"Are you okay?"
Du Ming was slumped over the desk, his face buried in his textbook, both hands clutching his stomach.
"I didn't mean for this to happen. I never thought it would turn out like this."
"What exactly did you do?" Chen Ge wasn't angry. The look in his eyes as he regarded Du Ming held far more sympathy than anything else.
Du Ming said nothing more. He just shook his head slightly. His mental state was clearly terrible — it seemed he was approaching his breaking point, just like Chen Ge.
……
After fourth period, when no one was around, Chen Ge went up to the rooftop of the teaching building.
He walked silently to her side, and together they gazed out over all of Liwan Town.
The teaching building was one of the taller structures in the small town. In that moment, Chen Ge couldn't help but think of Liwan Town behind Xiao Bu's door.
That was when Zhang Ya had agreed to his request, and from then on, they were inseparable.
A cold wind laced with raindrops fell on their faces. Zhang Ya brushed the hair the wind had blown across her face back behind her ear. Suddenly, she spoke up.
"The teacher may be leaving soon."
"Because of me?" Chen Ge had already guessed how this would end. He had rehearsed this scenario in his mind countless times that morning, but now that Zhang Ya actually said it, not a single word of what he had prepared came to his lips.
"It has nothing to do with you." Zhang Ya shook her head. "The problem is me. I kept thinking I'd moved past the past, that I could smile and start a new life, but it was all just self-deception. Staying busy, working hard — everything was just an excuse to run away. The truth is, after all these years, I still feel trapped inside that dim dance studio."
Standing beside Zhang Ya, Chen Ge gripped the railing. He could understand her, because he was the only person in the world who knew Zhang Ya's past.
Whether in the real world or the world behind the door, Zhang Ya had only ever confided her secret to him.
"The ones at fault are the people who spread those rumors. Give me some time — I'll get to the bottom of everything and make sure the truth comes out." Chen Ge had always wanted to do this. Even in the world behind the door, even if everything there was born from his own memories, he still wanted to help Zhang Ya, to give that old nightmare a new ending.
"The truth doesn't matter. What matters is you. I'm afraid that what happened to me before will happen to you." Zhang Ya cared deeply about Chen Ge. While the entire town had been buzzing with gossip, he had still stood by her side, trusting her unconditionally. That kind of feeling was something she had never experienced before.
Despite the gap in their ages, there was one thing she couldn't deny — she had genuinely felt something different from this man.
"I can leave. I can run away. But you can't." Zhang Ya stood in front of Chen Ge, her face close to his. "Your father is still in the hospital. You still have a younger sister to take care of. All those responsibilities will fall on your shoulders. You absolutely cannot let my problems affect you."
"I think I already know who's spreading the rumors. We can—"
"Chen Ge." Zhang Ya raised her arm, her slender fingers reaching toward the overcast sky. "Leaving doesn't mean we'll never see each other again."
Zhang Ya seemed to have already made up her mind. Even if she stayed, people would still talk behind her back.
Chen Ge knew, too, that it hadn't been easy for her to reach this decision. She must have thought about it for a very long time.
His hands gripping the railing turned white. Bloodshot lines crept into the corners of his eyes. He took a deep breath. "Sometimes I feel like this world is cruel. It always picks on the gentlest people and bullies them relentlessly."
"The world isn't good or bad. But if there are more gentle people in it, the world will become gentler." Zhang Ya reached out and tidied Chen Ge's wind-tousled hair. Her cool fingertips lingered on his cheek. "You need to be a gentle person too, from now on. Go on — you still need to cook for your family. Don't waste too much time here with me."
She withdrew her hand and gazed silently at the campus she had only just begun to get familiar with, lost in thought.
Standing beside her, Chen Ge watched Zhang Ya's back. His hands rose, then fell again.
He left the rooftop and went to the hospital. After bringing food to his father, he stopped at a roadside stall to pick up another meal for
Back at his apartment complex, Chen Ge stopped in front of his door. Usually, the moment Luo Ruoyu heard his footsteps, she would come running to open it, but today she didn't appear.
"Did something happen?"
Chen Ge called out Luo Ruoyu's name at the top of his lungs. He thought he could faintly hear crying from inside the apartment.
"Ruoyu?"
He opened the door and was hit by the pungent smell of gas. Forget the rules — he charged straight inside.
The kitchen floor was covered in water, and fragments of thermos flasks were scattered everywhere.
He rushed into the kitchen and found Luo Ruoyu curled up in the corner, both hands pressed over her ears. In front of her lay a shattered thermos flask.
Her clothes were soaked. Her neck, arms, and fingers were all scalded, tears still streaming down her face.
"Who told you to use the stove?!" Chen Ge kicked the broken thermos aside. He had never been this angry before.
Hearing Chen Ge's shout, Luo Ruoyu cried even harder. Her reddened arms rose to cover her face, tears flowing without end.
Chen Ge shut off the gas. Without a second thought, he scooped up Luo Ruoyu and sprinted out the door.
Stepping outside, a new day was beginning, but Chen Ge couldn't care less. He carried Luo Ruoyu into a taxi and rushed to the hospital.
The burns weren't extensive, mostly concentrated on her arms. The doctor applied ointment to Luo Ruoyu's wounds, but the girl was still in shock, seemingly terrified beyond measure.
"It's nothing too serious, but you family members really need to be more careful. Children with intellectual disabilities shouldn't be left alone at home — it's far too dangerous." Once the doctor left, only Chen Ge and Luo Ruoyu remained in the ward.
The ointment stung when first applied to the wounds, but gradually a cool, soothing sensation set in.
Luo Ruoyu kept her arms at her sides. She didn't dare look at Chen Ge, her head bowed, crying very softly.
After standing in the ward for a moment, Chen Ge set down his backpack, sat on the edge of the bed, and gently pulled Luo Ruoyu into his arms. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you."
The girl in his arms was trembling, as though she had suffered some terrible injustice. She buried her face against Chen Ge's shoulder and cried loudly.
"I know you wanted to help. I know you didn't want to be a burden to anyone. I know you've been trying so hard. I understand all of it." Chen Ge slowly tightened his embrace around Luo Ruoyu. "We are each other's most important family."
In the world behind the door, Luo Ruoyu represented family. She also represented those haunted house employees who once had nowhere to go, those obsessions Chen Ge had "picked up" from the deepest depths of despair and brought home.
No matter what happened, Chen Ge would always stand at the forefront — training to overcome physical limitations, keeping company deep into the night, offering encouragement that was never held back.
Chen Ge never asked for anything in return. He did all of this simply because he considered them family.
Luo Ruoyu fell asleep after crying herself exhausted, but even in sleep her hand clutched the hem of Chen Ge's shirt.
He tucked the blanket over her on the hospital bed and quietly slipped out of the ward. The bloodshot lines in his eyes had only deepened, and the comic album in his backpack had undergone some kind of change.
"Disaster closes in with every step. A dream woven from my memories — now I'll put an end to it myself."
Because he had made the trip home in between, it was already a new day.
By the time Chen Ge arrived at school, the first class was already half over.