As soon as the young woman walked in, the light no longer shone through. Adam Bolton felt a pang of regret, thinking that such a beautiful young woman was a rare sight even in Haizhou. He thought, since the woman had a male companion present, he didn’t dare to be too bold. He noticed the tiredness in her eyes, the kind often seen on summer afternoons. The little girl holding the woman’s hand was also very pretty, about three or four years old, pouting as she wiped sweat from her forehead, her eyes deep and black.

Adam Bolton felt a bit envious of the young man at the door. With such a beautiful wife and daughter, it seemed all the good things one could hope for in life had happened to him.

The young man stood at the door, facing inside. The light outside was so strong that his face couldn’t be seen clearly. The young woman turned to speak to him in a northern dialect that Adam Bolton couldn’t quite catch. He thought, standing in the shop wouldn’t bring about a car accident anyway. Seeing the woman leading the little girl inside, the girl pointed excitedly at the ceiling fan above Adam Bolton’s head and shouted, “Mom, there’s wind, there’s wind…”

Adam Bolton walked out, passing by the young man at the door. The young man happened to turn to look at something in the corner, so Adam Bolton still didn’t get a good look at his face. A chubby middle-aged man came out of the building materials shop, carrying two folding stools. A skinny man followed behind, holding a deck of cards and a stack of change, shouting, “Old Four, Biaozi, what are you dawdling for…”

“Coming, damn it, you sound like you’re mourning, with that loud voice!” A shirtless young man picked up a small square table and walked out of the hardware store, setting it up under the shade of a street tree. Another young man followed with two small stools…

In an instant, Adam Bolton recalled the news report from fourteen years ago about that car accident: “A major traffic accident occurred on North Street in the West District. A dump truck turned from Dongsheng Street onto North Street. The driver, drunk, lost control and veered onto the sidewalk. At the time, four young men were playing cards under the shade of a tree on the sidewalk and couldn’t get out of the way in time…” Adam Bolton turned back in shock to look at the couple and the little girl in the convenience store. That report had left a deep impression on Adam Bolton, not only because the accident happened on North Street, but also because the newspaper had published a photo of the little girl, making it all the more heartbreaking.

Blood rushed to his head in waves, the shock leaving Adam Bolton paralyzed, unable to move!

“Uncle Tian’s car is almost here, I’ll wait outside…” the young man in the convenience store said to the woman, then slipped out through the door curtain. Outside, the shade under the poplar tree in front of the building materials shop was the coolest spot. The young man glanced at Adam Bolton, who was standing blankly at the convenience store entrance, then walked over to the shade to watch the four men play cards.

In the distance, the sound of a heavy vehicle rolling over the asphalt could be heard, approaching the street corner, seemingly without slowing down. The sound of death was so clear…

“Daddy, Mommy’s giving you ice cream…”

The little girl, holding an ice cream, almost bounced out the door. The dirt-yellow dump truck had just appeared around the corner, showing half its front, with no sign of turning.

The little girl brushed past Adam Bolton; Adam Bolton could almost feel the hem of her dress brush against his calf below his shorts. The dump truck drove through the middle of the street, still showing no sign of turning…

The little girl skipped out of the hardware store, tripped, fell to the ground, and her ice cream splattered on the pavement… Over there, the dump truck driver seemed to suddenly realize he’d missed the intersection, yanked the steering wheel hard, and the tires screeched sharply against the asphalt. The young man, just about to help his daughter up, turned in shock and saw the dump truck making a sudden U-turn in the middle of the street, barreling straight toward them…

“Ah!” The young woman at the convenience store entrance screamed loudly.

Adam Bolton thought of the photo of the little girl published after the accident, and saw this adorable little girl lying less than five steps in front of him. The thought that such a small child was about to be run over by this rampaging dump truck sent a surge of strength through Adam Bolton. He lunged forward, grabbed the little girl, and ran back.

The dump truck slammed into the poplar tree as thick as a man’s waist. With a crack, the tree snapped in two, and half of it was driven hard into the chubby middle-aged man’s belly. The dump truck paused, then suddenly lurched forward again—the engine hadn’t stalled, and the driver accidentally hit the gas again—the other three card players and the young man were all frozen in shock, their bodies stiff, forgetting to dodge, until the dump truck plowed into them and sent them flying.

The dump truck charged toward Adam Bolton again.

Adam Bolton was petrified, clutching the little girl, not knowing to dodge to the side, holding her stiff body tightly, desperately backing up until his body was pressed against the wall, unable to move, just hugging the little girl tightly in his arms, watching as the dump truck swerved past his nose, his heart nearly stopping…

The dump truck suddenly veered off the sidewalk and shot into the middle of the street, where a Jetta coming from the west crashed headlong under the belly of the dump truck…

Adam Bolton felt something wet on his face. He wiped it and saw his hand covered in blood. “Waa…” Adam Bolton burst into tears, terrified, dropping to his knees and hugging the little girl, frantically feeling her all over. “She’s not hurt, she’s not hurt…”

There was a metallic taste at the corner of his mouth. Adam Bolton wiped it; it was white and sticky—brain matter? His stomach churned, and before he could turn his head, everything in his stomach came up, splattering all over the little girl…