Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
Before he knew it, the day to leave home had arrived.
On the last night before his departure, after dinner, he chose not to keep up his extra training. Instead, he returned to his room as usual. He didn't play games or browse the latest viral gossip online. He simply sat quietly by the bed, gazing out at the familiar night sky—the same shade he'd seen for eighteen years.
Tomorrow, he would be going to another city, beneath another sky.
At six thirty in the morning, before the alarm had even gone off, his mother, Wang Xiulan, was already bustling around the kitchen on tiptoe. She had turned the smart range hood to its lowest setting, afraid of waking her son, but still wanted him to have a warm breakfast.
In truth, Lin Ye had been awake for a while. He had just stayed curled beneath the warm covers, reluctant to get up, savoring one last bit of home's warmth.
Lying in bed, he listened to his mother's quiet footsteps in the kitchen, the faint clink of a spatula against the pan, and the occasional cough from his father, who was smoking on the balcony.
At seven, Lin Ye got up. Looking at everything familiar around him, he etched every inch of the little bedroom he'd lived in for eighteen years into his heart.
He finished breakfast at half past seven, then packed his things. His mother had stuffed the suitcase to the brim. Wang Xiulan would have packed the whole house if she could, but the suitcase was only so big.
"Mom, the school has everything..."
Lin Ye looked at the bulging suitcase, a little helpless.
"The school has its things, and home has ours."
Wang Xiulan didn't even look