Amongst dense bushes, mice scurried through the streets and alleyways, while calico cats leapt between old, dilapidated tenements. Elderly men squatted under aged locust trees, playing cards and sipping tea.
It was here that Little Shen Tanqi grew up.
Looking up, the leaves parted the sky, allowing slivers of sunlight to filter through, shining into his eyes.
Little Shen Tanqi had never felt so light and carefree before. He reached out and grabbed the hesitant ‘Batman’ next to him, heading towards the tallest skyscraper not far away.
“This place was originally meant for a hospital, but later, who knows how it turned into an office building and ended up abandoned.”
Ten-year-old Little Shen Tanqi walked down the street with ‘Batman’ trailing behind him. He enjoyed the shocked and envious looks from every child they passed.
As a child, his dream was to have a Batman toy. Never had he imagined that he could walk down the street holding a real ‘Batman’ in this imaginary world.
Suddenly, Shen Tanqi felt that this imaginary world wasn’t bad at all, at least not as hellish as before.
Many roadside vendors were also stunned; after all, Batman’s appearance in a small county town was quite shocking.
Turning a corner, Little Shen Tanqi saw the familiar elderly lady selling ice cream. When he was sick as a child and confined to the second floor, he would hear the elderly lady calling out if anyone wanted to buy ice cream all day long.
During those uncomfortably hot days, Little Shen Tanqi craved that cheap ice cream so badly. Even though he eventually grew up and finally tasted the ice cream he had longed for, he didn’t feel as happy as he had expected.
Was his childhood unfortunate? It seemed so, but also not so bad.
There were many others who had worse lives than him; Shen Tanqi had his older brother and younger sister, making him much happier.
“Do you want one?”
Seeing them all looking over, the old grandma hurriedly took out an ice cream from the freezer, trying to tempt Little Shen Tanqi.
His gaze lingered on the old grandma’s freezer for a moment, but Little Shen Tanqi quickly looked away.
Following his gaze just now, Yu Ce’s eyes fell on the ice cream the old grandma had taken out of the freezer, and he slowly withdrew his gaze.
The child took big steps up the stairs, and Little Shen Tanqi looked back at ‘Batman’ at the stairs: “Hurry up!”
Yu Ce tightly wrapped himself in his cape, as if every step was difficult, but after entering the office building, it was more comfortable than walking on the street, at least without so many people staring at him strangely.
They walked up the stairs all the way and finally reached the spacious rooftop of the office building.
The breeze on the rooftop was comfortable, blowing away the heat of summer. Little Shen Tanqi passed the railing easily and walked toward the edge of the rooftop, but suddenly he was caught by his wrist.
“It’s dangerous.” The other person’s voice was serious.
Little Shen Tanqi waved his hand unconcernedly and said, “Don’t worry, I know.”
He gently freed his wrist from Yu Ce’s grasp and sat cautiously on the edge of the rooftop. From here, he could overlook the entire building complex, see the sparrows perched on the telephone poles, see the rows of rusty bicycles at the mouth of the alley, and see the red flags fluttering in the elementary school playground in the distance.
Shen Tanqi was momentarily stunned, familiar memories rushing over him, not even noticing the person sitting next to him.
“You used to come here often?” Seeing him so familiar, he could guess that Little Shen Tanqi often came here to sit.
Little Shen Tanqi nodded, then turned his head with a smile, “It’s different from where you are, ours is old and broken.”
Yu Ce pondered for a moment. He had indeed never seen a place like that before, so he nodded silently.
“Well, of course, your place a foreign country,” Little Shen Tanqi leaned on his chin, looking a bit puzzled as he whispered, “Why are you speaking Chinese then? Is it because I’m watching the Mandarin version?”
Yu Ce didn’t quite understand, so he wrapped his hand around Little Shen Tanqi’s back to prevent him from accidentally falling.
Noticing his action, Little Shen Tanqi chuckled and said, “By the way, is it still as chaotic where you are?” He was referring to Gotham City.
Yu Ce thought for a moment. With all the battles between humans, demons, and monsters in his world, it could also be considered chaotic, so he nodded again.
“Don’t worry too much. Justice will always triumph over evil.” Little Shen Tanqi’s eyes were always bright, as if every word came straight from his heart. “I believe in you. You’re the most awesome.”
As the wind gently blew through his hair, partially covering those beautiful eyes, Yu Ce felt a twinge in his heart. He reached out and brushed aside the stray strands of hair on Little Shen Tanqi’s forehead, asking softly, “I’m the most awesome?”
The child nodded earnestly and reiterated, “Yes, in my heart, you are.”
Yu Ce pursed his lips, unsure of what to say in response to such a gaze.
