"Lei Nuwa! How could you be so clumsy?" Lei Nuwa had opened her eyes to the sound of crashing glass. As she looked down, she saw that she had accidentally crushed an empty wine glass in her hand. This had always been her first feeling after being reborn; the stinging of the glass shards and the screams of the women at the table beside her.
In her past lives, Nuwa had tried different approaches. In her first, she began to frantically clean and apologize. In her next life, she attempted to blame the glass makers. In all situations, she had earned the same reaction. Scorn by her family, disdain from Liu Yichen, mockery from Shi Qian.
"Apologies to everyone I have disturbed. Lei Nuwa will excuse herself now." Those around her were shocked by her cold reaction. A usually timid and wavering girl, one would think she was dead after seeing her drastic changes.
"Liu Yichen, you should escort your fiance to the kitchen in order to apply first aid." Liu Yichen's grandmother had been the first to speak out. The way she said it showed everyone at the table that she could care less about what Liu Yichen did- it was only to save face. Yichen stopped his conversation with Shi Qian and stared, annoyed, at Lei Nuwa. He looked back and forth between his grandmother and his fiance, his reluctance screaming loud in his silence. His obvious refusal to help Nuwa made those at the table whisper amongst themselves. Lei Nuwa could not help but feel a small twinge in her heart, however she never made a move to look at him. After four lifetimes, she had grown numb to his coarse actions and words.
"It is okay, Grandmother Liu. I can apply my wounds myself." This had happened in her previous life– she had gone alone, and came back to the entire table laughing and gazing lovingly at Shi Qian. She had been completely forgotten. It was her plan to be forgotten again, but like always, fate did not adhere to her wishes.
A young man stood up abruptly from his seat.
"Elder Liu, I will assist Lei Nuwa with her injuries. Please excuse me." Nuwa's eyes whipped at the vaguely familiar voice. When he came into view, she could not contain her surprise.
"You?" Xu Zihao had not interacted with Nuwa in any of her lives, but he had always hung around her fiance and Shi Qian. He was well known and well liked at the school– he was a 'bad boy' that eventually grew into a successful businessman. In the future, he would make an international name for himself.
He was also famously known around school for having an unrequited crush on Shi Qian.
Lei Nuwa was not even aware that he had been at the lunch, despite the fact it was her fifth time doing it. Others at the table were stunned to see the handsome boy rush to help the engaged, plain and pathetic girl they saw. They were even more stunned to hear her reaction; even Xu Zihao himself seemed to be taken aback by her response.
Lei Nuwa coughed. "I- I apologize, young master Xu. The pain from my hand must have gone to my head." She turned and began to speed walk towards the kitchen, hoping the incident would be outshined by Shi Qian and Liu Yichen. She felt helpless at the sound of Xu Zihao's footsteps behind her.
"I appreciate the thought, but I really don't need help. It's just a few cuts." She ran her hand underwater and picked the glass shards out.
"You seem awfully calm for someone covered in blood." Xu Zihao leaned against the counter, folding his arms to stare at the unflinching Lei Nuwa.
"It barely hurts anymore."
"Barely doesn't mean not at all. Why so cold, Lei Nuwa?" Zihao moved towards her until they were inches apart. Nuwa's empty eyes stared into his. "You have some strength, crushing a glass like that." He reached up and grabbed rubbing alcohol from the cabinet behind Nuwa.
Within seconds, he had soaked a rag with the alcohol and pressed it to her hand. Nuwa's body, from four lifetimes of unbearable pain, instinctively lifted to smack Zihao. His other hand caught her skinny arm before it made contact, stunning them both.
"I am so sorry! I don't know what came over me…you can hit me back okay? We will be equal then. It wasn't on purpose, I swear." Nuwa began to ramble, as her memories flashed back to her first life. After being yelled at and disrespected by a drunk Liu Yichen, she had unknowingly slapped him across the face in an outrage. The result was a violent beating by Yichen; he justified it by claiming he was 'just getting equal'. Against her will, Lei Nuwa had begun to tear up.
She hated looking weak. She hated being weak. But she feared the anger of a man more than anything else in the world.
Xu Zihao looked down at Nuwa with a questioning look on his face. He saw her face change from anger, to fear, to sadness, to nothing at all. He said no words but instead began to bandage her injured hand. Nuwa, having come to her senses, was too embarrassed to say anything. They fell into an awkward silence while avoiding each other's eyes. As Zihao finished, he quickly broke away from Nuwa and created distance between them.
"We should return." Lei Nuwa nodded— her mind was still reeling from the violent flashbacks. She felt a numbness in her heart; as she finally sat back down in her seat, she refused to look in the direction of her fiance or the man who had helped her just now.
The lunch continued on as it always had, but Nuwa was dreading what she already knew was coming; the end of the lunch, and the beginning of her downfall.