Going home for Chinese New Year, I squeezed onto a bus with three energetic young women.

what?

Bai Li was immediately puzzled.

I originally thought the pink-haired girl would be the one to trigger the reward.

How did it become Xiao Shuang?

Has Xiaoshuang finished collecting all the stars?

Just as he was thinking.

"Squeak—"

Lin Xiaoshuang's door was pushed open from the inside.

She had dark circles under her eyes, her blond hair was sticking up in a messy, unruly manner, and there was half a piece of tape stuck to her clothes.

She was holding the glass jar tightly in her arms.

The jar was translucent and filled with colorful paper stars.

Upon closer inspection, you can see that the surface of each star reflects the light of transparent tape.

Those are the traces of something that was torn into pieces, pieced back together bit by bit, glued back together, and then barely folded back into its original shape.

Looking at the newly added Deadpool, Bai Li didn't think about the grand prize; instead, a bitter feeling welled up inside him.

"Xiao Shuang..." Bai Li stood up.

Lin Xiaoshuang, holding the jar, ran excitedly to him.

But after she stood still, her eyes reddened:

"Big...Big brother, I've finished putting it together!"

She held the jar forward, sniffed, and her voice was terribly hoarse:

"A thousand pieces, all here, I've finally put them all together."

She looked nothing like a spirited young woman.

Instead, she was like a little girl who had prepared candy by hand, nervously and earnestly handing it to her sweetheart.

I was afraid the other person wouldn't like the candy wrapper because it wasn't pretty enough, and I was also afraid they wouldn't accept it.

Bai Li raised his hand and ruffled her blonde hair, scraping off the tape stuck to her clothes with his fingertips, and then took the star-shaped jar.

Turning to the group of girls at the table, he greeted them:

"You guys eat first, Xiaoshuang and I have something to discuss."

Before they could respond, the two went into the bedroom and closed the door.

Bai Li placed the jar securely, pulled out a chair, and sat down.

Lin Xiaoshuang clutched the hem of her pajamas, leaning awkwardly against the edge of the bed.

"I was still young then."

She turned her head away, refusing to look at Bai Li, her voice barely audible:

"The books, written from second grade to sixth grade, are all in plain language and are very childish."

Bai Li unscrewed the metal cap, deliberately teasing her:

"What? A thousand stars, and they're all filled with love messages for me?"

"How could that be!" Lin Xiaoshuang jumped up and down in a panic, waving her hands repeatedly.

"A thousand! I was so young back then, how could I know how to write so much about love and romance? Most of it was just everyday musings..."

The more she explained, the redder her face became. Finally, she lowered her head and simply buryed her head in the sand like an ostrich.

"Really? Let me see how ordinary it is."

Bai Li reached into the jar, her fingertips touching a pink star.

The paper became stiff and brittle because it was wrapped with too many layers of transparent tape.

He moved very gently, afraid that if he exerted any force, this crystallization of his hard work would shatter into powder.

Gently pry open the corners and unfold it little by little.

The yellowed letter paper lay flat in my palm, the handwriting crooked and uneven in pencil, a mixture of pinyin and Chinese characters.

[Spicy chicken noodles are all the rage lately, and all my classmates are eating them. My sisters Tingting, Jiaxin, and I didn't have any, but they still chipped in to buy me a bag. I couldn't bear to eat it, so I hid it under my bed. Xiaoshuang, I'm worried you might not have any spicy chicken noodles either.]

Lin Xiaoshuang leaned closer and whispered, "In the end, because it was hidden for too long, it got gnawed on by mice."

Bai Li didn't say anything, and continued to take out the second blue star.

Today, Sister Tingting gave me a romance novel. The girl in it says that a man can't live without money. But Xiaoshuang doesn't think so. It's best if you don't have money. That way, we can squeeze into our little apartment and get closer.

The third one is purple, and the writing on it has some water stains.

[Dad hit Mom after drinking today. He smelled strongly of cigarettes on him. Xiaoshuang will never drink or smoke again! You're not allowed to either!]

Next, open the fourth one.

[Dad took Mom away, saying they were going to work in another city. Xiao Shuang is already in sixth grade. The last time she saw her parents was when she was in third grade. Have I really been abandoned?]

Sunlight shone on the note, but the words seemed lonely.

Lin Xiaoshuang squatted on the ground, hugging her knees with both hands and resting her chin on her arms.

No one knows what she is thinking at this moment.

Grandma's coat was tattered, but Xiao Shuang had a new one to wear. How amazing!

I really dislike my neighbor, Old Lady Ma. Today she took over Grandma's land. Well, not exactly took over, because it was originally her land. But it was a small patch of land she used to look down on. Grandma tidied it up and planted vegetables, and now she wants it too. But I'm used to it; it's always like this. Grandma says, "If this place doesn't work, then we'll plant somewhere else." Grandma uses these small plots of land that others look down on to support me, whom my parents also disdain and abandoned.

[I hope that in the future, I can live a happy life with the person I love, where we can eat our fill every day and I can follow them wherever they go~]

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