“Zoe……” He was completely caught off guard, staring blankly in the direction where Zoe Young had run off for a long time before he heard a shout from afar.

“Andrew Lane!” He turned his head and saw Charles Johnson's small figure at the street corner dozens of meters away. Charles Johnson was running toward Andrew Lane, with Charlotte Lee following behind.

“Did you finish your business? You told us to go ahead, but Charlotte Lee said we should slow down, maybe we’d run into you. See, we did.”

“Oh, oh…” Andrew Lane nodded absentmindedly. Zoe Young was hiding behind a tricycle and a pile of rubble, and only after a long time did she turn her head to quietly look at the spot where they had just been standing—Andrew Lane was already gone. She walked back, the footprints on the ground were a mess, and she couldn’t tell which ones were his. Zoe Young didn’t know why she had run away.

Maybe she just didn’t want to see him again, with his eyes red and looking so disheveled after being smacked hard on the back of the head by his own mother.

That was all.

Zoe Young couldn’t remember how long it had been since her mother last came home for dinner. They had just started eating when the crisp sound of high heels came from outside the security door. “Zoe, your mom is coming home for dinner tonight.” Grandma’s voice was very weak; she only drank plain porridge every day, and her food was served separately from everyone else’s.

“Mom, I passed by Luou Department Store just now and saw that electric heaters were on sale. The heating at home isn’t great this year, is your knee hurting again? I just picked one up and put it in your room, try it tonight. If the room’s warmer, maybe your knee will feel better.”

Zoe Young watched as her mother bent down to set a white box in the corner of the living room, the black cashmere coat outlining her beautiful waistline. She took off her coat and hung it on the rack, saying without looking up, “You all eat first, I’ll go wash my hands.”

Zoe Young lowered her head and shoveled rice into her mouth, and accidentally noticed that her aunt was also looking down, but kept glancing sideways at her mother. She focused her eyes on the white rice under her nose, squinting so hard she almost went cross-eyed, and her forehead hurt. “Zoe, aren’t you watching cartoons today?” Her mother was facing the vanity mirror, wiping her cheeks with a cotton pad soaked in makeup remover, while Zoe Young sat quietly on the edge of the bed and shook her head.

“No, I don’t feel like it.” She hadn’t watched the six o’clock provincial cartoons or “Big Windmill” in a long time, but her mother didn’t know that. It was as if they had missed out on each other’s lives. Zoe Young couldn’t remember when her mother had changed from a gentle beauty into a sharp and capable career woman, her pace as quick as her high heels. And her mother probably could never again stand outside the door with a cup of cocoa, prompting lines for her little theater.

Zoe Young knew her mother was very tired. Many times, she pretended to be asleep, waiting until her mother came home late and lay down beside her before she could sleep soundly, only to hear her mother’s suppressed sobs in a daze.

She had tried so hard to be a good child, but it seemed she couldn’t ease that taut string in her mother’s heart at all. “Finished your homework? Do you need to pay any fees again?”

“Nothing to pay.” Her mother finally put down the cotton pad, turned to look at her: “Zoe, what’s wrong?” Before she finished speaking, her new silver Motorola phone rang. Her mother answered, replied sternly with a few “mm, mm,” then closed the phone, hurriedly touched up her makeup, grabbed her bag and coat, and rushed out the door. Zoe Young sat dazed on the bed, staring at the empty vanity mirror for a long time, then lowered her head and suddenly wanted to cry. She had prepared for so long, was even afraid that when her mother found out about her failed math olympiad and Teacher Yu’s criticism, she would get angry or be disappointed in her. She had encouraged herself for a long, long time before nervously walking in, planning to “have a talk” with her mother—about her own future.

And then it was over before it began. Zoe Young missed Grandpa Green more than ever.

Death is a dagger, but it’s the living who bleed and are wounded. Zoe Young sat in her room, going over every familiar person she could think of in her short twelve years of life, and found she had nothing at all. She looked around the room in a daze, and finally her gaze landed on the telephone extension.

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13. Fly AwaY

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The riverside path was especially long, with a slight slope and very slippery. Zoe Young carefully shuffled forward, raising her left hand with difficulty to find her watch—five minutes left.

