Lin Qing took the paper in his hand and bit his lips hard before bowing towards the director as if he was abandoned by his sister. Yes, he was already abandoned by his sister.

Until he walked over, the sun from afar was blood red and shone just like fresh blood. He took the paper out, squeezed it into a bowl, and tore it apart.

…

“Brother, where’s Sister Guo’er?” Rainy tugged Lin Qing’s clothes and looked up to ask him.

Lin Qing suddenly raised his hand and pinched hard on her shoulders.

Rainy flinched but still smiled.

“Stupid.”

Lin Qing pulled her hair down, and his smile was not genuine.

Everything seemed to go on as normal and had returned to the past, except there was a missing girl called Guo’er. Every time Rainy wanted to find Guo’er, the adults would all tell her that Guo’er left with her uncle; and she could see her when she got older.

Just that, when could she grow old? It was a problem that she had been thinking about. Mm, when would I grow old? She lay on her bed and started counting on her fingers.

“Mommy, when would Rainy grow older?” she asked her omnipotent mother.

Xia Ruoxin carried her and poked her forehead. “You’ll grow older when you want to. Rainy who is older, do you want to bathe with Mommy now?”

Xia Ruoxin carried her daughter into the shower. When she took off her daughter’s clothes, she found a blue-black on her body.

“What happened here?” She asked as she pointed at the blue-black on her shoulder.

Rainy blinked and shook her head. “I can’t remember.”

Perhaps, she hit herself. Xia Ruoxin did not think too much about it and continued bathing her daughter before putting her to sleep. After Rainy had slept, she came out and found Lin Qing still doing his homework.

“Xiao Qing, are you not going to sleep?” Xia Ruoxin checked her watch. It was going to be ten. Did children nowadays have that much homework to do?

“Auntie, I’m okay. I’ll sleep after I’m done with my homework. You can go first.” Lin Qing smiled at Xia Ruoxin before picking up his pen to continue doing his homework. Once he looked down, the smile on his face disappeared completely.

Xia Ruoxin arranged her hair and shook her head as she could not understand children nowadays. She went to sleep on her own as she still needed to wake up early the next morning. She opened her drawer, took out some medication, and applied it on her daughter’s blue-black.

“Weren’t you very obedient in the past? Why do you have so many injuries now?” She pinched her daughter’s face lightly and could not deal with her. Indeed, when was she going to grow up?

However, when Rainy grew up, this mother of hers would be old.

She did not know what she would look like when she was old.

Thinking back, one’s life was indeed pretty short.

She did not know if she was overthinking as she thought about aging and death.

She closed her eyes, and the wind blew the curtain lightly, bringing in a light breeze. It seemed that the start of autumn was going to end and winter was near.

Outside, after Lin Qing had finished his homework, he packed his bag and sat in the living room. He turned around to stare at the door that was shut tightly. Suddenly, he broke into a smile.

Sleep then… he grinned. Sleep all you want…

Then, he went back into this room and did not sleep the entire night.

…

Rainy took out the necklace from her pocket. It was really yellow. However, she did not like it; she liked butterfly knots instead. She lay on the bed and took out a small wooden box from under the bed and put the necklace inside before closing it. This was her treasure box. Her mother said that these were all her items since she was young, and she had to keep them until she was older. Then, she started thinking about the same question again. When would she grow older?

However, no one could answer her.

“Brother.” She ran out, and the first thing she did was to look for Lin Qing.

“Brother,” she yelled again. In the end, she called her mother out instead of her brother.

“Mommy, where’s Brother?” She ran out and hugged her mother’s legs.

“You’re too lazy. Brother has gone to school.” Xia Ruoxin carried her daughter. “Come, let’s eat. Mommy will bring you to kindergarten before going to work.”

Rainy sat quietly and used her spoon to dig for rest. She seemed to have grown chubbier, and her face was starting to look healthier lately. Xia Ruoxin remembered what the doctor said about eating bland food so she put less salt in everything. This child only had one kidney left so she could not eat too much salt and had to cut down on them day by day.

She brought her daughter to kindergarten and went to work herself. She was busy the whole day but not sure with what. When she went home—after a day’s worth of not-very-tiring work, she still could not relax much.

When she was about to open the door, her phone rang.

“Hello?” She placed the phone beside her ear. It was a stranger’s number.

The voice that came from the other end was light and weak as if it came from the sky.

“Brother San…”

Xia Ruoxin was stunned.

This voice… this name…

“Shen Wei, are you Shen Wei?” She held her phone tightly. This was Shen Wei’s voice; she was not mistaken.

“Ruoxin…” Shen Wei also recognized her voice. “Why is it you? Oh, sorry. I dialed wrongly.”

“It’s okay.” Xia Ruoxin smiled. She had not seen Shen Wei in a long time and did not know what happened to her. At this time, there was a painful moan from the other end.

“Shen Wei, what happened to you?” Xia Ruoxin was frightened. What happened to this woman?

“Nothing.” Shen Wei smiled rarely and held her stomach. “It’s something small, don’t worry.”

“Where are you?” Xia Ruoxin turned around and ran out without a care.

Shen Wei did not want to trouble her at the beginning, but she really could not take it anymore. She did not know if she had the energy to make another call, and her phone was running out of battery.

“Don’t move. I’m coming.”

Before she finished her sentence, the call was disconnected. Xia Ruoxin hastened her steps and remembered the address that Shen Wei mentioned.

At that time, she had almost forgotten that she did not lock her house door; and the key was still stuck on the keyhole.