...

"Tap, tap, tap"

The clock on the wall chimed lightly as the second hand moved. On the ground, young children sat cross-legged.

He tilted his head slightly, like a small animal expressing doubts, looking up at the wall clock on the wall.

He looked about four or five years old, with hair that hadn't been trimmed for a long time and was a little messy.His hair color is very black, his complexion is very fair, his eyes are big and bright, unstained.

"What are you looking at?"

A girl asked with a smile from beside her.

The girl seemed to be suffering from albinism, her whole body was snow white, and her eyes were much lighter gray than ordinary people.

"Watch it go round and round."

The child seemed to be in a daze, he murmured:

"One lap, one lap, and another lap."

His eyes were hidden in the shadow of the over-long forehead, and the shadow blocked the light in his eyes:

"elder sister."

"Um?"

"What is this thing for?"

The child is staring at the wall clock in a daze.

Ling sat on the other side with her knees hugged, she slightly bent her eyes, and said in a patient and gentle tone:

"It's something people use to count time."

"time?"

The child continued to ask:

"Then sister, what time is it?"

"Time is an invisible and intangible thing."

"Invisible and intangible? How did people discover it?"

"Because time has quietly left its mark on people."

Ling patiently explained the children's weird questions.

The child nodded with a vague understanding.

He stretched his arms and looked at his little hands:

"Where is the mark of time?"

He looked at the back of his hand and the palm of his hand several times; he didn't find what his sister said.

Seeing him like this, Ling chuckled lightly:

"One day, Ye Ye realizes that her hands have grown bigger, her arms have grown longer, and she has grown taller. That is the imprint of time, and it is also a gift it left for Ye Ye."

"Oh...a gift."

The child nodded and sincerely praised:

"Time is such a good man."

The house they were in was not big, and there were only two of them living in it.

The child wanders around the room every day when he wakes up, and sometimes someone takes him out to play.He would ask Ling all kinds of questions when he came back after making troubles outside every day, and Ling would always answer him patiently.

Later, the child had fewer and fewer questions, and he understood more and more things.

"This world is so interesting."

Children often sigh like this.

It was another very ordinary day, the child stood behind the door of the room, he tiptoed to press the video on the door, and a man's face appeared on the small screen.

Seeing him, the child murmured:

"Uncle is here, I'm going out."

As he spoke, he raised his hand and twisted the doorknob, and the door lock made a soft "click".

Before he went out, he glanced back at Ling and asked:

"Sister, do you want to go out with me to have a look?"

Ling has been sitting in the corner of the room with her knees hugged.

Hearing this, she bent her eyes and smiled softly:

"My sister is afraid of the sun, so it's fine for Ye Ye to play alone."

The child nodded:

"Then wait for me to come back and tell my sister a story."

"Okay."

Ling seriously complied, and her white skirt was spread out on the ground, and was stained with a dark color by the shadow cast by the curtain:

"Have fun."

...

"tick, tick, tick"

The cold and narrow room was like a prison. The pale and thin young man sat on the cold concrete floor. The chill came from all over his body. He unconsciously hugged his arms tightly.

He closed his eyes, listening to the sound of dripping water in the corner of the room.

The room was dark, closed on all sides, without light.

The boy sat against the black-gray wall, next to a crack in the wall.

His hair was disheveled and covered his eyes.The exposed chin was thin and pale.

After sitting for a while, he straightened his arms as he did when he was a child, looking at his hands in a trance.

On the back of his hand are raised blue blood vessels, and there are bruises next to the blood vessels.

Those bruises are densely packed with pinholes, and they hurt a little when you move them.

"Is this the gift time gave me?"

The boy murmured, his voice was hoarse and he was extremely tired.

He closes his eyes:

"This world is scary, do you hear that?"

"elder sister……"

There was a long silence in the room.

Until a female voice came from the other side of the wall:

"Is Ye Ye in pain?"

"pain."

The young man looked forward blankly:

"They stuck a thick needle into my arm and pulled out the red liquid. They said it was useful, and they were going to use it to do many, many things, to save people."

He paused:

"But sister, saving people is a good thing, but why am I so sad? They want to save people, why should they hurt me?"

This time, Ling did not answer his question.

Ling couldn't answer the young man's question.

Until a long time passed, as if wanting to comfort him a little, a girl humming a tune came from the wall.

The melody of the song is gentle, echoing in the dark and empty room, it is especially soothing.

The boy closed his eyes amidst the singing, and the melody made him temporarily forget the pain.

"Thank you, sister."

...

Unlike the situation where he often went out when he was a child, the teenager stayed in the room for more and more time.

When they were young, the house they lived in was big and spacious, with sunshine and flowers outside, and the windows were clean and bright.

He also couldn't remember when he moved in here. There were no windows, it was dark and depressing, and a lifeless concrete wall separated him from Ling.

Ling never went out, she stayed in her room all the time, the boy almost forgot what she looked like.

But every time he wanted to find her, she would answer immediately.

"Sister, will we stay here forever?"

