Late at night, Chen Lu sat on the sofa as usual, working on his computer.
Liang Zhirou stood in front of the bedroom table, packing her canvas bag.
After taking out the fruit that Aunt Wu had given her and placing it on the table, she took out a notebook from her bag.
This was given to her by her landlady, Aunt Wu, who said that she had left it in the corner of the drawer and hadn't taken it with her, so she had kept it for her.
The notebook cover is thick and has a plastic-like texture. It features three Disney princesses printed on it and is secured with a small silver combination lock, making it look impossible to open.
These kinds of diaries were very popular back then, even though the so-called 'combination lock' could be easily broken with a little force, little girls of that age just loved this design.
She has always enjoyed keeping a record of things. She started recording her expenses and daily events when she was very young.
However, the habit of writing a diary did not continue from childhood.
Liang Zhirou had long forgotten what the password was, so she chose the simplest method—to just pull it open.
Anyway... this is her diary.
The girl glanced at Chen Lu secretly, and seeing that he was still focused on what he was doing, she began to carefully flip through the pages.
The first few pages were written when I was still in elementary school.
The characters looked as if they were forcibly assembled from various radicals, resulting in an extremely discordant appearance.
November 6, 2011, sunny.
Today we learned "Autumn Rain".
Our teacher asked us to write diaries so that we could appreciate and record the beauty in life.
Liang Zhirou discovered that the character "美" (měi, meaning beauty) originally had four horizontal strokes, but she had only written three, which made her chuckle quietly.
November 7, 2011.
My mom was really late picking me up from school today, I'm not happy.
November 8, 2011.
My dad came back from working away from home and bought me lots of snacks that you only get in big cities. Other kids were so envious, but I only shared half with them because I couldn't bear to eat any myself.
Mom asked Dad if he had bought her anything, and Dad smiled and said no.
Then my mom chased me around the house.
Actually, I saw it. Dad bought Mom a really beautiful necklace, which she has been keeping hidden in her hand.
November 10, 2011.
My dad made braised carp especially for me; it was delicious.
My mom spent the whole afternoon braiding my hair.
I really am the happiest girl in the world.
November 20, 2011.
Dad is going out to work again, and Mom held my hand and walked with him for a long time.
Before getting in the car, Mom secretly kissed Dad.
Why do they think I can't see it?
I wrote in my diary frequently, but the wording was childish and the things I recorded were very monotonous.
For example, what did you eat today, and what did your parents say?
They even write down what they dream about.
However, this novelty didn't last long, and soon he only recorded some of the more important things.
February 1, 2012.
My father vomited a little blood while eating.
I was very worried, but my dad said it was just a little internal heat.
February 10, 2012.
My parents, who went out to see a doctor, have been back for two days.
Mom said Dad was fine, but she kept crying secretly all night.
My dad doesn't go out to work much anymore, he talks much less, and most of the time I don't know what he's thinking. Besides spacing out, he just keeps looking at me.
I can do my homework all afternoon, and he can sit still for the whole afternoon.
But now my dad spends most of his time playing with me.
I like this kind of dad.
June 28, 2012.
Mom was lying to me; Dad is actually very sick.
We went to Hangzhou.
Hangzhou is really big; it feels bigger than a hundred times my home.
June 29, 2012.
I met a very gentle boy.
He's different from the boys in my class. I like being around him and I want to be his friend.
But we won't even have the chance to meet again.
July 18, 2012, light rain.
Only this one page of the entire diary is crumpled, and the words written with a ballpoint pen have faded and are slightly blurred.
It looks like it's been soaked in water.
This page only has four words written on it—
Dad is gone.
August 31, 2012.
I've been sneaking around talking to my dad lately, but he's never paid any attention to me.
My dad never ignores me.
Mom lied; when a person dies, everything is gone.
I ate so much candy, but I still feel awful. My heart hurts, and I feel so cold...
That little boy lied to me too...
September 1, 2013.
Transferring schools, moving.
Grandpa praised me for being pretty, saying that girls don't need to know so many characters, and wanted to marry me off as soon as possible.
They don't seem as good as they appear.
Mom said we won't be coming back.
December 28, 2013.
I got first place in the class, and my mom was very happy.
My mom is very busy with work, but she picks me up from school every day and cooks lots of delicious food for me.
Even if Dad is gone, Mom and I will definitely be able to live a good life.
April 2, 2014.
My mother is sick and can't stand up.
April 15, 2014.
My mother's temper has become very bad, and she often ignores me.
May 1, 2014.
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