Luka was undoubtedly a rare presence in the orphanage because he wasn’t a child abandoned by his parents. Shortly after Luka was born, his parents went to the mainland to do business, leaving him in the care of his grandparents. His grandfather was also the landlord of the ‘Goodwill Orphanage.’ When he was six, his grandfather would send him to the orphanage during the day to live with the other children and pick him up at night to sleep at home. Thus, he was the most optimistic child in the orphanage, filled with love, which made the other children like to be close to him, like stars surrounding the moon.
In contrast, Lanky was sent to the orphanage shortly after his first month, even… he didn’t have time to open his eyes and see his mother. Lanky’s father was a pilot who died in a plane crash during training, and his mother died in childbirth due to shock. Lanky’s mother died in the hospital shortly after he was born, and both his parents had fled to Taiwan, leaving him with no relatives here.
All along, Lanky’s world was black and white… until he met a rare splash of red when he was nine. He couldn’t forget Nina, pouting her soft pink lips, her black-and-white eyes revealing a rebellious spirit. Her clever yet defiant demeanor ignited a spark of fighting spirit in Lanky for the future.
But it wasn’t just Lanky who noticed this girl; the enthusiastic and unafraid Luka was equally curious about everything concerning Nina. However, at that time, Luka was only six years old, and Nina treated him like a little brother. What she wanted more was to grow up quickly and leave this hellish place. She wanted her mother to never find her again, to regret the decision she made today for the rest of her life. She wanted her mother to taste the bitterness of abandonment!
Lanky was three years older than Luka. If Luka was the beloved king of the children in the yard, then Lanky was the detested captain of the patrol team. They shared meals from a communal pot, slept in a large dormitory, studied together, and attended school together, while Lanky was always the one with a stern face, the most concerned about rules and regulations, a little stubborn.
Ironically, the most sensible one fell for the most rebellious one. Lanky himself couldn’t figure it out; he always helped Nina clean up her messes whenever she got into trouble, and he did it willingly.
One day, as usual, sharp shouts from the neighbor aunt echoed at the entrance of the orphanage: “You little brat! Director! That little Nina is at it again, stealing my puppy to give it a haircut, pulling it this way and that, it’s just too much!” (Oh no, little Nina has taken my puppy to get a haircut again.)
The director quickly stepped in to calm her down: “Auntie, it’s alright, I’ll handle it!”
“Director, it’s me! It’s not little Nina’s fault.” Lanky stood up straight at once, just like his dashing pilot father.
Seeing this was the orphan of a martyr, the neighbor aunt pouted and grumbled, “You spoil her too much. If you don’t cherish your life, then when little Nina gets into trouble, you’ll know the pain!” With that, she turned and walked away. (You spoil your wife so much that one day when she walks all over you, you’ll understand the pain.)
The director then waved a thin bamboo stick in his hand, “Lanky! How long can you protect her? Not to mention stealing and causing trouble, which neighbor’s fruit trees and windows haven’t been harmed by her around here?”
