In the first few days after the start of his freshman year, a girl from the next class ran into Yi Ming's classroom, gathered her courage, and confessed her feelings to him. She had made him a homemade matcha chocolate cake and gave him a light pink envelope with delicate handwriting on the front, as if it had been imbued with fairy magic.
"Yi Ming, I like you. Would you be my boyfriend?"
Yi Ming was just packing up his bag, about to go find Jiang Wei, when he looked up to see a teary-eyed little girl gazing at him. He narrowed his eyes at her. "What did you say?"
With such a handsome boy staring at her, the girl's face immediately turned bright red, feeling feverish. "I said you're very good-looking. I like you."
Upon hearing this, some boys in the class immediately started whistling and cheering. Yi Ming didn't say anything, pondering seriously for a long moment before finally lifting his head. His tone was less than kind as he looked at her. "Are you okay?"
The girl was taken aback, her voice soft and pitiful. "What?"
Yi Ming stood up and swung his backpack over his shoulder, turning to leave. He hesitated for a moment before looking back over his shoulder at her. "You should go get your head checked to see if something's wrong with your brain. I'm so ugly - don't you have any taste?"
The girl: "..."
In the end, the heartbroken girl left in tears. She probably never imagined that a boy would use this kind of self-deprecating humor to reject her - he must really dislike her!
The flashback wasn't over yet. Someone curled their knuckles and flicked the back of Jiang Wei's head.
"Hey, comrade Jiang Wei, were you even listening to what I was saying?"
Jiang Wei returned from her reverie and slowly responded, "I already said no."
"Why not?" Yi Ming was tall with long strides. He blocked Jiang Wei's path, walking backwards with his white canvas shoes, saying, "Jiang Wei, you can't be so heartless. I've been chasing you for over ten years already. Those pretty boys chasing you now only like how you look - they don't truly care for you."
"What about you then?"
"Me what?"
"What do you like about me?" Jiang Wei looked at him with a hint of a smile.
"I'm different," Yi Ming stopped and grinned brightly, his teeth glinting like the afternoon sunshine. "I was there when you peed your pants in preschool. I saw when you knocked out your front teeth climbing a tree in 2nd grade. I was even there when you ran into the boys' bathroom crying because you failed an exam in middle school. But even now, I'm still attracted to your beauty. See, my feelings for you are true love."
Jiang Wei: "..."
Jiang Wei pressed her lips together. The scene she had witnessed yesterday outside Yi Ming's house was stirring up her nerves, making her forehead throb. Her heart was in chaos.
"Yi Ming, I'll say it again - we're not suitable for each other."
"Jiang Little Wei, you're too cruel," Yi Ming's expression darkened, his eyes becoming profound as a deep well.
Jiang Wei bit her lip and steeled herself before blurting out, "You know you're hurting me, yet you still cling to me instead of leaving. Yi Ming, do you have no backbone?"
"Fine. You'll regret losing such a caring boyfriend like me."
"Don't let the door hit you on the way out."
Jiang Wei stopped and cast a detached glance at Yi Ming before bending down in a "please leave" gesture.
Yi Ming's gaze lingered in Jiang Wei's eyes for two seconds before he turned and left without looking back.
Jiang Wei stood rooted in place, neither chasing him nor retreating, only letting out a deep sigh.