Seven years

Wound

“You’re truly useless. You stood all night and only got one customer, and you expect to sleep in my house? Besides pretending to study to avoid work, what else can you do? Don’t even think about sleeping in my house tonight!”

“Amy, if you don’t help us, we won’t have money to feed you.”

The man’s vulgar scolding mixed with her mother’s blaming words echoed in her head.

Her frail body trembled uncontrollably as she huddled in front of the noodle shop. Amy stubbornly bit her lip to keep her body from shaking. She resented herself for still feeling wronged, even though she had been kicked out of the house so many times before.

“Amy, come inside… It’s too cold, too cold…” A small head peeked out from the c***k in the door, speaking softly.

Amy saw her younger brother secretly opening the door: “Indra Wang, go to sleep. It’s very cold outside, or you’ll get sick.” She remained still.

The chubby 10-year-old boy didn’t listen, running over to pull her inside: “You’re the one who’ll get sick if you don’t listen to me. Come in quickly, or they’ll find out I let you in. Oh my god, your hands are colder than ice…”

Amy felt that warm, chubby hand and smiled. A 10-year-old boy who always grumbled like an old man.

From somewhere, a hot sausage was placed in her hand: “Take it to your room. Dad bought it for me, so I saved some for you.”

Knowing the consequences of eating something that wasn’t hers, Amy quickly returned it: “No, I’m not hungry.”

But before she could return it, the chubby boy pushed her into the bedroom, quickly closing the door, leaving no chance to refuse.

The boy ran out of the room, then turned back as if remembering something: “Remember to wake up early tomorrow morning, don’t let them find out.”

Seeing Indra’s actions, Amy involuntarily thought of that man.

“Indra, what are you doing?” Mr. Wang’s voice echoed from the bedroom.

“I’m drinking water!” The boy quickly replied, hiding his actions.

Looking at the hot sausage, Amy felt that in this life, there was still one person who truly cared about her.

…

Two days later.

“Hello, esteemed guest.”

As he entered the noodle shop, the enthusiastic voice belonged to a plump and disheveled middle-aged man busy cooking. For some reason, Jasper Scott felt a little disappointed. But he quickly put on a smile to hide it, sitting in the same spot as last time.

Even though he deliberately opened the menu slowly to see that person, he still didn’t. Jasper politely asked the middle-aged man: “Excuse me, I don’t know which noodle to choose, could you give me some advice?”

David Wang quickly agreed: “Of course, please wait a moment.”

Then, the warm hospitality quickly turned into annoyance: “You troublesome thing, get out here and help me!” The way he ordered was like ordering a slave.

The thin figure he wanted to see quickly appeared, and Jasper’s face darkened at this ugly address.

Amy dried her hands after washing dishes: “Hello, what would you like…”

Her beautiful face clearly showed surprise. Wasn’t this person the customer from the other day?

Jasper handed her the menu, as if he were a first-time customer, smiling: “Too many dishes, I don’t know which one to choose…” Perhaps he didn’t know that his eyes curved beautifully when he smiled.

“Oh, I can help you choose…”

He still ordered a bowl of noodles that she considered delicious.

The bowl of noodles was brought over, and Amy was about to turn to do something else when her arm was held. She was stunned, suddenly realizing that the pale hand gripping her arm was also freezing cold.

It was still that handsome face, always smiling: “It seems I’ve forgotten how to hold chopsticks…” His voice seemed shy due to the physical contact, but his handsome face clearly showed joy.

As if repeating that night, Amy held a sample chopstick in her hand to show him. Jasper Scott, whether intentionally or unintentionally, clumsily dropped the chopsticks again: “Could you adjust the way I’m holding them?”

Amidst her doubt of whether he was intentional or unintentional, Amy still quietly adjusted his fingers to hold the chopsticks correctly…

She had the chance to clearly see this person’s handsome face, though beautiful, he was a bit pale and weak, as if he were ill. Amy didn't dare to look too much, afraid he would think she was rude.

Then she turned her back and continued to leave. Jasper quickly called her back: "Could you tell me what these spice jars are for?" His long, clean fingers pointed to the accompanying spice jars prepared on the table...

If Amy looked closely, she would notice that Jasper Scott's cheeks were slightly flushed, as it was the first time he had actively held the hand of someone of the opposite s*x.

Amy glanced at her father, who wasn't paying attention to her, and approached to quietly introduce them. A strange thought crossed her mind: it seemed this handsome customer was deliberately finding excuses to keep her from leaving.

Just like that, the young man with the blue eyes became a regular customer at the Wang family's noodle shop. He would come to eat noodles three to four times a week, and each time, he would only choose a seat where he could look inside, where she often cleaned and prepared ingredients.

Even though he came many times, he always needed someone to help him choose his meal, finding many reasons to see Amy appear before him. But every time, he found her working non-stop, with no time to rest.

Amy gradually got used to this man who often came to the noodle shop alone; there was no longer the awkwardness between them as before. Sometimes they even chatted for a few sentences.

