After class, Luo Shuyan and her deskmate, Ye Xin, were walking along the corridor to the convenience store to buy a mechanical pencil. Suddenly, they heard an extremely loud sound. When they looked in the direction of the sound, they saw a body lying on the floor.

Blood was flowing out from the person’s body. Ye Xin screamed. No one expected someone to jump off the building!

Thankfully, there weren’t any skyscrapers in the area. The tallest building was the dormitory, and it was 6 floors tall. If the person were to jump off from the top of that building, the outcome would’ve been even worse.

However, as a primary schooler, the sight was absolutely terrifying.

Ye Xin screamed while keeping her eyes shut. Ye Xin tugged on Luo Shuyan, and she accidentally fell to the floor. It was natural for humans to space out in such a situation. She opened her mouth and stared at the pool of blood on the floor. Just then, someone covered her eyes.

Shen Yan squatted down and covered her eyes with both hands. “There’s nothing to fear, there’s nothing here,” he said in a low voice.

School just ended, and the primary school kids were approaching the area. The adults instantly gathered together to ward off the children and to block them from the sight.

Luo Shuyan’s hands and feet were ice cold. She couldn’t help but shiver when she thought about what she’d seen.

Absolutely horrifying.

–

By the time Shen Yan brought Luo Shuyan home, Shen Qingruo had already heard of the news. She was about to head out to bring them home when they arrived. She let out a sigh of relief and said, “I heard that someone jumped off a building, you all didn’t walk pass by that area, right?”

Luo Shuyan trembled.

Shen Yan shook his head in Shen Qingruo’s direction as a signal for her to stop talking.

Shen Qingruo was at a loss for words. She’d never witnessed someone jumping off a building, however, she could imagine how horrifying it must’ve been. Adults would’ve been traumatized after the experience, what more young children.

When Luo Shuyan went to the toilet, Shen Qingruo pulled Shen Yan to aside and whispered, “Shuyan saw everything?”

“Mn.”

Shen Qingruo felt anxious. “How on earth!” She looked at her son and continued, “You? Did you see it?”

“No.”

Shen Yan was lying. He’d witnessed whatever Shuyan had.

He was also quite scared. However, his fear immediately subsided when he saw Luo Shuyan in fear.

In order to not let his mother worry about him, he had no choice but to lie.

For a moment, Shen Qingruo felt relieved. Nevertheless, her heart ached when she saw Luo Shuyan’s soulless expression when she came out from the bathroom.

Even if Luo Shuyan wasn’t her child, they’ve known each other for a long time, and she had developed deep feelings for the young child. She felt horrible when she saw the child’s pale expression.

Luo Shuyan hadn’t eaten much during dinner. She truly couldn’t stomach much food. She didn’t even touch her favorite pork ribs.

After dinner, she wanted to go home and bathe. Shen Qingruo worriedly asked, “Shuyan, why don’t you give your father a call and ask him to come home earlier from work?”

Luo Shuyan shook her head. “It’s alright, I’m sure Papa is busy after the long holidays.”

Shen Qingruo sighed. “Then, why don’t I accompany you back to your house?”

“Thank you Aunty Shen, but it’s really alright. I just need some sleep.”

“Fine, but feel free to come back over if you need anything. If you’re afraid of sleeping alone, I’ll go over to accompany you after I’m done cleaning up.”

Luo Shuyan smiled and her dimples appeared. “If I’m afraid, I’ll come over to find you, Aunty Shen.”

After Luo Shuyan went home, Shen Qingruo did the dishes and started flipping through some books. She wanted to find out if young children who’ve just gone through shocking events would need to eat medicine. Meanwhile, Shen Yan, who was doing his homework in the study room, paused for a moment before taking a book out from his drawer. He carefully opened it and there were a few pieces of bank notes. He pondered for a bit before taking CNY5 and held it in his hand.

He walked out from his room and told his mother, “Mom, I’ll be heading out for a bit and I’ll be back soon.”

Shen Qingruo didn’t raise her head before she said, “Alright.”

Ning City was a small and tight-knit city, so the neighbors knew each other.

Young children always went down to have some fun after doing their homework. However, Shen Yan didn’t like mingling with them, so after dinner, he would go to the bookshop outside their neighborhood instead.

So, Shen Qingruo thought that her son was going down to read books.

Shen Yan took the money with him. However, he didn’t go to his usual bookshop, instead, he went to a roadside stall.

The stall sold barbecue and fried skewers, and they had very good business at night. Luo Shuyan loved these, but she seldom ate them. Sometimes, she would buy a sausage from this stall after school and go home to have dinner right after. Shen Yan looked down upon Luo Shuyan’s love for roadside food because of how unsanitary it was.

He passed the money to the owner and said, “Two sausages and a portion of fries please.”

“Sure, do you want it spicy?”

“A little bit will do.”

While he waited for the food, he suddenly heard someone calling him from behind. “Shen Yan?”

He turned around and realized it was his schoolmate who sat behind him in class.

His classmate’s name was Xiang Fei. Xiang Fei thought that he had mistaken someone else for Shen Yan because he’s never seen him eat snacks in school.

He didn’t seem like someone who’d eat fried skewers.

Xiang Fei was out with his mother to buy shoes. He was going to leave after saying hi to his classmate. However, the smell of fried food was just too tempting. He tugged on his mother’s sleeve and begged, “Mommy, I want to eat fried skewers too. Even the smartest boy in my class is eating fried food.”

Essentially, he was trying to say that since even students with the best grades could eat food from the roadside, it would mean that the food wasn’t as unsanitary as they thought.

“If you get good grades, you can eat this everyday too. Just look at your results, do you think you deserve that freedom?”

“…Mommy…”

——————–