The snow fell heavily overnight, covering the earth like torn cotton wool.
The first ending—
Unable to sell her matches and too afraid to go home, the little girl squatted on a street corner, lit three matches, and after seeing what she longed for most, froze to death in a heavy snowfall.
The second ending—
Su Deng squatted in the corner, her clothes so tattered they barely covered her skin, her bare feet frozen stiff in the snow.
My cheeks are sore.
"Does anyone want to buy matches...?"
She spoke in a weak voice.
But the streets in front of me were deserted except for the swirling snow.
The heavy snow hitting my body was so cold.
She hunched over, her stiff hand lighting a match.
A roast duck appeared in the shop window in front of me.
She took a deep breath and swallowed hard until the match went out.
With the second match, she saw her family gathered around a large, round dining table in the warm room, enjoying an extremely sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner with various drinks. Everyone was surrounding her younger brother, whose bowl was overflowing with chicken legs and rice, seemingly unaware that someone was missing.
Perhaps they know, but they don't care.
Or they might wish she died out there.
The second match, carrying with it the warmth of the meal and the family, went out, leaving only the biting cold and snowy landscape.
On what grounds?
Why can they enjoy a New Year's Eve dinner with their families, feasting on meat and fish, while she has to sell matches on the snowy streets?
She's family too.
Why does everyone only have eyes for the younger brother?
If you don't love her, why did you give birth to her?
Her only loving grandmother has also passed away.
Do you feel the world is unfair?
The sudden sound startled the little girl, but she was so cold that she was almost delirious and thought it was her imagination.
But this world is really unfair.
Why are they treating her unfairly?
Craving roast duck and lots of meat? Want to wear new clothes? Want all your family's attention to be on you?
The voice appeared again.
This time, the sound rang incredibly clearly in her mind, and the little girl exclaimed in surprise, "You...who are you...?"
I can help you change your current situation and help you reclaim everything that is rightfully yours!
"I……"
The voice was alluring, and images of sumptuous meals and warm clothes flashed before my eyes.
"I……"
She didn't know whose voice it was, but under its allure, her deep-seated resentment and greed for warmth were reaching their peak.
Be angry! Be resentful!
The voice kept echoing in her mind. As the little girl struggled and stammered, her frozen fingers managed to light the third match with difficulty.
A tiny flame flickered, and in the silvery, dark night, a person appeared, emitting a very faint light.
She paused for a moment, then slowly looked up.
In the firelight, there was a young woman.
She was wearing black clothes, and had a very beautiful face.
She held a silver sword in her hand, and three red gems on the hilt of the sword were sparkling.
On her shoulder lay a black cat, almost invisible in the darkness if not for its sapphire-like eyes.
That was herself, that was Su Deng.
When Su Deng, who was crouching in the corner, saw herself appear, a heavy weight lifted from her heart.
The little girl thought the person in front of her was an illusion, but she didn't disappear even after the burning match in her hand went out.
The little girl stared blankly, "Are you... a fairy?"
"Meow~" The black kitten stood up from the woman's shoulder, shaking off the snow. "Are you going to save her?"
This cat can actually talk?!
The little girl stared wide-eyed, almost thinking it was a hallucination before she died.
The snow fell heavier and heavier.
She was already covered in a layer of dirt.
She had never seen such a beautiful person, or a talking cat.
"Are you a fairy sent from heaven..." she said nervously and timidly, "to save me...?"
The woman looked at her without saying anything.
The cat said, "You can choose to pretend you didn't see it."
The woman looked at her for a while without saying a word, but then magically produced a blanket and some warm, fragrant food for her.
The warmth of the blanket thawed her frozen body. Trembling, she reached out her hand, smelled the aroma of the cake, swallowed hard, and exclaimed, overwhelmed with gratitude, "Thank you, fairy sister!"
The woman looked at her for a while, smiled slightly, and said gently, "Go out of the city and follow the path eastward into the forest. Someone there will take you in."
The little girl was so moved that tears streamed down her face, and she almost knelt down to kowtow to her, saying, "Thank you, fairy sister!"
The woman said nothing more, took the sword, and left with the cat.
That direction leads to the royal palace.
The little girl wrapped herself tightly in a blanket and ate the food in her hand in big bites, the taste of which was mixed with tears.
Are you satisfied with this? You deserve better. You don't want Mom and Dad...
Just then, that voice appeared again, ethereal and cold in my mind.
The world is unfair to you, you feel resentment, you feel anger, you...
"I don't want to."
The little girl suddenly interrupted him.
"This world may be unfair to me. I have been sad and upset, and even resented my parents for not liking me and only liking my younger brother. Maybe it's because I don't have a younger brother to please everyone. But I have my loving grandmother."
Are you satisfied with this? Look at yourself now, your clothes are tattered and in terrible condition, and your matches are so cheap they only cost one silver dollar a box. You could freeze to death in the snowy night and no one would buy a single match from you. Those people are heartless and indifferent. You want to…
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