The city road was busy at night, cars and buses moving back and forth without pause. Yet inside a small noodle stall by the roadside, a quiet, mourning atmosphere lingered.
"So what are you gonna do now?"
Asked the owner of the noodle vendor about his loyal customer as he wiped a bowl.
A nineteen-year-old young man who had just lost both of his parents in an accident.
His face showed confusion as he looked at his empty bowl.
"I don't know, uncle. I've been following my parents' orders all this time, so I've never really thought about my future since they kind of decided everything for me."
His eyes were cloudy as he looked down, lightly touching the bowl of noodles.
Living all his life just following his parents' direction had left the young man unable to even decide his own future.
"Well, at times like this, just having a job is a blessing. For your situation, if there's an opportunity to earn money, you should grasp it, as long as it's legal, of course."
The young man looked at the old vendor's face.
The old man was looking back at him, smiling helplessly.
Without realizing it, the young man showed the same expression.
"You're right, uncle. Can't be picky about a job nowadays when so many people are jobless. As long as I can fill my stomach, any job is a good job. I guess I'll try looking for a part-time job somewhere first."
Seeing some color return to the young man's face, the owner patted him lightly on the shoulder, wearing a reassuring smile.
"Do it then. As long as we live, we have to keep moving forward, even if it's just a small step. Don't give up on life, Mu Xin. If you need help, uncle will try his best to help you."
Mu Xin looked at the uncle in front of him, his eyes almost tearing up.
This was the same uncle whose son only ever took money from him and never helped with the work... yet he still worried for someone else.
Mu Xin gave him a small, gentle smile to reassure him.
"Don't worry, uncle. I'm not going to give up. Life is precious. Since we only have one, why would I waste it?"
Mu Xin quickly finished his noodles and slurped all the broth away, put the money on the table, and turned to leave.
"Thanks for the meal, uncle. I'm going back first to rest so I have plenty of energy to go around looking for a job tomorrow."
He walked away quickly as the streetlights flickered over the crowd along the roadside.
The uncle was surprised and tried to chase him while shouting.
"Hey! Take the money back! You don't have to pay!!!"
The uncle stopped a few steps away from his stall. He couldn't go any farther... he was alone and still needed to watch his vendor.
In the distance, Mu Xin never stopped walking as he shouted back.
"That can't do! I eat your food, so I have to pay!"
He stood there in silence, watching Mu Xin's lonely back.
A bitter smile slowly formed on his face.
"That silly child, I hope he can have the life that he wants."
The night wind felt chilly, mirroring Mu Xin's heart, as he put his hands into his pockets while the crowd kept moving.
As Mu Xin walked through the nighttime road, he passed all kinds of views.
A tired office worker on the way home after working overtime, dragging his feet as he walked.
A husband and wife holding their daughter's hand with happy smiles as they swung her between them.
A delivery man came out of a shop, securing the order on his bike before quickly taking off.
A lavish car driven by a young man with a big smile, three beautiful women leaning close to him.
Looking at all of this filled Mu Xin with a sense of loss, because he knew all these people were living with purpose.
But remembering his conversation with the old vendor, he shook his emotions away, because even without purpose, he had already promised him not to give up on life.
Just as he picked up his walking pace, a loud thunderclap resounded in the sky, as if the heavens were trying to split open.
Instinctively, he looked up at the dark, churning clouds. What Mu Xin saw was a massive streak of white lightning twisting among them, followed by another thunderous roar.
Thinking it was going to rain soon, he increased his walking pace, hoping the rain could wait until he got home.
But the rain did not wait. A heavy downpour drenched him, and the people around him immediately scattered, looking for shelter, leaving Mu Xin alone running under the rain.
A few minutes after Mu Xin ran under the heavy rain all alone, he was getting close to his home. Relief washed over him, but before he could realize it, a massive lightning strike hit him.
He felt a crawling sensation all over his skin, while inside his body felt like being burned alive.
The memories of his life passed through his mind like a movie—how his parents dictated what school he attended, what major he should take, what job he would eventually take.
The thunder swallowed all sound, and his vision shattered into white before collapsing inward.
His thoughts broke apart one by one, until even pain could no longer reach him.
Mu Xin couldn't help but feel like his life had been meaningless as he was enveloped in darkness.
---
Consciousness returned slowly, drifting back like something pulled from deep water.
A bird chirped in the distance. An unconscious boy suddenly woke up on the forest ground.
He gasped for air for a while before looking around, but he saw nothing except trees.
Soon, confusion was drawn on his face. His current location was too abnormal.
Mu Xin was sure that after he was struck by lightning, he would be brought to the hospital, not thrown into the middle of a forest.
He stood up shakily and noticed that his hand was much smaller than it was supposed to be.
Stunned by what he saw, he pinched his hand with all his strength. The pain that followed caused him to take a sharp breath.
Looking at his arm with a red spot from pinching, an absurd thought started to appear.
From all that had happened, it was as if he had died and taken over this boy's body in this forest.
He shook his head, feeling ridiculous at his own thoughts, but he couldn't think of anything else.
He picked a random direction and started walking, because no amount of thinking could help him get out of this forest if he stayed still.
A few minutes after he walked, he could hear the sound of water flowing. He immediately followed it, hoping to meet someone.
Not long after, he saw it—a big river with a fierce current.
No one was there. Mu Xin couldn't help feeling disappointed, but he didn't dwell on it too much.
He started to follow where the river went, hoping to see a settlement or village, but what he saw was a waterfall falling down loudly like thunder.
The massive river turned into a massive waterfall within a few hundred meters.
The view from the cliff was beautiful, with a sea of trees as far as the eye could see.