I'm sorry to say goodbye to you for so many years, but there is a time for reunion.

The hot sunlight that shone on the left side of his face was suddenly blocked, the four-year-old Lin Jian reacted only after a long time, slowly turning his head, his eyes followed the shadow cast on the ground, and little by little, moved to the person standing beside him.

The moment they met, Shen Ke was slightly surprised--

What a beautiful little boy.

And little Lin Jian just looked at him silently for a moment, then turned his head back and looked out the door again.

Shen Ke raised his eyebrows a little, and in the next second, he squatted down directly beside him, and suddenly asked softly, "Waiting for your father?"

This sentence, as if inadvertently triggering some invisible switching device on the little group, little Lin Jian, again quite a bit faster than just now, turned her head again, looked at him, and after a few seconds, actually spoke.

"How do you know?"

"Because I'm older." Shen Ke laughed a little, and without any psychological burden on the child, "I'm so much older than you, of course I know more."

Lin Jian looked at him expressionlessly, but his dark eyes moved slightly.

"What do you want to ask?" Shen Ke, seeing what's going on, says, with all due respect, "I know a lot of things. Tell me, maybe I can tell you?"

Little Lin Jian looked at him, a little hesitant look briefly appeared on one little face, but after a while, actually did ask softly, "...... Then can you tell me when my dad is coming?"

"Want to know?"

Lin Jian gave a slightly hesitant, small nod.

Shen Ke : "Then eat this first, and I'll tell you when you've eaten it."

Lin Jian's eyes widened slightly as she looked at the hand he suddenly reached out to her and the sweet-smelling mandarin orange that had appeared out of nowhere in her palm as if by magic.

"If you keep your eyes open any wider, they're going to fall out." Shen Ke smiled and passed the orange in front of him, "Here."

Four-year-old Lin Jian looked at him quietly for a few seconds, then looked again at the mandarin orange in his hand, and finally, without saying anything, just took the orange with her small hands and began to peel it with her head down.

The young man, Shen Ke, could not help but sigh in disbelief--

What a good little group.

Very well behaved little group of people eat things also quiet and gentle, break off a petal of orange petals directly into the mouth, and will not be like some children, you have to take off the surface of the orange complex before you are willing to eat.

The teenager squatted down next to him with something akin to a pleased smile under his eyes, and after a moment, asked, "Sweet?"

I did not expect to hear him ask, always a petal to a petal to the mouth of the orange child actually froze, and then pursed his lips, the next second, directly in the small hand of the remaining three petals handed to Shen Ke eyes.

Still not much of an expression, just looking at people like that without speaking.

But Shen Ke instantly realized what he meant, and in a rare moment his face went blank for a second, then he laughed out loud, "I'm not ......" He paused, before sighing and smiling warmly, "You eat it, I've just already ate one."

But little Lin Jian, as if she hadn't heard him, still kept that gesture of spreading out her hand to him, with the gesture that he didn't want to hold it up like that all the time.

In the end, Shen Ke just had to compromise and take the orange petal from his little hand and eat it.

And as soon as Shen Ke had just swallowed the orange in his mouth, Lin Jian seamlessly spoke up again and asked, "Can you tell me now?"

Listening carefully, there seems to be a little bit of "you ate the orange anyway" in this soft tone.

Shen Ke heard it, of course, but could only let out a long, heartfelt sigh--

This little guy, not only is he well behaved, he's also weirdly smart.

"Could be." The tall, leggy teenager pulled a small pony under the windowsill and sat directly next to the little group this time, smiling, "Probably until you're eighteen, if nothing else."

And unanticipatedly, after hearing this answer, the little group actually gazed straight at him for a few seconds, and then turned his head once again, looking at the big iron door in the distance, and didn't say anything.

The little round head hung slightly, and the word "disappointment" was almost written all over the little whirl of hair.

Shen Ke wasn't surprised, and even seemed to anticipate this reaction, lifting a hand and stroking the top of his hair very gently, following up with, "But you can go to him if you feel like you're going to have to wait too long."

Such a stone-cold statement was another possibility that had not occurred to the four-year-old group at all.

Shen Ke distinctly felt the little head under his palm pause, and then the little child's hair, cut short but still soft, slowly brushed against his palm--

Little Lin Jian turned his head to look at him again, confused and stunned for a long time before asking, "...... I go to dad?"

