John’s house was spotless, and his mother gently applied medicine to my wounds.
Her eyes were filled with tears, and she said softly, “What a poor child… how could a mother be so cruel?”
idn’t dare to speak much, only carefully observing the unfamiliar surroundings.
The most prominent feature in their home was a wedding photo of John ‘s parents.
John’s father brought out a couple of plates of leftover food, scratching his head as he said:
“Little girl, are you still hungry? Don’t mind the leftovers, it’s all we have left…”
I was truly starving.
Tears fell as I ate.
From that moment on, my relationship with the Wei family grew stronger.
I heard they had recently moved here, and his father worked as a manager in a factory.
Because of this, my father and stepmother didn’t oppose me going to their house.
In fact, they seemed to care little about me.
It wasn’t until John and I both went to college that we were no longer confined to that small
town.
One day, after I had started college, I received a call from my stepmother.
She told me that my father had been arrested for theft.
She couldn’t afford to pay my tuition, and with a younger sister to take care of, she told me to drop out of school.
I stubbornly refused.
Chapter 4
From that day on, I knew I had no choice but to rely on myself.
I worked tirelessly at part–time jobs to cover my tuition.
It felt like a twenty–four–hour workday.
John offered to help with my tuition, but I turned him down.
That was also the day John said:
“Zoe, I’ll protect you from now on, okay?”
I promised.
And we got together, naturally.
Not for any other reason, just because I liked him.
I had loved him for ten years…
