Chapter Twenty-One Leaf

  At this corner, you can enter the alley on the street. The girl looks out at the outside world like a young bird yearning to fly. People on the road keep passing by the entrance of this world. The girl is very afraid of these people, but she wants to survive like them.

  A few students wearing school uniforms walked past her, and the girl shrank her body even tighter. She had been bullied by people wearing the same clothes before, she knew they were students because she was one too, two years ago.

  These students did not discover Ya Tou, or rather no one would have discovered her, like people from two different worlds, she was so humble and dirty, while the people from another world were so beautiful and bright.

  The girl watched as group after group of people passed by, carefully keeping herself from being discovered, looking at the world with a humble gaze, and the world only gave her humble pity.

  Another student passes by her world, when will grandpa come back, my stomach hurts so much, am I going to die like this? If I die, will anyone remember me, besides grandpa, probably no one else will.

  Having seen too much of the world, others will also see you in the world. The student from just now poked his head out from outside the wall, looking uncertainly into the alley until he saw Ya Tou.

  The girl also saw the young man, she timidly hugged her legs tightly and buried her head deeply until the young man left, only then did she dare to look at this world again. For some reason, the girl suddenly felt like crying, the misty air blurred this world, she missed home, but she had lost her home two years ago, so she thought of Grandpa Hu.

  After a while, Ya Tou heard someone calling her: "Are you hungry?"

  The girl wiped away the mist and found another smudge on her face. She recognized him as the young man from earlier, and she didn't dare look at him.

  The young man looked at the girl, revealing a slightly embarrassed smile, his eyes not leaving hers: "You see, it's so cold outside and you're all alone here. I have some bread and water, my money is limited, that's all I can do." He held out the bag with bread and the bottle of mineral water in front of her.

  The girl didn't respond, but instead humbly moved in the opposite direction of the young man. With her head hung low, she dared not look at the young man's innocent smile.

  The young man saw that the girl hadn't taken the bread and was a bit at a loss, so he stretched out his other hand to grab hers and let her take it. But the girl was very dirty, her sleeves were often stained black with grime and dust, and her palms were even dirtier than her clothes. The young man hesitated, his outstretched hand hovering in mid-air.

  The hand stretched out in the air, the boy's fingers were long and slender, his skin was a healthy color, grasping Xiaotou's arm, as if passing on the light of one world to another.

  The girl was still struggling, pushing away the boy's arm, she didn't want to, although she didn't know why.

  In the tug-of-war between the two, the boy was knocked down, but he still clutched the bread tightly.

  The young man completely let go, no longer caring about the dirt on his head, he tightly grasped the girl's palm, the fine sand on it transmitted a feeling that made him uncomfortable, but he didn't let go.

  But when the bread was forced into her hand by the young man, she couldn't help but look at him. It was a very ordinary face, and in that childish smile, she seemed to see Grandpa Hu's smile, as well as something in his eyes that she didn't understand at the time, which represented what.

  The girl didn't struggle anymore, she silently looked at the boy, she didn't speak, her stomach hurt.

  "Remember to eat, I'm leaving." The young man's smile added a bit more.

  The boy left, and the girl looked at the bag in her hand, which contained something wrapped in a plastic bottle, while her hands were holding it.

  It's hard to predict the will of heaven, but suddenly a strange creature startled Ya Tou. It was a dirty and disheveled vagrant who rushed straight at Ya Tou, intent on snatching something from his hand.

  This is an adult, the girl was once again tormented by another world, the girl fell down, her stomach hurt even more, for someone who had been bullied all along, this was just too ordinary, but this time it seemed a bit different, she didn't want to let go of what was in her hand, that wasn't just food, the girl spoke up for the first time, and also said no to this world for the first time.

  "No!"

  It was a sound that I couldn't describe, it resonated through my soul. But it had no effect on the monster's body, perhaps this monster is even more filthy.

  The monster was like a thief, it ran away. The girl's things were snatched away, her stomach hurt even more, she lay on the ground unable to move, and in her eyes appeared the same desperation as before she met Grandpa Hu.