"Yes." Shen Ke rightly told him, "If it feels like it's taking too long, if you can't figure out when the other person will come, then don't just wait-"

"You have to realize that whatever a person wants, whatever they do, or whoever they want, they can achieve it by their own efforts, and that's true for adults, and it's also true for children."

"Then I ......" This cognition for a four-year-old child, too mature and ahead of his time, his tender and ignorant thinking can not yet understand the full meaning, just froze for a long time, murmured softly and asked, "Then Where am I going to find him?"

The hand that the teenager always had lightly over the top of his hair stroked it gently and said warmly, "Anywhere, go-anywhere you want to go."

The little group stared at him quietly with a pair of big eyes, and after a long time, asked, "What are those places ...... like?"

"Want to know?" Shen Ke asked with a smile, trying to steer the small child, who was by nature quiet and not talkative, to speak more.

Lin Jian, on the other hand, didn't answer this time, but there was gradually a bit of a different color in his eyes.

It's clueless innocence, and childish curiosity.

Shen Ke laughed silently, and directly placed the A3 drawing paper he had been holding in his hand, which had been prepared long ago, in front of little Lin Jian.

--That complex and delicate strokes, magnificent and colorful, a microcosm of the world jumped onto the paper.

"What is this ......" Little Lin Jian dropped her eyes and stared blankly at the vibrant and vivid painting in front of her, "What is this ...... "

"It's the sea, it's the mountains, it's the forests, it's the deserts, it's the flowers and the grasses ...... " Shen Ke warmly and straightly narrated, and when he said this, the hand which had been placed on the top of little Lin Jian's hair pointed remotely to the door at which the little group of people had long been looking at, and said, with certainty and gentleness. "Also the world outside this door."

Little Lin Jian followed the direction of his finger to look over, after a moment and turn back to the eyes to fall back to the drawing paper, a moment later, raised his head to look at Shen Ke, uncertainly asked, "These places ...... I can go?"

"Of course." The teenager gave him a firm answer, "The sea is mysterious and deep, the mountains are towering, the forests are vibrant, and the deserts are vast and vast ...... All of these places are at your disposal to explore if you want to, but there is another prerequisite- -"

Little Lin Jian was finally aroused to a trace of genuine curiosity: "What is it?"

Sixteen-year-old Shen Ke, like a steady and mature adult, told the four-year-old in front of him in a soothing voice: "It's you who have to be strong first, only then will you not be tripped up by unknown difficulties, and only then can you go where you want to go and find the people you want to see."

The little group seemed to understand and asked softly, "And how am I going to do that?"

"Actually very simple." The tail of the teenager's eyes abruptly curved, smiled and said, "Eat well, sleep well, study well, oh yes, but also exercise your body often, you can't stop playing games with the kids ...... Do you know, no matter if it's to climb a mountain or go down to the sea, it's all a very tiring thing, and if you're not healthy and strong enough. That is certainly not go!"

"...... Oh." Little Lin Jian stared at him blankly, and after a while, suddenly asked in a low voice, "Have you been to all these places? Then where will my dad ...... really wait for me?"

"I've been to most of them, but ...... I don't know your dad, so you'll have to find out for yourself." The smile under Shen Ke's eyes was gentle and soothing, "But it's better to be able to take the initiative to find him on your own than to sit here and wait every day, right?"

A few moments later, little Lin Jian's big black-and-white eyes looking up at him suddenly brightened, and she nodded her head vigorously, "Uh-huh."

--The painstaking effort is not lost.

The teenager breathed a silent sigh of relief, the straight lines of his shoulders and back finally slowly relaxing with him.

The sun is setting and the afterglow is filling the sky.

The heat and clamor that had floated in the air during the day finally faded considerably in the evening, and in a flash, it was time to part ways.

Shen Zhangqian is standing at the front door saying goodbye to the dean and a group of teachers, while Shen Ke rises from his pony on the porch to join his father.

"Are ...... you leaving?" Watching him stand up, little Lin Jian sitting beside him suddenly asked.

The teenager looked down at him with some surprise.

This was the first time in such a long time, without Shen Ke's guidance, that the little group took the initiative to speak to him.

"Yeah, gotta go." Shen Ke said.

"So are you still coming?" Lin Jian surprisingly asked again.

"I ......" Shen Ke looked into the small child's pure and clear eyes, thought about it, and nodded, "Yes, I will come to see you again."

