The Shortest Romance in History

Shen Fu and President Bai had ordered a pot of frog hotpot. While waiting for the dish, they observed the couple who didn't seem to match very well.

Shen Fu clicked his tongue in praise: "Little Qiu is indeed a master of online dating. She can even capture the heart of a high school boy!"

President Bai glanced at him: "You're not much better. Zitu is also a high school student."

"She must have graduated from high school, right?" Shen Fu rubbed his chin in thought.

"How can a sixteen-year-old graduate? Do you think everyone is Bai Kaoer?"

"What? Six... sixteen!" Shen Fu was startled.

President Bai asked strangely: "Why are you so panicked?"

"Oh, nothing." Shen Fu pretended to be calm, "I thought she was fifteen."

In his heart, he comforted himself. This body was already twenty-one years old, so who cared about the age of the soul? Speaking of the soul's age, he was also only sixteen, still a minor. Both were minors, so who was afraid of whom!

On the other side, the teenager said sincerely: "Sister, don't say that. A younger boyfriend has his advantages. Think about it, when you're old and your legs are weak, I can push your wheelchair to take you for a walk. If you find someone older, who knows who will push whom."

Chou Ju burst into laughter, her smile very bright: "No need to wait until we're old. Push my wheelchair for me right now. Come here."

Chou Ju patted her high-tech wheelchair, making the teenager freeze for a moment. He had only been looking at Chou Ju's face just now, and only now did he realize that the chair she was sitting on was not normal. He stood up and walked to her side.

Chou Ju pressed a button to back up a bit so he could see more clearly. This was the first time since she survived that she had met her online dating partner in real life. This was no different from tearing open her own wound to expose it to the boy she was very compatible with. Her heart ached, but she still teased on the outside: "Kid, are you scared?"

The teenager was stunned, then squatted down and tapped Chou Ju's wheelchair: "Wow, this must be very expensive, right? It feels so cool! What kind of motor does it use, sister?"

"Cool? Motor?" Chou Ju couldn't understand the thinking of today's youth. She was a disabled person, yet he found this wheelchair cool?

Just as Chou Ju was about to get angry, the teenager suddenly pulled up his pant leg, revealing a calf, and tapped it: "Sister, look at this of mine."

Chou Ju was dumbfounded. Metal? A prosthetic leg!

The teenager let down his pant leg and returned to his seat with steady steps, completely unrecognizable as having a prosthetic leg. He smiled and asked, "I don't know if you have a hobby of collecting wheelchairs, but my family has several prosthetic legs. I can change them every day of the week without repeating the style."

Chou Ju stammered: "I also have a few spare wheelchairs at home... What happened to you?"

"In middle school, I followed others to do wilderness survival, and then got bitten by a venomous snake. By the time I was taken to the hospital, my left calf couldn't be saved."

"Why were you so mischievous!" Chou Ju reproached, but sympathy welled up in her heart.

"You're still talking about me, it seems yours is even more serious." The teenager smiled and asked, "What happened to you?"

"After graduating from college, I insisted on traveling abroad and even dragged my boyfriend along. As a result, that Southeast Asian country had a coup, and I was hit by a stray bullet in the back, damaging my nerves. I lost sensation from the chest down." Chou Ju gestured from her chest down. She was now like half a person dragging a body.

"So your boyfriend abandoned you?" the teenager asked angrily.

"Yes, he abandoned me and went to heaven." Chou Ju said lightly, but the rims of her eyes were a bit hot.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." The teenager quickly handed her a tissue, "Your ex-boyfriend was indeed a good person, but your current boyfriend is not bad either. Young, handsome, and rich. This leg of mine is made of alloy."

Chou Ju glared at him: "When did I admit you're my boyfriend? Are you kids all so narcissistic? I agreed to meet today to tell you to stop sending flowers to my company."

"Don't you like them?"

"Yes, I don't like them."

"Then I'll give you whatever you like. Do you like wheelchairs? I can make one for you myself."

Chou Ju didn't answer but asked: "What is your name?"

"Ma Huarong. Haha, sounds very rich, right? I'm an only child, no older brother." Ma Huarong joked. "By the way, I still don't know your name."

"You could even find my nickname and track me down to my company, yet you don't know my name?"

"I really don't. If I wanted to investigate, I could definitely find your photo and real identity, but that would spoil the fun. I still like to keep a bit of haziness for online dating, so that when we meet in real life, there's a feeling of excitement."

"Excitement? Doesn't this appearance of mine scare you?"

"Come on, the worst result I imagined was meeting a man. Fortunately, you're a great beauty."

