“What instant noodles? I’ll cook you some noodles.” William Clark was reluctant. On such a cold day, he still had to go out to buy instant noodles. During the New Year, if you wanted instant noodles, you had to go all the way to the 24-hour Zhang Donglai convenience store two blocks away.

  “The noodles you cook are tasteless. I’m not eating them. Go buy me instant noodles!” Little Clark was unhappy.

  “I’m not going.” William Clark said as he started to change his shoes.

  “Then crack open that little walnut on your neck and let me eat it.” Little Clark’s eyes sparkled.

  “Crack your own, will you? Stop thinking about that, okay?” William Clark was a bit exasperated. The thing hanging around his neck wasn’t a walnut; it just looked like one because of the pattern. It was a bit blackened and oddly round.

  It had been abandoned at the orphanage with him, looking completely ordinary. Although William Clark often complained that the staff at the orphanage were a bit irresponsible, he had to admit they were decent people. Otherwise, this thing wouldn’t have stayed with him until now.

  It was useless to others, but to William Clark, it was a small but significant keepsake.

  What if… he was just saying what if, his parents wanted to find him through this? Wouldn’t this be proof?

  Even though he didn’t really have a concept of “parents,” he’d lived just fine on his own all these years.

  Back when some parents came to the orphanage to adopt a child, the director held his hand and led him to that unfamiliar couple. At that moment, he’d had a sliver of hope for the word “parents.”

  But when they disliked him for being sickly, that sliver of hope vanished.

  Maybe, he really didn’t need parents anymore. William Clark would sometimes think this.

  But when it really came time to throw it away… he still couldn’t bear to.

  “I’ll say it again, you definitely can’t eat this thing.” William Clark said irritably.

  “I even dare to drink other people’s Chinese medicine, what’s there to be afraid of eating this!” Little Clark retorted.

  William Clark was speechless. Damn, that actually makes sense!

  “William Clark, you’ve changed. You weren’t like this before!” Little Clark said calmly, “Last year you even helped me…”

  William Clark’s face darkened: “Little Clark, that’s enough… I’m telling you, if you keep watching those romance soap operas, I’ll smash the TV!”

  “Then you’ll have to pay the landlord 800 yuan.” Little Clark analyzed coolly.

  “Fine, fine, I’ll go buy you instant noodles!” William Clark turned and headed out.

  Standing at the doorway, William Clark tightened his collar. Winter in Luo City really was a bit cold.

  Suddenly, he felt a bit of dampness on his eyelids. Looking up, he saw that at some point, fine snow had begun to fall from the sky.

  The delicate snowflakes were like down, slowly drifting from the sky to the earth, landing on the ground, on the eaves, on William Clark’s body.

  Why did he and Little Clark get along so well? Standing at the door, watching the white snowflakes fall from the sky, William Clark wondered. He wasn’t really sure.

  Maybe it was that time when he had a fever at the orphanage during New Year’s at age fourteen, and Little Clark brought him a cup of hot water? Or when he was bullied by others at the orphanage, Little Clark would always call the director for him?

  Maybe it was because they both had no one to rely on, so they stuck together for warmth?

  Or maybe it was Little Clark’s unreasonable trust and dependence on him that gave him a strange sense of responsibility.

  “Who cares why.” William Clark smiled. Since there were no parents or relatives left in this world, what’s wrong with having one more little sister? Even if this little sister was always causing trouble for him.

  In winter, it got dark earlier. Since it was the third day of the New Year, there were hardly any pedestrians on the street, just the occasional passing truck. Even during the New Year, people were still out delivering goods—life wasn’t easy for anyone.

  For some reason, William Clark suddenly remembered the acrobat who was taken away earlier today. Was that performer really the “supernatural” person everyone was speculating about online? Did cultivators really exist?

  Why had all these things, which used to be just fantasies, suddenly seemed about to enter people’s lives this year?

  There was another person who left a deep impression on William Clark today—the young man named Grace whom he met after leaving backstage.

  Thinking about that possibly real, even more dazzling world, William Clark got a little lost in thought.

  At that moment, the sound of the wind seemed to shatter as it swept toward William Clark, and the swirling snowflakes looked especially brilliant under two huge beams of light.

  The light came from behind him. When William Clark turned around, the blinding headlights made him dizzy.

  But even so, he could still make out that it was a huge truck, roaring toward him like a wild beast.

  The screech of the brakes and the tires gripping the road rang out together.

  But the beast was already out of control.

  In just an instant, the air was compressed to the point of distortion, and in the darkness, William Clark was struck by the massive beast.

  His body, like a kite with a broken string, crashed through the curtain of snow behind him. William Clark’s world seemed to slow down. For some reason, he suddenly remembered someone saying that, right before death, a person’s whole life flashes before their eyes.