Steel steam and flame

Sensitive sensitivity may be a "special ability" that everyone has when they are children. They can feel the changes in the things around them very sensitively. This may also be due to their unfamiliarity with the surrounding environment at that time.

Lilia's memory of Cassia has always been when he was reclassified a year ago. At this time, when I accidentally looked to see if the snow outside had stopped one morning and wanted to go out to play, I saw Cassia's figure standing outside the house in my eyes. Of course, I was extremely happy.

But what the eyes see is just a picture. When he really got close to Cassia and was hugged by him, other feelings were also transmitted to the brain through different senses, and then quickly mixed together. At this time, the hybrid named brother Cassia that existed in her perception gave her a completely different feeling than a year ago.

The face is still the same, the smile is still the same, the voice has not changed, and the force used to hold him up is even gentler than before. But something has changed. The brother in front of him may have been completely replaced, starting with some of the inner core in his body.

The brother who left on the imperial train did not come back today.

The child's still-unlost perception keenly captured this change. Cassia brought a strange feeling to Lilia, just like the imperial characters in the textbook she was studying now. They were obviously very similar to other characters, but The meaning it represents is completely different.

There is no specific understanding of this strange feeling in my little mind, and I still don’t know what it means. So in the end Lilia could only think that her brother no longer loved her.

Maybe as you grow older, you will one day understand the real reason for this feeling. But not only cognition changes with age, but memory is also forgotten. It cannot be said with certainty that Lilia will eventually think of what happened on this day again in the future. But when she really recalled it, the most important thing in her memory was probably gone.

Of course, from Cassia's point of view, she hoped that she would never think of it.

Cries echoed through the empty streets, and a few pieces of snow accumulated on the roofs fell at this time. He quickly coaxed her up. The child's feeling was not as tenacious as Cassia's and could not be maintained for a long time. Soon the strange feeling was forgotten by Lilia.

My mother came out at this time. She hadn't seen her in a year. She had changed a lot. The tiredness that had been lingering around her all year round was finally gone, and her face had a look.

"I'm back. I should have written a letter to let you know in advance. Nothing has been prepared at home."

Cassia wanted to speak, but her mouth opened and she still didn't know what to say. Then I remembered that I didn’t talk much with my mother in the past. After the two of them arrived in the small town, the mother entered the textile factory. Cassia goes to school in a small town during the day. In addition to spending a little time taking care of her sister Lilia in her free time, she spends the rest of her time slowly in the factory.

In many cases the time is completely staggered. The textile factory where my mother worked had night shifts, and the hours were also two shifts, every twelve hours. There are not many times in life when we can meet and talk to each other. Moreover, mothers have to spend a lot of time sleeping during the day and at night. It was a long-term fatigue that seemed to grow on the body, whether it was physical or mental.

The industry here in the small town is not developed either. Except for prices, everything else is quite different from places like Manoma. Electricity has not been fully popularized, and the power of steam furnaces is still maintained by burning coal, a very primitive power. Because it is a small city and in a border area, the coal at the foot of the Lilac Mountains has not yet been mined. The history is more than ten years old, but the coal storage capacity can still be consumed by the small town for many years.

Such was daily life in a small town located on the frontier of the empire, far from Manoma. But compared to Manoma, the air is not as fresh because of the burning of a large amount of coal, but for Cassia, this is the best thing.

There are still no changes in the small house. Except for some renovation of some appliances, it is still the same as when it left. The old stove was finally eliminated and replaced with a brand new one. While providing warmth to the room, it also glowed red.

Lilia's and her mother's beds were still next to the stove. His own room was unchanged, his things were tidied away and there was no dust. The worn and shiny wall clock has also been replaced. The new copper bell has no "tick-tock" sound and is almost like a silent guardian. There are no longer thick curtains behind the windows that have been tightened all year round. The sun has not come out. Because the lighting design is quite reasonable, the room is still very bright without the blessing of gas lights.

Night came very early and nothing was prepared. When they remembered that they needed to cook in the afternoon, their mother and Cassia went to a store in the small town to buy meat.

On the way, Cassia told her that she wanted to move her mother and sister Lilia to the nearest city. Her mother neither agreed nor objected. But things were decided at this time.

When going to bed at night, Cassia lay on the hard bed that she had slept on for several years. Her unstable mental state had stabilized a lot, but there was still something missing. Cassia couldn't explain what it was, she felt lost and lonely for no reason. Even though I thought that I would soon be able to bring my mother and sister Lilia to a truly prosperous city, to a place where gas lamps only existed in museums, I thought that I still had a banknote worth tens of millions in my trouser pocket. bank card with the currency amount. But apart from the loss, there was only a sense of heaviness and unreasonable panic.

Something was wrong, and Cassia finally figured it out later. These were all things that I had been eager to see happen since I was relisted. I can earn a lot of money in Manoma. My mother no longer has to work in a textile factory, and my sister Lilia doesn’t have to go to a steam factory and study at the same time.

Now that my idea has been realized several years in advance, I should be happy and proud. But the premise is no longer there, and Cassia can't pretend to be relaxed and take a long breath of relief in her heart. Then the voice appeared again, almost Cassia opened her mouth and said to herself.

"Let's go, there's no use staying here."