Mangosteen and Mandarin Orange
山竹和砂糖橘
Synopsis
Ten years into our marriage, I traveled back in time to Xie Zhao’s poorest years-his time in high school.
But the version of him I found here was dark and cold. The way he looked at me was filled with both strangeness and guarded suspicion.
I was a little afraid, so I didn’t dare to get too close at first.
But Xie Zhao was truly destitute.
He wore a twenty-yuan T-shirt that had been patched and re-patched until it was falling apart. He rode a hundred-yuan secondhand bicycle that he fixed over and over again, only for it to break down once more.
Eventually, I started quietly topping up his meal card and gifting him scarves. I even went to his teacher to secretly pay his tuition fees.
As I walked out of the office, I found Xie Zhao leaning against the corner. He stared at me for a long time.
“Are you pitying me?” he asked.
He turned his head away, his voice flat. “If that’s the case, there’s no need.”
I shook my head and whispered, “Xie Zhao, you’re so silly.”
He was so silly that he couldn’t even tell the difference between pity and heartache.