After midnight

Su Ziling has a very happy family, including his father, mother, brother and himself.

Su Ziling didn't know much about his father's job, but his family was well-fed and well-clothed, and very happy. His mother was a very gentle person, taking care of him and his brother at home. His brother was a few years older than him, and had just entered middle school. He was a very arrogant person, and often bullied him because he was older than him. How childish! Su Ziling thought with disdain, but he still liked his brother the most.

Su Ziling's cocky older brother is called Su Ziyan, and Su Ziling will soon be turning three years old.

Although he stayed at home with his mother, Su Ziling still felt bored sometimes. His favorite thing to do every day was to pick up his brother at the intersection in front of his house when his brother was about to finish school. However, there were always some bad kids who were only one or two years older than him bullying him. Su Ziling had suspected more than once that they were bullied by their brother when they were young and that he wanted to take revenge on him. It must be like this! That's right!

So, on this day when his brother went to school, he came to the street corner as usual. But his brother had not returned by the time he was supposed to appear on weekdays.

Sure enough, after a while, the children who were originally just looking around started to get restless again.

"Hey! Su Ziling, I heard that you turned three a few days ago. Why haven't you awakened your ability yet? Didn't your brother awaken before he was three? Your brother is so powerful, are you stupid?" The one making a lot of noise here is Wang Changze, the leader of these little ghosts. As for the rest of the kids, they all stood aside and laughed.

Of course my brother is great, but he is not your brother, what do you have to brag about? Su Ziling ignored him.

If Wang Changze knew what Su Ziling was thinking, he would be so angry that he would yell, "I was just mocking you! I was mocking you!"

Speaking of birthdays, Su Ziling received a very interesting gift from his father a few days ago, a pot of lush green plants that he had never seen before.

"Zi Ling, come and see. This is a cactus. It is a plant that can survive in the desert for a very long time." Dad said to him with a smile.

"Really? That's amazing!"

"I hope Zi Ling can grow up to be a strong and warm person like the flower language of the cactus."

“Will it still bloom?”

"Well, there will be little pretty flowers coming out of the top of it!"

"Su Ziling, I'm talking to you, are you deaf?" Wang Changze came over and pushed him to the ground. The children surrounded him and clapped their hands and shouted, "You're deaf! You're deaf!"

"Wang Changze, are you bullying my little brother again?" Humph, Su Ziling pouted unhappily. His stupid brother finally showed up.

"No! He fell down accidentally."

"Oh, really?" Su Ziyan lowered his voice deliberately.

The kids all ran away, shouting, "Brother Yin is getting angry! He's going to start flirting!"

His brother's ability was lightning, so he often used lightning to scare them. Su Ziling was almost used to it. Besides, Wang Changze and the others were always making small fights, which made him unable to take it seriously.

It's all the fault of this man in front of me! Su Ziling pouted in anger. Hearing Wang Changze's admiring tone, he knew that he must have been bullying him all the time just to get his brother's attention. How childish!

"Are you okay?"

Su Ziling shook his head, stood up and threw himself on Su Ziyin's back, trying to get dirt off him.

Su Zinyin was not unaware of his little trick. He smiled dotingly and carried him home.

"Brother, why are you late?"

"I met someone."

"Who? Do I know him?"

"do not know."

"Then do you know him?"

"...I don't know him. I just glanced at him from a distance."

"Oh? Is he good?"

"It's awesome."

"What about Brother?"

“…I am still better now.”

"I knew you were the best, brother!" Su Ziling said with a smile.

"Really?" Su Ziyan turned his head to look at him.

"Of course!"

When they got home, Su Ziling jumped off Yin's back and ran to him and looked up at Yin. "Brother, when I grow up and become strong, I will protect you, as well as dad and mom."

"Okay." Su Ziyin squatted down and touched his head, "Then I will protect you before Ziling grows up."

"Yeah." Su Ziling nodded, turned around and ran towards his mother who was waiting for them to enter the house. He didn't know at that time that in Su Ziyin's eyes he would always be a younger brother who would never grow up.

Perhaps with the idea of ​​protecting others, Su Ziling's ability awakened not long after. In his dream, it was a very beautiful and warm flame, which made him want to get closer to it. When the flame merged into his body, Su Ziling heard a very loud voice saying, go and protect him, go and fulfill your responsibility and mission, go and appear when he is in danger, go, the 'guardian' of the 'Son of God'.

Su Ziling felt groggy after waking up. His family thought that he had just awakened his abilities and was not used to them yet. However, only he himself knew that he was the 'guardian' chosen by fate.

Who is the Son of God? What is his name? What kind of person is he? What should I do? These questions kept circling in Su Ziling's little head.

Later one afternoon, Su Ziling finally sneaked out of the house when his mother wasn't paying attention. He had to find his "son of God" first. He had inquired beforehand and knew his name was An Yan. An Yan, An Yan, his name was as nice as he was. Su Ziling was quite narcissistic and thought about going to the East District.

