Chapter 2: The Boy’s Secret

In his grandmother’s eyes, Lin You was a model grandson—obedient and sensible from a young age, he had never caused her any worry.

In truth, however, the boy had his own little secrets.

9:15 PM.

‘Grandma should be asleep by now.’

Lin You guessed in his heart, so he got out of bed lightly and quietly, feeling his way out of the room in the dark.

He went to his grandmother’s bedroom and stood silently at the open doorway, observing the situation inside.

“I’m sorry, Grandma.”

After confirming his only family member was asleep, Lin You whispered to himself, filled with the guilt of being a bad child.

The secret plan continued.

Lin You took his small snakeskin bag, the one specially used for collecting trash, and left the house alone, without a sound.

Baiyun Town was not a particularly developed place. Although there were streetlights at night, the darkness still swallowed most of it.

The first thing Lin You did after leaving his house was to slip into the dark crevice between the buildings.

‘Gotta collect more bottles. If I could just find some gold…’

Bathed in darkness, the little boy was like a fish in water, full of vigor.

The operation began.

The small boy weaved through the dim and lightless streets and alleys.

“One!”

Lin You bent down in the corner of an alley and picked up his first prize—an iced tea bottle.

The dark surroundings didn’t seem to hinder his grand undertaking of collecting trash.

‘Ah, someone’s passing by.’

Suddenly, the boy’s expression changed slightly, and he quickly found a place to hide to avoid meeting a stranger.

The passerby disappeared without ever noticing their chance encounter with the little scavenger boy.

“That was close. Good thing he had something white on his head.”

Only after the person was far away did Lin You let out a long breath, his whole body relaxing.

In his world, there was a secret that no one would likely believe even if he told them.

From Lin You’s perspective, every person had a ball of light above their head.

These lights usually appeared as a white glow, which was very conspicuous at night.

This was how Lin You avoided strange passersby.

As long as white appeared in his line of sight, he would hide far away. This was Lin You’s rule for scavenging alone at night, away from his grandmother’s protection.

“Keep going, keep going!”

The little boy kept a close watch on his surroundings while treating the trash discarded by others as his own spoils of war.

10:30 PM.

The small snakeskin bag was bulging, filled with the fruits of Lin You’s labor.

“What a pity, I didn’t find any little gold dots again.”

Despite the considerable harvest, Lin You was not quite satisfied.

The “little gold dots” he mentioned were orbs of golden light about the size of a fingernail.

This was a “serendipitous encounter” Lin You had on one of his nightly excursions.

At that time, a golden light was just floating in an empty space. It startled Lin You, but he was also curious about this unusual color.

So, the little boy reached out his small hand towards the golden light.

Then, the golden light vanished. He only felt a warmth spreading through his body, which was very comfortable.

From then on, Lin You especially looked forward to encountering the little gold dots again at night.

“Forget it. If there aren’t any, there aren’t any. I should go back. If Grandma wakes up and finds me gone, she’ll definitely worry.”

The little boy took one last look at the ink-black surroundings, preparing to end tonight’s operation.

He often went out alone at night, but he knew his limits. He always centered his activities around his home, never venturing more than two kilometers away.

“If there are more bottles, Grandma can sell them for more money, and then she won’t have to go out and collect things every day. That would be great!”

Imagining his grandmother not having to work so hard, Lin You felt a surge of relief through his tired little body.

Slinging the snakeskin bag over his shoulder, he moved like a ghost in the darkness.

Whenever he encountered a passerby, he could use his special ability to evade them.

He estimated he would reach home in another five or six minutes.

“Sob sob…”

From the deserted children’s park in the dead of night, faint crying sounds could be heard, along with a purple glow that was very conspicuous to Lin You.

Perhaps because he often walked around in the dark, Lin You’s night vision had become quite good.

Getting a little closer, from a distance of about ten meters, Lin You saw a girl squatting next to the park’s seesaw. The crying sounds were coming from her.

‘So it’s a person…’

The little boy immediately stopped. He had thought the purple light was an ownerless object, not expecting it to be coming from the little girl’s head.

“Sob sob”

The girl buried her face in her knees and continued to cry, helpless and pitiful.

‘I should go. It’s none of my business. But it’s so late, her family must be worried, right?’

Lin You hesitated for a moment, looked up at the moonless sky, and chose to walk towards the little girl.

“Sob sob, Mommy is the worst, I hate her, I hate her…”

The girl’s sobs were mixed with mumbled complaints, completely unaware that someone was approaching her.

“Hey.”

Lin You had already reached the girl’s side and made a sound to get her attention.

“Aah…”

The girl was suddenly startled and jumped to her feet.

“A g-ghost! Mommy, Daddy, save me, I don’t want to be choked to death…”

It was dark all around, and the girl could only see Lin You’s blurry figure. She subconsciously associated it with the ghost movies she had seen, taking him for a phantom or an evil spirit.

“I’m a person, not a ghost.”

Taking advantage of the girl’s yelling, Lin You got a clear look at her face.

Although she had just been crying, with a runny nose and tear-streaked face, it was hard to hide her natural beauty. She was the very model of a future belle.

“You’re lying! Appearing here so late at night, what could you be but a ghost? Aah, there’s a ghost behind me too, ahhh…”

The girl shivered, continuously backing away from Lin You, but she accidentally bumped into the park’s equipment, causing her to scream again in fright.

“Stop screaming. If you don’t need help, then I’m leaving now.”

Lin You didn’t have the time to explain so much to this jumpy girl.

“Help me? Really?”

The girl’s head was spinning. Since she hadn’t been harmed yet, the boy she couldn’t see clearly didn’t seem as evil as she had imagined.

“Why aren’t you at home so late at night, crying here? Aren’t you afraid your family will worry? Or are they asleep too?”

Lin You possessed the purest form of kindness; he couldn’t quite understand the girl’s behavior.

“Hmph, it’s because Mommy snatched my TV remote and wouldn’t let me watch cartoons. She’s so mean…”

The girl’s cheeks immediately puffed up as she angrily listed her family’s wrongdoings.

“…”

Lin You was at a loss for words. Back when his family’s pudgy TV wasn’t broken, he had also been quite obsessed. However, his grandmother had never fought with him for ownership of the TV, so he couldn’t empathize with the girl.

“What about you? Why are you out so late at night scaring people? Did someone take your remote too? Is that why you’re angry?”

The girl couldn’t see Lin You’s face clearly, but based on his voice, she judged him to be a boy.

“No, I came out to collect bottles.”

Lin You stated his purpose openly, without any sense of inferiority or embarrassment.

“What do you do with bottles? Aren’t they just trash? They should be in the garbage bin.”

The girl’s family was well-off, and at only seven years old, she couldn’t understand the deeper meaning behind his actions.

“You can sell them for money. Let’s not talk about that anymore. You should go home. If your family can’t find you, they’ll be worried.”

As Lin You spoke, his gaze lingered above the girl’s head.

The original purple light was now gradually changing into the familiar white he knew.

‘Does purple represent sadness?’

The boy cleverly made the connection.