Chapter 53

That night, I politely declined the two brothers' idea of ​​sleeping in the same bed with me, and chased away those transparent but lined little guys. I lay in bed and stroked the little bear doll.

A soft, warm exterior. A gentle, calm appearance, just like a person.

It smiled in front of me. The crooked lines of its mouth looked like a line of popping candy.

Of course, I kept in mind what my landlady said. I not only kept in mind what she said now, but also what happened in the past.

The story could only have happened when I first arrived here. For some reason, it seemed everyone's impression of me faded, not even considering my own efforts. Only the landlady remembered my appearance, my voice, and my personality. Whenever she noticed me passing by, she would look up at me, smile, and firmly call out my name: "Qinghe!"

I didn't know what to do. I mumbled incoherently, trying to leave. But she stopped me without saying a word and shoved a bag of cookies, an apple, and a box of mooncakes into my hands.

Mooncakes. I looked at the mooncakes, my dazed state no less than the halo around my eyes from the tears. Under the moonlight, she smiled at me, not questioning why I had burst into tears.

What I want to achieve is to blend into the crowd. To be the most ordinary person, to accept a life of routine, to be unremarkable in everyone's eyes, like a silent screw embedded in a wooden board.

How could anyone see me? How could anyone care about my life? If my unregistered identity is discovered, if my usurped status is discovered, if I have to return to the darkness...

I never found the black mist again. It seemed to have melted into the water.

I am grateful to it for keeping me alive, but I cannot ignore that in addition to its motherly warmth, it also brought me pain that once crushed my bones.

There is no concept of time in the black mist. To know how much time has passed, one must experience the pain in one's body. If the pain has subsided, then at least half a month has passed; if it has worsened, then it has taken even longer, because it is repeatedly affecting my body.

I've grown accustomed to the pain, and now I can't tell if anything is slipping away.

As it began to recede, my legs landed on the ground, and my intact body naturally stretched out.

Although the auntie didn't commit a "home invasion robbery," I was still taken aback when I saw her.

"Auntie" is just a title, it doesn't represent her age. She has cloudy eyes, her eyelids are layered with wrinkles, her age spots are almost dense, she has lost all her teeth, and she wears a pair of dentures with trembling hands.

However, her demeanor was as striking as her appearance. Her shoulders were level, her neck didn't slouch, and her height wasn't due to "shrinkage" in old age, but rather she had always been that tall. Leaning on a cane, her back was straight, and several bracelets jingled on her wrist.

She spoke to me in a friendly tone, "Oh, so you're my new little tenant? You must have come all this way. If you don't mind, we can see each other more often in the future."

Then we became acquainted.

My aunt helped me find a job and told me that everyone here was trustworthy. She cooked dinner for me, worried that I wasn't taking care of my health. After I picked up my two children from school, she gave me a recipe, saying that I now had a family, and since I had a family, I needed warmth and comfort.

The food cooked outside is certainly delicious, but inside the kitchen, you can hear laughter coming from outside.

The television light flickered on and off; the children didn't like turning on the lights. I stood in the only bright spot in the kitchen, cooking, and the background noise gradually dwindled to just the sound of the transmitter; they slowly blended into my life.

"Let me help you pick the vegetables." She smiled and shook her wet hands. "I can't just do nothing. If I were like him, I'd probably die of shame long ago."

Hua was right next to him and threw some vegetable leaves at him. The two were about to start fighting, but in the end they obediently sat down side by side and washed and prepared the vegetables.

In front of my stage.

Maybe it's just my imagination, maybe not. Whenever I make eye contact with my aunt, I always feel like she knows something. Those things make her sad, make her feel distressed, but even if she feels a little pity, she's always powerless to help.

We walked in silence. She sensed my wavering towards the world before I did, asking if I wanted to volunteer, if I would accompany her grocery shopping, if we could spend time doing something along the way, or if we could go hiking together in the morning.

You can't possibly be less physically fit than me.

I owe all of my good interpersonal relationships to my aunt.

I rolled over. Memories flooded back, and I closed my eyes. I wished the wizard in the fairy tale could turn me into a frog who, even if a princess kissed me, would never become a prince, so I could jump into a pond and dream of eating plump flying insects.

*

Regardless of our thoughts, life goes on. He woke me up again, changed my clothes, and fed me. I didn't think I was so lazy that I needed two children to feed me at my age. I warned them not to treat others like that again. I said, "I'm your older brother, so I can tolerate you taking off my pajamas, but do you think you'd be happy doing that to each other?" Before they could even look at each other, they each grabbed one side and started vomiting. I stuffed a bun into my mouth, feeling thankful that there were no awards for brotherly love in this world, otherwise, I'd probably torture them for the prize money.

On my phone, Gu Xinglian asked me to go out again, his words very earnest. You Hehua stood behind me watching me reply to messages, one touching my hair, the other tugging at my arm: "Can't you stay home with us for a day?"

I couldn't help but ask, "But no matter what, I'll spend more time with you than with him, right?"

Gu Xinglian and I have been "meeting" for so long, and this is only our third meeting. In fact, if I hadn't guessed it, he wouldn't have seen me at all during our second meeting. Thinking about that incident, I felt a pang of pity and readily agreed to his request.

“But you always seem so happy when you mention him,” she murmured. “Your eyes even change. I’ve never seen anything like it before…”

I didn't hear clearly: "What? What kind of thing?" I patted his head, "I'll take you guys out to play next time too. Also, don't keep saying 'he' or 'he.' I'm your older brother, and Gu Xinglian is half an older brother too. Just call him Brother Gu from now on, and be polite."

The chemical reaction was the strongest. He was kicked in the leg, and with a cracking sound and his face contorted in pain, it looked like his leg bone was broken.

This couldn't really be called a fight; it was just an overreaction. I gasped and immediately wanted to take him to the hospital, but Gu Xinglian's appointment was urgent.

She looked at me pitifully and said, "Brother Qinghe, when you come back tonight, could you bring me a gift separately? My leg hurts terribly, and I want a surprise. Can it be just for me?"

Hua looked at me stubbornly, her eyes flashing with guilt.

I didn't look at him. If he does something like this when he's in a good mood, it can only be intentional: "Okay, I promise you, you stay home and rest well. You two are not allowed to fight, and the furniture cannot be damaged in any way. Cat scratches are different from human fights. If I find out..."

Everything was understood without words. I watered the spider plant one last time and watched it bloom quickly, its white, pointed petals stretching out in all directions.

Hua watched me leave until I could no longer see my front door.