If flowers bloom, youth will naturally follow.

Little Fatty returned to his bedroom like a zombie, burst into tears, and that suffocating feeling surged back, this time even more intense. He felt like a fish out of water, desperately wanting to escape and go to a place where he could breathe freely.

His mother and his high school studies used to be here, keeping him connected and preventing him from leaving. Now, there's nothing left here.

I'm leaving.

He took out his mobile phone and turned it on. Another call came in from Lu Zhangke. Little Fatty hung up and called Zhao Shirong instead. Unlike before, he didn't hang up immediately but waited for it to connect. Zhao Shirong's bright voice came through: "Hey, you stingy guy, how can you be so stingy with your phone bill?"

"Sister, I want to come find you," Little Fatty said, crying.

"Didn't you say there was no exam? What happened? What's wrong?"

"..." Little Fatty recounted the whole story to her.

"Come here, little Bao'er, your sister has a school here, I'll support you to go to university," Zhao Shirong was furious. Little Fatty was bullied by outsiders, and his family was going to kick him while he was down.

"Yes, I'll go tomorrow." The little fat boy's voice was more determined than ever before.

"Take your household registration page with you; you might need it for school. Tomorrow morning, go to the county bus station and take a bus to the Harbin bus station. Then take a taxi for 5 minutes to Harbin East Station, buy a ticket to Shijiazhuang, and arrive at the station the day after tomorrow. Stand at the exit and don't go anywhere else. I'll pick you up at the station." As a seasoned traveler, Zhao Shirong meticulously planned Xiaopang's escape route.

"okay."

"Do you have any money left? The fare will be at least 200 yuan. Take some extra with you, just in case something happens on the way. Don't worry about the money. Do you have a bank card? I can transfer some to you," Zhao Shirong asked considerately.

"No, but I still have three or four hundred, that should be enough," Little Fatty said.

Zhao Shirong urged, "A poor family needs to be extra careful on the road. This is a bit small. Do you know where your family's money is?"

"Hmm...more or less," said the chubby boy.

"Bring more money. You don't need to bring any clothes or anything. Just come directly, and we'll go buy them when you get here," Zhao Shirong said.

In the afternoon, Xia Donghai and his wife went to the factory and locked Xiao Pang in the house, showing him through their actions that he couldn't go anywhere.

Little Fatty is quite shrewd. Since he's decided to run away from home, he's not angry anymore. It's good that they locked the door; let them taste what it's like to lock Sun Wukong in the Peach Garden.

The money and household registration book were kept by the mother. She only knew a few places to hide things. After a thorough search, the little fat boy found the household registration book and 5000 yuan.

There are frequent buses to the county from the highway outside the village, but Xiao Pang doesn't know if there are any buses from the county to Harbin at night. If he goes to the county and there are no buses, he might alert the enemy. So Xiao Pang took 1000 yuan and his household registration page and prepared to leave tomorrow morning.

In the evening, Xiaopang guessed that Zhang Xiaoyan had arrived home and, fearing she might worry, called her to tell her that everything was normal and that he was in the process of transferring schools.

Little Fatty was still reluctant to leave his mother and didn't know how to face her. Unexpectedly, his mother was ruthless this time. She didn't call Little Fatty for lunch, dinner, or breakfast the next day, as if he didn't exist at all.

The next morning, his parents went out and locked the door as usual, which added to Xiao Pang's anger about running away from home. Hearing the door lock, he started packing his luggage.

Xiao Pang's belongings were all in the rented room. He only had a small backpack and a backpack full of books at home. He kept a few books he needed and scattered the rest of the books all over the floor in a show of defiance. He also threw his cell phone on the bed. After thinking about it, he realized he still needed to contact Zhao Shirong, so he stuffed it back into his small backpack.

Little Fatty slung his bag over his shoulder, thought for a moment, and decided to leave them a note: "I'm leaving. Are you happy now? Don't look for me. Just pretend I was never born."

Little Fatty climbed over the wall, not even glancing back at the home he had lived in for seventeen years, and left without a second thought.

Ma Dongmei didn't discover that Xiao Pang had run away from home until she got home that evening.

She felt sorry for Little Fatty after all. When she got home and saw that the food in the kitchen was exactly the same as when she left in the morning, she couldn't help but curse, "That stubborn brat."

She arrived at Little Fatty's bedroom door, which was pitch black. She knocked twice on the door: "Stubborn brat, time to eat."

The bedroom was completely silent. She lost her temper and flung open the door. In the dim moonlight, she could vaguely see the mess on the floor. Her heart skipped a beat, and she turned on the light.

The room was empty, and books were scattered all over the floor.

"Little Bao'er, Little Bao'er!" she cried out in panic, running out to check each room, hoping to see Little Fatty jump out of one of them and say with a grin, "Hmph, you won't let me go to school? You're putting me in solitary confinement?"

But no, she finally found the woodshed, with a sliver of hope that she would see Little Fatty covered in dust and dirt, hiding there pouting and sulking, but how could that be possible?

Ma Dongmei's vision blurred and her legs gave way, causing her to collapse to the ground. Her heart-wrenching cries echoed through the night: "Little Bao'er, Little Bao'er..."