Xiao Ya's parents

When they reached the entrance to Xiao Ya's home,

"This~ is it~"

Xiao Ya appeared beside Wen Ning, her ethereal figure trembling slightly. As she gazed at the familiar place, her eyes filled with conflicting emotions: longing, hurt, and a trace of timid self-doubt that kept her from drawing closer.

The earthen walls had partially collapsed, and dried firewood lay piled in the yard.

Several strings of dried chilies hung beneath the eaves.

A battered washbasin sat by the entrance. This was Xiao Ya's home.

Wen Ning frowned at the surroundings. It seemed Xiao Ya's family really was poor.

A middle-aged couple sat in the yard. The man wore a coarse cloth shirt washed pale with age and silently smoked a pipe, his brow furrowed and his face heavy with worry. The woman sat beside him, mending a small, worn garment. Her eyes were vacant, and she occasionally wiped their corners, her expression full of loneliness and sorrow. One look was enough to tell that some tragedy had struck their family.

"Dad~ Mom~"

As Xiao Ya looked at the two people in the yard, her voice was almost too faint to hear. Her eyes instantly reddened, filled with longing for her parents.

Wen Ning understood. These were Xiao Ya's parents.

He drew a deep breath, gently knocked on the closed courtyard gate, and spoke in a warm voice.

"Excuse me, is anyone home?"

At the knock, both husband and wife looked up, their faces full of confusion.

Their home was deep in the remote mountains, and outsiders rarely came by. The woman hurried to her feet, wiped the corners of her eyes, and opened the gate. Looking at the unfamiliar Wen Ning, she asked curiously,

"Who are you? Who are you looking for?"

The woman's face looked very aged, but her gaze was kind. Wen Ning could tell that these were two good-hearted country folk.

"Hello, ma'am. I happened to hear that a girl named Xiao Ya used to live here, so I came to ask about her."

Wen Ning did not tell them outright that he could see ghosts. Afraid of frightening them, he could only approach the subject indirectly.

The moment he finished speaking, their expressions changed. The man's pipe fell to the ground, and the woman went rigid. Her eyes instantly reddened, and tears streamed uncontrollably down her face as she choked out,

"Xiao Ya~ You mean our Xiao Ya?"

Seeing her parents suddenly lose control of their emotions, Xiao Ya grew frantic beside them as she watched her mother sob. She tried to go forward and comfort her, forgetting that she was already dead, and passed straight through her mother's body. She could touch nothing and do nothing. All she could do was look helplessly at her parents as tears kept sliding down her cheeks.

"Our Xiao Ya had such a hard life."

Wiping her tears, the woman invited Wen Ning into the yard.

It seemed that merely mentioning Xiao Ya had swept away all their wariness. Sitting on small stools, they began haltingly recounting her story. Every word held the heartache and guilt of parents.

Only through her parents' account did Wen Ning learn the truth.

The couple had spent their entire lives in the mountains, making a living by farming and taking odd jobs. Life was hard, but their family had been happy. When Xiao Ya was born, even though they knew she had cerebral palsy, struggled to move, and could not speak clearly, they had never rejected her. They borrowed money wherever they could to seek treatment for her and sent her to school. All they wanted was for their daughter to suffer less and live like an ordinary child—even if her life was unremarkable, they hoped it could at least be peaceful.

"Xiao Ya was considerate. She was well-behaved from the time she was little. Her mind wasn't as quick as other children's, and she couldn't speak smoothly, but she had a kind heart. She knew how hard things were for us. She helped with the chores from a young age and never cried or made a fuss."

The man's eyes were red, his voice hoarse.

"We did everything we could to put her through middle school. She was so happy. She said she wanted to go on to high school and learn more, but we were simply too poor. Even if we'd sold everything we owned, we couldn't have scraped together the tuition. We could only tell her we couldn't afford to send her."

At this, the woman could no longer hold back and burst into sobs.

"We were useless. We weren't capable enough, and she suffered for it. She never blamed us. She just cried quietly. After she stopped going to school, she helped around the house. Laundry, cooking—she did everything."

Wen Ning listened quietly to the couple, his heart aching as though a heavy stone were pressing down on it.

He turned to look at Xiao Ya. The young girl had lowered her head and was softly sobbing. She had never blamed her parents. She knew they loved her, and she understood the family's difficulties. She had silently tucked all that hurt away in her heart.

"Then how did Xiao Ya pass away?"

Holding back the ache in his heart, Wen Ning asked softly.

The woman was crying so hard she was close to fainting. Her face was filled with regret and despair, and she could barely speak.

"It was winter, freezing cold, and I was sick. There was no one to wash the clothes, so that child insisted on going to the river to do the laundry for me. She already had trouble walking. She slipped and fell into the river. By the time we found her, it was too late."

"It was all our fault. If we hadn't let her go wash the clothes, if we'd had the money to keep her in school, she wouldn't have left us so soon."

The man covered his face. The hardships of poverty had not broken him, but at the mention of Xiao Ya, this grown man cried like a child, overwhelmed by grief and self-blame.

So Xiao Ya had not wanted to die, nor had she been without ties to this world. She had gone to the river to wash clothes in the bitter cold of winter to help ease her family's burden, only to fall into the water and lose her life at just fourteen.

And the lingering attachments in her heart were not only about never thanking the boy who had protected her. There was also her concern for her parents and her regret at being unable to continue her education. But she was so considerate that she had never spoken of them, keeping them hidden deep inside.

Watching her parents sob, Xiao Ya slowly floated to their side and gently leaned against her mother's leg, her voice faint and tender.

"Dad, Mom, it wasn't your fault~ It didn't hurt~"

Sadly, her parents could neither hear nor touch her.

Wen Ning looked at the grief-stricken couple before him, then at the helpless yet considerate Xiao Ya beside them, and waves of heartache rose within him.

At last, he understood. Though illness had plagued Xiao Ya throughout her life, she had parents who loved her more than anything. But poverty and an unjust fate had taken her away far too soon, leaving her with lingering attachments full of regret.

"Ma'am, sir, please don't be too sad. Xiao Ya must be doing well on the other side. She never blamed you."

Wen Ning comforted them softly, having already made up his mind. Not only would he help Xiao Ya find that boy and say her thank-you, but he would also spend time with these poor parents on her behalf, easing her final worry.

In the little courtyard, the sobbing gradually subsided, leaving only endless loneliness.

This little village, which could not even be found on a map, held the brief life of a considerate girl, her parents' unconditional love for their child, and a regret that would, in the end, be resolved.

Wen Ning knew that his next task was to help Xiao Ya find the boy who had protected her in middle school, so that her thank-you, delayed for so many years, could finally reach him.

Once all of that was done, Xiao Ya would be able to let go of every lingering attachment and depart in peace.

He only hoped that this poor, considerate little girl could have her wish fulfilled and never suffer the slightest hurt again.