Chapter 19
The field fell silent for several minutes.
Nathan took a deep breath, trying to steady his emotions. But looking into Qiao Zixin’s eyes, he still couldn’t hide his shock.
(You’re Little Seven?”
He suddenly didn’t know what to say, but their first meeting and interactions over the past three years suddenly connected in his mind.
<
It turned out… they had known each other long ago.
Nathan had been sent to an orphanage as a child after losing both parents. There he met a girl called Little Seven.
When he first arrived, he was still caught up in his identity as an orphan, which made him withdrawn. He often refused to eat or
drink.
Although the orphanage director was very kind to him,
A child’s heart couldn’t be opened so easily.
Later, it was this girl called Little Seven, with her gap–toothed smile, who would come share her food with him every day.
Back then, Qiao Zixin wasn’t as beautiful. The orphanage struggled to make ends meet, and even though the director did her best, they often fell short on nutrition.
So at that time, she was still a skinny little girl.
But even when she didn’t have enough to eat, Little Seven would often save some of her own food for Nathan.
And she would lie and say girls didn’t need to eat as much.
It wasn’t until later when Qiao Zixin fainted from long–term malnutrition that Nathan discovered the truth.
On the day Qiao Zixin was adopted, he used all his pocket money to buy a notebook and wrote in it: “When I grow up, Little Seven, will you be my bride?”
Later, as time passed, he only knew that the girl called Little Seven had gone abroad after being adopted. He didn’t even know
her real name.
“Little Seven, it was you all along!”
Nathan looked at Qiao Zixin, his eyes suddenly full of emotion.
“Brother Nan! You didn’t expect it was me, did you!”
Qiao Zixin sat down beside Nathan and stretched lazily, revealing her perfect figure.
She was breathtakingly beautiful.
She looked at Nathan and smiled: “Actually, in the past, I didn’t know what it meant to like someone. I just felt comfortable
being with you.”
“So when we met again, on one hand I wanted you to recognize me quickly, but on the other hand I didn’t know how to face that childhood promise. But later…”
The sunlight shone on Qiao Zixin, making her look as if she was gilded in gold, bright and dazzling.
“After these three years together, Brother Nan, I’m sure that I like you! Of course, you don’t need to rush to reject me. I know you haven’t gotten over your last relationship, so I’ll wait! After all…”
Qiao Zixin scratched her head, showing rare shyness: “I’ve never dated before either. I don’t know how to pursue a man, so l Vhave to ask my girlfriends a lot about how to make the person I like feel happy enough.”
D
<
These words made Nathan laugh, instantly breaking the serious and strange atmosphere. Nathan recalled scenes from his time with Olivia.
The tension, walking on eggshells, desperately trying to maintain the marriage.
Maintaining her fondness for him.
“Actually, letting things develop naturally is best. At least, we’re already the best of friends now.”
Nathan reached out and clasped hands with Qiao Zixin.
Though he hadn’t agreed to a romantic relationship, as Qiao Zixin said, even before knowing she was Little Seven, he had always felt comfortable with her.
And now knowing Qiao Zixin was Little Seven, Nathan suddenly felt the last trace of loneliness he had felt abroad disappear.
The two of them talked for a long time on the field, discussing many things from their childhood.
Qiao Zixin had gone abroad early, and even when she returned to China, she never had a chance to go back to the orphanage.
So when Qiao Zixin asked about how the orphanage was now,
Nathan looked up, squinting in the sunlight, and smiled.
“The kids are all very happy. But Mama Director has gotten old and more talkative. Every time I go back she says that after us troublemakers left, even more troublesome ones came. Let me tell you, there’s this kid called Ah Yue…”
On this day, the two of them talked until the moon rose, their laughter constant. Only then did they part ways.
Nathan jogged back as usual. But just as he reached the dormitory building, he suddenly stopped in his tracks, his expression instantly darkening as he stared ahead.