An Yan's home is in the East District, but he is not sure of the exact location. He only knows that to get from the South District to the East District of Jiudu, one has to cross a bridge called Jiudong Bridge. Jiudong Bridge is built over a small river that flows diagonally from Jiunan Park into the city center and then bends out from the northeast, so the other side of the river is called the East District.

The East District has the largest library in Jiudu, and the Jiudong Library is also the tallest and most iconic building in the East District. Su Ziling decided to go there first.

Su Ziling stood on Jiudong Bridge and looked down. The green river was flowing slowly. On the river bank, a big tree cast a cool shade. The wind blew over, blowing his hair and making the grass on the bank sway in the wind.

He looked up to the east, and after passing a row of houses, he saw a pointed building in the distance. That should be the Jiudong Library.

Su Ziling walked straight along the road connecting to Jiudong Bridge towards the direction of the building. After walking for an unknown amount of time, Su Ziling could finally see the entire appearance of Jiudong Library. Su Ziling quickened his pace.

After passing an intersection, Su Ziling suddenly found that the pedestrians were a little strange. They seemed to be avoiding something, but their eyes could not help but sneak a glance at one place. Su Ziling looked over and saw a child.

The little boy was about the same age as him, holding a thick book in front of his chest. So many people looked at him with such strange eyes, but he didn't feel strange or uncomfortable at all. His head was straight and his eyes were always looking straight ahead.

Su Ziling walked towards him as if possessed by a ghost, "Excuse me, do you know where An Yan's house is?"

Hearing this, the man looked at Su Ziling without saying anything.

"May I ask……"

"Why are you asking this?" he suddenly spoke again.

For some reason, Su Ziling breathed a sigh of relief and smiled widely: "I want to be friends with An Yan."

The man widened his eyes in surprise, looking unbelievable.

"I'm serious. I want to be friends with An Yan, so can you..."

"I am."

"Ugh?"

"I am An Yan."

Su Ziling looked at him carefully, then grabbed his hand and started running. They ran very fast, leaving all the surprised adults behind.

After a long time, about three blocks away, Su Ziling was so tired that he let go of his hand. Su Ziling put his hands on his knees and panted for a long time before turning around and found that the boy named An Yan didn't seem tired at all and was still staring at him blankly.

Su Ziling took his hand again and said, "I just found a good place, let's go there."

An Yan looked at Su Ziling's hand for a while, then looked into his eyes and said, "I can't leave the East District."

Su Ziling only thought for a moment and immediately answered him, "We are not leaving the East District."

An Yan nodded, and Su Ziling took him to the shade of the tree on the dam.

Su Ziling rolled around on the soft grass for a few rounds, watching An Yan sitting on the grass with his book aside. He rolled over to An Yan and introduced himself to him with a smile. "Hello, An Yan. My name is..."

"Don't tell me your name." An Yan looked at the river bank opposite and interrupted him gently.

"Why?" Su Ziling asked curiously, tilting his head.

An Yan just shook his head in silence.

"Okay then. You can call me Little Twelve. My mother likes to call me that because I was born at exactly twelve o'clock in the middle of the night. My mother can be quite weird sometimes, right?" Su Ziling didn't care.

"Little Twelve." An Yan called his name and smiled at him.

That evening on the riverbank, An Yan smiled like that to his peers for the first time.

Later, as the sky gradually darkened, when Su Ziling returned home, his brother, who was sitting in the living room, stopped him and accused him, "Tell me, where did Ziling go?"

"Remember to tell your family when you go out next time, especially don't let your mother worry. Go and apologize to her later." Seeing Su Ziling lowered his head and said nothing, Yin had to speak again.

"Okay! Thank you, brother!" Su Ziling immediately smiled and raised his head to act coquettishly to him, "Brother, I made a good friend today~ who is even better than you!"

"Children are children. They change their expressions so quickly. A few days ago, they said that their brother was the best. How uncute." Su Zinyin tried to pinch his face, but he dodged.

At the same time the next day, Su Ziling said hello to his mother and walked out, holding the cactus his father gave him. This was what they had agreed on yesterday.

Su Ziling handed him the cactus. "This is for you. My father said it will bloom beautiful flowers when it grows up. Let's wait for it to bloom together."

An Yan hesitated and did not reach out to take it. Su Ziling held out his hands and pushed them towards his arms before he took them. He scratched his head and said to Su Ziling in annoyance, "But I didn't prepare a gift for you."

"It's okay... How about letting me kiss you?"

"what?"

"My brother asked me for a gift on his birthday, but I didn't have one, so he kissed me."

"You have a brother?" An Yan asked him, and his focus seemed a little wrong.

"Yes, it doesn't matter. My brother will be your brother from now on. My brother is very powerful. Let him protect both of us in the future." Looking at An Yan's envious eyes, Su Ziling said bluntly.

