Every time, as soon as he arrives, Yan Huan appears.

Yet for some reason, whenever a child from the orphanage buys candy and returns, they say they hear the swings outside.

"Creak... Creak..."

At those moments, just like this moment.

The swing is squeaking right now.

Yan Huan slowly turns his head under the crape myrtle tree swaying in the wind, and he sees:

In the midsummer sunlight, a shy young girl from elementary school is holding the ropes of the swing with both hands, swaying back and forth on the sandy ground.

Also at this moment of turning back, Yan Huan suddenly realizes...

This patch of "pure land"...

It's just this patch of sandy ground, a swing, rusty children's equipment, and a few blooming crape myrtles.

That's all there is.

At the end of this pure land, one side is a blurry alley leading to An Le's home.

The other side is the orphanage with closed doors, its insides unclear.

This is...

What they call "paradise"?

"..."

Having been fully on guard, even with his heart in his throat, Yan Huan just stares blankly at this monotony.

After a long while, he finally exhales a breath of tension that he'd held in his chest for so long...

Yet for some reason, when that relaxed breath is exhaled, a clear tear slides down from Yan Huan's eye.

Until it falls onto the unclean sand.

"Drip..."

"Creak... Creak..."

"One hundred... twenty-three... one hundred... twenty-four..."

"Rustle... Rustle..."

Yan Huan steps slowly onto the sand, walking toward the little girl sitting on the swing, muttering to herself.

He gazes at An Le's youthful face, as if from yesterday, remaining silent for a long time, then gently squats down in front of her.

By doing so, he barely matches her current height.

"Creak..."

The moment Yan Huan squats down, An Le's swing slowly comes to a halt.

She raises her head, her timid, innocent eyes scrutinizing the Yan Huan before her, yet she seems not to recognize the changes in Yan Huan, or perhaps, in her eyes, Yan Huan has never changed?

Yan Huan doesn't know. In any case, she just smiles foolishly,

"Xiao Huan, you're here..."

"Hmm..."

Yan Huan nods, looking at An Le, opens his mouth, forcing a smile as he asks,

"An Le, when I came, what number did I count to?"

Upon hearing this, she blinks, showing a thoughtful expression,

"Hmm... the... sixth, or was it the seventh?"

"..."

Receiving an unsurprising answer, Yan Huan takes a deep breath and lowers his head.

Seeing Yan Huan like this, little An Le bites her lip nervously, saying,

"What's wrong, Xiao Huan?"

"..."

"Did I do something wrong?"

Only then does Yan Huan adjust his expression, looking up with a smile and asking,

"No... why do you ask?"

"...I... I don't know either..."

Little An Le clutches her fingers, her expression mirroring Yan Huan's confusion,

"It's just, so many things... seem like this...

"I've always wondered, is it because...of my naturally bad physique, that's why my classmates laugh at me like that...

"Is it because... I did something wrong, was unkind to Spencer, that's why she treats me this way...

"Is it because... I made my parents unhappy... that's why they want another child...

"Is it because... I didn't do as Little Thumb said, so it wants to take advantage of me...

Yan Huan looks at her, sees her confusion, her lack of understanding,

"I clearly... don't want to hurt anyone, just want everyone to be happy...

"But often it seems... other people's happiness and my happiness always conflict...

"If everything is like this, does it also mean that my existence... is a mistake?"

Watching her torment herself with self-blame and doubt, yet eventually smile with relief, tilting her head towards Yan Huan, saying awkwardly,

"So, instead of being a complete mistake, it's better to use up my last bit of value... so... I want to help Xiao Huan..."

Yan Huan opens his mouth, unable to say anything else for a long time, finally asking,

"...I... An Le... I just don't understand, when we were little, I only did something insignificant for you, why go this far?"

"Because... it might have been insignificant to Xiao Huan... but to me back then, it was... everything."

Little An Le bites her lip and smiles,

"So, I also want to give everything to repay Xiao Huan..."

"..."

Seeing Yan Huan staring at her, little An Le blushes slightly in shyness, shrinking her body, she says softly,

"Sorry... it feels a bit embarrassing to say such things..."

"...No, the one who should apologize is me."

Yan Huan lowers his head, suddenly recalling those promises he had forgotten,

"When I was little, I just made those promises to you casually... I forgot them and didn't fulfill them... I'm sorry..."

But as Yan Huan speaks apologetically, a pair of small hands gently holds his cheeks.

Perhaps unable to bear seeing his low spirits, those little hands hold up Yan Huan's head, looking into the warm smile of the little girl in front of him.

She sincerely shakes her head, softly saying,

"It's okay, Xiao Huan... honestly, I never cared about whether promises were kept. I've never blamed you either."

"..."

"Because I knew from a young age, that what's called beautiful, exists in imagination. In reality, either it's vastly different, or it will always dissipate..."

Little An Le looks directly into Yan Huan's eyes, comforting,

"The true beauty has always existed in the process of seeking and imagining beauty...

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