Beyond the walls of the shelter is a low, barren hill of lawn and sand.

They are said to be lawns, but these tough plants rooted in the sand only keep their bright green for about two months of the year. The small white flowers bloom overnight after a rainstorm in August, under the cover of grass leaves, and then are baked into brown grass seeds by the sun for a week. After midsummer, the dry autumn wind will drive away the fine-haired sheep and the birds that are not frost-tolerant enough to graze on the last bit of turf.

Until the first snowflakes fall into the laundry-covered yard, the rest of the world is nothing more than a boring jigsaw puzzle of different shades of sand for orphans who have been locked up in iron gates for many years.

Snow is always exciting. Although in most years, the accumulated snow throughout the winter is not enough to build a snowman as tall as a child. But the cold that followed was less welcome. The cotton wool, which did not fit the size of the sheet, was covered with large and small holes, and it had long since lost its function of keeping out the cold, so it could only be blocked with the old clothes of the children who did not survive the previous winter. It is naturally impossible for an old building built more than a hundred years ago to have heating, and the only two fire-burners are occupied by the dean and the leading nurse aunt respectively, and even the doctor has to use routine medical examinations or other reasons to rub it for a few hours. Most of the time, children have to light a limited number of hay and bush branches for warmth, just like the ancients who didn't know what electricity was thousands of years ago.

Fortunately, the dean, who has always been unreliable, at least has one sentence right. As long as a child survives the first winter here, the next few winters are no longer a threat to him.

On January 1, 2096, the barren hill ushered in the wettest New Year ever.

Lilia rubbed her flushed face with her frozen hands, and then carefully stepped into the snow that had buried half of the stairs overnight.

Long and short transparent ice cubes hung under the leaky eaves, and a thin white mist froze the faded paper flowers on the windowpanes. She turned around and waved vigorously at the group of friends who only dared to squat in the room and shiver, and then squatted down stiffly, and made a column of snowballs of different sizes on the ground.

Since the death of another girl she was adopted with from an unknown epidemic, there was no one in the entire shelter willing to accompany her to a snowball fight under the pressure of being scolded by her caregivers. Although Lilith not only did not feel sad about her death, but even secretly envied her, she still felt a little sorry for the girl of the same age when she saw the snow scene today.

It's fun to play in the snow on a day like this.

She compacted the largest snowball in her palm, then took a few steps back, took another deep breath, and smashed it against the red brick wall with all her might.

There was a soft bang, and the tiny snow foam instantly exploded like a fireflower. Lilith smirked for a moment as she stared at the white debris that had been scattered into the wind, and suddenly became unreasonably sad.

No one will ever compete with her again to see who has the most powerful snowballs.

However, the scolding of the nurse aunt came as scheduled year after year. With a roar of rage, Lilith expertly climbed over the low firewood fence and temporarily hid in the storage room at the bottom of the stairs where cleaning tools were stacked.

It was because of this that she became the first to notice the dusty outsider.

Beyond the low walls, first a pile of snow-covered brims appeared, then black hair tossed by the wind, and finally, a young man with a bright ginger scarf knocked on the decorative iron door, and was soon surprised to find that the courtyard was unlocked.

The boy turned around, gestured to a group of fellow same-sex companions who were much taller than him, and then dropped his bulging backpack and stepped into the snowy yard alone.

He first glanced at the sunning frame, which had been skewed by the wind, and there was only a broken quilt pressed by the snow that had not yet been blown away; Then there was the fake Christmas tree in the corner of the yard with thin twigs, and the only thing on it that could be called an ornament was about a sock with a hole in it; Finally, he looked around the small courtyard and landed on the stairs before entering the building.

It stands to reason that unless the boy's eyesight is far beyond normal people, he should not have noticed the possibility of Lilith blending in with the torn coat color and broom. But surprisingly, the boy did not go straight up the stairs to knock on the door, but deliberately walked around in the snow and walked unhurriedly in front of her.

"So there are really people living here." The boy stood outside the fence and took off his goggles, revealing a pair of smiling black eyes, "Are you...... Afghans nearby? Or is it an ethnic minority in China? Do you understand what I'm saying? ”

“…… OK. Her lips were frozen and her voice trembled involuntarily as she spoke. She timidly looked at the stranger in front of her, who had taken the initiative to speak to her for the first time in her life in ten years, and asked in Chinese, which was not very fluent, "Are you from far away?" The dean said that since the outbreak of the epidemic, there have been few other people in the vicinity. ”

"Far away? If you're coming on foot, you can say the same. Probably out of politeness, the young man didn't keep staring at her, but thoughtfully reached out and touched the haystack in front of him, "Have you not seen anyone from outside for a long time?" I'm really sorry, but this shelter was originally funded by my great-grandfather when he was still alive, but a few years ago, his old man passed away, and my grandmother and father also contracted one illness after another, and we gradually have no spare energy to help you......"

"I see." Lilith didn't know how to react properly, so she had to ask another question, "How did you know I was here?" ”

"I saw that trail of footprints on the stairs broken on it." The boy seemed to be in a good mood, and the ice slag stuck on his eyelashes was particularly shiny in the sunlight after the snow, "Besides, your snowball is really not very round, like a small bread that has not been baked." ”

"I ......"

