Opening Her Heart

The KFC was on the busiest street in the small county town. Zhou Yuwen drove Chen Rongrong through two traffic lights before they finally reached it. The area was livelier than the one around the county post office, but only by so much. At most, the streetlights were brighter.

Zhou Yuwen parked outside the KFC.

"Let's get out."

Chen Rongrong had chatted briefly with Zhou Yuwen in the car, and her mood had improved a little. She was just about to joke with him when she looked up and realized they had arrived at KFC.

"We're eating here?"

"Yeah. There's nowhere else to eat right now, so let's just grab something simple here."

Zhou Yuwen got out of the car.

From a modern perspective, it was hard to understand what KFC meant to high school students in a small county town back then. Around 2010, small county towns in Northern Jiangsu generally didn't have a KFC.

Over the next few years, KFC and McDonald's began opening locations one after another.

When they first arrived, people were talking about it on practically every street and alley.

Take Chen Rongrong's younger cousin Chen Mengyao, for example. Whenever she behaved a little better at home, she would say, "Mom, I did a little better on this test. Will you take me to KFC?"

"As long as you score ninety in Chinese and math, I'll take you!"

At the time, Chen Rongrong had thought she might get to tag along for a free meal, so she had been especially well-behaved for a while, washing clothes and mopping the floor.

And what happened?

Her aunt Liu Mei had actually waited until Chen Rongrong was at evening study to sneak her cousin out to KFC!

Afterward, she had deliberately kept it from Chen Rongrong, thinking she wouldn't find out!

Chen Rongrong knew she was only staying with them and had no right to ask for so much.

But it still hurt.

That was how people were: they worried less about scarcity than unfairness. In that environment, it was hard to take it in stride.

And now, the place her family had been so unwilling to take her to...

A boy had brought her there without a second thought.

Chen Rongrong felt an inexplicable fondness for Zhou Yuwen as she followed him into KFC.

It had to be said, KFC really was expensive. Ordering a few things without much thought came to nearly a hundred yuan.

Chen Rongrong was considerate. "I'm not hungry. Just order two coffees for us."

Zhou Yuwen found that a little funny. "Coffee this late? Aren't you going to sleep?"

So Zhou Yuwen ordered a whole assortment of things: chicken wings, drumsticks, burgers, fries, and Nine Fruits juice.

"You ordered too much. We won't be able to finish it," Chen Rongrong said.

"It's fine. I'll eat some too."

The order came to 120 yuan, and Zhou Yuwen paid for it all at once.

Afterward, they found a table by the window.

"Let's eat first. A lot must have happened to you tonight. Tell me after you've had your fill."

Zhou Yuwen urged Chen Rongrong to eat. He still didn't know what had happened to her, but judging by the way she looked, he could roughly guess most of it.

She had argued, gotten into a fight, and then cried outside the post office for an hour.

There was no way she wasn't hungry.

As it happened, Zhou Yuwen was a little hungry too, so he thought he would eat something.

Just then, the phone rang.

It was Zhou Yuwen's mother.

She asked what time he would be home.

Zhou Yuwen said he didn't know.

"Just go to bed. You don't need to leave the door unlocked for me."

"Mm." He hung up.

Chen Rongrong asked Zhou Yuwen who had called.

"My mom asked if she should leave the door unlocked for me," Zhou Yuwen said casually, eating a fry.

Chen Rongrong looked at Zhou Yuwen, and a tear inexplicably rolled down her cheek. "I really envy you. When you're home late, there's someone looking for you."

Zhou Yuwen found that funny. He continued eating the food in front of him and said, "What's there to envy? I envy you."

"You have a father and a mother, unlike me. I'm telling you, my parents divorced a long time ago. My mom's been raising me all along."

Hearing Zhou Yuwen say that, Chen Rongrong felt even more aggrieved. She couldn't eat anymore, and tears kept streaming down her face.

"Why are you crying?"

They had been sitting across from each other, but when Zhou Yuwen looked up, he found that Chen Rongrong's face was already covered in tears.

Zhou Yuwen couldn't help frowning. He hurried over to wipe her tears away.

"Hey, everything was fine. Why are you crying? Don't cry, don't cry."

Zhou Yuwen wiped her tears and comforted her.

But Chen Rongrong only cried louder.

"Z-Zhou Yuwen..."

Chen Rongrong felt terribly aggrieved. She felt that Zhou Yuwen was opening his heart to her. He had even told her about his family, so what did she have left to hide?

Maybe Zhou Yuwen had known all along.

She was the only one being false.

"I don't have a dad."

At that, Chen Rongrong cried even louder. She buried her head in Zhou Yuwen's arms and wept as if her heart were breaking, crying out all the grievances she had suffered over the years.

After that, Chen Rongrong told Zhou Yuwen everything about herself, including how she had been staying with her uncle's family, how they had mistreated her, and how they had bullied her that day.

She was homeless, and she had only a little over ten yuan on her.

If not for Zhou Yuwen, she wouldn't even have known how to get through the night.

Chen Rongrong held Zhou Yuwen around the neck and poured out all her grievances in one breath. Her chest pressed softly against his.

There were times when having a young body wasn't so good. Zhou Yuwen was at an age when his blood ran hot, and he had kept exercising since his rebirth without ever finding release.

By now, he was terribly pent-up.

Zhou Yuwen knew he shouldn't be thinking about such things at a time like this.

But he couldn't control his body.

Zhou Yuwen could only force himself not to think about it, tilting his head back and letting Chen Rongrong cry in his arms.

He patted her back and said, "It's all right, it's all right."

"I'm here. I was wondering what it was."

"Don't be afraid."

He didn't know how long she cried. When he checked the time afterward, it was nearly eleven at night. Chen Rongrong had cried to her heart's content, and when she was done, her eyes were red, giving her a somewhat more pitiful, endearing look.

She said, "Thank you."

"Mm."

Now that Chen Rongrong had told Zhou Yuwen everything, he asked what she planned to do next.

Wiping her tears, Chen Rongrong said she planned to borrow two hundred yuan from Zhou Yuwen and find a hotel to stay in for the night.

Zhou Yuwen said, "It's not safe for a girl to stay in a hotel alone, especially this late. What if someone sees how pretty you are and has bad intentions?"

Chen Rongrong was a little frightened when she heard that.

"Forget it. Eat first, then come with me when you're done. I'll find you a more reliable hotel."