Qiu Yingying is reborn and bound to a learning system.

"Marx said that in the most difficult times, only you can pull yourself out of the mire. No one can feel your pain or be happy for you. The way to persevere is simple: love the positive and do the positive. Only in this way can you resist those things that try to make us negative."

Qiu Yingying saved this sentence to her phone's notes.

Ten days later,

The text message that lit up on the screen contained a few words from her older brother, Fan Shengying: "Mom and Dad are taking Lei Lei on the early morning train to Shanghai to avoid their debts. They don't have any money or cell phones with them. Can you pick them up at the train station?"

Fan Shengmei clutched the text message, her fingertips turning white from the pressure. The light from the phone screen made her face appear ashen. The clients across the table were still raising their glasses and urging her to drink, but the boisterous atmosphere sounded to her like it was through a thick layer of cotton—blurred and jarring.

She stood up abruptly, the chair legs scraping sharply on the smooth floor, drawing the attention of everyone at the table. "Excuse me, there's an emergency at home, I have to leave immediately." She didn't even bother to grab her coat from the back of the chair, grabbing her bag and rushing out of the private room. Her high heels clattered heavily on the carpet in the hallway.

As she hailed the taxi, the night wind rushed into her thin shirt, and she belatedly shivered. The taxi's roof light was blindingly bright in the darkness. She gave him the name of the train station, her voice trembling, "Driver, please hurry, please hurry!"

The car weaved through traffic. Fan Shengmei clutched her phone, dialing her brother Fan Shengying's number repeatedly, but only a cold busy tone answered the receiver. She then looked up her parents' numbers, only to realize that they didn't own cell phones—the elderly people back home always thought cell phones were a waste of money, and they relied entirely on her brother to relay messages.

A chill ran from the soles of my feet straight up to the top of my head.

Her brother ran away after incurring gambling debts, abandoning their elderly parents and four-year-old nephew in Shanghai like a burden. They had no money, no cell phones, had never traveled far from home, and couldn't even give her the exact address she lived in.

The train station arrived, and Fan Shengmei practically stumbled off, not even bothering to get her change. The square was bustling with people, and the neon signs were dazzling. She took a deep breath, clenched her fists, and began running around like a headless fly.

She rushed into the waiting hall, her gaze sweeping over every figure huddled in their seat. The place was bustling with noise—the cries of children, the chatter of passengers, and the announcements of arrival times—but all she could hear was the pounding of her own heart.

"Dad! Mom! Lei Lei!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, but her voice was quickly drowned out by the noise. She searched each seat, looking at every tired face, but she still couldn't see those three familiar figures.

The waiting hall was empty, so she rushed into the underpass. The wind inside was colder than outside, and the walls were covered with all sorts of little penises. Several homeless people were wrapped in tattered blankets, dozing in a corner. Using the dim light, Fan Shengmei walked forward step by step, her eyes scanning every nook and cranny.

"Dad, Mom, where are you?" Her voice was choked with sobs, and her footsteps quickened. Her echo reverberated through the corridor, but there was no response.

She ran to the exit again, watching the waves of passengers pouring out, her eyes stinging with tears. Time ticked by, the night grew deeper, and the temperature dropped. Her high heels chafed her heels raw, the blood seeping through her stockings, each step excruciatingly painful, yet she dared not stop.

She even asked the cleaning ladies in the square, the patrolling security guards, and the old man selling roasted sweet potatoes, and they all said they had never seen a family of three like that before.

One hour, two hours, three hours...

Fan Shengmei didn't know how far she had walked or how many times she had called out. Her voice was hoarse and she could no longer speak, her legs felt as heavy as lead. She squatted under the streetlights in the square, watching the people coming and going, and finally, tears streamed down her face.

She thought about her years of hard work in Shanghai, the money she saved by scrimping and saving to send home, and how her parents would always say the same thing when they called: "Your brother is short of money again."

[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name: ①⓪①ⓚⓚⓢ.ⓒⓞⓜ]

She thought she had tried hard enough and endured enough, but fate kept dragging her into the mire.

Just when she was on the verge of despair and about to give up, her phone suddenly rang. It was Qiu Yingying calling; it was Wang Baichuan calling Qu Xiaoxiao, his voice filled with anxiety: "Sister Fan, where are you? We've come to find you with Qu Xiaoxiao!"

Fan Shengmei sniffed and choked out her location. After hanging up the phone, she looked at her long shadow under the streetlight and felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

Not long after, Qiu Yingying, Guan Juer, and Qu Xiaoxiao were seen running towards her. Qiu Yingying was carrying a coat and put it on her as soon as she reached her: "Sister Fan, why are you so cold? Don't worry, we'll help you look!" Guan Juer had also bought sandwiches and hot milk.

Although Qu Xiaoxiao still looked impatient, she directly took out her phone: "What's the use of crying? I've already contacted the station police station and asked them to check the surveillance footage. I'll also ask the patrolling police officers in the vicinity. We're sure to find the person."

Guan Juer also handed over a bottle of warm water: "Sister Fan, drink some water to soothe your throat. We'll look for it together, we'll find it."

Looking at the three girls in front of her, Fan Shengmei's eyes reddened once again. In this vast city, during her most vulnerable and helpless moments, those who stayed by her side were not her blood relatives, but these roommates she had met by chance.

She nodded, wiped away her tears, and stood up. With them there, she felt as if she had regained a little strength.

Guided by the police, the group eventually found Fan's parents and Lei Lei in a sheltered corner deep inside the underpass.

In the dim light, Fan's mother carefully wrapped Lei Lei in a faded blue cotton jacket, humming a tuneless nursery rhyme softly. Fan's father squatted beside him, a cigarette between his fingers, the smoke obscuring his deeply lined face. The snakeskin bag in front of them was open, containing only a tattered quilt and a few half-eaten buns.

Upon seeing Fan Shengmei, Fan's mother was taken aback at first, then rushed over, complaining in a tearful voice, "Shengmei, you've finally come! That debt-collecting devil of yours has made us, the old couple, and the child freeze here for most of the day!"

When Lei Lei saw Fan Shengmei, he immediately crawled out of his grandmother's arms, tugged at her clothes, and cried out in a tearful voice, "Auntie, I'm hungry, I'm cold."

Fan Shengmei looked at the scene before her, her heart filled with mixed emotions. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end, it only turned into a weary sigh.

Qiu Yingying finally remembered what she had forgotten. (Angry) ╰_╯