A glass-clear sky

The hardware store owner took a sip of tea and shook his head. "He came by this morning, in a real hurry. Then he got a call and ran off to the hospital without even opening for business."

Pu Yu's heart tightened. "The hospital?"

"Yes. I happened to overhear a little when the nurse called. She said his mother was making a terrible fuss and refusing to take her medicine."

"The town health center?"

"That's right. It's not far from here."

Pu Yu hugged the insulated food container closer.

Somehow, she found herself remembering that stormy night, when Yuan Su had gripped her wrist in his feverish delirium, saying, "Don't touch my mom."

"Thank you, sir."

After thanking him, Pu Yu turned and ran toward the health center without a moment's hesitation, her steps far more hurried than before.

The psychiatric ward on the second floor of the town health center.

As soon as Pu Yu climbed the stairs, she heard shrill arguing from the end of the corridor, along with what sounded like glass shattering.

"Liars! You're all liars!"

Pu Yu's heart clenched, and she approached with quieter steps.

The door to the room at the end of the corridor stood wide open, with two young nurses hovering outside, looking somewhat impatient.

The room was a mess.

The apples that had been beside the bed were scattered across the floor. The glass of warm water had been smashed to pieces too, and water spread across the floor.

Lu Zhen wore blue-and-white-striped hospital clothes, her hair spilling untidily over her shoulders.

Her once lovely, gentle face was now streaked with tears, and a frightening stubbornness and madness filled her eyes.

She stood barefoot beside the bed, pointing a trembling finger at the boy before her.

"You promised... you said you'd bring her!"

"You said you had classmates, that you had friends... you lied to me!"

Yuan Su stood with his back to the doorway.

He still stood straight, yet there was an indescribable weariness and loneliness about him.

Faced with his mother's accusations, he neither flinched nor defended himself. He simply bent down and silently picked up the shards from the floor.

"Mom, she has school."

Yuan Su's voice was low, his soothing words tinged with helplessness. "She has exams coming up. She's busy. Next time..."

"Next time? Always next time!"

Lu Zhen suddenly grew agitated and slapped away Yuan Su's outstretched hand. "You always say that! You're all alone... those people call you a gambler's son. They look down on you! No one wants to play with you. No one!"

Those words were like a sharp knife.

They plunged straight into the most festering wound in Yuan Su's heart.

The boy's hand froze in midair.

The shards had sliced his fingertips, drawing beads of crimson blood, but he seemed unable to feel the pain.

"Su is a liar... there is no Pu Yu. There are no friends."

Lu Zhen clutched her head and crouched on the floor, sobbing in a voice filled with despair and sorrow. "It's all a lie... just like your dad saying he'd come back. All lies... my Su is all alone, so terribly alone..."

She did not truly want to hurt her son.

Her heart ached for him.

Within those muddled memories, her greatest fear was that the world would abandon Yuan Su and leave him locked in this room just like her.

"Mom..."

Yuan Su's throat bobbed as he swallowed painfully.

He did not know how to explain, much less how to prove to someone with a mental illness that the girl who was like a light truly existed.

But he could not bring her here.

This place was too dirty, too chaotic, too oppressive.

He did not want Pu Yu to witness such a wretched scene, did not want her clear eyes to reflect the sight of his mother losing her mind.

"Go away... I don't want to see you, you liar..."

Lu Zhen shoved him. "Go!"

Yuan Su stumbled back a step, his back hitting the cold wall.

He lowered his head, his fringe hiding his eyes. It was as though his backbone had been pulled out of him, leaving him sunk in profound helplessness.

Just then.

A clear, soft, gentle voice drifted through the stagnant, suffocating air like a soothing spring breeze.

"Ma'am."

Lu Zhen's sobbing stopped abruptly.

Yuan Su jerked his head up, his pupils contracting.

Amid the light and shadow in the doorway, the girl who should have been at home stood quietly with a cream-colored insulated food container in her arms.

The mess on the floor had not frightened her away.

Nor did she show the slightest disgust or fear.

Meeting Yuan Su's stunned gaze, Pu Yu smiled softly, her eyes curving as though silently telling him, I'm here!

Then she stepped over the shards, walked up to Lu Zhen, and crouched down to meet her eyes.

"Yuan Su didn't lie to you, ma'am."

Looking into Lu Zhen's red, swollen yet still beautiful eyes, Pu Yu gave her a warm, gentle smile. "I'm Pu Yu."

"I'm Yuan Su's friend."

Time seemed to freeze in the room at that moment.

Lu Zhen stared blankly at the girl who had suddenly appeared before her.

She wore the same school uniform as Yuan Su and seemed like a warm flame brought in from the bitter winter wind, clean and bright, her eyes filled with a gentle smile.

"Pu... Yu?"

Lu Zhen murmured the name. It was as though someone had pressed pause on the confusion in her clouded eyes; little by little, they focused and grew clear.

"Yes." Pu Yu nodded and gently took Lu Zhen's cold, trembling fingers, her voice tender. "I'm sorry, ma'am. I have exams coming up, so I'm late. I'm sorry for keeping you waiting so long."

She did not explain that she had not known, nor did she say that Yuan Su had never told her.

She took all the blame upon herself by saying she was late.

Standing to one side, Yuan Su watched, even his breathing growing cautious.

He had thought his mother would reject her, scream, or even push this "stranger" away as she had pushed him.

But she did not.

The madness in Lu Zhen's eyes faded.

In its place came an almost childlike delight and tentative wonder.

"It's real... it's real..."

Suddenly, she laughed. Tears still clung to her lashes, but her smile was as radiant as a little girl's. "I knew it! Our Su is such a good boy. Of course he'd have friends!"

Lu Zhen held tightly to Pu Yu's hand, as though she had found some priceless treasure.

Her gaze settled on Pu Yu's face, and she asked delightedly, "Are you... little Yu, the girl who gave him the persimmons?"

Pu Yu was a little surprised. "You remember?"

"I remember! Of course I do!" Lu Zhen nodded vigorously, her voice cheerful. "Those persimmons were so sweet, so very sweet. Su peeled them for me. He said... little Yu had given them to him."

Pu Yu glanced back at Yuan Su.

The boy stood where light met shadow, his fingers still dripping blood. When he met her gaze, he turned his face away, a little embarrassed.

Little Yu.

He called her little Yu.