Though they’d come to pick fruit, the old couple had no clue what they were dealing with → The tree was too tall, too thick, and too dense. Looking up from below, it was just a dark mass, impossible to see anything; Though they were orphans, they were city orphans, utterly ignorant of tree varieties. In short, without knowing what grew above or even whether this was a fruit tree, the couple climbed up.

Their ascent was clumsy and stumbling.

After finally trembling their way onto a sturdy branch, the Mother Fa glanced upward first: pitch black, and no fruit in sight. She then looked down:

Oh dear! She was dizzy—

Unbeknownst to them, they were already so high above the ground!

The thought of climbing back down made her legs shake even harder. With that realization, she pressed her hand against her husband beside her: “Slow down. Let’s rest here before going down.”

Father Fa agreed → Well, his legs were shaking too!

After cautiously checking on the children below to make sure they were safe and still holding onto the ladder, the couple fixed their gaze forward, their eyes piercing through the thick branches and leaves to the distant horizon—

At the edge of their vision lay half a starry sky and half a dark mountain forest.

Wind rustled past their ears and feet, rustling leaves behind them before sweeping farther away, stirring the forest ahead into a whispering murmur.

Save for the flashlights in their hands and those held by the children below, no other light pierced the darkness. Everything remained as nature intended. They’d expected to feel fear in this moment, but it didn’t come.

“It’s so quiet,” Mother Fa spoke first.

“Yeah,” Father Fa nodded.

Having grown up in an overcrowded orphanage—a room shared by over a dozen children—they never knew quiet. Later, in school dormitories, the crowds remained. After starting work, their meager salaries forced them into shared apartments. Then came their child. They gritted their teeth to rent a tiny flat, but the peace was short-lived. Soon, Muzi’s cries filled the entire room…

Though they never considered this bustle a bad thing, experiencing such sudden stillness made them realize how precious this feeling truly was.

Exchanging a knowing smile, Father and Mother Fa simultaneously turned off their flashlights, intending to savor this rare moment of quiet. Yet, the moment the lights went out, they didn’t notice anything unusual. Only when their eyes fully adjusted to the darkness did it happen—

Mother Fa tugged at her husband’s sleeve beside her. Regardless of whether he could see in the pitch black, her finger pointed upward in a certain direction as she hesitated, “Old Wang, do you think that’s a fruit?”

Without the flashlight’s light, Old Wang naturally couldn’t see his wife’s outstretched arm. Yet, he instantly knew the direction she was pointing—for no other reason than this: he saw it too!

Yellow and round, it looked exactly like a fruit, and by the looks of it, a pretty big one!

But—

“It’s pitch black out here. How could we possibly see a fruit?” As someone with a science background—Father Fa had been in the science track in high school—he instinctively felt they shouldn’t be able to see anything at all, let alone a fruit. But…

“But we did see it. We both saw it, didn’t we?” Mother Fa didn’t overthink it. She tugged her husband’s sleeve again and climbed down from the branch. “Maybe the leaves aren’t as thick over there, and starlight just happens to fall on that one fruit?”

“Trees don’t grow just one fruit. It’s more likely we can only see one from here. Who knows how many more are over there!” Mother Fa said cheerfully.

Father nodded repeatedly, gripping the trunk beside him as he stood up too.

The couple still wanted to bring back some fruit. If it was edible, all the better—they wouldn’t go hungry on their journey home. Even if it wasn’t, their children would surely be delighted to see anything they brought back from the tree.

With this thought in mind, they decided to make the most of their rare alone time. The couple then cautiously began climbing toward the fruit.

It was truly awe-inspiring—the tree they were climbing was incredibly sturdy! Much thicker than it had appeared from below. The branches spreading from the canopy weren’t quite like walking on solid ground, but the feeling was remarkably close!

Just like now, as they stepped forward along the branches, the solid feel beneath their feet grew bolder with each stride. After testing the branches by stomping their feet—confirming they could easily support both their weights—the couple quickened their pace, drawing ever closer to the fruit.

Then—

Father Fa started sensing something was off.

“Hey, honey… this isn’t a fruit, is it? Well, it is a fruit, but…” He couldn’t quite put it into words.

Truthfully, his mind was spinning. ← Now that they were so close to the fruit—just two steps away—

and his wife was ahead of him, even closer—practically within arm’s reach. Precisely because they were so near, he could see clearly: the fruit ahead was indeed a fruit. He could even recognize it as an apple—red, looking quite tasty. But—

Something was off about the fruit’s surroundings!

The fruit they had seen earlier was yellow, but this apple was clearly red. It did look a bit yellow, but that was because of a layer of yellow light shining on it. As for where that yellow light came from… it was shining in from behind the apple. Staring dumbfounded at the scene behind the apple, Father Fa was horrified to discover that it seemed to be another place.

Wasn’t this entire area within several kilometers just one building? Wasn’t this tree right next to the house they’d just inherited? And wasn’t every electrical circuit in that house broken, not a single light working? How could it be… how could it be…

How could he have climbed this tree, plucked an apple from its branch, and then seen another wall, a window, and a patch of light behind the apple?!

