Chapter 8: A Mei Family Daughter Grows Up (Part 5)
School dismissal was the best part of the day for elementary school students. Lu Li stood on the street, watching the children with their backpacks and little yellow hats. They were excitedly mimicking the actions of cartoon characters and arguing about which Pokémon was the strongest fire-type.
Was this dream not over yet? The street looked familiar. Lu Li vaguely remembered it was somewhere in Chuanhai. So, what time period was this? Was it the day Mei Jinliu died?
His gaze swept across the street, finally landing on a small figure walking close to the wall. Normal children would walk in the middle of the road, arm in arm, but this little figure huddled close to the edge, keeping her distance from others, like a lonely little animal. Looking closer, he could see that she was holding something in her arms, something seemingly very important, judging by her careful posture.
An Baili…
The young An Baili had none of the usual cheerfulness of a child. No one had taught her how to tie her long hair, so she just bundled it up messily with a rubber band, looking like a little vagrant. This is bad. Lu Li thought. He felt a pang of sympathy and cautiously approached An Baili. “Baili…”
Little An Baili flinched at Lu Li’s sudden approach, her small eyes filled with fear. She was so scared that she couldn’t speak. Within seconds, tears welled up in her eyes. Lu Li always thought he was good with children, but little An Baili wasn’t an ordinary child. She was a timid little girl who never dared to speak to strangers.
How did she become like this? Perhaps she was no different from other children at first, but she could never join their conversations. Topics like, “What does your dad do?”, “What’s your mom’s job?”, “Do you have any pets?”… She had fewer and fewer things to talk about, until only a lonely silence remained.
“Baili, I don’t mean any harm.” This sentence never seemed to have its intended effect. Little An Baili burst into tears, a faint blush appearing on her small cheeks. She looked adorable. The next second, she turned and ran in the opposite direction. She was afraid of strangers, so she chose to flee.
Just as Lu Li was about to stop her, the clumsy An Baili tripped and fell to the ground with a thud, followed by a whimper.
So she’s been clumsy since she was a child.
Lu Li walked over and helped little An Baili up. Her clothes were covered in dirt and dust, her jade-like face smudged. The little girl seemed to have hurt her leg. She sat on the ground and cried, her small shoulders shaking. Even her crying was different from other children. She never cried loudly to attract attention, she just silently shed tears in a corner, perhaps because she was used to licking her wounds alone.
“I don’t mean any harm, I’m your friend.”
“I… I don’t even know you…” Little An Baili’s voice was as soft as a mosquito. “Please let me go… I’m not healthy, my arm hurts, my stomach hurts, I can’t be sold for much…”
So she thought he was a human trafficker. Lu Li gently rubbed her head and wiped the dirt off her face with his sleeve, his movements careful and gentle, as if he were handling a precious jade. He suddenly noticed what An Baili was holding in her arms. It was a flyer for the newly opened aquarium in Chuanhai City, with a beautiful white dolphin printed on the cover. Little An Baili had drawn a smiley face on the dolphin with a red pen.
It was just a flyer…
As if sensing Lu Li’s gaze, Little An Baili clutched the flyer tightly, like a young dragon guarding its treasure.
“Do you like dolphins?”
“…Yes.” Little An Baili nodded slightly. But her father never took her out to play and never introduced her to anyone. She really wanted to see the white dolphins. They swam freely in the blue water, looking so graceful.
“I’ll take you there, okay?” Lu Li rolled up Little An Baili’s pant leg and saw a bruise on her delicate knee, a mark from her fall.
A hopeful light flickered in Little An Baili’s eyes, but the next second, she cowered timidly. “But… I don’t even know you. Teacher said I shouldn’t go with strangers.”
“I’m not a stranger. I know your name is An Baili. So we’re not strangers, are we?” After saying this, Lu Li’s head started to ache again.
“…Is… is that so?” Little An Baili clearly wanted to go to the aquarium.
Silly girl, you can’t be so easily tricked. To Little An Baili’s surprise, Lu Li gently lifted her onto his back. “Let’s go, to the aquarium.”