  No one will notice when a monster steals from another monster, no one will notice the despair in a monster's eyes, and no one will know why monsters become monsters.

  "What's wrong? Are you okay?" echoed in my soul, and I'm not the only one.

  The girl looked at the young man in front of her with difficulty, she wanted to speak, but her stomach hurt too much, and her consciousness was a bit blurry.

  The young man didn't know what he was thinking, he helped Ya Tou up, and Ya Tou leaned her whole body against him. She had no strength and wasn't heavy.

  A loud noise of an object hitting the ground, it was the boy's school bag, he threw his bag on the ground and picked up a hoe. Or you could say he abandoned his own world and took on another one.

  The girl saw the scenery outside the intersection, inside the world, it was group after group of people. Some people saw these two, and the girl saw their eyes on the boy's back, disdain, disgust, incomprehension, suspicion, even hatred, all sorts of different eyes. It was strange, why she was no longer afraid of these eyes.

  Heaven's will, some people resent heaven, some thank heaven, it's just that the people who look at it are different and have different thoughts.

  On the side of the road, several people were surrounding a person lying on the ground, next to which was a car with its front end embedded in the wall, and on the snowy surface there were four long tire tracks.

  That was a beggar, wearing tattered clothes, covered in filth, lying motionless on the ground, with some blood slowly seeping out of his body and merging with the whiteness.

  The onlookers nearby were pointing and staring, with several people even taking out their phones to take pictures.

  "This beggar is probably beyond saving, look at all this blood, tsk tsk."

  "This driver is also speeding, definitely can't stop the car."

  "Have you guys seen this old beggar before? It seems like we haven't."

  "Whatever, if he's dead, then he's dead."

  …………

  The young man didn't look at the crowd, he was a bit tired, but his eyes showed a gaze called persistence, just looking in a certain direction, and kept walking.

  But the little girl saw that the old beggar seemed to have some consciousness before he died, stretching out his hand in front of him. In those eyes that refused to die, there was a sense of urgency. In front of him was a broken bowl with no money inside, and several coins had spilled out beside it. The old beggar's hand hadn't reached the broken bowl, still some distance away. But that one hand stretched out in front of him made everyone who saw it understand what was more important to him than his own life.

  The girl's hands grasped the young man's shoulders tightly, and the young man thought she was in pain, but didn't mind, only quickening his pace slightly. But the girl saw the face of the old beggar, that was her Hu Grandfather, who had passed away after being with her for two months.

  The world seemed to have been muted, and the girl couldn't hear any sound. She wanted to cry, and tears streamed down her black face, carrying dirt and grime, dripping onto the boy's back, seeping through his clothes, bringing a chill, this was the life of that tear drop.

  The world had another voice, and this voice was brought by the boy.

  "All men need love." This was the youth's murmur.

  The young man's consciousness was a bit fuzzy, and the burning pain in his lungs made him sweat slightly even on a snowy day. His breathing became more and more urgent, but his footsteps remained steady, walking step by step towards the direction he saw. This sentence kept repeating, with a voice so small that only the girl could hear it, seemed to be the driving force for him to keep going.

  Two worlds gradually overlap, one speaking, one listening; one walking, one still; one carrying, one tightly clinging to his back.

  Her head hurt too much, the world in her eyes began to overlap, her consciousness was already blurred, she wanted to sleep.

  "Doctor, doctor, come and save him quickly." It seemed like a young boy's voice.

  …………

  "Acute gastroenteritis, needs immediate treatment."

  "This young man has fallen down, let's see what's going on."

  "It's nothing, just overexertion, I temporarily fainted."

  …………

  "It smells so bad and is so dirty, Doctor, I guess this kid can't afford treatment."

  "Cut the nonsense, saving lives is urgent. If you really don't have money, I'll pay for it. The child's skin surface has too many bacteria, let's disinfect with alcohol first."

  "Dr. Yang is a good person, and this child is also lucky, I don't know what he ate."

  These were the last words Ah-chu heard before she fell asleep.

  I can hardly imagine a 10-year-old kid carrying another kid from thousands of meters all the way to hospital.

