Lin Zhan, a senior high school student, prepares for the college entrance examination alone in his empty home. Her parents were away from home all year round, and the loneliness with no one to talk to, the heavy academic pressure, and the frequent failures in mock exams made her life like an airtight cage, full of depression and confusion, and her emotions could only be hidden quietly.
Once by chance, Lin Zhan met a timid yellow budgerigar at the flower and bird market. He bought it with pity and named it Pudding. Pudding, who had just entered his new home, huddled in the corner of the cage, refusing to eat and shivering. Lin Zhan took good care of him and no longer deliberately approached him. Each person and bird quietly broke the ice. From the time Pudding tried to peck away the millet from her fingertips, to the time he took the initiative to land on her shoulder to accompany her, this little parrot became the first ray of light in her gloomy life.
Pudding's company slowly filled Lin Zhan's loneliness when she lived alone: he woke her up with a crisp chirp in the morning, stayed with her quietly late at night while she was doing her homework, flew to her lap to clumsily comfort her when she was crying, and played with her grabbing melon seeds when she was happy. Lin Zhan gradually opened up her heart, no longer being alone, and even made an agreement with Pudding to go to Jiangbian University in the South. Only then did she realize that it was not herself who redeemed Pudding, but Pudding's warmth that healed her closed self.
On the eve of the college entrance examination, Pudding passed away quietly. Lin Zhan endured the reluctance to send it to the riverside to say goodbye. The empty birdcage still hung by the window, but it was no longer full of loneliness. With the courage and precious memories given by pudding, she wiped away her tears and sprinted with all her strength, and finally received the admission notice from Southern University as she wished. Saying goodbye to the empty cage gently, Lin Zhan broke free from the "empty cage" in his heart and rushed to his own bright future.
Intention: Companionship is not one-way giving, but mutual nourishment. Just like the small things in daily life, they may seem inconspicuous, but over time, they grow into the power to support us moving forward.