In Little Shen Tanqi’s heart, Yu Ce was the most awesome person.
A warm breeze swept by, causing Shen Tanqi to squint comfortably. He remembered his bold thoughts as a child and glanced sideways at Yu Ce. “By the way, can I jump from up here and you catch me halfway?”
Yu Ce’s expression faltered slightly, and he refused without hesitation, “No, you can’t.”
“Why?” Little Shen Tanqi couldn’t help but ask, gently shaking his arm. “I know you can definitely do it, just once.”
Just once, he wanted to try without any worries, to jump down without a care.
Yu Ce furrowed his brows and suddenly reached out, grabbing Little Shen Tanqi’s wrist firmly. “Not even once.”
Such thoughts shouldn’t exist, no matter what.
Seeing his persistence, Little Shen Tanqi sighed with a slightly defeated look, propping up his small face and then tilting his head, swinging his legs. “Are you pretending?”
At his words, Yu Ce glanced at him gently, piercing through his provocation without mercy. “If I don’t help you, does that mean I’m fake?”
Little Shen Tanqi mischievously narrowed his eyes, grinned slyly, showing no sign of being caught in his bluff. The two sat quietly on the rooftop like this, not needing to say anything, yet the atmosphere remained warm and harmonious.
They watched the floating clouds in the sky, the birds flying by, and listened to the shouts of the vendors downstairs. Time seemed to flow extremely slowly in this moment of rare tranquility.
In this rare silence, Little Shen Tanqi’s eyes welled up with tears. Suddenly, he lay down on the rooftop.
Yu Ce was startled, not knowing what he was doing. He hurried over and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Shen Tanqi didn’t speak, covering his eyes with his hand.
He thought, Taro Ball was right after all—it’s good to be a child.
As a child, you can be spoiled, you can be willful, and you can cry whenever you want.
He just wondered, if Batman had really been there when he was ten, would things have been better now? Would he have become more decisive, bravely fighting for what he wanted, instead of repeatedly avoiding it?
After a while,
There was a slight sound beside him. Little Shen Tanqi removed his hand, turned his head slightly, and saw that ‘Batman’ was quietly lying beside him.
He didn’t say anything, just silently accompanying Little Shen Tanqi.
Yu Ce didn’t know why the houses here were built like this, didn’t know why people here were wearing strange clothes, and didn’t know what Shen Tanqi had been through before.
But at this moment, he knew that Ah Qi needed him to be here.
Deeply needed.
Little Shen Tanqi rubbed his eyes, but the tears kept flowing, dropping one by one down his cheek.
He, too, wanted a warm and clean little home. He wanted not to be a salted fish without dreams, but it was really hard, so hard.
Turning around, he threw himself into Yu Ce’s arms, unable to hold back his loud cries.
Each tear dropped into the lake of his heart, creating ripples that grew stronger and stronger, eventually turning into raging waves.
Yu Ce reached out and held him close, patting his trembling shoulders repeatedly, softly repeating, “I’m here, I’m here.”
From now on, he wouldn’t let Ah Qi be sad again.
After letting out his tears, Little Shen Tanqi’s suppressed emotions eased a lot. The winds blowing on the rooftop seemed to blow away those long-past memories forever.
The two came down from the rooftop and planned to visit his brother’s construction site nearby before the illusion ended, intending to chat with him.
But when they arrived, they didn’t see anyone.
The foreman said his brother had a lot of work today and had gone early to load trucks for someone; he hadn’t returned to the site yet.
Little Shen Tanqi felt a bit disappointed as they walked back home, holding Yu Ce’s hand. “My brother is really nice. I wish you could meet him.”
Yu Ce nodded gently, following his lead, “There will be a chance in the future.”
“What chance?” Little Shen Tanqi looked at him reproachfully, saying, “Are you going to disappear back into the TV?”
Yu Ce didn’t understand what he meant by TV, so he shook his head and said, “I won’t leave you.”
As long as Shen Tanqi needed him, Yu Ce wouldn’t leave.
Upon hearing this, Little Shen Tanqi felt inexplicably happy. He rambled on about his brother, “My brother went to work when I was ten. There’s a big age gap between us, so he’s more like a father to me and my sister.”
He told Yu Ce everything about his brother working three jobs to pay for his medical treatment and losing an arm to save money for his sister’s education.
After listening, Yu Ce pondered deeply for a long time, seeming to understand why Shen Tanqi insisted on leaving them.
He knew Shen Tanqi had a debt of gratitude for such heavy nurturing. He couldn’t forget his family’s kindness just because he was happy.
If it were him, he would do the same.
