"Are you okay?" Chen Ge helped Du Ming open the water bottle cap: "Would you like some water?"

Du Ming lay on the table, buried his face in the textbook, and covered his stomach with his hands.

"I didn't mean to do that. I didn't expect it to turn out like this."

"What on earth did you do?" Chen Ge was not angry. There was more sympathy in his eyes when he looked at Du Ming.

Du Ming did not say anything else, but just shook his head slightly. He was in a very bad mental state, and it seemed that he was about to reach his limit just like Chen Ge.

…

After the fourth class, Chen Ge came to the rooftop of the teaching building when no one was around. Zhang Ya was standing next to the railing.

He walked silently to Zhang Ya's side, and the two of them looked at the entire Liwan Town together.

The teaching building is considered a relatively tall building in the town. At this moment, Chen Ge couldn't help but think of Liwan Town behind the small cloth gate.

At that time, Zhang Ya agreed to his request, and they have been inseparable since then.

Cold wind mixed with raindrops fell on her face. Zhang Ya put her wind-blown hair behind her ears and suddenly said, "The teacher may have to leave soon."

"Is it because of me?" Chen Ge had already guessed the ending. He had rehearsed this scenario countless times in his mind that morning, but when Zhang Ya actually said it, he couldn't say a word of what he had prepared.

"It has nothing to do with you." Zhang Ya shook her head. "The reason is my fault. I always thought I had moved on from the past and could start a new life with a smile, but this was just deceiving myself. Being busy and working hard were all excuses to escape. In fact, after so many years, I still feel like I am trapped in that dim dance studio."

Standing next to Zhang Ya, Chen Ge held on to the fence tightly. He could understand Zhang Ya because he was the only person in the world who knew Zhang Ya's past.

Regardless of the reality or the world behind the door, Zhang Ya only told him the secret.

"The ones who made the mistake are those who spread the rumors. Give me some time, I will find out everything and let everyone know the truth." Chen Ge has always wanted to do this. Even if it is in the world behind the door, even if everything is his own memory, he still wants to help Zhang Ya and give the nightmare a new ending.

"It doesn't matter what the truth is. What's important is you. I'm afraid that what happened to me will happen to you again." Zhang Ya cares about Chen Ge very much. When the whole town was spreading all kinds of rumors, Chen Ge still stood by her and trusted her unconditionally. This feeling has never been experienced before.

Even though there was a huge age difference between them, one thing was undeniable: she did feel something different about this man.

"I can leave and escape, but you can't." Zhang Ya stood in front of Chen Ge, her face very close to Chen Ge: "Your father is still in the hospital, and you have a younger sister to take care of. These responsibilities will be on you in the future. You must not be affected by my affairs."

"I think I know who spread the rumor. We can..."

"Chen Ge." Zhang Ya raised her arm and pointed her slender fingers towards the cloudy sky. "Leaving doesn't mean we'll never meet again."

Zhang Ya seemed to have made up her mind. If she forced herself to stay, people would still talk behind her back.

In fact, Chen Ge also knew that it was not easy for Zhang Ya to make this decision. She must have thought about it for a long time.

The hand holding the railing was twisted white, and bloodshot appeared in Chen Ge's eyes. He took a deep breath: "Sometimes, I feel that this world is very bad. It always picks on those gentle people and bullies them."

"The world doesn't distinguish between good and bad, but if there are more gentle people, the world will become gentle." Zhang Ya reached out to help Chen Ge tidy up his hair that was messed up by the wind. Her cold fingertips lingered on Chen Ge's face: "You must also be a gentle person in the future. Go back. You still have to cook for your family. Don't spend too much time here with me."

Withdrawing her arms, Zhang Ya silently looked at the campus that she had just become familiar with, not knowing what she was thinking.

Standing next to Zhang Ya, Chen Ge looked at Zhang Ya's back, raised his hands, and then put them down.

He left the rooftop and went to the hospital. After delivering the meal to his father, he bought another meal on the roadside and prepared to bring it to Luo Ruoyu.

After returning to the neighborhood where he lived, Chen Ge stopped at the door of his house. Normally, as long as Luo Ruoyu heard his footsteps, she would run over to open the door, but today Luo Ruoyu did not show up.

"Nothing will happen, right?"

Chen Ge shouted Luo Ruoyu's name loudly, and he vaguely heard crying coming from the house.

"Ruoyu?"

When Chen Ge opened the door, he smelled a pungent smell of gas. He didn't care about following the rules and rushed into the house.

The kitchen floor was covered with water stains, and broken pieces of thermos bottles and kettles could be seen all over the floor.

He quickly ran into the kitchen and saw Luo Ruoyu curled up in the corner of the kitchen, covering her ears with her hands, with a broken thermos in front of her.

Her clothes were wet, her neck, arms and fingers were all burned, and tears were on her face.

