The courtyard in the early morning was filled with a fresh, clean scent.
On the west side of the yard, beside the wall, stood a large elm tree with lush branches and leaves. Just one look at it made both the eyes and the heart feel refreshed.
The courtyard was located in Kangshi Alley. Most of the people living in this area were employees of Hongxing Machinery Factory.
Originally, five or six families lived in this compound. Later, when the factory distributed new housing, several families gradually moved away. Now only two households remained.
The Wen family—Wen Zhiting, his wife Xiang Qin, and their daughter Wen Xi—lived in the row of bungalows on the south side.
Across from them, in the opposite row, lived Master Zhou and his grandson Zhou Jingchen.
This place was very close to Hongxing Machinery Factory. Wen Zhiting was the factory director, Xiang Qin worked as an accountant, and Zhou Jingchen’s grandfather, Master Zhou, was a longtime worker who operated the boiler furnace at the factory.
It was convenient for them to commute—only about ten minutes by bicycle.
The location was also close to the middle school where the two children studied. If they moved to the newly assigned housing in the southern part of the city, it would be inconvenient for Zhou Jingchen to attend school because of his leg.
Master Zhou had once advised Wen Zhiting to move to the new residential area, but Wen Zhiting said they were already used to living here and felt it was good enough.
Master Zhou knew that a large reason they refused to move was to help take care of Zhou Jingchen.
Zhou Jingchen…
Whenever people mentioned his name, they would sigh softly.
Such a pitiful child.
To understand, the story had to go further back.
It was the winter of 1983.
A heavy snowstorm blanketed Pingjiang City.
Snowflakes fell endlessly from the sky. The weather was freezing cold—so cold it felt unbearable. Only children liked running outside in such weather.
At that time, Wen Xi was only three years old, a chubby little girl who waddled like a penguin.
She was wearing a bright padded jacket with large floral patterns and a little tiger hat, squatting alone outside the courtyard playing in the snow.
Her small white chubby hands had turned pink from the cold.
She pushed hard against a leafless locust tree, and the snow piled on the branches came cascading down in a flurry.
Looking up at the falling snowflakes, she giggled, clapping her hands and spinning in circles, revealing a pair of cute little tiger teeth.
While circling around the tree, she suddenly noticed something lying beneath it.
It was a little boy lying in the snow.
He seemed to be asleep, covered in a thin layer of white snow.
Wen Xi was curious but didn’t dare go closer.
So she ran back into the courtyard with her short little legs pumping hard.
Her parents weren’t home. They had asked their neighbor Master Zhou to watch her.
Unable to speak clearly yet, she grabbed Master Zhou’s hand and pulled him toward the locust tree.
“Ah! Whose child is this?” Master Zhou exclaimed.
At that time, Zhou Jingchen was burning with a high fever. His little face looked fragile and pale as he lay in the snow like an abandoned porcelain doll.
Master Zhou picked him up and immediately rushed him to the factory hospital.
After treatment, the fever subsided the next day.
When Zhou Jingchen woke up, the first thing he saw was a chubby little girl leaning beside the hospital bed, resting her chin in her hands and blinking her big curious eyes at him.
When she saw his eyes open, the girl first smiled brightly.
Then she hurried outside and called out in her childish voice:
“Grandpa Zhou… Grandpa Zhou…”
She was wearing split-crotch pants, and when she ran, her little body swayed side to side, the flesh on her bottom wobbling.
After medical examinations and learning about Zhou Jingchen’s condition, Master Zhou realized the boy had been abandoned by his family.
Zhou Jingchen had once suffered a comminuted fracture of the middle-lower section of the tibia and fibula in his left leg.
Doctors determined that the fracture had healed improperly due to poor bone alignment and severe damage to local blood supply, which interrupted the healing process and eventually caused traumatic nonunion.
His left leg was disabled, and he might never walk normally again for the rest of his life.
In those days, there were many abandoned babies.
Most of them were girls—or disabled children like him.
Fortunately, Zhou Jingchen’s muscles, nerves, blood vessels, and skin tissue in his leg were intact, so his appearance looked no different from an ordinary child.
Master Zhou asked where he lived, but the boy didn’t know.
When asked his name, he tried to answer, but his speech was unclear and no one could understand him.
Around his neck hung a small silver lock pendant.
Inside it was engraved his birth date:
October 21, 1980.
That meant he was a few months younger than Wen Xi.
Master Zhou reported the case to the police, but no news ever came about the child’s family.
Later, Master Zhou planned to send him to an orphanage.
But when he looked into the boy’s dark, clear eyes, his heart softened.
Master Zhou had lived most of his life single and childless.
Now that he was growing old, this child suddenly appeared. He wondered if perhaps heaven had sent the boy to keep him company.
So he adopted him.
The boy took his surname Zhou.
The name “Jingchen” was chosen by Wen Zhiting, whom Master Zhou asked for help because Wen Zhiting was well educated.
The name “Jingchen” meant that the child would not only possess an outstanding appearance and a bright future, but also precious inner talent and good character—someone who would grow into a person of both ability and virtue.