But his heart felt heavy at the thought that Shen Tanqi was destined to return here. It made Yu Ce extremely agitated.
This place emitted all kinds of malice. Although there were no demons here, there were parents who were just as harsh, sarcastic, and irresponsible.
Sewage flowed through the streets, and filth piled up like mountains.
He couldn’t imagine how difficult it must be for Shen Tanqi to live here. He couldn’t bear to see Shen Tanqi suffer when he returned.
“What’s wrong?” Little Shen Tanqi asked softly, standing on tiptoe and gently smoothing out the furrow between his brows with his fingers.
Yu Ce instinctively lowered his head, allowing him to do so, and answered calmly, “Nothing.”
Whatever Ah Qi asked him to do, he would do it.
If one day Ah Qi really wanted to leave… he would let him go too.
The surroundings began to be shrouded in dense fog, a sign of the illusionary stone formation. Little Shen Tanqi dusted off his clothes, looked up, and smiled brightly at ‘Bat-Man.’ “It seems like I have to go out.”
The trial in the illusion lasted too long, so the elders decided to cut off the operation of the stone formation early to ensure the safety of those inside.
Just as they were about to leave, Yu Ce suddenly hugged Little Shen Tanqi and dashed towards the corner where the ice cream was sold. Startled, Little Shen Tanqi instinctively wrapped his arms around Yu Ce’s neck and shoulder. “Where are you going?” he asked.
Moments later, Yu Ce placed him in front of the ice cream freezer and, facing the bewildered old lady, whispered, “I don’t have money. Can I exchange something?”
Before the old lady could react, Yu Ce took off his storage ring from his finger and emptied out a pile of money he had saved up onto the ice cream freezer.
“I just want one,” he said firmly.
Taking the almost melting ice cream from the old lady, Yu Ce handed it to Little Shen Tanqi’s palm and urged softly, “Hurry and eat. Aren’t we going out?”
Little Shen Tanqi stared at him blankly, then at the pile of glittering money on the freezer. He took a bite of the ice cream, feeling a bit regretful as he murmured, “This only costs a few cents…”
Oh well, it’s just an illusion anyway.
The sweet and cold sensation of the ice cream spread across his tongue, causing Little Shen Tanqi to squint with delight. Unable to hold back a smile, he said, “So cool.”
Yu Ce watched him intently. “Is it delicious?”
With an immensely affirmative answer, Little Shen Tanqi replied, “Very delicious.”
The fog slowly rose from the ground, blurring the smile on Little Shen Tanqi’s face and enveloping both of them completely.
In the moment of leaving the illusion, Yu Ce only saw the watery glint in Little Shen Tanqi’s eyes as he smiled warmly at him, shaking the ice cream in his hand and saying softly, “Thank you.”
He had finally tasted the ice cream he had longed for since he was ten.
Coming out of the illusion, Shen Tanqi suddenly seemed more energetic, full of enthusiasm, and praised non-stop with the elders about how realistic the illusionary stone formation was.
“Wow, that’s amazing! You can even recreate characters from my dreams. Impressive!”
The elder was puzzled and awkwardly chuckled, saying, “Oh, really?”
She couldn’t recall ever hearing that illusions could manifest characters from people’s dreams.
Behind Shen Tanqi, Yu Ce approached quietly and gently draped his outer garment over him, whispering, “It’s getting late. Let’s go back.”
Shen Tanqi hesitated for a moment, then turned around abruptly, pointing at Yu Ce and scolding, “Oh right, I remember something!”
Yu Ce looked at him in confusion, asking, “What do you remember, Senior Brother?”
“Whether inside the illusion or out of it, I never lost my memory from start to finish. You were clearly pretending to be clueless earlier!” Shen Tanqi grabbed Yu Ce’s collar, squinting his eyes and gritting his teeth. “Did you enjoy tormenting me this morning?”
Yu Ce chuckled and was surprised that he still remembered. He placed his hand on Shen Tanqi’s fingers and pleaded, “My bad. When we return, I’ll accept any punishment from Senior Brother, alright?”
Shen Tanqi leaned closer, whispering in his ear, “Consider it making amends. I’ll spare you for now, but if there’s a next time, I’ll definitely punish you.” With that, he released Yu Ce’s collar abruptly, turned away with hands behind his back, humming a tune.
Seeing Yu Ce not moving, Shen Tanqi turned back and teased, “What are you standing there for? Let’s go back.”
As the sun set, casting its rays on Shen Tanqi’s slender figure, Yu Ce stood motionless in surprise.
— So, Ah Qi knew all along.
Hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). I hope you enjoyed the story! If you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! Check out the link below for early chapters. (๑>ᴗ<๑)
