MFW 1

“Awake?” 

“Does anything hurt?” 

Fu Siting slightly opened his eyes, his gaze falling on the glaring overhead light and the snow-white walls. 

The sharp, piercing mocking voice still lingered in his mind, cutting into his nerves like a dull knife. He recalled the last scene before he lost consciousness—his body tumbling down the stairs, repeatedly hitting the ground. The excruciating pain, the metallic taste of blood filling his nostrils, and the near-death feeling of being unable to breathe… 

After all that, was he still alive? 

Someone grasped his hand. 

The person exuded the crisp scent of spring water, mixed with the ink-scented fragrance of a mature, elite man. It masked the faint smell of disinfectant in the surrounding air. 

A gentle warmth emanated from his palm, a silent comfort. It was an extremely gentle caress, the calloused fingertips outlining his palm, bringing a subtle and tingling sensation. 

No one had ever touched him like that. 

For someone who had never been treated gently, this warmth felt like thorns, pricking his entire body in pain. 

Fu Siting instinctively wanted to resist, but found himself almost powerless. 

His chest rose and fell slightly. He couldn’t move, and even each breath sent shivers of pain through his body. 

“Fu Siting, don’t worry. Where does it hurt? Breathe, breathe properly.” 

The voice was tinged with worry, the touch on his chest, the call of his name slightly hoarse. 

“…” Fu Siting struggled to move his eyes to look at the speaker. But the heavy drowsiness dragged him back into the dark abyss of nightmares. 

In the dream, time rewound to a few days ago. 

Faded, crushed memories slowly pieced together, becoming vivid again. 

In the classroom of Class 4, Grade 1 at the No. 3 High School, the piercing school bell shattered the silence. 

Several boys in the back row immediately became excited, exchanging malicious glances, and stood up, approaching the second-to-last row by the window. 

There, a tall, thin boy with a slender face was looking down, subtly adjusting his bag. When he looked up again, he found himself surrounded. 

“What, you think you can just leave already?” 

“Oh, you forgot? This kid’s rushing to work at that frying chicken place, frying chicken every day, no wonder he always smells like chicken poop.” 

“Hahahaha…” Amidst the jeers of a group of boys, Fu Siting lowered his eyes, gritted his teeth, and dragged his one leg, struggling to move out of the only narrow space between them, holding onto the table. 

“Haha, hey, I’ve been wondering about this for a while—how does he fry chicken with that limp leg? Does he fry it sitting down?” 

The rich second-generation leader, Liang Jun, pretended to ponder: “You know what, his mom makes chicken, he frys chicken, the whole family’s a perfect match.” 

Fu Siting suddenly turned his head. 

A pair of gray, gloomy eyes stared coldly at Liang Jun, expressionless. 

Liang Jun was startled by the sudden, piercing stare, but quickly regained his arrogance: “Hey, look, even the cripple can glare now. Seriously? Want to fight with us? Hahaha… Look at your own lameness! Ha… Wow! What are you doing? You—you dare pull me? You’re asking for it!!” 

Night fell outside the window. 

That evening, Fu Siting arrived at the fried chicken shop almost an hour late, his eyes downcast, his body covered in injuries. 

The owner, a middle-aged bald man, glanced sideways while smoking, his face full of disgust: “Our small business can’t afford to support such a big shot. Come settle your wages, don’t come tomorrow.” 

Fu Siting’s face was pale, and he spoke with difficulty: “Uncle, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to… Can I work two extra hours for you today?” 

“No need!” The bald man snorted, “From the 18th of last month to today, exactly thirty days.” 

He licked his fingers, counted the money, and threw over a thousand: “Deduct today’s absence. Here’s a thousand, take it.” 

Fu Siting didn’t take it. 

He raised his eyes, his gray pupils calm, staring at him without a word. 

“What, a thousand isn’t enough?” the shopkeeper spat, his eyes flashing with malice. “You’re just a part-timer, only working four hours a day. I haven’t even complained about your limp scaring away customers. How much do you think you deserve? A thousand is more than enough!” 

“It was supposed to be a thousand five hundred.” 

“A thousand five hundred? How dare you take a thousand five hundred?” the shopkeeper cursed. “Your work apron is stained with oil, and I haven’t even made you pay for it. I’ve hired you for a month, and it’s not even enough to cover my losses. You’re incredibly unlucky!” 

“A thousand five hundred,” the boy insisted. 