  The girl woke up, looking around blankly. She was in a hospital room, lying on the bed by the window with crisp white sheets and clean clothes. The dirt on her body had disappeared, leaving only confusion. She missed Grandpa a little, and also thought of the young man. She didn't know how long she had been out.

  Outside the window, the snow can no longer be seen. A branch of a tree stretches very high, it's strange that the snow doesn't crush it, but on top of it is bare and empty, not a single leaf remains.

  The girl didn't see the young man and doesn't know how he is doing. The hospital is a strange place, it can make people's hearts feel uneasy, but also make them feel at peace.

  "Hello, this is today's lunch. After you finish eating, Uncle Yang will take you to a place." The little girl looked at the middle-aged man wearing a white coat, whom others called Dr. Yang.

  "Finish eating, come on, here are your clothes, put them on and we'll go. Don't worry, they're my daughter's clothes, seems like they're the same size as you."

  These are old clothes, a bit big. Dr. Yang's daughter should be a little plump and feels very loose when worn, the girl is too thin.

  In Dr. Yang's car, Ya Tou stared blankly out the window, unable to see even a hint of white; the snow had vanished and winter was over. She didn't ask where they were going or what would happen next - after all, the worst that could happen was returning to that dumpster again.

  "Director Chen, I'll leave this child to you. Ah, looking at him is quite pitiful." Doctor Yang said to a middle-aged woman.

  This Dean Chen has two places that attract Ya Tou the most: she is plump and she likes to smile.

  The girl didn't look at them chatting anymore, looking around, this seemed to be a big yard, with several old words hanging above her head, one of which was about to fall off. In front of the yard, there were also a few trees, all bare and dry, except for what looked like a small leaf on one branch, which would have been hard to notice if she hadn't looked carefully. The girl saw that little leaf and stared at it blankly.

  Dr. Yang left, before leaving he took a glance at Ya Tou, that gaze Ya Tou didn't know what it was, it was a thread of worry, more was relief.

  That chubby Dean Chen squatted down, her smile almost invisible under her eyes: "Hello, what are you looking at?"

  "Why did that leaf grow out and why did it fall down."

  Director Chen saw the leaf and was stunned by this question. It wasn't because the question was childish, but rather it had stumped her. She was thinking of an answer that could satisfy Xiao Tou's curiosity.

  Because, when winter is over, leaves will grow out from the trees, this is like a birth of life. Similarly, when spring is over, the vitality of the leaves will decline, and by the time winter arrives, it's their falling time, this is like a disappearance of life, but come spring, they'll grow again. There's a beginning, there's an end, an end to one life represents the start of another life. Life is precious because it can disappear, fragile, you know? That one leaf and other leaves are different, no two leaves are exactly alike, just like our lives, no two people's lives are exactly the same.

  The little girl looked at Director Chen with a seemingly understanding yet puzzled expression, as if she had grasped something.

  "The leaves above will sprout and grow because they have a tree to provide them with nutrients, protecting them from the harm of wind and rain. Only then can they grow big. For the leaves, the tree is their home. And when the leaves grow up, they will also protect the tree in groups, even using their lives to protect it. This way, the roots of the leaves won't disappear or die, and more leaves will grow out. Their death protects the next leaf."

  Director Chen's gaze at Ya Tou became increasingly gentle, her eyes and smile made Ya Tou feel very familiar.

  "Come with me, Yezi, this will be your home."

  "Leaf?"

  "Yes, your name."

  Ya Tou pulled on Director Chen's hand, and her eyes misted over. She knew why Auntie Pang's gaze and smile seemed so familiar - she had seen the same thing in Old Man Hu and the young man, although they looked different, but the meaning inside was the same, and it warmed Ya Tou's heart this winter, or rather, during the new year.

  This thread of warmth is no longer as fragile as before. He is very resilient, although very small, but the girl has a feeling that this thread of warmth will become very big.

  "Aunt Chen, what's that character?"

  "That one, read 'home', these few words read 'our home'"

  In dreams and out of dreams, a drop of crystal clear water slid across the clean white cheek, one drop after another on the ground, one drop after another on the warm bed.

  Leaves rely on trees to live, and trees form a forest in groups.