"But kissing seems to be something only family members can do." An Yan was a little distressed.

"Really?" Su Ziling shook his head, "Then let's hug each other."

An Yan stood there, feeling a little embarrassed and shy about this proposal, but Su Ziling didn't care. He rushed over and forced An Yan to open her arms and hug him back. Su Ziling was very satisfied and laughed while hugging An Yan.

Every day after that, Su Ziling and An Yan would meet there. Until one day, Su Ziling woke up in the morning and felt uneasy for no reason. This uneasiness had no signs, and it made Su Ziling panic as if something irreversible was about to happen.

But why was he uneasy? It was a normal day, with his father at work and his brother at school, and his mother could see him as soon as she looked up. Could it be An Yan? As soon as this thought came to his mind, Su Ziling couldn't help himself and ran to the old place.

There was no sign of An Yan there. Su Ziling estimated that there was still more than an hour before the time they agreed to meet, so he could only wait anxiously. The rare gentle breeze in the summer could not calm Su Ziling's anxiety.

Suddenly, Su Ziling stopped walking back and forth. He suddenly remembered that some time ago, An Yan said that the roses in his house were blooming and very beautiful.

Su Ziling slowly searched in his mind for the information about his family that An Yan had inadvertently revealed, and gradually, he outlined a picture.

It was a small western-style building painted in white and pink. There was a large courtyard in the building, which was covered with white roses, his mother's favorite flowers. There was also a swing in the courtyard, where An Yan would sit and daydream or read when he was bored. There was a big banyan tree behind the courtyard, and An Yan could climb up and jump down from his room. An Yan would also imitate his mother and secretly bury his treasures under the tree.

If you look for it, you will definitely find it. Su Ziling stood up and left, wanting to go back to the place where he first met An Yan. At that time, he must have borrowed the book and was going home.

When Su Ziling was passing a street corner, he stopped in his tracks when he heard a loud noise in the alley. It sounded like someone was putting out a fire. He was hesitating to ignore it when he vaguely heard the words "Son of God".

Su Ziling rushed in eagerly.

It was a very beautiful home, but it was now surrounded by flames. There were many flames climbing up the beautiful little building, the big banyan tree was groaning, and roses were swaying in the flames. The broken petals were blown into the air by the wind and were swallowed up by the flames in an instant.

How could this really be An Yan's home? Su Ziling couldn't believe his eyes. Fire! A blazing fire! Su Ziling scratched his head. Although his ability was fire, he didn't know how to control it at all!

Where is An Yan? Where are his family? Su Ziling looked at the fire in despair, which prevented him from moving forward.

"Hey, kids, don't come near here, get out of here." Someone noticed him and yelled.

Su Ziling rushed towards him anxiously, as if grasping at a life-saving straw. "Where's the person? Where's An Yanren?"

The man tried to pull Su Ziling away from his legs, but then someone came out panting. "It's useless. The people are already dead. Let the fire take them away."

"Put out the fire quickly," the man ordered.

Impossible! How could it be! Su Ziling didn't care to yell at the people who just came out. "Where's An Yan? Where's that kid?"

"That's right!" The person who came out suddenly raised his voice and said, "There are no children in the house. Only adults died!"

Su Ziling felt a glimmer of hope. Before he could continue questioning, a dark shadow suddenly flashed by at the corner and disappeared into the crowd. Su Ziling felt something was wrong and immediately chased after it.

But he was too small to catch up. After turning a few corners, he was left further and further behind. Su Ziling could only run while shouting at the top of his lungs: "An Yan! An Yan!"

He knew that the person in the tall man's arms was An Yan. He held An Yan and put An Yan's head on his shoulder, just enough for An Yan to see him chasing him.

Just as the man discovered something, stopped and turned around, Su Ziling was pulled over with great force. He was pressed against the wall and someone covered his mouth.

An Yan used up his last bit of strength to see that Xiao Twelve finally stopped catching up with him. He closed his eyes with relief and despair and fell into a deep sleep.

Brother? Su Ziling's eyes were full of disbelief. After Su Ziyin confirmed that there was no movement outside, he let him go. Once Su Ziling was free, he ran out again to catch up. Yin quickly grabbed him, and Su Ziling was caught by his brother again.

"Let me go, I want to save An Yan."

"You are just a kid, who can you save?"

"Brother, you don't understand, I am the 'Guardian'!" Su Ziling shouted at his brother. He told his brother about this, expecting him to help him.

Unexpectedly, Su Ziyin quickly covered his mouth the next second and asked seriously: "Are you telling the truth?"

Su Ziling nodded.

"Then you are even more forbidden to go. Now shut up and go home." Su Zinyin pressed him in his arms.

Su Ziling shook his head and struggled desperately. Suddenly, he felt a pain in his neck and fainted. When he woke up, he had a complete family again, but without his brother, An Yan, and ability. Su Ziling grew up in a city called Shanghai.