The old metal alarm clock at the head of the bed, peeling off, ticked and rang, four o'clock, still dark outside.

I crawled out of the worn cotton blanket to light the stove. Maybe I didn't sleep well yesterday. I felt much more tired than usual chopping wood in the early morning.

On the dining table lay a village tourism brochure, folded into the shape of a paper airplane—on the colorful brochure, a big red slogan read, "Don't get lost!"

It felt somewhat familiar to me.

"Zhaodi! Haven't you taken your bowl down yet? Do you want a beating?"

Oh no! I can't sit at the table, how could I forget?

"I'll go wake up my brother!"

The only school in the village is a one and a half hour walk away, up the mountain path. If I'm late, it's over!

But today, for some reason, my brother, who was already late, refused to go.

"I don't want to go to school, I don't want to go!"

He was being stubborn, rolling on the ground. If the only male in the family doesn't go, the teacher can't do anything, but if I'm late...

"I don't care, I don't care! Then I want Pig Girl to carry me!"

Three pairs of dark eyes stared at me, and I broke out in a cold sweat, instinctively recoiling. Suddenly, my vision blurred, like a snowy TV screen, a red rope appeared in the house, my parents' bodies twisted, and my brother grinned like a crescent moon.

I quickly grabbed the door frame.

Disappeared? It seems like I really didn't sleep well yesterday...

Although somewhat unwilling, I still slung his Ultraman backpack and my tattered book bag over my shoulders, carrying him.

Like having a weight tied to my chest and a sandbag on my back, swaying like an unsteady seesaw.

How strange, was the mountain wind always this cold? Gray-blue tree shadows overlapped on the dark yellow gravel road, with a damp... chilly breath on the back of my neck?

"Brother, are you cold?"

"Pig Girl, then turn around and look."

I was about to turn around, but suddenly a voice in my mind, sounding so confident, "Little brat, he sounds so energetic, he must be fine!"

This thought startled me. Home is the warmest haven, how could I not fulfill my brother's request?

"Don't turn around! You don't have to fulfill your brother's request! Don't turn around!"

"Who... who are you?"

I gasped in response, it was the first time someone told me I didn't have to fulfill my brother's request.

"I'm Fu Wan. Don't turn around, you'll know everything when you reach the school."

I strangely agreed with this boy who sounded similar to me. His footsteps followed behind, inexplicably reassuring.

The road up the mountain was steep, the muscles in my limbs gradually felt like they were soaked in vinegar, and my mind began to feel drowsy.

I vaguely saw Huang Rou carrying Huang Jian in front, but I was too tired to speak.

She staggered, her legs twisted, her body tilted, and she fell into the steep cliff beside the mountain road. She really wasn't a good sister, why didn't she throw Huang Jian out?

My brother seemed to be getting heavier, but I remembered the boy's words, all the way to the school gate.

I leaned on my knees, panting, "Where is he? Did you see the boy following us?"

"What boy? I didn't see anyone."

He looked dissatisfied, clicking his tongue.

Where did that person go?

I looked at the dark red at the corner of my brother's mouth, were the buns this morning filled with red bean paste?