Soon the entire courtyard came to visit Master Zhou’s home to see the child.
Everyone praised how handsome he was. His features were so refined that they all said he would surely grow into a very handsome young man.
Some neighbors brought small clothes their children no longer used.
Others brought egg cakes and malted milk powder for him to eat.
The whole courtyard became lively.
Meanwhile, Wen Xi received praise from her mother and neighbors for helping Grandpa Zhou “pick up a grandson.”
Wen Xi was extremely happy.
While the adults sat inside chatting and cracking sunflower seeds, Wen Xi quietly climbed onto the bed and sat beside Zhou Jingchen.
The boy looked at her with confused eyes.
Like performing magic, she pulled a piece of candy from her pocket.
She unwrapped it with her tiny hands and stuffed it into his mouth.
Squinting her eyes, she asked with a smile,
“Is it sweet?”
The boy nodded vaguely.
The girl leaned close to his ear and whispered,
“My mom won’t let me keep a puppy… I… I picked you up… so be my puppy, okay?”
The boy didn’t understand.
She pinched his cheek and taught him,
“Say: Okay.”
After repeating it several times, Zhou Jingchen finally whispered the word:
“Okay.”
Satisfied, Wen Xi planted a loud kiss on his cheek.
Her saliva mixed with the sticky sweetness of the candy and smeared across his face.
The adults burst into laughter when they saw it.
Master Zhou had no experience raising children, and sometimes he had to work night shifts.
Seeing that Zhou Jingchen was still so young and might run into trouble if left alone at home, Wen Zhiting and Xiang Qin often brought him to stay at their house.
Whenever Master Zhou worked night shifts, Zhou Jingchen simply stayed overnight with them.
Xiang Qin even bathed him personally.
During the freezing winter, the stove in the house burned brightly.
The two children sat together in a large red plastic basin, their bodies covered in soap bubbles.
After washing one child, Xiang Qin wrapped them in a towel, carried them to the bed, dried them, dressed them, and then returned to scoop the other child out of the basin.
Zhou Jingchen liked the scent on Xiang Qin—it was a warm, gentle motherly fragrance.
He would wrap his small arms around her neck and shyly call out,
“Auntie.”
Over time, the couple grew very attached to him and treated Zhou Jingchen almost like their own son.
Whenever they bought clothes or food, they always bought two portions.
Whatever Wen Xi had, Zhou Jingchen would have as well.
Even when Wen Xi’s grandmother in the countryside made cotton shoes and padded jackets for her, she would make an extra set for Zhou Jingchen.
Master Zhou was very grateful and often brought chicken, duck, fish, and eggs to the Wen family as gifts.
For the first couple of years, Zhou Jingchen could only crawl, not walk.
Master Zhou made him a small crutch and patiently taught him how to place it under his arm and slowly stand up.
By the time he was not yet five years old, Zhou Jingchen could already use the crutch skillfully.
The first time Wen Xi saw him walking, she clapped excitedly and shouted:
“My puppy can walk now! My puppy can walk now!”
Zhou Jingchen looked at her and smiled shyly.
Wen Zhiting and Xiang Qin often reminded their daughter:
“You’re the older sister. You should take care of your younger brother and help him more.”
Wen Xi always replied obediently,
“Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll take good care of my little brother.”
But in private, she treated Zhou Jingchen like her personal servant, bullying him in all sorts of ways.
If she couldn’t sleep at night, she would jump onto his bed and bounce around so he couldn’t sleep.
When she didn’t want to eat vegetables, she secretly dumped them into his bowl.
When she accidentally broke one of her father’s glass cups, she made Zhou Jingchen take the blame.
When they bathed together, she would suddenly grab his little private part while their mother wasn’t paying attention.
Seeing his shocked expression, she would burst into triumphant laughter, her little tiger teeth gleaming.
Wen Xi had none of the manners of a proper girl.
She caught caterpillars, cicadas, and grasshoppers, then stuffed them into Zhou Jingchen’s clothes.
After teasing him, she ran away laughing, waiting for him to chase her.
But Zhou Jingchen, hobbling with his small crutch and sweating anxiously, could never catch up to her.
“Puppy, bring my shoes.”
“Puppy, pour me a glass of water.”
“Puppy, my back is itchy—scratch it. Higher… left… right…”
Wen Xi had been chubby since childhood.
Adults joked that she weighed as much as two Zhou Jingchens.
Her arms were round like lotus roots, her face plump, and her personality mischievous and naughty.
Once, Zhou Jingchen couldn’t resist pinching her chubby cheeks.
She immediately glared at him fiercely.
Wen Xi had a bad temper and unpredictable moods.
Whenever anyone upset her, she would take it out on Zhou Jingchen.
When she was angry, she would pinch him, twist him—or even sit on his face, suffocating him with her weight.
Seeing his red, struggling face made her laugh with wicked delight.
Wen Xi behaved so recklessly because she knew Zhou Jingchen never told on her.
He would only look at her with those clear, pitiful puppy-like eyes and say in his childish voice:
“Big Sister… if you’re wearing split-crotch pants… maybe don’t sit on my face…”