"Who told you to get angry?" Chen Ge kicked the broken thermos away. He had never been so angry as he was now.

Hearing Chen Ge's angry shout, Luo Ruoyu cried even harder. She put her red arms in front of her face and her tears flowed uncontrollably.

After turning off the gas, Chen Ge didn't think much, picked up Luo Ruoyu and ran outside.

Walking out of the room, a new day began, but Chen Ge didn't care about it at all. He held Luo Ruoyu in his arms and took a taxi to the hospital.

The burn area was not large, mainly concentrated on the arms. The doctor applied ointment to Luo Ruoyu, but the little girl was still in shock, as if she was terrified.

"It's not serious, but you family members must be careful. It's best not to leave mentally retarded children alone at home. It's too dangerous." The doctor left, and only Chen Ge and Luo Ruoyu were left in the ward.

When the ointment is applied to the wound, it will be very painful at first, but gradually a cool feeling will be produced.

Luo Ruoyu placed her arms on both sides of her body. She didn't dare to look at Chen Ge. She lowered her head and cried very quietly.

After standing in the ward for a while, Chen Ge put down his backpack, sat down beside the bed, and gently hugged Luo Ruoyu: "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have bothered you."

The girl in his arms was trembling. She seemed to have suffered a great injustice and cried loudly on Chen Ge's shoulder.

"I know you want to help, I know you don't want to drag others down, and I know you've worked very hard. I understand all of this." Chen Ge slowly hugged Luo Ruoyu tightly: "We are each other's most important family."

In the world behind the door, Luo Ruoyu represents the family, as well as those employees of the haunted house who once had nowhere to go, and those obsessions that once hid in the deepest despair and were "picked up" and taken home by Chen Ge.

No matter what happens, Chen Ge will always be at the forefront, training to overcome physical defects, accompanying others late at night, and never sparing encouragement.

Chen Ge did not ask for anything in return, he did this simply because he regarded them as family.

Luo Ruoyu fell asleep after crying herself tired, but even in sleep, her hand was still holding the corner of Chen Ge's clothes.

After covering Luo Ruoyu with a hospital blanket, Chen Ge quietly left the ward. There were more and more bloodshot eyes, and the comic book in his backpack also underwent some changes.

"The disaster is approaching step by step. Let me end the dream woven with my memories now."

Because I went back home once in the middle, it is already a new day.

When Chen Ge arrived at school, the first class was halfway through.

He returned to his seat and found that Du Ming, who was never late, did not come to class today.

When the first class was about to end, the teacher came over to ask Chen Ge if he knew why Du Ming didn't come.

Chen Ge had never expected that Du Ming, an excellent student, would skip classes.

The second class in the morning had just started, and only a dozen minutes later, a woman's slightly harsh voice suddenly came from the corridor: "If you don't want to go to school, what else do you want to do? What else can you do? Go back now!"

The woman seemed to be scolding someone, but one could not hear the voice of the person she was scolding. It was just a one-sided blame.

The sound slowly approached the classroom, and then the front door of the classroom opened. A woman appeared at the door. She was angry and her expression was a little scary: "Why don't you come over?"

She pulled him hard behind her and Du Ming was pulled into the classroom.

The little fat boy looked very haggard. He lowered his head and didn't dare to look at anyone.

"Hurry up and go in!" After the woman said this, she bowed to the teacher who was teaching, and her voice became much softer: "This child overslept and was afraid of being punished, so he was embarrassed to come over."

"It's okay, Du Ming, go back to your seat." The teachers who were teaching the class seemed a little afraid of the woman.

"Thank you for your help, teacher." The woman's face changed suddenly, revealing a very fake smile, and then she left in a hurry.

After she left, the students in the class began to talk.

"Is that Du Ming's mother? She's so strict. No wonder Du Ming is such a good student."

"I thought his mother would be as fat as him."

"She looks familiar. Oh, right! Isn't she the parent who ran to the teacher's office and made a scene last time?"

"I remember it now, it's really amazing, Director Shi was so scared that he didn't dare to speak."

"It's scary to think about being disciplined by a mother like this. Du Ming doesn't like to talk and his bad personality may have something to do with his family."

The sound of discussion reached Du Ming's ears, and he lowered his head even lower, not daring to look at anyone. He seemed afraid that when he looked up, he would see everyone staring at him.

"Don't take it to heart. These guys will talk behind your back. If you really stand in front of them, they won't dare to even fart." Unlike other students who talked in a low voice, Chen Ge's voice was very loud, and everyone, including the teacher, heard it.

Maybe this sentence worked, or maybe everyone didn't expect Chen Ge to say such a thing, anyway, the classroom gradually quieted down.

