Chapter 2: A Glimmer of Light in a Dirty World
——She is the only light he looks towards in this rotten world.
Next to the garbage dump in the Golden Triangle slums, foul-smelling rainwater dripped down the iron roof. Mo Xiaohan curled up in an abandoned tire and counted the water drops.
This was his tenth birthday, if those bastards born from whores could be considered to have birthdays.
Forty-seventh drop.
He stretched out his bruised arms to catch the rain and licked his cracked lips.
A drug dealer had just died on the west side of the slums. If he went to rob the body now, he might find half a bag of white powder and sell it for a good price. As soon as this thought came to his mind, he heard the singing of angels.
"Twinkle Twinkle Little Star..."
The sound of plastic sandals stepping through the sewage was like some kind of light musical instrument.
Mo Xiaohan saw a pale calf through the gap in the tire, and a skirt embroidered with sunflowers swept across a rusty oil drum. Then the whole world suddenly lit up -
Someone had taken off his "roof".
"Mom! There's a brother in the tire!"
The cold rain hit his festering eyelids at an angle, and the dampness with the smell of rust hit his face. After adjusting to the light, Mo Xiaohan saw the upside-down sunflowers.
No, it’s a yellow cloth flower sewn on the small straw hat, with a round face like a snowball underneath.
The girl poked his sunken cheek with her pearly nails: "You look like a starving stray dog in our hospital."
"Xingxing! Don't touch..." The woman in the white coat pulled her daughter back in panic, but gasped when she saw the creature in the tire.
Mo Xiaohan knew what he looked like: there was a pus scab on his left eye, his ribs were sticking out like a washboard, and there were purple marks on his belly from being whipped by a steel pipe the day before yesterday.
But the little girl broke free from her mother's hand. She took off the waist bag embroidered with a little duck and poured out an animal biscuit. Mo Xiaohan's stomach made a loud whine.
"Eat it." She placed the biscuit in his grimy palm. "My name is Ruan Xingchen, Xing for star, Chen for morning. What's your name?"
The sweet aroma of the cookies stirred his bestial nature, and Mo Xiaohan suddenly leaped up, pouncing on the girl like a stray dog snatching carrion. The moment his teeth sank into her soft arm, a sharp pain shot through the back of her head, the butt of the bodyguard's gun hitting her.
"Uncle, don't hit him!" The little girl cried and hugged his head, "He must be too hungry!"
Warm liquid dripped onto his cracked lips. Was it tears or blood? Before Mo Xiaohan passed out, he saw that Sunflower's skirt was stained with mud, just like the sunflower in the photo that had been soaked by rain.
When he woke up again, he was lying on a clean white hospital bed.
Mo Xiaohan sat up suddenly, feeling a sharp pain in his left eye. He subconsciously touched it, but found that the wound was wrapped in gauze.
"Don't touch it!" A soft voice came from the side.
He turned his head and met a pair of sparkling eyes.
——It’s the little girl in the sunflower skirt.
She knelt on a small stool beside the bed, holding a colorful candy wrapper in her hand. When she saw him wake up, she immediately smiled widely.
"Don't touch your eyes! Mom said they'll get infected!"
Mo Xiaohan didn't say anything, but just looked around vigilantly. The tent was very clean, with medical boxes piled in the corner and a faint smell of disinfectant in the air.
He was wearing a loose old T-shirt, and all the wounds had been treated, even... the mud between his nails had been wiped clean.
He looked down blankly at his clean fingers.
It turns out that wounds can avoid festering?
"Here you go!" The little girl suddenly stuffed the candy wrapper into his hand. Mo Xiaohan held the thin piece of paper stiffly, not knowing what she was going to do.
"This is a happy magic!" Her eyes curved into crescents. She took the candy wrapper from his hand and folded it deftly a few times. "Look! A boat!"
She held a small candy paper boat and handed it to him like a treasure.
"Mom said you can make a wish for each candy paper boat." She leaned close to him and whispered, "I wish your eyes would get better soon!"
Mo Xiaohan stared at her, his throat tightening.
——No one ever wished him to get better.
The curtain of the tent was lifted, and a woman in a white coat walked in with a bowl of hot porridge in her hand.
"Are you awake?" She came over with a smile and placed the porridge on the bedside. "Are you hungry?"
Mo Xiaohan didn't move, just stared at the bowl of porridge.
The woman seemed to see through his defensiveness, sighed softly, and handed the porridge to the little girl.
"Xingxing, come here."
The little girl took the bowl, scooped a spoonful, blew it carefully, and handed it to his mouth.
"Ah—" She shook the spoon and looked at him with sparkling eyes. "This is my mother. You can call her Dr. Ruan! She's Doctors Without Borders. She's very good at taking care of people. Come on and eat."
Mo Xiaohan pursed his lips.
"It's not hot!" She winked. "I tried it for you!"
He was silent for a long time, and finally slowly opened his mouth.
The warm rice porridge slid into my throat with a hint of sweetness.
It turns out that food doesn’t have to go bad?
That night, Mo Xiaohan lay on the clean sheets, listening to the faint chirping of insects outside the tent. The little girl slept in the bed next to him, holding the candy paper boat in her arms.
He turned his head and looked at her in the moonlight.
——Ruan Xingchen.
He remembered her name.
Also remember...
Maybe there really is light in this world.
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