Waiting for love

Chapter 1

Because her parents were busy with work, Sofia was sent to the countryside to be looked after by her grandmother. There, she met a boy named Anthony. Although he was quite big, he was often bullied by Sofia.

Once, Sofia snatched a rock that Anthony cherished. Frustrated and out of options, Anthony stood on a stool, jumped down, and cried, "I don't want to live anymore! My dad said you're younger than me, so I have to let you win. This is driving me crazy!" As a result, he fell and wailed loudly. Sofia stepped forward, pinned him down, and said, "If you cry again, I'll hit you!" Anthony didn't dare make another sound.

The village primary school was not far away, and the two of them always walked to school and back together. Sofia told Anthony, "With me along the way, you don't have to be afraid of anyone." One afternoon, as they were walking on the road, suddenly three boys blocked their way and insisted that the two of them kiss! Furious, Sofia rushed forward and started fighting the boys. However, she was no match for them. Soon, a slightly older boy named Gouzi firmly pinned both of her hands behind her back and smiled at Anthony, saying, "If you won't kiss her, I will." Just as Gouzi was about to kiss Sofia, Anthony let out a loud shout, grabbed Gouzi like a madman, biting and kicking him. Obviously not expecting this, Gouzi was scared to tears, quickly let go of Sofia, and ran away. Seeing this, the other two boys fled without a word.

Only then did Sofia realize that Anthony was actually quite strong, and she felt very safe having him by her side. Before long, Sofia's parents arrived and took both Sofia and her grandmother back to the city. Upon parting, Anthony gave all his colorful stones to Sofia.

Sofia adapted to her new environment, made some new friends, and didn't feel lonely on her walk home from school. But strangely enough, whenever she walked alone, she would always wonder: What is Anthony like when he walks alone? She wrote a letter to Anthony, telling him about some of the things she had seen and heard in the city, but Anthony never replied.

She felt quite deflated. One day, just as she arrived home from school, to her surprise, she saw Anthony and his father had come. His father said to Sofia's father, "I'm so sorry. This stubborn kid insisted on getting his stones back. Can you believe this nonsense?"

Sofia's father smiled and said, "They're just kids, they're all like that. Sofia, go quickly and return the stones to Anthony."

Next, Anthony went to Sofia's bedroom to pick out his stones. Seeing that no one else was around, he whispered to Sofia, "I didn't come for the stones, but if I hadn't made a fuss, my dad wouldn't have let me come. I just had something I forgot to tell you: from now on, since I'm not with you on the road, be careful walking to and from school. If anyone bullies you, remember who they are first, and I will definitely take care of it." Sofia nodded. Anthony added, "Don't write letters anymore. My dad insisted on reading the last one first and even told other people about it." With that, Anthony casually picked up a single stone and went home with his father.

In the days that followed, due to heavy schoolwork, Sofia and Anthony gradually lost touch. During holidays, she wanted to go back and visit him, but each time it fell through due to one reason or another.

In the blink of an eye, Sofia entered high school. During the summer vacation of her senior year, she finally made a trip back to the countryside. She wanted to see Anthony, but who would have thought that just the day before, Anthony had been taken away by the police—word had it he was even going to be detained! Sofia was quite shocked, and upon asking, she found out that Anthony had gotten into trouble over a fight! While feeling a bit disappointed, Sofia felt that perhaps she and Anthony no longer had anything to do with each other.

Sofia did not go to college. After studying at a technical school for three years, she was assigned to work as a train attendant. It was already nighttime when she got off work, and Sofia was walking alone in a small alley when suddenly she felt like someone was following her! Her heart tightened. Turning a corner, she picked up a brick from the ground and hid in the dark. Sure enough, after the person walked over, looked around left and right, and muttered to himself, "Where did she go?" Sofia raised the brick and smashed it hard against the person! Taken aback by the blow, the man let out an "Ouch!" Sofia turned on her heels and ran. To her surprise, before she had run very far, two men suddenly flashed out from the opposite direction and smilingly blocked her path. What should she do? Before Sofia could even react, the person she had just hit rushed forward fiercely—not toward her, but toward the two men! Just as Sofia was wondering what was happening, after he beat those two men away, she realized to her shock that the person she had hit was none other than Anthony, whom she hadn't seen in years!