Su Jialiang and Zhao Lan: "..."

The two of them were thus disliked.

Seeing that they couldn't lure Xiao Qin out under the pretense of shopping, they had to change their tactics again, saying they wanted to take her to the hospital for a check-up, adding that the check-up was free and it would be a waste not to use it.

Xiao Qin has always been frugal, and like most middle-aged and elderly people, she will try anything that is "free" to test its saltiness.

Therefore, Su Jialiang thought that once he came up with this excuse, his mother would definitely agree in order not to waste the money.

But to his utter surprise, the two words that were most attractive to his mother were no longer effective today!

When Xiao Qin heard Su Jialiang and Zhao Lan say that the physical examination was free, she looked at them with disdain and said...

"There's no such thing as a free lunch, and there's no such thing as a free lunch. You two went to college, don't you even understand this basic principle?"

Su Jialiang and Zhao Lan: "..."

After a moment of shock, the same thought simultaneously popped into their minds—

Is this still their mother, Xiao Qin?

Is this really her?

These past two days, she's become impatient and rude to them. She even stays up late at night, talking to herself or dancing in the living room.

These could all be attributed to something that happened to her a couple of days ago that upset her, causing her to feel depressed and leading to these unusual behaviors.

What about those who eat takeout, love to sleep in late, or don't like to take advantage of others?

These are all completely opposite to Xiao Qin's lifestyle of decades!

A person's personality can change drastically, but habits that last most of their life are almost ingrained and will not be easily changed.

And so many things changed at once...

Is the person in front of me really his mother, Xiao Qin?

Su Jialiang had had similar thoughts before, but it was just a casual remark made because he was too shocked by his mother's changes.

However, at this moment, he truly began to doubt whether the person in front of him, whose external features were exactly the same as his mother's, was actually his mother.

Ultimately, the plan to see a psychologist fell through because Xiao Qin refused.

For the next two days, Su Jialiang tried to confirm whether the current "Xiao Qin" was his mother or to find evidence that "Xiao Qin" was not his mother.

But after checking and checking, apart from the fact that the current "Xiao Qin" has habits and personality that are completely different from his mother's, there really isn't a single clue.

And during his careful observation over the past few days, he found that his mother's personality and habits had not recovered, and she even managed to create some new "surprises" for the couple every day.

For example, she started shopping online and learning to do makeup. Although her makeup wasn't very good as a beginner, she enjoyed it immensely.

Then the style of clothing was changed.

In the past, the simpler the better; now, the more fashionable and trendy the better.

They don't sleep at night either; they either wander around the living room or stay up all night watching videos.

Her current words, actions, habits, and personality don't resemble those of a woman nearing sixty at all; she seems more like a young person in their twenties or thirties!

What exactly happened?

What exactly caused his mother to become like this, and will she ever change back?

What should we do if she continues like this?

So far, apart from his mother's personality and habits being different from before, there have been no problems with her personal safety or physical health.

Even if she is healthy now, he is still not her mother!

To Su Jialiang, "Xiao Qin" is now like a complete stranger.

He and Zhao Lan considered all possibilities, but they could not explain his mother's current abnormality from a scientific perspective.

Therefore, they eventually suspected that his mother might be possessed by some evil spirit, otherwise, she wouldn't have changed so much.

This is their last hope.

If even consulting a master doesn't solve the problem, they really don't know what to do.

...

After Su Jialiang finished recounting everything with a sigh, he looked at Lin Xi with hopeful eyes.

"Master, please, you must help us! My mother now is definitely not my mother!"

After listening to their story, Lin Xi felt even more puzzled.

Based on Su Jialiang and Zhao Lan's descriptions, their mother did indeed seem to be possessed by a ghost, or under some kind of spell that controlled her speech and behavior.

But if that's the case, it's impossible that Zhao Lan and Su Jialiang don't have any strange aura at all.

The strangeness of the matter prompted Lin Xi to immediately suggest that Su Jialiang and the others take her to see Xiao Qin.

Su Jialiang and the other man looked embarrassed upon hearing this.

"Master, but my mother just went out again..."

During this period, "Xiao Qin" went out almost every morning, saying she was going shopping or out to play, and then didn't come back until after they got off work in the evening.

As for where she went during the day, they didn't know, and they weren't confident they could call her back.

Lin Xi said it wasn't a big problem. Although Xiao Qin wasn't home, she could go over and check if there was anything unusual in their house or if there were any clues in Xiao Qin's room.

She could even use the paper figure to find Xiao Qin's location.

Lin Xi said it was fine, so Su Jialiang and Zhao Lan were naturally happy to take her back.

Not long after, the three returned to the Su family home.

With the help of Su Jialiang and the others, Lin Xi successfully entered Xiao Qin's room.

To her disappointment, she didn't find anything strange in Xiao Qin's room.

Therefore, the only option is to find Xiao Qin herself and see what the situation is.

So Lin Xi took out the little paper crane, let it absorb Xiao Qin's scent inside the house, and then sent it out to find Xiao Qin herself.

According to Su Jialiang and his wife, Xiao Qin should be out shopping or playing right now. Although they don't know her exact location, it should take at least a few minutes to get a reply from the paper crane.

But to Lin Xi's surprise, she received a response less than a minute after the paper crane flew out.

So fast?

So, could Xiao Qin be nearby?

She told Su Jialiang and the other man about the situation, and they were both shocked.

Soon, following the guidance of the paper crane, the three arrived at a shop located on the second floor of a building outside the residential area.

The street outside the residential area is lined with commercial shops. There are two floors, but the shops on the second floor are not doing well. Many shops are not rented. Some landlords even offer to not charge rent in order to save on property management fees, as long as someone pays the property management fees for them, they can use the shops for free.

As long as you don't do anything illegal or disorderly in the shop, it's fine.

Even so, almost no businesses open shops on the second floor, so the row of shops on the second floor is basically empty.

Under these circumstances, how could Xiao Qin be on the second floor?

When Lin Xi and the others arrived at the shop where Xiao Qin was, they found that there were quite a few people inside.

Furthermore, almost everyone inside was a middle-aged or elderly group, roughly the same age as Xiao Qin. They all sat together, watching someone in the middle, who resembled a lecturer, speak eloquently.