“A thousand five hundred, a thousand five hundred, you can’t understand human language when you’re absent and get your pay docked? You think you’re so great just because you’re a minor? You dare cause trouble for me? Go ahead and call the police, go sue me, go to labor arbitration… Fine, take your money and get lost. Don’t stand here and delay my business. If you don’t leave, believe me, I’ll beat you to death… argh!” 

The boy grabbed the oily hand that the shopkeeper reached out to shove him. 

The kick was powerful, startling the shop owner. A fierce glint flashed in his eyes, and before he knew it, the boy had been kicked hard in the stomach. The shop owner, over six feet tall and weighing over two hundred pounds, was covered in fat; the kick sent Fu Siting flying several meters. With a loud bang, he crashed into the protruding metal range hood behind him. 

The sound was so loud that even the shop owner was startled. Then, crimson blood flowed from the boy’s forehead, and the boy’s face was pale, his eyes closed, seemingly lifeless. 

“You, you…” 

Although the shop owner was a bully, he hadn’t intended to kill anyone. 

But as soon as he approached the boy, the lame wolf cub suddenly opened his eyes, grabbed his fat leg, and pounced on him. 

The boy was thin, but tall, and his weight was enough to make anyone feel like they were flying. The fat shop owner instantly flew into a rage, using his large frame and brute force to viciously pull at the boy’s injured leg. 

The boy groaned in pain, and the shopkeeper cursed, trying to get up, but was violently pulled back down. 

“You brat! You!! Ugh!” 

After more than ten minutes, the shopkeeper chickened out. 

He only wanted to withhold a little money from the boy’s wages; he had no intention of fighting to the death! His small shop made a decent profit each year; there was no need for a fight to the death. 

But this underage cripple had bloodshot eyes, clearly wanting to fight him to the death. 

Damn it, he thought the boy was quiet and easy to bully, but he was so reckless. 

It wasn’t worth it! If he died for five hundred yuan, wouldn’t that be a huge waste? 

“Fine, fine, here’s another five hundred, take it and get out of here!” 

Finally, the shopkeeper struggled free, veins throbbing on his round head, and angrily threw the red bill at the boy’s face. 

“Get out of here if you know what’s good for you! If you cause any more trouble, I’ll really call the police. Then you’ll have to pay for the store’s losses, get expelled for fighting, and you’ll regret it!” 

“You’re so young and already behaving badly. This time, I’m just unlucky. Get out! Get out! If I see you again, I’ll beat you up! Get out!” 

… 

The next morning, the temperature plummeted, and it started to snow lightly. 

Fu Siting’s homeroom teacher was a math teacher, but this man had recently received an offer from a private international school on the coast, and now he was very indifferent to his class, acting like a hands-off manager all the time.

Instead, his Chinese teacher, Kan Baiyun, often expressed concern: “Fu Siting, what happened to your face…” 

The boy’s forehead was wrapped in gauze, and half of his face was swollen. Although his expression was calm, the various bruises and cuts were still quite a sight. 

Moreover, it was already the dead of winter, and most people on the street were wearing thick down jackets. 

He, however, was still wearing thin autumn clothes, and his hands were cracked and reddish-purple from chilblains, which looked painful. 

Kan Baiyun had actually heard some things about Fu Siting. She knew that his family was very poor. It seemed that his biological father had run away due to gambling debts when he was very young, and his stepfather had died a few years ago in a truck accident. 

In the past two years, his mother had been diagnosed with uremia and kidney failure, and not only could she no longer work, but she also had to rely on dialysis every week to survive. 

All the burdens of the family fell on the shoulders of this young boy. 

It was too difficult for him. 

But Kan Baiyun was also in a hurry to go to another class, so she could only gently remind the boy, 

“Fu Siting, the injury on your face… if anyone at school bullies you, you can write to the principal’s mailbox to complain. Our school has teachers specifically in charge of school bullying, so please don’t try to handle it all alone, understand?” 

“Also, your grades have dropped drastically recently. As a student, you should prioritize your studies. I know you really need your scholarship, and if you don’t do well on the exams, it will be canceled. You must take this seriously!” 

The preparatory bell rang, and she could only sigh and leave in a hurry. 

… 

It wasn’t until noon when Kan Baiyun heard from her colleague that Fu Siting’s face was injured in a fight with a boy named Liang Jun from his class last night. 

“This is troublesome. Liang Jun’s uncle seems to be the deputy director of the Municipal Education Bureau.” 

A colleague whispered, “I heard that he came over aggressively around 10 a.m. this morning and is still causing trouble in the principal’s office.” 

“He’s high-ranking and powerful, and Principal Li can’t afford to offend him. He’s caught in the middle…” 

No. 3 High School is a public high school, and usually, school bullying is handled by someone. 

