novelden Chapter 138 The Journey to Find My Sister
Chapter 138 The Journey to Find My Sister
A short figure suddenly appeared in the dark woods.
The boy, who was already quite handsome at such a young age, clutched his schoolbag tightly, his beautiful, captivating eyes looking around at the unfamiliar surroundings with a mixture of confusion and panic.
To his disappointment, he had never seen anything like it before, and the unfamiliar environment made him feel apprehensive.
He clutched his schoolbag tightly, walking forward cautiously, but he never forgot the purpose of his trip.
He wants to find his sister.
So much has happened lately. He was at home with his friends, waiting for his grandmother to come back, just like every other day.
Today was the day my sister's grades came out. He was standing at the corner of the door, playing hide-and-seek with his friends. Just as my sister was about to enter, she suddenly heard something the neighbor next door said, and her face instantly turned extremely pale. She locked the door and rushed out without saying a word to them.
A group of children waited and waited by the radish trellis, but when night fell, not a single person was seen.
As one of the older children in the group, he was relatively mature and was unanimously chosen by his younger siblings to search for the missing person.
Carrying the hopes of her entire family, Duohe set off.
But on a dark and windy night, halfway through his journey, he vaguely realized that the path he was on seemed to have changed.
This road, which he had walked countless times, seemed to have led him into a strange world.
Thinking of this, he shrank back and walked forward shakily.
This handsome boy was timid at heart. His older sister and grandmother hadn't been found yet, and now he was lost too. What if something happened to his younger siblings?
In that case, there really would be no one to take care of you.
Bian He didn't know how long he had walked along the mountain path. His worn-out shoes clattered as he finally reached a place with many people. It seemed that, without him even realizing it, the path had become brighter.
He saw many people walking on the main road, and those who passed by looked at him with surprise.
Bian He habitually walked forward with his head down. His sister once held his face and praised him for being very handsome, but this world is full of perverts. When you can't protect yourself, you have to learn to hide your appearance and physique when you're out in the world.
Little Duohe thought that if a timid person walked on the road, it would be difficult for people to notice his appearance.
He was hanging his head, cautiously glancing around. But he had walked for too long and was really hungry. He saw a steamed bun shop by the roadside, with wisps of smoke rising from the chimney outside. The aroma that wafted towards him made him stop.
The little boy hesitated for a second, swallowed, and touched his small pocket. Inside was the money the old woman had sewn on her. Every child had a small pocket sewn on them, which the old woman used to keep in case the children got lost or were abducted again.
Now, this money can undoubtedly save his life.
He was so hungry that his lips were dry and chapped, and he stared intently at a cheap steamed bun shop.
The steamed bun shop was doing very well. A crowd of people had gathered outside to buy steamed buns, and some children were even sitting on their parents' shoulders, ordering their fathers to buy them the food they wanted.
Bian He watched this scene with a sense of normalcy. He didn't believe he could have a family. None of the children in the orphanage had a complete family, not even the old lady.
But they were all very happy, and Duohe felt very content.
Being a young child, Bian He rarely went out to buy things alone. He timidly clutched a banknote and walked towards the cheapest steamed bun and dumpling shop. Finally, when he saw that there were few people, he went over.
Duohe looked at the shop owner wearing a white hat and raised her voice with difficulty, "Hello, I'd like a vegetarian steamed bun."
The shop owner, wearing a white hat, quickly used long chopsticks to roll the shaped fried dough sticks in the oil pan. He watched the pretty boy staring longingly at a steamed bun and spoke softly. The boy looked pale and sickly, clearly having not eaten or drunk anything in a long time.
Thinking it over, he quickly reached out and grabbed two steamed buns, handing them to the child. He also grabbed a bottle of mineral water, and while frying dough sticks, he spoke briefly, "Here you go, little one. Sit in the shop for a while. Can't find your way home?"
Bian He lowered his head, half-raised his eyes, and placed a banknote on the table. He had money and could give money.
When the uncle saw the clean banknotes on the counter, his expression turned even more unpleasant.
What kind of money is this child giving? It is indeed written in Chinese, but it doesn't look like their country's coins.
Could it be game currency?
"Little one, this meal is on me. Is the money you gave me game tokens? Game tokens can't be used to buy things."
He didn't think such a handsome little boy was a beggar; he just kept guessing that he might be lost.
But when Bian He heard these words, it was like a blow to the head, leaving him dizzy and disoriented. He stared blankly at the boiling oil churning in the pot.
The scorching heat and fumes seemed to be burning away his last emotions as well.
How can these be game tokens? These are clearly banknotes given by Grandma; my sister also shares some banknotes with them.
How...how could this be fake?!
Bian He's eyes were filled with tears, and a thin mist filled his vision.
Next second,
His eyes widened in shock as he watched the next customer take out a small, unfamiliar banknote and place it in the owner's cash register.
The people around them were clearly used to the banknote.
How could this be?! How could this be?!
Where is this?!
Why did he inexplicably arrive in this strange world? Why is this strange world different from his own?
Taking advantage of the crowd, he secretly grabbed the food the boss had given him and hurriedly ran to a corner of a box, wolfing down the steamed buns. The steam from the buns filled the air, and Bian He's vision blurred.
How is my maternal grandmother?
Where did my sister go again?
How...is he going to get home?
Bian He huddled in the corner, his thoughts in disarray. A belated fear crept into his heart, and he sniffed.
He became an orphan again.
He has no home anymore.
……
After wandering for many days, Bian He lay on the grass by the park, dizzy and weak from hunger. His soft stomach was already riddled with holes.
He looked at the sky with despair on his face as the white clouds drifted by.
Its pristine whiteness made him feel as if he were defiling the sky.
