Chapter 1040: Happiness

“Eh?”

Fresh Snow blinked in surprise. She didn’t even realize that the emotion she was feeling now was disappointment.

“But, but, Little Hong and I haven’t treated you. I’ll make food for you. You’ll be Dad. I’ll be Mom. Little Hong will be the baby...”

Fresh Snow wanted Gao Yang to play house with her. She was clearly a lonely child.

Gao Yang remembered what White Dew had told him before.

“I know you see her as a child. That's fine. Just keep her company, make her laugh, give her more joy than sorrow. She's had so little since childhood. It doesn't take much to make her happy.”

Gao Yang’s heart clenched and ached.

“Do you like the name ‘Fresh Snow’?” he put on a smile and asked.

Fresh Snow thought about it before nodding vehemently. She had seen snow in winter. She liked snow.

“Okay. Then remember the name. We’ll see each other again in the future. Gao Yang and Fresh Snow will become good friends. Then, we’ll play.”

“Really?”

“Really. Promise.” Gao Yang extended his pinky.

Fresh Snow knew about the pinky promise. She did it a lot with Sister.

She extended her finger. Before she could hook Gao Yang’s pinky, though, her hand dropped.

Fresh Snow blinked in confusion as sleep overwhelmed her. She went boneless, head falling on the bed as she fell into a deep slumber. Not long after, she “vaporized”, creamy white fog spreading until she turned into a cat curling asleep on the red dress.

Gao Yang knew that when she woke up, she would most likely forget him, thinking she had had a strange dream.

He wanted very much to go up and stroke the cat’s head, but he didn’t have the time.

“Goodbye, Little Fresh Snow.”

Gray-blue energy rippled across the room, toppling the stacking blocks, rustling the bedsheet and white cat fur, and disturbing the old calendar and the gauze curtains. Then, the room settled back down.

Outside the hole in the roof, the night sky stretched deep and lonely while the stars sparkled.

...

Nanji District, Li City, late at night.

Amid the heavy snow, the land sat bleak and silent. The abandoned amusement park seemed like a fairytale world frozen in time by white magic.

Suddenly, gray-blue energy rose and rippled upon the clearing under a blanket of snow. Appearing at the center was Gao Yang.

The second before the time travel happened, Gao Yang had used Double just in time to create another him.

His thinking was simple: he would be wasting his yearly chance of time traveling on a random trip. Then he should at least go to separate times and locations as two Gao Yangs, seeing if he could do something to better his timeline’s future, if even a little.

This Gao Yang didn’t know where his duplicate had gone, but he knew where he was at a glance.

He looked up and saw the Ferris wheel he would never forget in his life. On the patch of snow at the bottom of the wheel was a line of footprints not yet covered by the falling snow.

His heart clenched.

This timing, can it be...

Gao Yang immediately teleported to the bottom of the Ferris wheel. Then with a jump and another teleportation, he reached the blue and white pod on the zenith of the wheel.

Heart pounding and body trembling, he had to use all his strength to lift his head and hold the cold handle, opening the rusty door.

Tears brimmed and escaped his eyes.

Fresh Snow.

Still alive.

She sat quietly on the seat, head drooping against the glass window, face pale like snow with faint traces of capillaries. She was in a white dress, her silver hair a soft blanket on her shoulders, and she wore a pair of red Mary Jane shoes.

Beside her was a small white chest with the lid opened and not properly closed. Her hands were on her sides, her right fist holding a mint candy she didn’t have the heart to eat.

“Fresh Snow!”

Gao Yang hurried to shut the door, anxiously pushing aside the chest and pulling Fresh Snow into his arms.

“Fresh Snow, stay with me!”

“Gao...Yang...”

Fresh Snow’s eyelashes fluttered as her eyes slowly opened, looking at the young man before her hazily. Her weak voice brightened up with a hint of joy.

“Is this...a dream...?”

“It’s not a dream! It’s real!” Gao Yang pressed his arm to her lips. “Don’t be scared, Fresh Snow! I’ll save you! Eat me, hurry. Then you’ll have energy!”

“Silly...” Fresh Snow smiled weakly. “It’s no use. The curse is fading. I...am too...”

“No, you aren’t!” Gao Yang couldn’t stop shaking. It felt like his blood was going in the wrong direction. “I’m not letting you fade! I’m not!”

“Gao...Yang...”

“Here, I’m here.” Gao Yang quieted, didn’t even dare to breathe a little louder. He was scared that the girl in his arms would shatter.

“I just...had a dream...”

“What dream?” Gao Yang hurriedly asked.

“Haha...not telling you. It’s a secret...” Fresh Snow snickered childishly.

Gao Yang was going to ask when he felt an energy resonation transcending time and space, playing a note in his soul. Then there was a dull pain in his left arm. A ring of dark red bitemark appeared on his skin.

He stared at it in wonder, but had little time to dwell on it.

“Gao Yang, I...want to...see firework...”

“Yes! We’ll have fireworks! We’ll see it now!”

He hurried to open the window and reached his left hand out to concentrate energy in his left hand. Fireball after fireball emerged, launching into the night sky every ten seconds.

Boom!

A fireball exploded into a bloom of flames in the snowing sky, casting the lonely Ferris wheel in a rim of golden orange.

The light danced on Fresh Snow’s pale face and broken eyes. “The firework...is so beautiful...”

“Yeah, it’s beautiful.” Gao Yang caught her hand with his other hand and rested his chin gently on the crown of her hair.

“Short...but beautiful...”

“Yes, it is.”

“Just like...me...only around for a bit...but happy...”

Tears welled up in Gao Yang’s eyes.

A deep sorrow and helplessness silenced him. He couldn’t say anything, only shot energy out of his left palm mechanically to keep launching “fireworks”.

Boom!

“Tell...Sister...that I’m happy... Don’t be sad for me...”

“Okay.”

Boom!

“Gao Yang, you must be...happy too...”

“...”

Boom!

“Gao Yang, be...happy...”

“...”

Boom!

“Gao Yang, promise...me...”

“I promise you! I’ll be happy! I’ll live my life in happiness! No regret! No sadness! No grievance! I’ll be really, really, really happy!”

Boom!

“Yeah, promise...”

“Promise.”

Boom!

“Gao Yang, I think...I’m going to the Fresh Snow Star...”

“No, don’t go. Don’t leave, Fresh Snow.”

Boom!

“Gao Yang, I’d like to...take a nap...”

“Don’t. Don’t sleep. The fireworks are still going. Let’s watch it, okay?”

Boom!

“Gao Yang...chin...”

“Here, here’s my chin.”

Boom!

“Your chin...is damp...”

“It was raining earlier. I got wet as I headed here.”

Boom!

“Ah...that so...”

“Yeah, look, Fresh Snow, the firework’s beautiful...”

Boom!

“Fresh Snow?”

“...”

Boom!

“Fresh Snow?”

“...”

Boom!

“Fresh Snow!”

“...”

The last strings of fire exploded.

The fireworks were over.