“But, but I can’t come home too late, otherwise, otherwise I won’t get any dinner…” Little An Baili made excuses.
Lu Li paused. He felt that he hadn’t hit An Gulai hard enough back then. He had heard that every girl was once an angel, they shouldn’t have to suffer in this world.
“It’s okay, I’ll take you home before dinner.”
“Is… is that so?”
Little An Baili was very light. Carrying her was like carrying a doll. She snuggled against his back, occasionally peeking out to look around. Today was the opening ceremony of the Chuanhai Aquarium, and admission was free. As they entered the aquarium, Lu Li clearly heard Little An Baili gasp in awe.
“What kind of fish is that?”
“That’s a seahorse.”
“What about this one?”
“Those are manta rays, a rare species. You can only see them in Chuanhai.”
Little An Baili giggled happily. “You know so much. I want to see the dolphins, can we go?”
“Of course. I’ll grant you any wish today.” Lu Li said with a smile.
Little An Baili stared blankly at the back of his head. This was the first time someone had said such words to her, the first time she felt cared for and valued. She felt a salty taste in her mouth, as if tears were streaming down her face. She was still too young to understand where this joy and happiness came from. She just wanted to laugh, a smile so wide that her mouth couldn’t close.
Lu Li carried her to the dolphin area, but they didn’t see the pure white dolphin. The staff member said the one on the flyer was just a stock photo.
Little An Baili was a little disappointed. She pouted.
“That’s how life is.” Lu Li comforted her. “There will always be disappointments. So we have to learn to settle for second best. If you can’t see a white dolphin, you can still see other dolphins. They’re beautiful too, aren’t they?”
“But only a white dolphin is a white dolphin.” Little An Baili said childishly. “Other dolphins aren’t white dolphins, they’re different.”
Lu Li froze. Childhood was like a cocoon, containing infinite innocence and romance. Their perspective was always unique and strange, yet it often pointed directly to the essence of things. An Baili was right. Only a white dolphin was a white dolphin, they were inherently different.
“Only Lu Li is Lu Li. Other people are not Lu Li!” He remembered something An Baili had said in his past life.
Is that so… This was the source of her obsession, this was An Baili. He chuckled, not knowing why.
He carried An Baili towards her home.
“Baili, do you have any other wishes you want to fulfill?” As they walked, Lu Li endured the pain in his head and forced a warm smile.
“…I… I want to set off fireworks.” Little An Baili said guiltily. “I’m sorry, you’re so good to me… and I’m asking for so much…”
Fireworks. Yes, An Baili always loved fireworks. She had never changed. She was that kind of girl, stubborn and persistent, even to the point of lighting a lighter, just to fulfill her desires.
“Next time. I’ll take you to set off fireworks next time, okay?” He stopped at the entrance of An Gulai’s community and put An Baili down.
Little An Baili grabbed his pants and asked innocently, “When can I play with you again? Can I come tomorrow?”
“Not tomorrow.”
“The day after tomorrow?”
“Not the day after tomorrow either.”
Her voice was tinged with tears. “Then when can I play with you?”
“Someday in the future. I promise.” Lu Li pinched the little girl’s chubby cheeks. “I promise that someday I’ll play with you until the end of time.”
An Baili saw a vendor selling balloons pass by. A child’s attention was easily captured. Her gaze was fixed on a dolphin-shaped balloon. Lu Li patted her head. “Wait here, I’ll buy you a balloon.” He walked towards the vendor.
An Baili remembered her teacher saying that she shouldn’t take things for free. She also felt that she shouldn’t just take things from this big brother. But she didn’t have any money. She had spent her only fifty cents on soda. All she had was a small red flower that her teacher had given her as a reward. The little girl turned around to rummage through her backpack. She wanted to give the little red flower to the big brother, it was one of her most precious possessions.
But when Little An Baili turned back, Lu Li was gone. Only a stray dolphin balloon was slowly floating towards the lonely sky.
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