Entertainment: A song that brought his deceased wife back to life.

late at night.

The north wind of midwinter seeped in through the cracks in the front door.

The wind brushed against my face.

Pain.

A slightly worn-out van was parked at the entrance of the "Sunshine Welfare Home".

The car door opened.

A blast of cold air rushed in through the gap in the car door.

A small figure was sitting huddled up in the car.

That's Xu Qing.

He was wearing a large, old adult overcoat.

The sleeves were way too long, hanging loosely on the seat.

His eyes looked strange.

Those were two bottomless dry wells.

There is no light.

There was no fluctuation.

It doesn't even have a focal length.

He just stared at a blank space outside the car window, his whole body stiff as a stone.

"Get off the bus."

The clerk, Xiao Li, who brought him over sighed.

Xiao Li lifted Xu Qing off her seat.

Xu Qing did not resist.

His body was very light, and his bones were digging into Xiao Li's arm.

Due to severe malnutrition and psychological trauma, this seven-year-old child looks only five years old.

The director of the welfare home was waiting there.

She was a woman surnamed Chen.

Around fifty years old.

She looked rather pale when she was woken up in the middle of the night, but there was definitely some reluctance in her eyes.

The dean took the thick stack of documents handed to him by Xiao Li.

That's Xu Qing's file.

She turned a few pages by the dim light of the gatehouse.

A bright red label was pasted on the first page.

The words written on it were: "Family destroyed, people killed."

The file summary is full of cold, hard keywords.

"The sole survivor of the fire."

"Witnessed the deaths of both parents".

"Suspected intellectual disability."

"Loss of language ability".

The dean closed the file with a soft thud.

"This child hasn't said a single word?"

The dean looked at Xu Qing and asked.

Xiao Li shook his head and put his hands in his pockets to warm them.

"I never said that."

"I went to the hospital for a checkup, and my throat is fine, and my tongue is okay too."

"The doctor said it's post-traumatic stress disorder, which, to put it simply, means I was terrified."

"Part of his brain is probably damaged by the fever; he's reacting extremely slowly."

"Right now, he's just a little block of wood who can't talk."

After listening, the dean tucked the file under his arm.

She waved, signaling Xu Qing to follow.

Xu Qing stood still.

His eyes were fixed on the dark shadows of the orphanage.

For him, flames could burst forth from the shadows at any moment.

The dean walked over and took his hand.

That hand was ice cold.

Xu Qing shuddered.

He didn't cry.

There was no fuss.

He simply moved obediently, step by step, toward that unknown abyss.

"Let's take him to the observation room first."

The hospital director said to the on-duty caregiver next to him.

The observation room is in the backyard.

It was a row of red brick bungalows.

The roof tiles were already chipped at one corner, and the north wind whistled sharply on them.

The house is severely drafty.

The door wasn't closed properly; it rattled and clanged incessantly whenever the wind blew in.

Because the welfare home's funding for the past few years has not been in place, the environment in various places is extremely poor.

Everywhere smelled of mold and earthiness.

The caregiver led Xu Qing into the room and casually pointed to a bed.

"You'll sleep here."

"Don't wet the bed, do you hear me?"

The caregiver gave a brief instruction, then yawned and left.

Xu Qing did not go to bed.

He walked to the corner of the room.

That's the place furthest from the light.

He sat down against the wall.

He curled up, burying his head between his knees.

His hand was tightly clenched on something.

That was the only thing he had in his arms.

A piece of charred rag.

The cloth was originally blue.

There's also a small, faded flower on top.

He had torn it from his mother's clothes when the fire broke out.

The fabric still had a pungent, burnt smell.

To him, this was the last breath of his parents.

He held the piece of cloth tightly.

The knuckles turned pale from excessive force.

The light bulbs inside the room were only 15 watts.

The light was extremely dim.

Xu Qing's body began to tremble slightly due to her instinctive fear of the dark.

He started experiencing auditory hallucinations.

He heard the cracking sound of wood breaking as the fire burned.

He heard his parents' last screams in the firelight.

His breathing became rapid, and his chest heaved.

Just then, a commotion arose inside the house.

Several taller children, a head taller than Xu Qing, walked in.

They are the "masters" of this observation room.

The one in the lead is called Er Lei.

Twelve years old.

He was dark-skinned, tall, and burly, with a prominent bluish-purple birthmark on his face.

Er Lei and a few henchmen surrounded them.

In a welfare home where resources are scarce, newcomers always mean new resources.

Xu Qing sensed malice.

He huddled even closer to the corner of the wall.

A faint hoarse sound came from his throat.

Like a wounded little animal.

But he still couldn't utter a single word.

"Oh, new here?"

Er Lei stepped forward and looked down at Xu Qing.

Er Lei kicked Xu Qing's leg.

Xu Qing did not react.

He just stared at the dust on the ground.

"Is this kid an idiot?"

A tall, thin man next to him approached with a grin.

"Old Chen just said that he's mute."

Er Lei spat and looked down at Xu Qing's feet.

Xu Qing was wearing a pair of sandals.

That was bought for him by his father before he died.

Although it's now so dirty you can't even tell the original color, and the soles are almost worn through.

But in the welfare home where supplies are scarce and everything is done through donations of used clothes, these complete sandals are a luxury.

Er Lei was only wearing a pair of tattered cloth shoes with toes showing.

Er Lei squatted down and reached out to grab Xu Qing's ankle.

"These shoes are nice."

"Lend me these to wear."

Xu Qing's body suddenly leaned backward.

His back slammed against the cold brick wall.

His eyes were filled with fear.

This fear even overshadowed the shadow of fire.

That was the last decent thing he owned.

That was his only connection to his home, which had been burned down.

He shook his head frantically.

He clutched the charred rag tightly with both hands, while tucking his legs under his buttocks.

"Oh, you've got quite a temper, haven't you?"

Er Lei's smile was somewhat sinister.

He reached out and tugged at Xu Qing's shoelaces.

Xu Qing remained silent.

He just resisted desperately.

This silent resistance made Er Lei feel even more humiliated.

"Take it off!"

Er Lei's voice rose a few decibels, echoing in the empty room.

"Otherwise, I'll make sure you don't see the sun rise tomorrow!"

Er Lei stood up and stepped on Xu Qing's calf.