Goodbye, Bronya

He found a relatively hidden corner and used scavenged wooden boards, cardboard, and plastic sheeting to build a crude shelter.

Though it was small and couldn't withstand strong winds or heavy rain, Jiang Mo had made it very comfortable inside.

He spread out some tattered cloth and foam plastic he had picked up, making a simple bed.

He also piled up some spoils inside—the food he had begged for, some old tools, and a few battered books.

Lying in his little home, Jiang Mo felt incredibly at ease.

This was a place that truly belonged to him in this world.

Though crude, he had built it with his own hands.

He touched the Winter City Coins in his pocket, then looked at the food piled beside him.

Life was getting better bit by bit.

He was no longer the vermin who could only struggle to survive in garbage heaps.

After that, Jiang Mo kept training.

Every morning, he did simple physical exercises near his shack.

Though he was only six and his body had yet to fully develop, he could see his attribute points steadily increasing.

Just like that, a year passed.

That day.

The news spread through the two towns like the wind.

Rivet Town's orphanage was going to hold a mass selection...

Goodbye, Bronya

Rivet Town's orphanage was going to hold a mass selection, supposedly organized personally by some important figure from the Upper District.

Children who passed the selection would be able to live in the Upper District.

In exchange, the organizers would give the orphanage a sum of money, enough to improve its conditions.

The news quickly spread throughout the Lower District.

Many homeless children, even parents from poor families, brought their children flocking to the orphanage, hoping to squeeze into the selection.

Jiang Mo stood some distance away, blending into the crowd of onlookers.

He did not approach, merely watching from afar.

The selection process was shrouded in mystery. The orphanage gates remained shut, and only a few sharply dressed people went in and out. Clearly, they were from the Upper District.

Children were brought in batch after batch, then brought back out, each wearing a different expression.

Jiang Mo knew perfectly well that this was clearly a deal between Natasha and the Upper District.

The orphanage's children were exchanged for operating funds and money to feed them.

Though it sounded somewhat like trafficking children, in the Lower District, this was already the best possible path left for those orphans.

And Jiang Mo was not worried about Bronya.

In Belobog's script, she would be the one who stood out.

The selection lasted all day, and it was not until evening that the orphanage gates opened again.

Natasha stepped out of the orphanage, looking exhausted, with several Upper District guests following beside her.

"Only one child passed this selection."

Holding a large megaphone, Natasha's voice carried clearly outside.

The crowd instantly fell silent, all pricking up their ears as they waited for the orphanage director to announce the name.

"Bronya."

The name of the sole selected child was announced, and a commotion immediately rippled through the crowd!

Bronya?!

Wasn't she that child at the orphanage with barely any presence...

How could she have been the one selected?!

Standing in the corner, Jiang Mo was not as surprised as everyone else.

Good. The plan was progressing smoothly.

But when he deliberately went to the orphanage that night to find Bronya, he discovered that she was not as happy as he had imagined.

Bronya sat on a swing, clutching an old rag doll in her hands. Her little face drooped, and her eyes were not as bright as usual, carrying a faint sadness.

"Bronya?"

Jiang Mo walked over and sat on the swing beside her.

The swing let out a soft creak.

"Didn't you pass the selection? You're going to the Upper District. Why do you look unhappy?"

Hearing his voice, Bronya slowly raised her head. When she saw Jiang Mo, her little lips pressed together, and the melancholy in her eyes seemed to deepen.

"Big Brother Jiang Mo..."

Her voice was soft and nasal, as if she were about to cry.

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to the Upper District."

Jiang Mo nodded. "I know. That's a good thing... So many people want to live in the Upper District but never get the chance."

"Bronya, why aren't you happy?" he asked.

Bronya lowered her head, her little feet absentmindedly kicking at the dust on the ground.

"I... I can't bear to leave this place. I can't bear to leave Big Sister Natasha..."

As she spoke, her voice grew softer and softer, until it was almost inaudible.

"And... and I can't bear to leave you either..."

Jiang Mo froze for a moment.

Though her voice was barely louder than a mosquito's, he had heard her clearly.

He had never imagined that before Bronya left this place, where even getting enough to eat was a problem, for the Upper District filled with fine food and clothing, the person on her mind... would actually be him?!

Looking at the silver whorl of Bronya's hair, Jiang Mo tried to persuade her.

"Bronya, didn't we make an agreement before?

If either of us gets the chance to leave here, to go to the Upper District, or even out into the wider world, we have to take it."

Bronya slowly raised her head, her eyes slightly wet as she looked at him. "But..."

"No buts!"

Jiang Mo cut her off, his attitude abruptly turning firm.

"You know what kind of place this is."

He pointed at the dilapidated buildings in the distance and the sky blocked by the dome.

"There is only hunger and cold here. We can't spend our whole lives waiting here to die... The outside is different from this place!"

Jiang Mo looked into the distance, as if his gaze could pierce through the heavy dome.

"Up there are clean streets, endless food, warm homes. And so many things that we simply can't imagine down here."

"This is your only chance to escape this place... Bronya, you have to go!"

Bronya looked at Jiang Mo. She knew he was right; this was a chance to change her fate.

But for some reason, it felt as if something inside her was being torn apart, and it hurt terribly.

"What about you, Big Brother Jiang Mo?" Bronya asked. "Will you go to the Upper District too?"

Jiang Mo nodded. "Of course."

"Didn't I tell you? I don't want to rot here for the rest of my life... I'll work hard. I'll find a way to get up there."

"You go ahead and scout the way for me."

He held out his little finger and looked at Bronya, his gaze so serious that he did not seem like a six-year-old child.

"Let's pinky swear again. I promise."

Bronya hesitated for a moment, then held out her slender little finger as well.

Their two tiny fingers hooked together and shook firmly.

"Bronya, I promise you, once I get to the Upper District... we'll meet again."

"Okay!"

Bronya nodded hard.

"It's a promise! Big Brother Jiang Mo, we'll meet again in the Upper District!"

The next day at noon.

A black car stopped in front of the orphanage.

The door opened, and a well-dressed woman with a cold demeanor stepped out.

Natasha emerged holding Bronya's hand.

Bronya wore clean clothes and tightly hugged the old rag doll Jiang Mo had given her before.

Her small figure walked step by step toward the car.

She still looked somewhat uneasy, her little hand tightly clutching Natasha's hem.

When they reached the car, Natasha placed her hand in that cold woman's grasp.

Bronya's little hand was held by a hand that was cold yet strong.

Just as she was about to get into the car, Bronya suddenly stopped.

She did not look at Natasha. Instead, she turned her head toward the orphanage entrance.

Jiang Mo was standing there, seeing her off from afar.

Bronya looked at him, her tiny face bearing an expression far too complicated for a child.

She remembered what Jiang Mo had said the night before, and the promise they had made.

See you in the Upper District.

Then Bronya's little hand suddenly slipped free of the woman's grasp.

The woman froze for a moment, a flicker of displeasure passing across her cold face.

Bronya suddenly started running.

She charged toward Jiang Mo with all her strength, the rag doll in her arms bouncing wildly.

Jiang Mo froze.

He had not expected Bronya to suddenly do something so impulsive.

Bronya ran up to him and threw herself into his arms, wrapping her tiny arms tightly around him.

She buried her head against his chest, her body trembling slightly like a startled little animal.

Jiang Mo was startled at first. Then he slowly raised his arms and embraced her too, gently patting her thin back.

At that moment, the woman walked over, grabbed Bronya's arm, and ordered,

"Bronya, it's time to go."

Bronya held on tightly, unwilling to let go, her tiny body seeming to have grown onto Jiang Mo.