He closed his beautiful eyes tightly. So be it, let it all be lost. He no longer had to worry about starving to death on the street, nor had he had to fight with stray dogs for food.
His mind went blank...
"Hey kid, interested in becoming a star with our company? We're the famous Tianling Entertainment! Debuting with us guarantees you'll be a star..."
Bian He listened with his eyes closed to the person in front of him chattering away for a long time, but his current physical strength and energy no longer allowed him to hear the whole thing.
His parched lips were covered with a thick layer of white skin, and he was too weak to even open his eyes.
The man, wearing a black hat and baseball uniform with a mini camera slung over his shoulder, looked at the dirty boy with a curious expression.
He ignored the child's half-dead state. Instead, he excitedly raised his camera and took many photos of the child from the right angle.
He continued taking photos until he was satisfied, then selected a few and sent them to someone.
He reluctantly put down his camera and, with a touch of pity, stood beside him.
"Hey, hey, can you still get up, little one? If you need me, I can take you to the hospital..."
Not going to the hospital...
A word suddenly popped into Bian He's mind—hospital.
He subconsciously rejected the word; he had been abandoned in a hospital when he was a child.
"I won't go!!" Whether it's the saying that people have a final burst of energy before they die, Bian He shouted it out with all his might.
The baseball-playing man reached out to help him up, but halfway there he suddenly withdrew his hand. His eyes looked at the child with slight disdain. The child's bone structure was undoubtedly excellent, with a kind of feminine charm. This little child, although just lying here, had already made many people stop and stare.
The child didn't realize it, but as a talent scout who specializes in discovering idols, he had a very keen sense for this.
"Would you like to be a star? That way you wouldn't have to be afraid of being homeless, you'd have a stable place to live, and you wouldn't have to endure days of being poorly clothed and starving. You could also appear on television, be seen by everyone, become a household name, and live a life that many people envy. Would you... come with me?"
A glint suddenly flashed in Bian He's unfocused eyes, and he murmured blankly,
"Will it be seen by everyone?"
Seeing an opportunity, the man in the baseball cap quickly added, "Yes, of course you'll be seen by the whole country. If you work hard and become famous, your photo will be on everything from mobile phones and newspapers to electronic screens across the country. Wouldn't everyone see it?"
Bian He's withered heart seemed to be infused with the source of life at that moment, sprouting tiny green shoots.
Perhaps, perhaps somewhere in this world, there is also his sister and grandmother, what if... what if?
"May I?"
"Of course! You're amazing!!!"
The man in the baseball cap never expected that after wandering around for so many days, he would finally find a boy who was suitable for a child star debut. Even though the boy was covered in dirt, his eyes were very beautiful when he made eye contact with him unexpectedly, even though his face was covered by a mess of mud and sand.
But, just one glance, only one glance.
A thought suddenly occurred to the baseball cap user: it would be a shame if this kid didn't become a celebrity.
He was so handsome, a beauty etched into his very being, that even his rough, tattered clothes couldn't hide his good looks.
I don't know how his parents could bear to let such a beautiful child wander alone.
Perhaps sensing his suicidal intent, he feared that such a appearance was rare and hard to come by.
And so, the talent scout who claimed to be from Tianling Entertainment took Duohe into the car.
Bian He hugged his schoolbag tightly and sat silently in a corner of the car, pressed close to the door—a sign of a lack of security.
He was holding a bottle of mineral water that he had just bought, even though it was already empty.
Do you have an ID card?
Bian He shook his head.
"..."
"So you're just going to stay home and wander around like this forever?"
Bian He remained silent. No, he had a family.
He just got lost.
He will come home.
The man in the baseball cap drove with a guilty look on his face, glancing at the road ahead. He couldn't help but feel uneasy. What was he doing?
Does this count as child trafficking?
How did this child, who doesn't even have an ID card and is essentially an unregistered resident, grow up to be this big?
Bian He joined an entertainment company at a very young age.
This entertainment company is very large, with many children who come from all over the world and are mostly the same age.
From the day they stepped into the company, they had been living under the spotlight. Unbeknownst to them, countless cameras had already been quietly pointed at them.
These children were grouped together in a dormitory and lived together like that.
From that day on, Duohe began an endless series of singing, dancing, physical training, and dialogue lessons.
His days were so packed that he didn't even have time to think about life.
Exhaustion and hardship seemed to be engulfing him, forcing him to grow up. The children who had grown up with him began to gradually disappear from his life one by one.
He used to naively wonder why his classmates had disappeared. But gradually, he realized that if someone didn't leave, he would have to.
This place is a survival-of-the-fittest environment; the good trainees stay and continue competing, while the less capable ones are gradually eliminated and sent home round after round.
Duohe dared not relax for a single day, because he had no reason to be eliminated. This was not only his means of survival, but also his hope for the future.
He hopes that one day, when his photo is displayed on a big screen, he can go home if just one of his grandmother, sister, or children recognizes him.
Life here is very hard, Duohe thought. If I ever see them again, I will cry to the old woman and tell her about my experiences.
Grandma loves these children the most, and she'll definitely pat his head and comfort him. Then he can proudly tell Grandma about it.
Duhe has grown up.
But it started on some unknown day.
In front of the huge glass mirror in the dance studio, Bian He looked at his unfamiliar self. A boy had grown tall and strong, becoming someone he didn't even recognize.
Bian He's heart trembled. He was unfamiliar with even his own appearance. Where was his sister?
Will she feel like a stranger when she sees me?
Will she recognize herself?
At that moment, immense sorrow enveloped the boy. He cowered in a corner of the dance studio like a homeless puppy, whimpering and howling in despair.
However, no one understood his feelings at that moment.
It seems he... will never be able to go home again.
Oh God, if there are spirits in heaven, I beg you, I beg you, let me see them again.
He was so...lonely.