Farewell, those naive and innocent years of youth

  The two of them left the house, Tian Tian adjusting Tian Cheng's hat. They entered a store and bought a bunch of gift flowers and cotton candy, Tian Cheng didn't ask her what she was doing, he just followed her.

  They walked through Pujin Street and Zhuoxin Road, passing several alleys, to a building that was still under construction. The building had only been built for a few floors, with a narrow original staircase. Tian Tian pulled Tian Cheng up to the rooftop, placing all the things they bought on the ground. She rubbed her frozen red hands, exhaled, and gazed up at the crescent moon, the weather was indeed clear!

  The lights of thousands of homes shone like a cluster of sparks, she knew that at this time, countless families were enjoying the brief warmth of reunion, and then they would return to their respective posts, waiting for this festival to revisit 365 days later.

  Occasionally, two fireworks would fly into the sky, rapidly bursting into a huge, dazzling flower, only to vanish instantly, and then another one would bloom. There were also distant rumbling sounds of firecrackers, reminding people that this was a grand and reunifying holiday.

  "We'll set off fireworks," Tian Tian said, pulling out a lighter.

  Tian Cheng didn't think she would bring him here to set off fireworks. His face was frozen red, and when he breathed out, his breath misted around him. He nodded vigorously, picked up a firework from the ground, straightened it, took the lighter from her, lit it, ran to a slightly farther spot, watched as it shot all the way up into the sky, "Boom!" turned into a dazzlingly colorful flower of flame. "It really is beautiful!" Tian Cheng couldn't help but exclaim, gazing at the firework.

  "Yes, we bought a lot of them, so we can watch it many times, hehe."

  They each held a lighter, happily setting off various types of fireworks. There were aerial fireworks, like the "Fairy Scattering Flowers", and smaller ones, like the "Golden Dragon Flying". Sometimes two would fly up into the sky together, sometimes one would go first, with the other chasing after it in a spiral ascent. They held sparklers in their hands, the firework sparks crackling, even their pupils were imprinted with the flowing colors of light. The faces of the two people flickered with light.

  Tired, they sat on the edge of the building eating cotton candy, with two cold flame fountains behind them, the whole city as their backdrop. One by one, fireworks rose into the air. The two little boys were laughing and chatting, putting cotton candy in each other's mouths. They were so happy, so blissful, as if they were the only two people in the world. Tian Cheng put his head on Tian Tian's shoulder, her scattered hair falling on his face, giving him a ticklish feeling. At that moment, no matter what, it was worth remembering, and truly etched in Tian Tian's heart, along with a small lock, unwilling to be casually turned over.

  "Sister, it's really great, what a big surprise." Tian Cheng said, looking at a distant firework.

  "As long as you like it."

  "You said, if we could be together forever, how great would that be!"

  "Uh-huh, of course I will."

  "Don't cheat me."

  "Hook", Tian Tian stretched out her little thumb and hooked it around Tian Cheng's finger.

  "Actually," Tian Cheng paused for a moment, "when Dad passed away, I wasn't very sad."

  "Why?"

  "I don't know either, it's just that I didn't have any feeling towards him, he seemed like other kind uncles."

  "Has he been bad to you?"

  "No, no, Dad is very good to me, but it's just that I feel like I'm not very important."

  "Hmm..." Tian nodded, "I understand."

  "Let me tell you a story for a change, it's always been you telling me, now it's my turn."

  "Good."

  "Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess who lived in a very, very large castle..."

  Tian Tian closed her eyes and listened quietly, Tian Cheng's voice was still a bit childish, he was very serious about telling the story, trying to make it as complete as possible, just like giving Tian Tian a surprise, she had given him before, and he also wanted to give her something better, love is not only taking, but also giving.

  Tonight, the moonlight is bright and clear. The fireworks are dazzling. People's shadows are swaying.

  After returning home, Lü Yanlan poured a cup of bedtime milk for her siblings, watched them drink it, then kissed their faces, smiled and wished them a happy new year, and promised them that when they woke up, there would be a big red envelope by their pillow.

