Loneliness

After saying that, Eleven ran off. Hesta remained where she was, staring absently at the child and the dog.

Her phone rang again. Ksenia was calling. Hesta shot to her feet and turned away to answer it.

Early Sunday morning, Lin Jiao arrived at the intersection at the village entrance. It had just rained, and the ground was somewhat muddy.

She had received a text from Hesta the night before, asking whether she could come by at the last minute on the final day. Lin Jiao had replied, "Not in principle," and Hesta had sent several smiling faces before immediately asking for the address.

They had agreed to meet at eight thirty in the morning. Lin Jiao arrived nearly forty minutes early. She had originally planned to stop by the nearby convenience store to buy a few things, but as soon as she passed the bus stop, she saw Hesta spring lightly off the bus.

When they saw each other, both froze for a moment, then simultaneously lowered their heads to check the time again.

"...You got here pretty early," Lin Jiao said as she walked over.

"I was afraid of traffic," Hesta replied. "Why are you here so early too?"

"I came to buy something."

The two headed together to the only convenience store in the village. Before they even entered, they heard arguing. Hesta thought she recognized Eucali's voice, and when they went inside, it was indeed her—Eucali was craning her neck as she argued with a man, gripping his wrist tightly and urgently saying something. Cheng Xiaoshu was trying to persuade them, but it clearly was not doing much good.

The moment the man saw someone enter, he wanted to call them over to judge the matter. But when he saw that they were unfamiliar young