A Pen Pal's World

It was a holiday, and all the schools were closed, but Grandma Lin still cooked two large woks of spicy river snails.

When the motorcycle they had arranged for arrived that afternoon, she and Grandpa Lin each carried two buckets onto it and headed into the city.

The round trip by motorcycle alone cost forty yuan. It was far from cheap.

"Lin Er, remember to keep an eye on your little sister while we're gone. Don't let her run around. We'll come back once we've sold everything."

Lin Er nodded obediently and watched them leave.

She had always felt as though her grandparents had never ventured far from home in their lives, but the old couple were actually much bolder than she had imagined.

At the very least, she had gone to sell at the school gates and had never thought of going to the park.

And judging by Grandma Lin's confidence and the amount she had prepared today, there must have been plenty of people at the park.

The moment Grandma Lin disappeared around the corner, Lin Huihui jumped up, grabbed a bamboo tube, and made to run off.

Lin Er glanced at the bamboo tube in her hands. It was filled with the snails Grandma Lin had left for the two of them.

"Where are you going?"

Lin Huihui's eyes darted away for a moment, but then she raised her head and said confidently, "I want to go play with Lanlan and the others!"

Lin Er had been about to say something, but in the end she waved her off and only told her to come home early that evening. If Lin Er had to go up the mountain and call her back for dinner, she would get a spanking.

These days, when she said she would hit her, she really meant it, and she wouldn't hold back at all. If Grandma Lin noticed and tried to stop her, she would give her an extra smack.

As soon as Lin Huihui heard her agree, her heart had already flown away. She nodded repeatedly and promised to come back before dinner.

The children in their family had rarely had snacks since they were little, and pocket money was even more out of the question.

Lin Huihui had been a little bolder than Lin Er since childhood. She would ask for a little extra money when buying school supplies, then keep it as pocket money.

Lin Er had never dared to do that as a child. Or rather, Grandma Lin had complained that the family was poor, that they had no money, and that the sisters' parents had left them at home without giving them any money.

That had made her believe from an early age that the family was so poor they could barely put food on the table.

Even asking for money had filled her with a deep sense of guilt and indebtedness.

Let alone asking for pocket money, even if she found money outside, she didn't dare spend it as she pleased. She had to bring it home to her grandma.

As a result, the children in their family were actually quite unwelcome in other people's homes. After all, when they visited, could the people there eat without giving them any?

But when those families' children came to Lin Er's home, they never got any snacks.

No one was willing to keep taking a loss, so that was also why Grandma Lin always kept the girls close, wouldn't let them go out or play at other people's homes, and wouldn't let them accept food from others.

Because their own family couldn't afford to return the favor.

From Lin Huihui's actions this time, Lin Er could tell she was taking the snails out to share with her friends. Looking at the tiny Lin Huihui, she said nothing.

With both portions of snails taken away, Lin Er smelled their scent in the air, took a portion out of her schoolbag, and sent half to her little pen pal, along with a few toothpicks.

Honestly, she had been afraid to do things on the sly as a child. What did that have to do with her now?

While Grandma Lin wasn't looking, she had picked a few snails from each of the four buckets and put them in her schoolbag.

The snails from the river were clean and tasted really good. At first, her little pen pal had sworn he would never try them, but afterward he couldn't get enough.

Now he didn't mind the snails she sent him one bit. He had even sent her a bottle of Potions that could relieve pain.

Oh, right, spiciness wasn't a taste; it was a sensation of pain.

Had his relationship with his mother improved a little? He even had Potions like this to use?

Still, she couldn't really ask.

Before, she had even told him that foreign countries had child protection laws, and that if things were truly too bad for him, he should seek help from the community.

But after receiving those reference books from her, the first message her little pen pal sent was that they weren't in the same world—or rather, they weren't in the same time.

It was only 1967 where he was, more than forty years earlier than Lin Er's time!

The discovery merely settled a doubt in Lin Er's mind. She had suspected as much for a while, since the magic she had known about in her previous life existed only in books.

At the same time, it made Lin Er a little excited. She felt she must have connected with a character from a book.

It also made her a little curious about her little pen pal's real name. Maybe she even knew who he was.

But when she thought about how that world's story ended, she felt it might be better if she didn't know him. When the critical point in time arrived, she could suggest that he run away.

Surely it would be easier for someone who wasn't part of the plot to escape?

She was also now eager to buy an original-language copy of a Harry Potter story. Her translation skills didn't even amount to half a bucket of water sloshing around, so naturally, showing him the original story would be much clearer.

As for what consequences might come from revealing the plot to a character in the book, or even giving a character a book about their world, that wasn't her concern.

Her little pen pal was very smart. If he got his hands on the script ahead of time, she could hardly imagine what he might accomplish in the future.

Even if he didn't seek any great accomplishments, he could still keep himself from being harmed and protect himself in that special era.

Of course, she had also considered the possibility that it wasn't the Harry Potter world. After all, her little pen pal had never heard that name.

Only after asking did she realize she had been a little silly. The protagonist hadn't even been born yet.

So she asked about a few people from the Marauders' generation. Her little pen pal said he didn't know them either, but there was one place he did know.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

That made it almost indisputable that this was the Harry Potter world.

Lin Er sat in a daze for a long time. She had so much she wanted to say and someone she wanted to save, but in the end, looking at her little pen pal's handwriting, which seemed a little excited because he knew of the school, she said nothing.

She wasn't even in the same world as them and couldn't help at all. Her little pen pal was only seven, and he was still willing to share his magic with her. She couldn't let him fall into danger.

Neither Voldemort, who pursued immortality and believed in the Prophecy, nor Dumbledore, who had once spoken of acting for the greater good, was a simple person.

The more her little pen pal knew, the more danger he would be in. But he was smart, and he would surely find a way to keep himself safe.

If she wanted him to save someone, he would definitely end up right under those two people's noses. She couldn't do that.

But seeing that she really did know about his world, her little pen pal seemed to grow quite a bit closer to her. He talked more, and they contacted each other more often.

It was also because she had a little pen pal like this, someone she could chat with but whose words she also had to spend time looking up.

Lin Er had no desire at all to take the initiative to make friends in this life. This one alone took up all her time.

Besides, there was no need. In the end, they would always part.

It wasn't anyone else's problem; it was hers. Once they were apart, no matter how good a friend someone was, she would gradually grow distant from them, because phones couldn't maintain a bond.

She hadn't felt lonely when she was alone, and now she even had a pen pal. That much socializing was enough.