Seeing Luo Luo nod, Chu Tian was somewhat disbelieving. He asked repeatedly, and each time Luo Luo affirmed with certainty, "Believe!"
This made Chu Tian look at her as if she were crazy. How could she believe this?
Finally, Chu Tian stopped dwelling on it and told Luo Luo he would treat her to a big meal at noon.
Instead, Luo Luo suggested they buy some snacks and go hiking to enjoy the scenery, and she could listen to him tell stories.
Chu Tian smiled wryly, understanding the little girl's intentions. She said she believed him, but still wanted to test him.
Along the way, Luo Luo was exceptionally quiet. Apart from the few times Chu Tian initiated conversation, she just stared blankly out of the car window.
Upon arriving at Ma Er Mountain, Luo Luo walked ahead, heading towards increasingly secluded areas, venturing beyond the designated tourist zones.
Chu Tian called out to her several times, but she merely told him they hadn't reached their destination yet and stubbornly continued climbing.
They finally reached the back of the mountain, where a hidden cave entrance stood. Luo Luo stopped.
Watching the sweat trickle down her face, Chu Tian felt an inexplicable emotion, a mixture of tenderness and heartache.
"Little Tian Ge Ge, do you remember this place?" Luo Luo asked, pointing to the cave.
Chu Tian looked at the cave hidden behind the overgrown weeds, feeling a bit puzzled. He truly had no memory of it.
However, Luo Luo's sudden change in address to him felt very familiar.
Seeing Chu Tian's furrowed brow, Luo Luo sat on a rock by the cave entrance and said, "Little Tian Ge Ge, let me tell you a story!"
Chu Tian sat opposite her and replied, "Okay!"
"Fourteen years ago, a girl and a boy met in this cave. The boy was six years old, and the girl was five. They were both kidnapped and brought here by human traffickers..." As Luo Luo spoke, she watched Chu Tian's eyes.
Upon hearing Luo Luo's narrative, Chu Tian shot to his feet, his mind reeling. He quickly looked at the cave and then back at Luo Luo.
Luo Luo also stood up, tears welling in her eyes. "Little Tian Ge Ge, you remember, don't you?"
As she spoke, she ran to Chu Tian and threw herself into his arms.
"You... you're Xiao Yi? You're Xiao Yi?" Chu Tian looked at Luo Luo, who was sobbing and nodding continuously in his embrace.
Yes, Chu Tian remembered. Fourteen years ago, the first thing he saw after his hood was removed was a girl around his age.
The girl cried and cried, which annoyed him. He threatened her, "If you keep crying, I won't take you with me when I run."
To his surprise, the girl stopped crying upon hearing this. "Can you really take me out of here?"
The boy asked, "Do you believe me?"
The girl replied, "I believe you!"
A week passed, and finally, on a rainy night, the boy used a stone blade from the mountain wall to cut the ropes binding his hands.
Just as he was untying the girl's leg restraints, they were discovered by their captors. They seized the opportunity and fled the cave, but how could two children outrun adults?
They were quickly being caught. At this moment, the boy asked, "Let's jump down from here!"
The girl answered without hesitation, "I believe whatever you say. Let's jump!"
With that, the boy draped the girl's still-tied arms around his neck. As the pursuers behind them touched him, he jumped with the girl.
The cliff had a slight slope, and the boy landed on his back, sliding all the way down.
The pursuer who followed them slipped and also fell. Perhaps it was bad luck, but he fell headfirst to the bottom of the mountain.
When the boy, using himself as a makeshift sled, slid to the base of the cliff, the two children landed on the man, providing some cushioning.
When they awoke, they were in the hospital. They heard that the kidnapper had died from the fall, and his accomplices had been apprehended.
Three months later, they were discharged from the hospital. After staying at the girl's house for a week, the boy voluntarily asked to return to the orphanage.
The girl's family was very wealthy and wanted to adopt him, but he firmly refused, insisting on returning to the orphanage. At that time, he still harbored a glimmer of hope that his abandoning parents might come looking for him there.
On the morning he left the girl's house, the girl's mother said she would grant him one wish. He asked for a hearty meal of steamed buns.
So, he put on his tattered clothes, while the girl was dressed like a little princess. The girl's mother took them both to a bun shop for their last breakfast.
As they left, the girl waved goodbye. In the car driven by the girl's family driver, Chu Tian faintly heard the girl's voice: "Little Tian Ge Ge, you must remember me. My name is Luo Yi Yi, the Yi from one, two, three, four! When I grow up, I want to..."
The sound of the car starting drowned out the girl's voice.
...
"Little Tian Ge Ge, this is where we jumped down, isn't it?"
Luo Luo linked her arm with Chu Tian's, and they stood at the edge of the cliff.
"It should be here!" Chu Tian looked down, feeling a little dizzy. If he had to jump now, he probably wouldn't dare!
"Do you know, I come here once every year. Oh, let me see your scars!"
Chu Tian tilted his head and looked at Luo Luo. Luo Luo smiled and looked back at him.
He hesitated for a moment, then turned around. Luo Luo, behind him, slowly lifted his basketball jersey.
Scars crisscrossed his back, starting from his shoulder blades and covering his entire back.
Luo Luo's cool fingertips traced his spine and then the scars, and tears filled her eyes again.
"Does it still hurt?" Her fingertips slid down his spine.
"Uh... no... it hasn't hurt for a long time. Not only does it not hurt, but it has become my protective plate. Once during a fight, someone hit my back with a steel pipe, and the pipe bent. I didn't even feel much pain!"
Luo Luo's fingertips had just reached his waist when he almost lost control. He quickly turned around, pulled his clothes down, and said to her with a smile.
Hearing him say this, Luo Luo burst into laughter and playfully hit him. "Look at you, so powerful!"
"By the way, do you dare to jump now?" Luo Luo pointed down the mountain.
Chu Tian glanced down and quickly shook his head like a rattle drum.
"Then how did you dare back then? And you took me with you?"
Chu Tian thought about her question and replied, "I don't know. It's not important. Aren't we alive?"
"Ah? What's not important? You hateful Little Tian, you don't know how much I trusted you to take me away, and you say it's not important!"
Seeing that she was about to get angry, Chu Tian turned and ran, with Luo Luo chasing after him, hitting him.
After running for a while, Chu Tian suddenly turned back, grabbed her hand, and asked, "Right, when I left, you were shouting outside, asking what you wanted to be when you grew up? The car was too noisy, and I didn't hear clearly."
"I... I won't tell you!" This time, it was Luo Luo who blushed, broke free from Chu Tian's grasp, and ran ahead.
Chu Tian watched her retreating figure, all the gloom in his heart vanishing. The corners of his mouth curled up as he murmured softly, "No matter what you said, you can't escape me this lifetime! Because in my past life, I already failed you!"
Thinking of the unwavering companionship of 'Yi Yi' in the game in his past life, Chu Tian silently made a resolution.