But Liang Jun’s background is special this time. His family’s higher-ranking position makes things very difficult. 

Kan Baiyun was quite worried for Fu Siting. After hastily finishing lunch in the cafeteria, she deliberately took a detour near the principal’s office while carrying her books upstairs. She heard someone inside yelling: 

“What kind of troublemaker is this? He’ll be the scum of society, the thugs on the street! He’ll get a demerit, he must get a demerit!” 

… 

During evening self-study, Liang Jun was arrogant. 

“Hey, you poor dog. Try touching me again?” 

Fu Siting sat in his seat with his eyes downcast, not looking up at him. 

His henchman peered around, warning, “Brother Liang, don’t get too close to the dog, it might bite again.” 

Liang Jun, however, wasn’t afraid this time, beaming with pride, “Don’t worry, he wouldn’t dare. The principal already promised my uncle that if he does it again, he’ll get a major demerit, and then his meager scholarship will be gone.” 

“If it weren’t for those few thousand yuan, he probably wouldn’t be able to afford food even if he sells himself, how pitiful.” 

“Speaking of which, selling your body doesn’t make much money. He’s got some looks, maybe he should become a male duck… oh, I forgot, no rich woman wants a lame duck.” 

They laughed, while Fu Siting gripped his pencil tightly, his lips pressed into a straight line, his knuckles white. 

“Hey, this dog isn’t barking, what are you thinking about?” A hand suddenly reached out and snatched the textbook from his hand. The others casually flipped through the other books on his desk. Suddenly, several clippings fell out from Fu Siting’s thickest bound math review book. 

“Damn, what’s that stuff tucked in this book?” 

“Posters?” 

“Holy crap, so many! Wait a minute, isn’t this the ‘youngest Best Actor’ who just broke that award record? The one your cousin loves the most, Brother Liang?” 

Fu Siting’s pencil suddenly snapped. 

Liang Jun looked and, sure enough, it was the boy from all the posters on his cousin’s walls! The boy’s father seemed to be a director, and at only sixteen, he had already acted in many TV dramas and was a very famous actor. 

What was his name again? Li Fei? 

“Brother Liang, look…” 

The lackey pointed to the edge of the posters as if he had discovered a new continent. 

Only then did Liang Jun see that each poster was not only carefully cut out, but also had simple line drawings made with ballpoint pen along the edges. 

Every single one of them had one. 

On each poster, Li Fei was drawn at the same angle and with the same expression. 

Each poster had a very cute chibi version of Li Fei, lifelike. 

Even on the chibi figures in the line drawings, Li Fei had a small crown drawn on his head. 

“…” 

“Damn, what disgusting thing! What kind of class do you, Fu Siting, have to like my cousin’s idol? And you poor bastard, you can afford a magazine? I don’t believe it… Tell me, where did you steal it from!” 

He roared, “Which of you unlucky bastards had your magazine stolen by a poor dog? Check yourselves!” 

“Brother Liang, I heard that last time someone saw him secretly picking up magazines that others had thrown in the trash can, tsk tsk tsk, collecting junk and drawing crowns, and even drawing… uh, hearts? Damn, Brother Liang, could this kid be ‘that’? Look at this one! And this one!” 

“Hahaha, he likes men, right? He likes male celebrities. Damn, impressive, his taste is really high…” 

“Fuck, fuck, that’s disgusting, I’m going to beat this dog to death today!” 

During the day, the principal’s final compromise with the education bureau director was that if he committed the offense again, Fu Siting’s scholarship would be canceled. The principal pleaded and smiled profusely before finally sending the big shot away with countless thanks. 

But Fu Siting couldn’t live without those few thousand yuan a year. 

So this time, he didn’t fight back. It wasn’t until he was beaten until he vomited blood and collapsed on the ground that the rich kids panicked and rushed him to the hospital. 

The good news was that he wasn’t seriously injured, only suffering some soft tissue contusions. The bad news, however, was that in the X-rays taken for the medical examination, the doctor unexpectedly discovered that Fu Siting’s stomach image was hazy, which was very strange. 

The doctor frowned at the X-ray. 

Based on his years of experience, only malignant tumors look like that. 

***

Author’s Note: 

This protagonist is sweet, but his life is full of hardships =w=. 

To reiterate, the story spans 12 years! Even from today’s perspective, 12 years ago there was no targeted poverty alleviation, no crowdfunding, targeted drugs weren’t covered by medical insurance, and school bullying was possible. Don’t assume it couldn’t be that bad!