tomorrow was the weekend, so missing half a day wasn't a big deal.
In the evening.
Wen Tingxue had been reading in her bedroom all afternoon and her legs felt numb.
At dinner, she insisted on coming down to eat. Fang Yi, helpless, supported her downstairs.
Yu Xiuxiu and Wen Zhong'en were busy in the evening and couldn't return.
So Wen Tingxue didn't wait for them. Just as she picked up her chopsticks, the doorbell rang.
"Who could it be at this hour?"
Fang Yi put down the soup she was holding and walked curiously towards the door.
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