  The next day, Tian Tian woke up to find that the sun was already high in the sky. She rubbed her aching head, wondering why it hurt so suddenly, and got out of bed. She walked out of the room and saw Alan wiping down the table. Her voice was still hoarse from sleep, "Morning."

  "Good morning," Alan said.

  "Has Xiaocheng not gotten up yet?" Tian Tian asked.

  "It seems not yet, haven't seen the young master."

  "I'll go wake him up." Tian Tian said as she walked towards Tian Cheng's room.

  "Miss!" Alan cried out.

  "What's wrong?"

  "Nothing... nothing at all..."

  Tian Tian inexplicably opened the door to Tian Cheng's room, and what she saw was different from what she had imagined. She had originally thought that silly little Cheng would be drooling in her sleep, but instead the room was empty, and the quilt was also disheveled, as if something was not quite right.

  Her heart skipped a beat, and she immediately ran to Lü Yanlan's room. As she had expected, Lü Yanlan was no longer there. She quickly walked in, opened her closet, and found that the leather suitcase was gone, as well as her black windbreaker. Suddenly, she felt a wave of dizziness wash over her, and she grabbed onto the closet to steady herself, taking deep breaths to calm down. Slowly, weakly, she walked out of the room...

  She grasped the railing and looked down at Alan who was still tidying up the room, saying word by word, "Where are they? Tell me."

  Alan stopped his action and looked at Tian Tian with sympathy, saying, "Miss..."

  "Tell me!" Her voice became stiff and cold.

  "His wife... she took the young master... to France..." Alan lowered his head, not daring to look directly into Tian Tian's eyes.

  Tian Tian propped herself up and refused to fall down. She gritted her teeth and said, "When are we leaving?"

  "Uh..." Alan hesitated with great difficulty.

  "Alan, don't push me!" Tian Tian almost yelled out, it was her first time losing her composure and yelling loudly.

  "They left at midnight, and the young master didn't know about it. It was the madam who put sleeping pills in the milk, so you didn't notice. The madam said that Miss is currently in a critical stage of her studies, and she will take you away in a few years..."

  Later, Tian Tian didn't hear anything anymore. She stared at Alan's non-stop moving mouth and his hair that was curled into small rolls, her vision began to blur. Her body felt soft and light, without any warning, she fell to the ground and passed out...

  "Miss."

  "Miss."

  "Miss."

  She seemed to hear the sound of scorching flames calling out to her, as if trying to drag her into the gates of hell. But she didn't want to wake up, she didn't want to open her eyes, and face that sinful, filthy world again. She started dreaming once more, a series of fragmented, sorrowful dreams, one after another, Tian Cheng's handsome face, still radiant with a gentle smile, kept enlarging before her eyes, he was laughing, yet crying, saying "Sister, why don't you want me anymore? Why don't you want me anymore?"

  "Sister, you chase me, chase me, hehe..."

  "Will we be together forever?"

  "You can't leave me behind, let's pull together, we'll pull together..."

  Tian Tian's tears fell one by one, yet she had no idea that she was struggling and wandering in her nightmare... In front of her, one vivid scene after another rolled on: she held hands with Tian Cheng, and he sang to her; they sat together on the small cottage in front of the rose garden, and she said that one day she would take him to France; at the sports meeting, he accompanied her all the way to the finish line; he told Zong Zhong to stay away from Tian Tian, saying she was his and not to be taken away; and they went together to set off fireworks, which were so dazzling that they hurt her eyes...

  He left, just like that, quietly and without a word, he was already far away from her, completely withdrawn from her world. The next time he woke up would be in some room in Paris, staring at the European-style ceiling, with his parents who loved him by his side. He would attend school and play with those blonde-haired, blue-eyed kids like a little aristocrat. Years later, he would speak fluent French and English. She had completely faded out of his world, from then on, she was left to live alone in solitude. That simple, bright, kind, lovely boy, I have to say goodbye to you, is that right?

  Goodbye, young man.

  But I miss you.