But the little group blinked, but didn't say anything.

Don't believe me?

So the teenager smiled a little, took his long money clip out of his pocket, retrieved a small colorful object inside, and bent down to place it in his small hand.

He said to little Lin Jian, "I heard from your teacher that you are four years old, so you are a horse, right?"

Little Lin Jian looked at the very pretty, five-colored, woven pony in her hand and nodded blankly.

Shen Ke smiled and said, "As it happens, I also belong to the horse." And then pointed to the five-colored horse in the little group's hand, and said, "This is the peace blessing I begged for in the temple not long ago, five-colored horse, not moving to cut, not breaking the line, begging for a blessing that lasts for a long time, and now I'm giving it to you, as a witness, okay?"

Little Lin Jian stayed looking at him for a moment, then looked at the peace blessing in his hand, and asked softly, "Then ...... how old are you?"

"Me?" Shen Ke laughed out softly and replied, "Four plus twelve, that would make me sixteen."

"Oh ......" the little group nodded thoughtfully, and when he looked up again, he suddenly shouted softly at him, "That ...... little uncle is good. "

The teenager immediately froze in place, instantly confused by this "little uncle".

After a good half day, the teenager slightly collected the surprise under his eyes, and corrected him with a light smile, "Your little snow ball child is still weirdly polite ...... However, you can not call the little uncle, you have to call the little brother."

"Oh." The child who was instantly lifted up a generation was stunned, and then pursed up the corners of her lips in some embarrassment, her smile coy and quiet.

Shen Ke, once again, silently lamenting--

Really, so well behaved.

Not far away, Shen Zhangqian was already preparing to get into the car. Song Zhi stood by the side of the car and remotely beckoned to Shen Ke, who, getting the signal, also raised his hand towards him, signaling that he would go over immediately.

"Alright, I really have to go." Shen Ke said, "You have to remember what you just promised me, and I, for one, will come see you sometime to check in."

Lin Jian nodded his head.

The teenager smiled and reached out to rub his furry little head, finally turning to step into the bright orange sunset.

After walking a few steps, there suddenly came a clear cry from behind him, Shen Ke turned around, and saw little Lin Jian actually stand up from the pony, and walk to the steps under the veranda, with the five-colored horse he had just given him in one little hand, and the other little hand waving hard at him, and crying out in a brittle voice--

"Bye brother!"

Under the warm orange sky, the teenager's figure was like a strong pine and bamboo, the bottom of his eyes quickly flashed a surprised smile, and then the smile on the ground at the edge of his mouth became warm, deep and ironic.

Shen Ke also waved at the small, fresh snow-like mass and responded with a smile, "See you later."

*

From the age of four to six, these two years are the most frequent years for little Lin Jian to see Shen Ke, who lives in the orphanage.

Shen Ke said he'd come back to see him, and he did.

At that time, sixteen-year-old Shen Ke was already a sophomore in college, and his plan to study abroad had been set in motion for a long time. However, perhaps even he himself did not expect that in the two years before he was about to leave, he would actually meet such a group of kids in such an unexpected way by chance.

And a special little snow doughnut.

During the summer of her sophomore year, Shen Ke traveled more than five hours almost every week just to come to the orphanage to give the children a lively painting class.

After the summer vacation, even though he had a heavy class load, and even though his major advisor had already started to take him to participate in the program, he would still take one day a month out of his limited time, and sometimes he couldn't even return home, rushing directly from school to the orphanage to spend a few hours with the children before hastily turning back.

And no matter whether the dean or teachers can see clearly understand, although the young man temperament gentle and introverted, but so many children in the institution, he is the most heart of the one, is a small Lin Jian.

Similarly, perhaps it is a surprise and a gift of fate that kindness and love can really bloom into a "twin flower".

On weekdays, no matter who the little snow ball faced, it was always in a dumbfounded and non-verbal manner, only when Shen Ke came, it would show a little bit of "surprise" and "happiness", and from time to time, it would be guided by a few words from Shen Ke, which would make it bend its eyes and laugh silently. When Shen Ke came, he would show a little look of "surprise" and "happiness", and from time to time, he would be amused by Shen Ke's deliberate guidance with a few words, making him smile silently with his eyes bent.

After contacting these children for a period of time, Shen Ke, through detailed understanding and communication with the director, hired two professional child counselors for the children in the orphanage in the form of personal charity assistance.

