"Whoosh..." A car swept past him. When he looked across the road, he couldn't help frowning.
After a moment's hesitation, he walked over.
Under the dim yellow streetlight, a little girl of five or six, dressed in pink, sat by the roadside with a rag doll in her arms.
Li Yichen walked up to the little girl and crouched down, asking with a smile, "Hello, little girl. What's your name?"
Two dimples appeared when the girl smiled. Looking at Li Yichen, she said sweetly, "Hello, big brother. My name is Li Mengqi... You can call me Qiqi. That's what Mommy and Daddy call me."
"What a good girl..." Li Yichen couldn't resist patting her head. He asked softly, "What are you doing here so late?"
"I'm lost. I'm waiting for Mommy to come get me..." The little girl gave a couple of hurt sniffles. "But I've waited and waited, and they still haven't come. Was Qiqi naughty? Do they not want Qiqi anymore?"
"You're so adorable, Qiqi. Your mommy and daddy would never stop wanting you." Li Yichen's expression dimmed as he asked, "How long have you been here?"
"I don't know..." the little girl said forlornly. "I only know that the flowers on that tree by the road have bloomed twice... Each time, they were really, really pink, just like my clothes."
The little girl suddenly smiled, as though she could see the tree in bloom.
Li Yichen turned to look along the roadside and saw a row of cherry trees...
He turned back, forced a smile, and asked, "Do you really like those flowers?"
"Yes, yes..." The little girl's eyes lit up, and she nodded eagerly. "I'm too short. I can't reach them at all."
Then she paused, her eyes reddening. "I asked the big brothers and sisters