The boy leaned against the wall and asked.

"Does Ye Ye want to go out?"

Ling hugged her legs and sat on the other side of the wall.

"In no mood."

The boy looked down at the wound on his body:

"It hurts."

"..."

Ling didn't respond immediately, she seemed to be hesitating for something, in the end, she seemed to have made up her mind, and she spoke a little faster:

"Then I will go for Ye Ye next time."

This is the first time Ling proposed to go to the outside world.

"Ye Ye, take a good rest. I'm sorry for letting Ye Ye bear it for me for so long. From now on, leave those things to me."

"It's okay, sister."

The boy wanted to say, if there must be one person in pain, then he should come.

But when the next day, he didn't wait for someone to take him away, he called his sister, but no one answered from the next door.

Only then did he realize that Ling had really left.

That day, Ling came back very late.

The young man wanted to ask her if she was okay, but Ling seemed very tired, and he took a break after a few words, so he could only swallow the question back.

From that day on, the one who stayed in the room every day became a boy.

After Ling went out for him, no one came to him again. The injury on his arm gradually healed, and there was no more pain. The only thing that tormented him was loneliness.

Ling goes out early and returns late every day, and only talks to him briefly when he comes back, and whenever the young man asks about her situation, she always smiles and says it's okay.

One day, when Ling came back, she seemed to be in a good mood. She hummed a song, and the cheerful tune was transmitted to the boy through the wall.

The boy asked:

"Did sister meet something happy?"

"Yeah." Ling's tone was full of smiles:

"Meet an interesting friend, a very cute little girl."

"Really?" The young man smiled:

"so good."

From that day on, Ling Hui often mentioned his friend to him.

When he was a child, the boy told her the interesting things he met every day, but now, the situation seems to be reversed, the boy listened to Ling tell about the good things he met, and was sincerely happy for her.

He really wanted time to freeze at this moment, but the hands of the wall clock could stop, but the passing time would never.

Along with time comes parting.

The young man couldn't remember when it was, anyhow, suddenly one day, he saw Ling who was covered with scars in the closed room.

They are always separated by a concrete wall, so this is the first time they meet again after many years.But at that time, Ling was no longer the clean and white appearance he remembered, her face and body were covered with shocking bloodstains.

Her eyes were filled with tears, and the water mist wet her white eyelashes, making the already light pupil look hazy.

She stood a few steps away, with a slightly sad smile, and said to the boy:

"I'm leaving, Ye Ye."

...

Ye Fei opened his eyes abruptly.

His temple seemed to be exploding, the pain tore through his nerves and traveled to every corner of his body.

Ye Fei was breathing heavily, his body covered in cold sweat.

He didn't know where he was, he subconsciously wanted to reach out and grab the person in his memory.

His hands were grasping randomly in the air, and the picture in front of his eyes was still covered in blood.

He was so close to her, but he couldn't touch a corner of her clothes.

"I'm leaving, Ye Ye."

"Don't go..."

Ye Fei wanted to shout, but with all her strength, she could only make a little sound.

"Don't go."

A sense of powerlessness overwhelmed him.

Until his hand was held tightly by another person.

The man's hand was cold, but it gave him great strength.

Ye Fei seemed to have grasped a life-saving straw.

He grabbed the man's hand, his voice trembling slightly:

"Don't go..."

His consciousness is still at the border of chaos.

In the chaotic memories, Ling who was covered in blood hugged him in his arms:

"Forget it all, Ye Ye. Forget all the pain and everything about me."

"They promised me that from now on, you will have your own life. No one will lock you up, no one will hurt you, and you will be free."

Ling's voice was as gentle as ever.

She gently stroked the boy's head:

"It would be great if I could change Ye Ye Liberty."

"This world is beautiful, but what is terrible is only some people's hearts. Ye Ye, don't give up hope, you shouldn't be trapped here. Go out and have a look, look at the sunshine, look at the earth, and look at the kind and simple human beings."

"If one day, Ye Ye thinks of me, come to me again. But, let's not have that day."

"Ye Ye, have fun."

In memory, the person hugging him disappeared.

A strong panic surged in Ye Fei's heart. He was trapped in a nightmare and could not escape, so he could only hold someone's cold hand tightly.

The overwhelming memory fragments were all about the girl in the white dress and white hair. What he thought, saw, and heard were her gentle smile and tone when she spoke, and her singing that pulled him back from the brink of despair time and time again.

Those things mixed together will drive Ye Fei crazy.

"It's okay, Teacher Ye."

Until another voice appeared next to his ear.

The voice was a little strange, but also a little familiar. He comforted Ye Fei over and over again. Then, he put an arm around his waist and hugged him in his arms.

Ye Fei smelled a very fresh bellflower fragrance.

He likes the security that hugs bring him.

He gradually calmed down, and even the fear in his heart gradually dissipated.

Later, the man's voice appeared in his ears.

His voice was deep, gentle and firm:

"It's in the past."

A hand protected the back of his head, trapping him in a strong embrace:

"...not afraid."