Hurry! She started to run carefully, stumbling a few times and almost flying forward. At last, she reached the end of the path, turned a corner, and looked up. Free from the cover of the street trees, her view suddenly opened up. The vast, frozen river looked like a snow-white dragon, lying quietly there, behind Alan Carter. Alan Carter, in a white down jacket, still had ears red from the cold, just like the first time they met. He stood in the white world, blooming with a white smile. “Sorry to keep you waiting.” Zoe Young suddenly felt a little awkward, politely bowed slightly, and for a moment even wanted to lift a nonexistent skirt and curtsy in return. “Oh?” Alan Carter’s smile could be felt even through the phone line. “Who said I wasn’t?”

Whenever Zoe Young thought back to that night, she always marveled that Alan Carter could always bring her miraculous moments.

She stared at the phone for a long time, then suddenly started to cry. Zoe Young walked step by step to the phone extension, gently picked up the receiver, pressed it to her ear, and choked up so much she couldn’t speak. Anyone would do, could someone please tell me? “What should I do…” Her thick sobs went into the receiver, mixed with sniffling breaths. Zoe Young could feel her tears burning, rolling down her cheeks like lava. “What do you mean, what should you do?” The voice on the other end, with a smile and a hint of surprise, startled Zoe Young so much she almost jumped.

“Are you… are you…” Zoe Young said something very childish for her age, “Are you… a fairy?”

The laughter on the other end of the phone stopped Zoe Young’s tears. “Yeah, I’m a fairy. Do you want to make a wish?” Zoe Young trembled, not sure if she should believe the mysterious person on the other end. After an awkward silence, Zoe Young took a deep breath and said loudly, “I…” What do I want? Zoe Young was stunned for a long time. Affiliated High School of Normal University? To master math olympiad? Or… “You what?”

“I…” Zoe Young was so anxious she was about to cry. She knew fairies were busy, and after finally getting through, if she hesitated like this, she’d annoy them.

“I wish… can you give me three more wishes…” The fairy laughed so hard they almost couldn’t breathe. “Zoe Young, you really aren’t shy at all…”

Later, Zoe Young realized that most miracles in the world are just coincidences. Alan Carter’s number had just been dialed, and before the dial tone even sounded, on the other end Zoe Young had already picked up the phone, sobbing.

“So you’re not a fairy after all.”

“Actually, it’s more fun at night, with the colored lights it’s really pretty. But there are fewer people during the day, so no one will fight us for the ice slide.” Even now, Zoe Young still felt a bit dazed. Yes, when she had nervously and vaguely told the fairy she was scared and unhappy, the fairy hadn’t asked for details, but instead invited her to the riverside ice and snow amusement park on Saturday.

“Alan Carter,” Zoe Young finally gathered her courage to ask, “Aren’t you a bit old to be playing on the ice slide…” Alan Carter rubbed his ears, as if just remembering something, took earmuffs out of his black backpack and put them on, then touched his nose and said, “Ha, I never played when I was little.” His tone was actually a bit wistful. Zoe Young followed him inside. The tickets weren’t cheap, but Alan Carter said fairies are always rich, so he had to treat. “What should we play first?” Alan Carter looked around the vast amusement park with his hands in his pockets. The sky was a clear blue, endless. When you looked up and took a deep breath, the cold air filled your lungs, making your chest ache a little, but it felt so refreshing. Breathing out slowly, it was as if your wounds were healing bit by bit.

Zoe Young still wore a slightly heavy and worried expression. The vast white world of the amusement park made her newly excited, but this happiness always wore shackles she couldn’t unlock.

Alan Carter seemed to notice this. He grabbed her little bag and dragged her backward to the top of the tall ice slide. “Let’s ride this.” He somehow produced a huge piece of brown cardboard, as if he’d flattened and taken apart a box. Alan Carter pressed Zoe Young’s shoulders to make her sit at the front of the cardboard, then sat behind her, hugged her shoulders tightly, and gently said, “One, two, three, let’s go!”

Zoe Young barely had time to shout or close her eyes before the wind rushed into her face, as if it washed away all the fog. Behind her was a solid chest, and just like that, she spread her arms and, at unimaginable speed, rushed toward the vast, snow-white earth—she was no longer heavy, because she was weightless.