Gradually, Jasper also learned the name of this thin girl. Her name was Amy, and given the noodle shop's name, she was probably Amy Wang. He accidentally overheard her chubby younger brother call her name once.

Amy Wang, Jasper softly repeated the name.

A truly special name.

...

Leaving the cardiology ward, where various medical devices constantly emitted different ear-splitting sounds, Jasper wrapped his long coat tighter around his body. Although it was a bit cold, he felt much easier at breathe.

He looked at his phone to check the time; it was already noon. He hadn't eaten or slept for a full day. Both sides of his temples ached continuously because his weak body had been overworked and overly stressed.

Amidst the myriad of tired thoughts in his head, he thought of the quiet, somewhat cold young woman with the sparkling, round eyes. Thinking of her, the fatigue seemed to disappear.

Jasper went to Wang's noodle shop; today, the shop was much busier. The thin girl still had to work continuously amidst her father's scolding and glaring eyes, as if something had just happened between them. But he still deliberately asked Amy for advice.

Today, Amy was a bit strange; he keenly noticed that she had her hair down today and deliberately turned her face away to avoid his gaze.

"Are you okay?"

Amy trembled, thinking he had noticed something on her left cheek. She quickly turned her face away: "I... I'm fine."

Jasper ate his noodles while watching the busy person walking back and forth in front of him. He still felt she was lying.

His intuition was right when she was clearing bowls at the table next to him, suddenly paused, and grabbed the table to support her swaying body which was about to fall.

Jasper's actions were quick as a flash; he stood up, wrapped his arm around her bony body to support her from falling without any effort, and she was too light. Jasper was extremely worried: "Are you feeling dizzy?" His voice was a little hurried.

Her cold body fell into a warm and strong embrace, making her want him to hold her forever. Perhaps afraid of this thought, Amy ignored her dizziness, which made her unable to see clearly, and still struggled, standing up straight on her own: "No, I'm fine. You go ahead and eat, don't mind me."

Struggling too hard, she had to grab the table again to stand steady. Jasper was extremely worried; he grabbed her arm to prevent her from falling.

"You haven't eaten anything, have you?" Not eating would lead to low blood pressure.

He looked worriedly at her pale face, wanting to check what was wrong with her. Suddenly, the man's emerald eyes, filled with worry, froze.

Her long hair no longer covered her left cheek; her flawless, fair skin, Now, a large, red, hand-shaped bruise, clearly from a man's hand, was visible.

Just one look was enough to understand all her actions and attitude since he arrived. Even a gentle person like him was gradually getting angry, asking coldly, "Did your father hit you?"

Seeing how crude and corpulent the middle-aged man was, he didn't dare to imagine him angrily slapping her face.

Feeling the stiffness and the gaze fixed on her face, Amy quickly turned away, avoiding him, "Let go of me, I need to continue working."

Before she could finish her sentence, David angrily yelled at her, "You nuisance, you're already useless, and now you're going to bother my customers? Get out of here!"

Amy bit her lip. She didn't want others to witness her struggle, but before she could step back, the hand gripping her arm pulled her with great force, dragging her away.

Jasper coldly walked to the kitchen counter, "Make me a portion of noodles to go. By the way, I'd like to borrow your daughter for a moment."

David seemed to disagree, but seeing the ferocity of this customer made him shrink back, losing all the aggression he had moments ago, "No..."

Jasper raised his hand, pushing Amy's hair back for him to see clearly, "Do you want everyone to know you hit your daughter?"

He added threateningly, "You bully the weak, and I don't mind defending them. I can even return this mark on your face."

Amy shook her head, "I, I don't need it."

Jasper glanced at her, "Listen to me."

...

Leaving the noodle shop, they found a place to sit. Jasper opened the noodle box and handed her the chopsticks. Amy took them, hesitating before speaking, "You eat, I'm not hungry." Because of her, he had only eaten half of his noodles.

He shook his head, "You sit here and finish this box of noodles. I have something to do for a bit, then I'll be back."

Amy slowly ate her noodles. She realized this was the first time she had gone out with this man. Although she didn't know much about him, she felt a strong sense of trust in him.

As she was eating with her head down, a beautiful, slightly cold hand gently tucked the hair on her left side behind her ear. Amy quickly wanted to put down the noodle box in her hand, "Let me do it myself."

Jasper shook his head, "Keep eating, or the noodles will get cold. I'll help you." Seeing the wound on her face clearly, his tender heart ached a little, and his hand unconsciously became gentler.

He was only afraid that if he accidentally used a little too much force, it would further injure her delicate skin.

Amy felt the gentleness in his actions. She lowered her eyes and ate her noodles to hide her discomfort.

In the bustling crowd of the pedestrian street, two people sat quietly next to each other. A beautiful girl quietly ate while the man beside her carefully applied medicine to her face, little by little.

They looked truly well-matched.

...