It may have been too cold, and Lilith felt that her face was a little hot. But before she could say more, the nurse's roar was close to her ears.

"Oops." She pursed her lips and quickly gently pushed the young man, "You go up quickly, don't tell her that I'm here, I'll be scolded...... I'll go back through the window in a moment......"

"Sneaking out? It's hard for you and you don't feel cold. The young man rubbed his hands with a burst of white air, suddenly took off the bright scarf and handed it to her, winking at her with a little smile, "Take it." I'll cover for you. ”

"......"

"Shhh I went up first. The boy looked up, and noticed that Lilith, who was dressed in rags, still looked stunned, so he had to stretch out another hand and quickly wrap the scarf that still had a little temperature around the girl's neck, thinking about it and emphasizing, "No need to pay it back." ”

“…… Why? Lilith's eyes were completely detached from the world, more like some wild creature than a human, "I really don't have anything to exchange with you...... The dean said that there is nothing in the world that can be obtained for free. ”

"Listen to that, she shouldn't think of you as child laborers, right?" The boy's brow furrowed slightly, but soon relaxed under the girl's timid gaze, "If you want, you can come to work in my bakery when you are a little older." Trust me, kneading dough is a lot more fun than kneading snowballs......"

The sound of unlocking was very loud in the empty yard. So as he spoke, he climbed the snowy steps with both hands, rolled up with little dexterity, and finally stood up straight before the nurse pushed the door open.

"Sorry to bother me at this time, but I finally found a new sponsor for you recently, so I'll bring them over to see you and send some supplies for the winter." The first sentence thrown by the young man was too tempting, and instantly extinguished the anger of the nurse who was woken up in the morning, "I'm sorry that there was an accident in my family a few years ago, and it was really inconvenient to come, and I'm afraid it will be ...... in the future May I ask if your dean is still the same one? ”

For the first time, Lilith listened patiently to the boy's polite call, and then reluctantly climbed through the window and returned to her small room with a leaky air before the end of his conversation with the nurse, and after hesitating for a long time, she still untied the precious gift from her neck and carefully tucked it into her pillowcase.

But you haven't told me where your bakery is.

The hope that was secretly ignited was soon extinguished by the frustration called "reality". She quickly realized that the boy might just be habitually polite to her.

The new sponsor who came with the teenager was led by a doctor with an Asian face. Unlike the boy who had only met all the children in the hall and had to leave home at once to attend to his errands, the doctor seemed to have an unusual interest in the children, and was quite generous in his dealings, bringing with him the kind of dry food that Lilith had not seen in ten years. After a meal of wine, the dean and the aunts were full of red drink, and patiently introduced them to the only remaining children in the courtyard one by one, complaining incidentally about how stingy the young man's family had been in the past few years, and almost left them alone in this desolate place. How selfless and great she is to never abandon her children, and finally look forward to the arrival of a new owner.

"I can't blame him completely, after all, the outside world has become powerful in the past few years, and many big businessmen in the past can only make a living. You may have heard that those aliens have a higher level of medical care than us, and they have a tendency to gain a foothold in our place, and they are worried. The lead doctor is a young Asian who looks quite sven and can be quite patient with anyone he talks to, "It's good that he can remember to help you find a reliable next home when he can't protect himself." ”

"Look at what you said." The dean, a middle-aged woman in her early forties, was constantly shortening the distance between her and the doctor with the help of alcohol, "Even when his family used to be good, he was not as generous as you...... Or your hearts are better. ”

Lilith lowered her head at the edge of the square table and pursed her mouth, secretly thinking: People don't owe you, it's good to support this place for so many years within your ability. Besides, who has been emphasizing that "there is no such thing as a free lunch" before, so children are required to rely on labor to exchange for food? Now I have no defense at all.

If she had been smarter at the time, she would probably have found that this generous doctor had never touched the food that was given to the children for nothing, but only drank wine and said perfunctory words in a friendly manner.

Even though the Asian doctor and his party had only been here for less than three days, the motivational effect he had on the only colleague at the shelter lasted for quite some time. Since receiving praise from these top figures in the industry, the half-baked doctors in the institute have been extremely enthusiastic about their work, and they can't wait to give their children a physical examination every day, and they don't know what they are busy with.

No one has the ability to predict the future. It's like Lilith never thought she'd always be obsessed with that hurried teenager. The ginger scarf has been with her through two difficult winters, and even accompanied her from a sea of red fire as the last souvenir of her childhood.

I haven't seen him for two years, and the Asian doctor still has that soft face that is quite confusing. His grip on Lilith's shoulder was so tight that she couldn't help but cry out in pain. The doctor smiled even more cheerfully, half-crouching to look at her with the flickering flames reflected in her eyes.

"At least one was successful. It's not in vain to waste money raising so many rice worms. He visibly stared at the scarf around Lilith's neck for a moment, but didn't say anything about it, "From now on, you'll follow me." I'll take you outside. ”

Is it outside?

Lilith glanced back at the shelter one last time, and thought to herself, that wouldn't be bad.

Unfortunately, in fact, the doctor just slipped her out of a small cage and into another monster's more cage.