There are places where we can't see each other, yet we miss each other.

The file folder in his arms was burning hot from being held so tightly.

The fragments of the amulet in his hand were digging into his palm.

He spread his hands, trembling, and looked at the wooden sign that could never be put back together.

It felt like there was a wad of cotton stuck in my throat.

When he broke up with her, he held back a single tear.

When saying "we have to part ways".

He could even manage a nonchalant smile.

But now.

Looking at the broken amulet, he pressed the fragments tightly to his chest.

The warmth of their embrace still lingers there.

Tears streamed down his face like beads from a broken string, hitting the back of his hand and burning his heart with pain.

He dared not tell Jin Bao'er the truth, fearing that if he knew, Jin Bao'er would suffer along with him.

"sorry……"

He choked up, his voice hoarse and barely audible.

"I'm sorry..."

"Even the things you gave me..."

"They can't even protect them properly..."

"That's not it... It's just that I can't be a burden to you..."

The streetlights outside the alley were dim and yellow.

Rain drifted in and dampened his hair.

It was icy cold, sliding down my cheeks and mixing with my tears.

I can't tell which drop is rain and which is a tear.

……

Jin Bao'er has no classes in the afternoon.

The air conditioning in the library was too strong.

His fingertips were freezing, so he simply carried a bottle of Wahaha mineral water with him.

We went to the playground.

The lingering heat of late summer has just passed, and the wind carries a chill.

The boys on the playground, wearing short sleeves, were running and shouting.

Sweat soaked through the back of his school uniform.

Jin Bao'er found a step to sit down.

I unscrewed a bottle of orange juice and took a sip.

A sweet taste spreads across the tip of the tongue.

But I couldn't suppress the emptiness in my heart.

His gaze swept aimlessly across the crowd.

Watch that boy in the black jersey shoot a basketball.

The posture is very similar to Zhao Yuheng's.

Look at that tall boy bending down to tie his shoelaces.

The exposed lower back has smooth lines, exactly the same as Zhao Yuheng's.

He searched for an entire afternoon.

From the sun high in the sky to its setting in the west.

The sky was dyed orange-red, and the people on the playground gradually dispersed.

The shadow of the basketball hoop was stretched very long.

The water bottle in his hand was still more than half full.

When I got back to the dormitory.

It was already completely dark.

The eldest and second eldest were wearing headphones.

He was shouting at the computer screen and banging away on the keyboard.

Jin Bao'er quietly climbed onto the bed.

He held the black laptop that Zhao Yuheng had given him in his arms.

The computer case has a frosted finish and feels slightly cool to the touch.

Yet it also made him feel at ease.

Zhao Yuheng selected the peripherals.

The keyboard uses blue switches, which produce a crisp and clear sound when typed.

The mouse feels just right in your hand, like Zhao Yuheng's palm.

It is spacious and exudes a sense of power.

He fondled the computer case with his fingertips.

Fingertips traced every angle.

It was as if by doing this, she could feel Zhao Yuheng's warmth.

It started raining outside the window sometime earlier.

The drizzling autumn rain pattered against the glass, making a soft, pattering sound.

Temperatures in northern Beijing have plummeted.

There was no heating in the dormitory, and it was so cold that people curled up.

Jinbao hugged the computer even tighter.

My face was pressed against the cool outer shell, and I was in a daze.

He fell asleep.

When the eldest brother took off his headphones to pour water.

I heard soft murmurs coming from Jinbao'er's bed.

The voice was very soft, with a nasal tone of grievance.

Like a wronged kitten.

"Heng-ge..."

"You really don't want me anymore...?"

The eldest brother stopped in his tracks.

I instinctively took out my phone and pressed the record button.

"I don't like you because you're rich..."

Jin Bao'er's voice was choked with sobs.

Intermittent.

"I just... I just like you..."

"I love watching you play basketball..."

"I love hearing you call me 'baby'..."

"I really like you so much..."

"The kind of feeling I really, really like..."

The eldest brother stood still.

The sounds from the bed gradually subsided.

It turned into suppressed sobs.

He looked at the recording waveform jumping on his phone screen.

I sighed inwardly.

When Zhao Yuheng saw that recording.

It was already noon on the second day.

He didn't sleep all night.

Staying by the hospital bedside.

Seeing her father coughing and struggling to breathe.

My heart is breaking.

When it gets light.

He received a court summons and a payment reminder from the bank.

The house and car were all sealed off.

Everything that could be converted into cash was used to pay off debts.

Fortunately, he had saved some money for Jinbao a long time ago.

It's hidden in a separate account.

That was after he planned to take a vacation.

The money for taking Jinbao'er to Sanya for vacation.

When the court inventories the assets.

This amount was not included.

……

He sat in the driving school's rest area, clutching his phone.

The area around me was filled with people practicing driving, making a lot of noise.

Some people are complaining that the clutch is too hard to press.

People are discussing exam techniques.

He opened the voice message sent by his boss and held the phone to his ear.

Jin Bao'er's voice was choked with sobs.

It was soft and sticky, like a fine needle gently piercing his heart.

"Heng-ge...do you really not want me anymore...?"

"I don't like you because you're rich..."

Zhao Yuheng's eyes instantly reddened.

He raised his hand to cover his mouth, his Adam's apple bobbing violently.

Suppressing the sob in his throat, how could he not know?

I know that Jinbaoer always buys the cheapest bottled water.

I know that Jinbao'er would rather wait a long time for the bus than take a taxi.

When Jinbaoer learned that she had received the computer, her eyes lit up like stars.

But she blushed and said, "It's too expensive, I can't accept it."

If Jinbao'er is really after money.

How could I have been scammed out of the money I had saved up for so long by those scammers?

How could they not hesitate to give up their 1 yuan poverty subsidy eligibility to someone else after hearing how miserable the cheating couple was?

……

He listened to that recording over and over again.

Each time I hear it, the dull ache in my heart intensifies.

"What are you listening to? Something so precious?"

A coach in his forties walked over and threw a bottle of mineral water in front of him.

The coach had dark skin and calloused hands.

It's from years of holding the steering wheel.

Zhao Yuheng raised his head, his eyes reddening, but he managed a smile.

"Listen to the voice message my wife sent."

The coach was taken aback.

He then burst into laughter and patted him on the shoulder.

"You kid, you don't look that old."

"They're already married?"

Zhao Yuheng unscrewed the mineral water bottle.

I took a sip.

The cool water slid down my throat, suppressing the sour taste.

"Where is it too small?"

He said softly.

"I'm almost twenty-two this year."

The coach smiled and shook his head.

I didn't ask any further questions.

Zhao Yuheng put his phone in his pocket.

He stood up and dusted himself off.

The driving school's training ground is very large.

Several large trucks were parked there.

The car body is huge.

It carries a heavy sense of power.

He wants to learn how to drive a big truck.

It requires traveling routes all over the country.

We need to pay back the money we owe.

Pay it back penny by penny.

He cannot fall, because of those behind him.

There are others waiting for him.

Wait for him to come back and tell him.

Those harsh words were all lies.

Waiting for him to return so he can piece the broken amulet back together.

Waiting for him to go back, to say the thing I didn't say that day—

"I really can't bear to part with you."

The coach called his name from a distance, and Zhao Yuheng took a deep breath.

I strode over, facing the wind.

The wind carried the chill of autumn rain, yet it also carried a faint glimmer of light belonging to the future.