Right! Those yellow round things they saw earlier weren’t fruits at all! They were light leaking out from the other side of the fruit! And the reason they were round was because this world just happened to have a perfectly round opening…

Yes! Worlds! The side where the fruit was located was another world!

A sudden clarity pierced through the chaos in Father’s mind. He found the most fitting description for what he saw before him!

Oh my god! What on earth is going on?! The fruit that lured them over just had to be an apple. Instantly, Father’s mind flashed back to Adam and Eve stealing the fruit of knowledge…

No… they can’t eat it… Father thought, trembling. But—

Before he could finish, his usually bold and decisive wife darted forward in front of him. Her hand reached for the fruit, and with the motion of picking it, she stepped into that other “world”!

Oh dear, what to do now—

Instinct outpaced thought. Before Father Fa could decide the right course, his hand had already grabbed his wife. The next second, he found himself in that world, bathed in yellow light too.

This… this fast?

Holding his wife’s arm with his right hand, Father Fa froze.

But Mother Fa had already regained her composure.

She glanced back toward where they’d come from: Hmm. Though the dim light made it hard to see clearly, peering closely between the branches, she could make out a dark, round “fruit”-like object hanging there.

That must be the same kind of “yellow fruit” they’d seen before—the way back. In that moment, Mother Fa’s mind cleared completely.

Then, she began to observe their current surroundings.

Realizing they were standing at the fork of a tree trunk, she immediately looked down—Ugh! Still dizzy.

Though she quickly averted her gaze due to her fear of heights, Mother Fa saw clearly: every window of the entire building was dark. Only the dim yellow glow of streetlights illuminated the area, and there were no pedestrians in sight.

In her hand, she clutched an apple. And the branch bearing that apple pointed directly toward a window of the apartment building ahead…

Mother Fa quickly nudged Father Fa behind her, then deftly climbed down from the tree.

By the time Father Fa clumsily and fearfully descended, she had already circled the tree several times. Finally, she stood beneath it, arms crossed, facing the four-story apartment building ahead, her eyes gleaming.

Her husband flinched at the intensity in her eyes!

“Wait, honey, what’s wrong?” Faced with the same strange occurrence, why were their reactions so different? Their children were still over there! They’d come over—what about the kids?

The thought nearly brought tears to his eyes, but he dared not cry, afraid his wife would remember and panic!

Just as Father Fa was drowning in panic, Mother Fa finally finished scrutinizing the apartment building. Her gaze settled on a window on the second floor, and she smiled.

Completely unaware of how much her sudden smile had startled Father Fa beside her, she didn’t keep him in suspense for long. With a soft sigh, she flashed him a huge grin:

“We really got lucky this time. Old Wang, do you know where this is?” she asked softly, glancing at the pale-faced Father Fa behind her.

“No… I don’t…” Father Fa stammered.

Her smile widened. “Of course not. You’ve never come to look at houses with me, so you wouldn’t recognize this place.”

“But I do.”

“I didn’t want to pressure you, so I never mentioned it. Actually, I have a hobby—when I have free time, I go around looking at School District Apartments. Even when I’m on business trips, I check out local School District Apartments.”

Father: Actually, I knew. That’s why I’ve always felt so pressured…

Thinking this, he stared at his wife, wondering what looking at the School District Apartment had to do with the situation at hand.

Then he saw Mother Fa smile again, pointing to the apartment building ahead. “Actually, I’ve had my eye on one place. It’s the cheapest, yet it’s in the best school district. But it’s so small, and our family is big. I just couldn’t decide whether to go for it.”

Hearing this, Father Fa’s heart skipped a beat. He whispered, “Honey, you mean this place…”

Knowing Father Fa understood what she meant, Mother Fa smiled and nodded. “Exactly. This is the apartment I’ve been eyeing. I couldn’t forget it—Chunhua Branch Road, Building 63, Unit 213. It’s the very room I just picked apples from.”

“I’ve had my eye on this place online for ages. Last month, after finishing a business trip, I even paid my own way to see it in person. I wouldn’t mistake it for anything else—this is the one, absolutely!”

Her eyes grew brighter with every word. Mother Fa looked up at her husband, her eyes sparkling. “It’s only three square meters, and it’s in another city. Before today, I might have kept hesitating. But now? I feel like this place was made just for our family.”

“Old Wang, what do you say? Should we buy it or not?”

His heart pounding, Father Fa hesitated before speaking: “Buy…?”

Then Mother Fa sealed the deal with a decisive hammer blow—her right fist smacking her left palm. Eyes sparkling like stars, she gazed at the small room upstairs and declared firmly: “You’re right. Buy it!”

“This School District Apartment—we’re buying it!”

━━━━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━━━━

Author’s Note:

Mother Fa looked at Father Fa with unwavering resolve. “You’re right. We’ll buy it!”

“This School District Apartment—we’ll buy it!”

Father Fa: !!!! I didn’t! I didn’t say anything! I didn’t!