Romantic Bedtime Story: “Without Saying I Love You”
Haizi was a cripple, and due to his limited mobility, he rarely left home. One morning, the village chief came to visit him, carrying a bottle of wine and a cooked chicken. They spread a few newspapers on the ground, placed the wine and chicken on top, and started drinking.
After a few sips, Haizi asked, “Chief, what brings you here to see a cripple like me?”
The village chief wiped his mouth and grinned, “Haizi, let me ask you something—do you feel lonely at night without a woman to warm your bed?”
“Are you here to mock me?” Haizi hated when people ridiculed his leg or the fact that he didn’t have a wife.
The village chief wasn’t offended. Still grinning, he leaned closer to Haizi and said, “You wouldn’t believe it, but a girl has her eyes on you! She asked me to come and see what you think.”
“What are you talking about?” Haizi couldn’t believe that any girl would be interested in him.
The village chief spat out a chicken bone and said, “I didn’t believe it at first either! But this girl is really into you! I’m not sure what’s come over her, but can you guess who she is? It’s Xiaomei from the neighboring village!”
Haizi was stunned. Since losing his leg, he hadn’t left the village, but he knew about Xiaomei. She was a pitiful girl, orphaned at a young age and raised by her grandmother. Fortunately, with government support, she was able to go to school, and a few years ago, he heard she went off to university.
Seeing Haizi’s dazed expression, the village chief continued, “Xiaomei just graduated from university and will soon start working at a big company. She’s been back three times already, insisting that she won’t marry anyone but you! At first, I thought she’d lost her mind. But she kept insisting, so here I am.”
Haizi was completely dumbfounded. The village chief went on about Xiaomei, but Haizi just kept drinking, his mind elsewhere.
The bottle was soon empty, and as the village chief was about to leave, he patted Haizi on the shoulder and said, “So, what should I tell her? I need to give her an answer.”
Haizi looked at his crippled left leg, his eyes welling up, and said, “Tell her I know what I am. A swan doesn’t belong in a toad’s mouth.”
The village chief gave Haizi a strange look but said nothing more before leaving.
Two days later, the village chief came back with another message from Xiaomei. As they drank together again, the village chief, slightly tipsy, grumbled about the unfairness of the world, “I just don’t get it. Xiaomei is in her early twenties, and you’re almost forty, with a crippled leg. But she insists on marrying you!”
Haizi laughed bitterly, tears streaming down his face. Clenching his teeth, he spat out, “That foolish girl! Go tell her to stop trying to stick a flower into a pile of dung!”
The village chief’s eyes darted around as he slowly pulled something out of his pocket. “You should tell her yourself, so she understands that the horse’s door doesn’t match the pig’s window. Here, she asked me to give this to you. She said that once you see it, you’ll understand her feelings.”
Haizi took a closer look. The village chief handed him an old copper coin, worn smooth and shiny from years of being carried around. It hung from a thin red string, clearly a keepsake.
“What’s this for? Get out!” Haizi suddenly flew into a rage, slapped the coin from the village chief’s hand, and angrily smashed the wine bowl on the ground.
The village chief, startled and angry, shouted, “I was just trying to help, and you throw a fit at me!” With that, he quickly left.
After the chief was gone, Haizi slumped to the ground, pulling at his hair in frustration. Just then, a warm hand gently rested on his shoulder. Haizi shuddered and looked up to see a beautiful young woman standing before him. Even though it had been years, he recognized her immediately—it was Xiaomei.
Seeing Haizi in such a state, Xiaomei’s eyes filled with tears. She knelt down and looked into his face, softly asking, “Have you been well?”
Haizi couldn’t bear to meet her gaze. He turned his head away and said, “You’re making a fool of yourself. Why are you here? Just go.”
Xiaomei slowly picked up the fallen copper coin, held it in her palm, and murmured, “I’ve kept this coin with me for over ten years. Do you know how many people laughed at me, saying it’s outdated to carry something like this? But I never cared about what others said or laughed at. I never threw it away. Now, I’m returning it to you, safe and sound. Why won’t you accept it?”
Haizi bit his lip and remained silent. Xiaomei pressed the coin into his hand, “Take it! You’re no less than anyone else. Even if you don’t marry me, I’ll take care of you for the rest of your life!”
Haizi roared in frustration, overturning the wine bowl in front of him. He pushed himself up onto his small stool and hurriedly tried to move away. But as he crossed the threshold, he tripped and tumbled outside, looking utterly pitiful. Xiaomei rushed to support him, but Haizi angrily shoved her away, “You don’t owe me anything!”
Xiaomei was taken aback, her tearful eyes fixed on Haizi as she softly shook her head, “No, you’re wrong. I’m not here because of what you did for me back then. I truly want to marry you!”
“I don’t want to hear it! Leave, or I’ll kill myself right here!” Haizi shouted stubbornly.
Feeling deeply hurt, Xiaomei finally turned to leave, looking back with every step.
Haizi dragged himself back inside and, seeing the copper coin on the ground, picked it up and clenched it tightly in his hand. As he held it, memories began to flood his mind.
Over ten years ago, Haizi was a young man in his twenties, working at a quarry, responsible for setting off explosives to break rocks. One day, after having a few drinks, he went to set the charges while the other workers stayed far away. As he was about to leave the area, he spotted a girl, about eleven or twelve years old, digging for something nearby, completely unaware of the danger.
Haizi froze for a moment, unsure how she had suddenly appeared there. The explosives were set to go off in just five minutes. Without thinking, he grabbed the girl and started running down the hill.
But the girl, unaware of the danger, bit his hand and tried to run back to where she had been.
“Damn it! Do you want to die?” Just then, the explosives went off, and the rocks began to fly. Haizi threw himself over the girl, shielding her with his body…
When he woke up, Haizi had lost his left leg. He later learned that the girl was Xiaomei, who had been digging for plantain herb for her sick grandmother. Not long after Haizi regained consciousness, his girlfriend heartlessly left him. Despite her young age, Xiaomei came to visit him every day, taking care of him. She tearfully promised, “Uncle, you lost your leg saving me. If no other girl is willing to marry you, I will when I grow up.”
Haizi had never taken her words seriously and laughed, asking, “My girlfriend left me after seeing my condition, but you say you’ll marry me when you grow up? Won’t you regret it?”
“No, I won’t!” Xiaomei nodded firmly.
Haizi then took off the copper coin he wore around his neck and, jokingly, said, “Wear this coin. If you ever regret your promise, you can throw it away.”
Haizi never imagined that ten years later, Xiaomei would return, determined to marry him.
No matter how hard he tried, Haizi couldn’t understand it. One night, under the cover of darkness, he painfully dragged himself away from the village, leaving everything behind. From then on, Haizi wandered from city to city, surviving as a beggar.
One day, while begging on the street, a young man excitedly ran up to him, scrutinizing him closely.
Haizi was confused, “What’s going on? What looks familiar?”
The young man pulled out his phone, tapped a few buttons, and showed Haizi the screen. Although the screen was small, Haizi could see clearly. It was a chat record from a QQ group. There was a message looking for someone: “A man in his forties, who lost his left leg saving a girl. The girl promised to marry him but he has since left home. He gets around using a small stool he made himself. If any kind soul finds him, please take him in. There will be a generous reward!”
At the bottom was a phone number and the name Xiaomei. There was also a photo—of Haizi.
The last line of the message read: “Haizi, if I can’t be your bride, then let me be your sister?”
Haizi stared at the screen, overwhelmed, and suddenly broke down in tears.
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