This group of children living in the orphanage, the oldest is only twelve years old, the youngest is only a little more than two years old, but no matter where they used to come from, what kind of unspeakable family trauma and miserable childhood, even if they can't be seen on the surface, always like a group of chattering cherubs, but once the suffering more or less, have left and gray traces on their tender hearts.

Lin Jian, a small snow group, is a very typical example.

Therefore, in order to heal the invisible wounds, in addition to the long-lasting love given to these children, there must be earlier intervention, more professional and more targeted psychological treatment.

It is important to help these little angels to accept their past and overcome their wounds, so that, ultimately, they will have the calm strength to smile in the face of all the pain and sorrow of the past.

And it's obvious that when this professional early childhood psychotherapy is involved, the children's state of well-being can be seen as getting better and better every day.

The two years with the children were probably the most relaxing and pure time in Shen Ke's entire life.

From the age of sixteen to eighteen, until Shen Ke graduated from college and was accepted to graduate school at Penn, he never lost sight of this deep connection.

However, the twist came the year after Shen Ke arrived in the United States.

As a freshman at Penn, Shen Ke was so gifted that he was brought into the project team by his mentor, who was known for his toughness and rigidity, to work on a very prestigious project during his first year of graduate school.

During that period of time, he was almost black and white, either following his mentor and the project team's older siblings to draw diagrams in the design room, or following his mentor to investigate and measure the details in the project site. In short, he hated to treat one day as two days, his body and brain are always on the road, but not in his own place.

Throughout the first year of his studies, he did not return to his country for a whole year.

It wasn't until the following year that the design of that very tricky project was a huge success and he finally returned home in time for the school Christmas break.

It was early morning in China when he landed, he first went back to his home, rushed to have a breakfast with his parents who hadn't yet gone to the office before they left the house, and when his parents left, he couldn't even pour out the jet lag, and endured the slight feeling of dizziness and drove for more than five hours straight to the orphanage that he hadn't been to for almost two years.

Still the mottled rust-colored iron door, but the door inside the door, but it has long been the stars, things are not the same.

There are a lot of new children in the orphanage, and the infrastructure of the institution has gone through a round of renovation and replacement and upgrading, and the overall environment is much improved than that of two years ago.

Originally, as early as a year or so, this social welfare nature of the orphanage was integrated by the local civil affairs department, restructuring, formally included in the scope of financial provision. And the nature of the change, the original old dean also reached the age of retirement, the local government took into account her so many years of silent dedication, deliberately vacated a social worker post system quota to her, but also to the life of this hate will be their own family treasures are dug out of the orphanage of the elderly in their old age a peace of mind protection.

Meanwhile, after the orphanage was reorganized, children from other areas were sent here because the local orphanage was too small to accommodate them, and, of course, as people come, so people go -

Since they have become government institutions of a civil nature, there are also many children who have been adopted after fulfilling the standardized procedures.

And that little snowball, that's one of them.

At that time, the northern part of the country was already bitterly cold, and the mountainous area had even been drifting snowflakes for several days in a row.

Gloomy gray winter afternoon, less than twenty-year-old Shen Ke stood in the sky in the snow, after listening to the teacher in front of the detailed account of the experience, the expression of a rare half a blank blank.

--Lin Jian Jr. was adopted.

It was in that misplaced time when he couldn't pull himself away to come back.

And according to the confidentiality rules, information about where this child went and who adopted him was necessarily beyond his reach.

At that moment, Shen Ke suddenly thought of the last time he came to visit the children in the orphanage before he left for Penn. At that time, he told Lin Jian that the next time he came to visit him, it might be a longer period of time, and he asked him to eat well and listen to the teachers, and he also promised that the next time he came back, he and the teachers would take the children to the Botanical Gardens, which was so dear to their hearts.

Lin Jian nodded obediently and agreed.

Lin Jian was still standing on the steps of the classroom porch, waving his little hand and saying, "Goodbye, brother."

But I didn't want to, this time, a prophecy.

Fate goes round and round and brings them together at a point in time that is marvelous in its own way.

And fate, as true as it was, didn't even give them a chance to say goodbye properly.

And Shen Ke, as he turned away in the depths of the blizzard, thought--

Life will always meet again.

Like the countless "goodbyes" Lin Jian Jr. said to him--

I'm sorry to say goodbye to you for years, but I'll be reunited at some point.