Chapter 11:The First Time I Saw Him
365 Words
I was five months pregnant when I first saw Zhou Ye.
It was a Tuesday. Or maybe a Wednesday. The days had started blurring together—wake up, work, eat, sleep, repeat.
I was at the supermarket. The only one in town. A fluorescent-lit box of a place with cracked linoleum floors and shopping carts that always veered left.
I needed instant noodles. The same thing I'd eaten for the past four months. My body had stopped complaining. It had given up.
I reached for the noodles on the top shelf. My belly got in the way. I stretched anyway.
And then the world tilted.
The fluorescent lights blurred into white streaks. The floor rushed up toward my face.
I didn't hit the ground.
Someone caught me.
"Hey—hey, are you okay?"
A man's voice. Steady. Warm.
I blinked, trying to focus. A pair of silver-rimmed glasses swam into view. Behind them, a pair of kind eyes. Brown. Soft. Like melted chocolate.
"I'm fine," I said, trying to push myself up.
My legs gave out again.
"You're not fine," he said. He didn't let go of my arms. His grip was firm but gentle, like he was holding something fragile. "When's the last time you ate?"
I couldn't remember.
"That's what I thought." He looked at my belly. Then back at my face. His expression didn't change—no judgment, no pity. Just quiet observation.
He was a doctor, he said. Not the kind that delivered babies, but he knew enough to tell I was pregnant and severely malnourished.
He bought me food.
Hot food.
Rice porridge with shredded chicken and a soft-boiled egg. The egg was perfect—the yolk still slightly runny, golden as the sun.
I ate like an animal. Fast and desperate. I hadn't had a hot meal in weeks.
He sat across from me in the supermarket food court, watching me eat. He didn't say anything. He just waited.
When I finally looked up, my eyes wet, he smiled.
Not a big smile. A small one. Quiet. Like he wasn't used to smiling but had decided it was worth a try.
"I'm Zhou Ye," he said. "What's your name?"
- Writer