Classes started as normal again. Chen Ge did not ask Du Ming why he was late today. After he spoke for Du Ming, he stopped paying attention to him. Instead, Du Ming looked at Chen Ge intentionally or unintentionally, as if he wanted to say something to Chen Ge, but he did not have the courage to speak.

The bell rang for the end of get out of class, and the third period was English class. Du Ming took out his English textbook as usual, but Chen Ge just leaned against the wall in a daze.

Chen Ge, who was usually the most active in English class, behaved out of character today, and Du Ming had a bad feeling.

The bell rang for class, but five minutes passed and the teacher didn't come.

Chen Ge seemed to have known all this for a long time and turned his head to look out the window.

"Chen Ge..." After several days, Du Ming finally spoke to Chen Ge again: "Does Teacher Zhang have anything to do today? She usually comes early."

"Zhang Ya was fired by the school." Chen Ge withdrew his gaze from the window and glanced back at Du Ming: "She will not come to teach us anymore."

"Dismiss?" Du Ming stood up suddenly. Everyone in the classroom was studying and it was very quiet. Everyone heard Du Ming's voice.

"It was clearly my fault, but she kept apologizing, but in the end she was not forgiven." Chen Ge stared into Du Ming's eyes: "I once complained to her, asking why the world always bullies those gentle people. She told me that there is no good or bad in the world. As long as there are more gentle people, the world will become gentle, and will treat more gentle people well."

"Why didn't you tell me earlier? Did you know the result a long time ago?" Du Ming's eyes were swollen and his face was flushed red.

"I found out yesterday." Chen Ge paused and said, "Will it be helpful if I tell you?"

"She just left like that, and you're still sitting here? Don't you like her? Shouldn't you stand up and do something for her?" Du Ming was emotional. He grabbed Chen Ge's collar: "Why didn't you stop her? You..."

“Bang!”

Before Du Ming could finish his words, he was hit hard on the left cheek by Chen Ge's fist. Before he could react, he was kicked in the stomach by Chen Ge and fell to the ground.

"Who is the class monitor? Come out and organize everyone to study." Chen Ge held the bag in one hand and grabbed Du Ming's collar with the other and dragged him out of the classroom.

"Do you know who that teacher is? Do you know what that person means to me? Do you know what she has been through?" Chen Ge punched Du Ming again and again: "You know nothing."

Pushing open the iron door on the roof, Chen Ge threw Du Ming to the ground.

"She trapped herself in that blood-red world of despair. She hasn't seen the light for a long time. She may have even forgotten her true self."

"That's why I wanted to leave her with a beautiful memory. Even though I knew it was a dream, I still tried hard to make it more beautiful."

Chen Ge grabbed Du Ming's shoulders and slammed him against the wall: "But you didn't even give me a chance to weave a dream."

"I don't understand what you are saying, but I know you keep saying that you care about her, but you have never done anything for her! You don't love her at all! You are just lying to her and making her suffer all the pain!" Du Ming's face was ferocious, and he swung his hands and hit Chen Ge.

"Is this love in your mind?" Chen Ge did not fight back: "Do you know that love requires qualifications? A 17-year-old student, no matter how much you admire her and want to get close to her, you must understand one thing, your admiration may very likely become a problem for her."

"Love can make people shine, but it can also make them fall into the abyss."

"If I were really you, I would keep a proper distance until the day I can take responsibility for myself and her, and then go find her."

Du Ming's emotions became more and more agitated. He had completely lost control, as if his deepest secret had been discovered: "You are not me. You don't understand at all."

He struggled desperately, but Chen Ge used force this time and kicked him to the ground.

“Bang!”

When Du Ming fell, his mobile phone fell out and the screen shattered. Through the cracked screen, one could see that Zhang Ya was the background of the phone.

This photo seemed to be taken secretly. In the photo, Zhang Ya had a faint smile on her face and was talking to someone.

"Do you like her too?" Chen Ge looked at the shattered phone screen and took out a skull crusher from his backpack.

"Don't use the word 'also'. You don't deserve it. Where were you when she was accused by everyone? What did you do for her when she was tortured by rumors?" Du Ming wiped the blood off his face and got up from the ground: "You did nothing. You even backed away timidly because you were a student and she was a teacher. You didn't even have the courage to speak for her!"

Du Ming roared hysterically, and it seemed that he was not denouncing Chen Ge, but his former self.

"Perhaps in your opinion, the distance between teachers and students is far enough to make you despair, but have you ever thought about it? There is another distance in this world, called life and death." When Chen Ge saw Du Ming's phone, all his problems became clear: "If you like your teacher, you can try your best to work hard for three or five years, and then come back to find her when you can take that step. But the distance between life and death may take a lifetime to wait."

Picking up the phone on the ground, Chen Ge looked at Zhang Ya in the background: "Love begins from the moment we meet, and it will not end even if we die. It only ends when one party chooses to leave."