SLWP Chapter 1

On a winter night close to Christmas, the streets were already decorated with several giant Christmas trees. Colorful lights twinkled on them, and countless small ornaments swayed in the breeze, jingling as they moved.

As Chen Xu passed by, a pair of gingerbread figures on one of the trees happened to turn towards him. Those two were holding hands sweetly, smiling brightly, which only made Chen Xu, walking alone, look even more pitiful.

The weather was particularly fitting, adding to the Christmas atmosphere with snowfall that started two days ago. Chen Xu had left his scarf at the bar, and now tiny ice crystals were pouring into the back of his neck.

Cold and wet, he wiped at his collar but didn’t react much.

He didn’t want to go back to the bar, didn’t want to go home, didn’t want to go anywhere.

He suddenly felt envious of those two gingerbread figures.

Back at the bar, his high school deskmate’s words kept echoing in his head, over and over again:

“Back in sophomore year, the person who secretly brought you lunch every day, you still don’t know who it was, do you?”

“Let me tell you, it was Song Ming. He asked me to put the lunch box on your desk every day at noon. It’s been so many years, and he’s coming over tonight. You should thank him properly.”

Chen Xu hadn’t thanked Song Ming properly. In fact, he didn’t even have the courage to see him. As soon as he heard those words, he fled in a panic.

How could it be? How could it have been Song Ming?

Wasn’t it supposed to be Ji Chunxiao?

His first instinct was resistance, disbelief. But his deskmate’s detailed familiarity with the situation left no room for doubt.

He couldn’t process it. Taking a deep breath, he accidentally inhaled some snow, coughing so hard it felt like his lungs would tear apart. His eyes were blurry with tears.

The star at the top of the Christmas tree illuminated a large area, but Chen Xu stubbornly walked out of that circle of light, sitting down against a cold wall.

He felt utterly drained, maybe drunk, though he hadn’t had any alcohol.

Tears from coughing stuck to his eyelashes, forming tiny frozen droplets. Chen Xu thought he should be crying, but no tears came.

All he felt was a suffocating wave of emotions, rolling, churning, and pulling him under.

How could he have mistaken the person?

How could he have gotten the person he loved wrong?

And he had been wrong for five years.

All the love that belonged to Song Ming had been misplaced onto Ji Chunxiao. Over the years, no matter how unreasonable Ji Chunxiao had been, Chen Xu had tolerated it. Wasn’t it all because of that misdirected affection?

Chen Xu didn’t know what to do. To him, this wasn’t just painful—it was absurd.

Repaying Ji Chunxiao, loving Ji Chunxiao, had become a foundation of his life. But now, that foundation turned out to be a lie.

It was like someone had suddenly told him that rocks were liquid, mushrooms were animals, and flowers could burn people.

Absurd. Bizarre. Unfathomable.

He felt anger, but no one was to blame.

He felt sorry for Song Ming, and even sorrier for himself.

His phone buzzed in his coat pocket. He hesitated before answering. It was Ji Chunxiao.

In truth, Chen Xu didn’t know how to face Ji Chunxiao right now. But five years of muscle memory kicked in faster than rational thought. His fingers immediately hit the answer button, and Ji Chunxiao’s voice came through, mixed with the distorted sound of Christmas carols on the street.

“Chen Xu, get me a bowl of scallop porridge from Hai’s No.1.” On the other end, Ji Chunxiao sounded a bit impatient, urging him, “Hurry up and get back from your dumb class reunion. I’m starving.”

“The shop closes at midnight sharp, so don’t waste time.”

“……”

Chen Xu blinked, the snowflakes on his eyelashes falling off.

He replied mechanically, “……Okay.”

Ji Chunxiao was always like this, the arrogant young master who barked orders at everyone.

And Chen Xu was the one who indulged him the most.

Over the years, Ji Chunxiao’s temper had gotten worse, often making unreasonable demands. Yet Chen Xu always reserved his greatest patience for him, going out of his way to fulfill every request.

Getting a late-night snack was a small thing. Ji Chunxiao had asked for worse—like demanding Chen Xu come back from business trips just to see him, forcing him to eat awful food, or making him do all sorts of things.

Chen Xu always thought to himself, “This is the person I love,” and then he would compromise with resignation and patience.

The call wasn’t over yet, and Ji Chunxiao was still rattling on, giving orders about how soon Chen Xu had to get back.

But Chen Xu stopped listening and hung up.

He sniffled, and a large tear fell onto the snow, leaving a round indentation.

The tears he couldn’t shed earlier were now pouring out.

“Hang up on me?!”

Ji Chunxiao threw his phone onto the bed angrily, grabbed Chen Xu’s pillow, and kneaded it in frustration. Gritting his teeth, he tried calling again, but this time, it went straight to voicemail.

Impossible.

Chen Xu would never ignore his call.

Ji Chunxiao frowned. Could it really be because of that stupid class reunion?

He didn’t even want Chen Xu to go in the first place.

He remembered that back in high school, there was a guy with the last name Song who had been a little too interested in Chen Xu.

Hmph. Could it be an old flame rekindled?

He had barely found the excuse of getting porridge to drag Chen Xu back, but now, why wasn’t he answering?

Without hesitating for more than two seconds, Ji Chunxiao coldly got out of bed and changed. Grabbing the car keys from the hallway, he slammed the door shut with a loud “Bang!”

Meanwhile, Chen Xu, practically frozen stiff, finally struggled to his feet and walked toward his car.

His numb fingers almost couldn’t open the door. After nearly ten minutes, he finally started to thaw in the warmth of the car heater.

Driving aimlessly, Chen Xu didn’t have a destination in mind, but his subconscious led him to the area near Hai’s No.1.

Checking the time, it was well past midnight. No scallop porridge, no seafood porridge—nothing was available.

The shop’s lights were completely off, and the empty street was only lit by a few streetlamps, casting a desolate, pale glow. His dark car seemed to merge with the night.

In the distance, a piercing screech echoed, like the sound of tires scraping against the asphalt.

The noise grew closer, and suddenly, blinding headlights appeared at the corner, casting two sharp beams across the street.

Before Chen Xu could react, a heavy truck rammed into his car, slamming it into the wall on the side of the road.

The deafening crash was followed by the deployment of the airbags, pinning Chen Xu inside.

The massive impact left him in so much pain that he could barely breathe. He briefly wondered if at least two of his ribs had been broken.

The friction from the collision ignited the leaking fuel tank, and flames quickly engulfed the car in the cold winter night. The heat rapidly intensified, and though Chen Xu struggled, he was trapped in the mangled vehicle, the pain worsening by the second. The smoke choked him, and within seconds, his consciousness began to fade.

He wanted to call for help, but the truck driver, likely drunk, was lying in his overturned vehicle, too terrified to think straight.

So hot… so painful…

Chen Xu was about to give in to the flames when, through the haze, he heard a familiar voice calling his name.

Someone was approaching the fire, gripping the scorching, twisted car door, trying to pull him out, but to no avail.

Nearby, a bystander yelled anxiously, “It might explode! Get out of there!”

The hands pulling at him paused for a moment, but then resolutely tightened around him, as if by holding him like this, they could shield Chen Xu from the coming danger.

The pain in his crushed ribs intensified under the embrace, and Chen Xu regained consciousness for a few brief seconds, trying to see who was saving him. But the overwhelming heat from the explosion swallowed his thoughts.

The arms around him never loosened. Chen Xu’s last sensation was something wet dripping onto his burning face, evaporating almost instantly.

Strangely, his final thought was that Ji Chunxiao wouldn’t get the porridge he wanted tonight.