"But I'm paralyzed."

"I'm also lame. We're two of a kind."

Shen Fu and President Bai's table was served with the frog hotpot. President Bai placed a stack of paper money and two coins on the table, looking like a kind of magic array to prevent Bai Shanshan from appearing.

"Wow, this frog leg is really tender!" Shen Fu exclaimed. Seeing President Bai looking at him, he quickly added: "But not as tender as your legs."

"Boring." President Bai glanced at him and then looked at the other table: "It feels like they are talking quite well."

Shen Fu looked over: "They're talking so well, why haven't they ordered? Are they too busy talking?" He called the waiter and ordered another identical portion: "Please bring this portion to that table. Don't say I gave it, and serve it quickly."

"Although he is a bit young," Shen Fu smiled and said, "if Little Qiu likes him, she can just raise him slowly. By the time he graduates from college, Little Qiu will only be thirty, still very young."

On Chou Ju's side, she was completely speechless with this kid. But thinking that the other party was also disabled, the harsh words she intended to say were choked in her throat. A feeling of shared destiny was connecting them.

"Sister, you still haven't told me your name."

"Shu Ju." Chou Ju suddenly had an idea: "If you can write my name correctly, I'll agree to let you pursue me."

"Sister, are you playing with words? Agreeing to let me pursue you but you still have the right to refuse, that's not fair." Ma Huarong replied slyly, "If I write it correctly, you must be my girlfriend, okay?"

"No using your phone to search. Tell me right now what those two characters are."

"The 'Shu' in 'Shu Ying', and the 'Ju' in 'Jia he chi tu hu', remove the tiger and it becomes 'Ju', right?"

The explanation was very strange, but completely correct. Chou Ju looked at Ma Huarong suspiciously: "You knew my name beforehand, didn't you!"

"I didn't."

"Then you're telling me it's luck?"

"Hehe, not really." Ma Huarong scratched his head, "I searched the company, and I remember all the names of the key leaders. Your boss is Shen Fu, the legal representative is Bai Xiaodie, and the General Manager is Shu Ju."

Chou Ju: "This is cheating."

Ma Huarong: "Is this called cheating?"

"Your frog hotpot, enjoy your meal." The waiter's voice interrupted their conversation.

Looking at the steaming dish, Ma Huarong quickly asked: "Your hands can move, right? Let me pick some up for you."

"They can move, no need." Chou Ju said coldly, "Do you know what it means to have nerves from the waist down necrotic?"

"What does it mean?"

"Eat first."

Ma Huarong took a bite, intending to put it in his mouth when Chou Ju said: "It means incontinence of urine and feces."

Ma Huarong's movement froze for a moment, then he took a bite. It was indeed very tender. He asked: "Is there anything else, sister?"

"It means unable to have children, no descendants." Chou Ju picked up a piece for herself, "And it also means no marital life."

"Don't look down on me just because I'm young. I know. Marital life, as long as there are hands, it's fine." Ma Huarong retorted.

Chou Ju narrowed her eyes: "This didn't scare you? So you still want to continue?"

Ma Huarong was silent, seemingly thinking about something. Chou Ju smiled, *scared, right? That's more like it.* "After eating, hurry back to school and study hard. Try to get a college degree."

"No, I was thinking that I probably won't study my favorite computer engineering in the future. I plan to apply for medical school. With a genius like me, maybe one day I'll make you stand up."

Chou Ju stared at Ma Huarong's serious face, and finally put down her chopsticks: "Kid, what on earth do you like about me? Can I change it? You don't know me. I have so many nicknames, and I'm very flirtatious online. I'm not a good person."

"I didn't understand your motive before, but now I do. Because of your inconvenience, you can only release your emotional needs on the virtual network, but you don't dare to face the person you like in real life."

"Have you ever been in love before?"

"No, but I'm very smart. I can learn anything quickly."

"Okay." Chou Ju said abruptly, "The bet just now counts as my loss. Now you are my boyfriend."

Ma Huarong was overjoyed: "Ah! I have a girlfriend, great!"

He shouted so loudly that Shen Fu and President Bai also heard him. Not bad, this kid succeeded!

"Long Long, I want to eat that."

"Okay, let me dip it for you." Ma Huarong was extremely active, his eyes full of affection.

The two dined happily, talking about many topics, all of which were extremely compatible. Even if they had different views, they could still debate excitedly. This was also the reason why Chou Ju could maintain an online relationship with this kid for more than a month.

