Chapter 4 The Ugly Duckling Turns Into a Swan_6

Rumors had gradually subsided, and Pei Shangxuan had intended not to let others keep linking them together, causing unnecessary resentment, but his mood sank even lower. Boys of this age detest being told they like someone, feeling that it reflects poorly on them, as if liking someone were something shameful. His disdain wasn't just for this notion, but also carried a subtle aversion toward Li Li. His thinking was quite simple: Li Li was a good friend, a buddy, but certainly not girlfriend material. He liked pretty girls, just like most people do.

After school, as Pei Shangxuan was about to go play pool with Zhang Yong and the others, he saw Li Li listlessly lying on her desk. He hesitated before putting down his backpack and asking her. He was ready for a cold shoulder, but unexpectedly received a reply.

"Mom is taking me to have dinner with her fiancé," Li Li's voice was muffled and hoarse as her face pressed into her arms, "Today is my birthday."

Pei Shangxuan grasped Li Li's shoulders, urging her to lift her head and meet his youthful, handsome face—filled with excitement.

"Li Li, come with me." Pei Shangxuan pulled out her backpack from under her desk, frantically stuffing it with her pencil case and books, and as he did, he continued, "I'll take you somewhere that's guaranteed to lift your spirits."

Li Li watched the jubilant boy, automatically ignoring the hurtful words he had said before—for Li Li, it was always difficult to stay truly mad at Pei Shangxuan.

Pei Shangxuan took Li Li to The Bund. He stood on the world-famous Waibaidu Bridge and shouted with jumping feet into the dark waters of the Huangpu River: "Li Li, happy birthday!"

As the ferries approached the docks of the Huangpu River and the buzzing horn sounded from afar, it seemed as if it echoed Pei Shangxuan's birthday wishes.

Li Li raised her hand to her mouth like a megaphone, crying out with all her might into the surging river: "Thank you, Pei Shangxuan!"

At fourteen, she thought, liking someone might just feel like this: wanting to be with them so badly, never to part for a lifetime.

Li Li's deliberate absence on her birthday enraged Li Meiqing, who furiously beat her daughter. Li Li refused to apologize, which only angered her mother more, her strikes becoming fiercer, ignoring even her own mother's attempts to stop her. In the end, it was Li Guoqiang who came home from work and took the ruler from his sister's hand, saving Li Li.

"Does it hurt?" Li Guoqiang looked at his silent niece with a heart full of pity.

"Except for my face," Li Li replied softly. Wearing a sweater, no matter how hard she was hit, it didn't hurt much, but the ruler had left a stinging pain on her face.

Li Guoqiang shook his head and sighed, "Li Li, being too stubborn isn't good. Couldn't you have just cried a bit to soften your mom's heart?" But this girl was stubborn to a fault, unwilling to give in until the very end, taking after her parents' worst traits in full measure.

"Mom hates me," Li Li said blankly, stating the fact. She touched the broken skin on her face, feeling utterly dejected.

In the dark, Li Li crawled into her room and into the cold bed, lying motionless, crying. On her fourteenth birthday, the scene of Pei Shangxuan shouting "happy birthday" into the winds along the Huangpu River was deeply engraved in Li Li's soul, warming her heart.

Pei Shangxuan, holding her hand, had run to the bakery and used the money he had saved for pool to buy a water chestnut cake as a birthday gift for Li Li.

Pei Shangxuan bought a box of matches and stuck four of them into the cake as makeshift candles for her fourteenth birthday. He urged Li Li to make a wish, sheltering the fragile flames on the little cake with his hand from the river wind, telling Li Li to hurry and make a wish.

Li Li closed her eyes and murmured softly, then blew out the flames before the wind could extinguish them. Pei Shangxuan let out a sigh of relief, leaning back against the flood wall, listening to the evening bell strike six from the Customs House.

"What did you wish for?" He saw her lips move but couldn't hear what she said.

Li Li plucked the matches off one by one, looking down as she explained, "If I say it, it won't come true."

Li Li took a bite of the cake and handed it to Pei Shangxuan. Seeing him shake his head, refusing to eat, she stubbornly held it towards him saying, "It's a birthday cake. It'll be lonely without someone to share it." His eyes were bright, shining brighter than Venus above. His gaze lingered on her, then he leaned in and took a big bite: "I happen to be hungry."

Her wish was: to be friends with Pei Shangxuan for a lifetime, inseparable.