However, President Bai didn't seem very happy. Shen Fu saw her frowning, her face full of pain, and quickly asked: "Ah, does Shanshan want to come out? If you really can't stop her, just let her out."

"Do you like Bai Shanshan that much?" President Bai's gaze became sharp.

"Not really, I just don't want to see you uncomfortable. Next time you come out, we'll go out to eat again, I'll take you to a movie, we still have plenty of time." Shen Fu held her hand.

President Bai shook off his hand and poured herself a glass of water: "It's burning me to death."

"Huh? Are you burned by the spice?"

"Of course." President Bai wiped her mouth with a tissue, "Why did you order the numb-spicy flavor?"

"I ordered medium spicy. There are only medium spicy, extra spicy, and super spicy." Shen Fu was helpless. He didn't expect President Bai to be even more afraid of spicy food than him. Seeing her appearance, he couldn't help but tell her about the last time he was made so spicy by Zitu that he had to be hospitalized.

Seeing him excitedly talking about his interesting memories with Bai Shanshan and Bai Zitu, President Bai put down her chopsticks unhappily: "I can't eat anymore."

Seeing this, Shen Fu quickly said: "How about I rinse it in water for you." President Bai didn't say anything, which meant she didn't object. Shen Fu meticulously rinsed each piece of meat in water and placed it in her bowl, and only then did she reluctantly continue to eat.

On the other side, Chou Ju and Ma Huarong had also almost finished eating. Being young and eating quickly, Ma Huarong looked at the pile of bones next to him and said embarrassedly: "I'm still growing, so I should be 1.8 meters tall in the future."

"You can be as tall as you want, just adjust the length of your prosthetic leg."

"That's not natural, sister. The other leg is real. One side high and one side low makes a lame person." Ma Huarong said, "Sister Ju, let me pay."

"No need, my bodyguard will pay." Chou Ju pointed to her driver-cum-bodyguard.

"Oh..."

Chou Ju continued: "Next, let's talk about breaking up. Actually, there's nothing to say. Our love ends here. From now on, we go our separate ways. You study hard, go to college, and find a girlfriend who can walk normally. And I will try to live well, and won't flirt online anymore. You are the last one."

"Sister Ju, why?" Ma Huarong was dumbfounded. Just now it was still very good, talking and laughing happily like when they were in an online relationship. Why did they want to break up after only being together for half an hour?

Chou Ju waved to her driver-bodyguard, who immediately came up behind her to push her wheelchair. Chou Ju said solemnly: "You are my second boyfriend, I admit that. But we are not suitable, so we can only stop here. In addition, don't abuse your hacker skills, use them for the right things. Uncle Chu, let's go home."

Ma Huarong put out his left leg to block the wheelchair's path, his eyes welling with tears as he looked at Chou Ju.

Chou Ju sighed: "How about I let you kiss me, as a breakup kiss, okay?"

Ma Huarong stared at Chou Ju, who had closed her eyes waiting. As a result, Ma Huarong withdrew his leg, stamped hard on the floor to leave a clear footprint, and then walked away with his backpack.

Chou Ju looked at the dazed Shen Fu and President Bai: "You two continue eating, I'll go first."

The waiter ran over in a hurry: "Ah, miss, this... this floor..."

"Ask those two for compensation." After saying that, she also left.

Shen Fu quickly said: "Just put it on my bill. Heavens, does this kid practice martial arts? I wonder if Sister Nam has this level of strength."

President Bai: "It was still so good just now, why did the negotiation fail?"

Shen Fu also didn't understand: "Exactly, I saw Chou Ju clearly smiling very happily."

President Bai sighed: "Perhaps she still hasn't overcome her own barrier. After all, she is disabled. When Xiaodie agreed to marry you back then, she also had to go through a fierce psychological struggle. To take that step, she had to use all the courage of her life."

Shen Fu held President Bai's hand: "Xiaodie represents all of you marrying me, so I will definitely give my full love to everyone, and absolutely won't fail her courage!"

On the bus home, Ma Huarong wiped his tears and sent a message to his most respected master.

"Master, I'm heartbroken."

"Huh?"

"My first love only lasted for half an hour."

"How much money did you lose?"

"It's not what you think, master. It's true love, not paying for services. It's the girl I told you about who is very compatible with me."

"Oh..."

"I understand why she broke up with me. Actually, my heart is also very conflicted. Her body is not healthy, and it seems modern medicine can't cure her. Our future is probably not very bright. So I plan to give up IT to study medicine. Master, I want to ask for your opinion on this. After all, when I was depressed about this leg, you were the one who led me into the hacker world..."