"Hehe," after returning home, Er Gou looked at himself in the mirror, wearing a fleece-lined casual blue tracksuit, and touched his clean face, giggling foolishly.
What could be a special birthday gift? Wan'er, oblivious to Er Gou's self-amusement, reclined on the sofa, lost in thought…
"Mommy, it itches so much! Why is my body so itchy?" Ever since she turned fourteen, Wan'er has been frowning every birthday, constantly reaching out to lift her clothes and scratch her abdomen and every inch of her skin...
"Wan'er, listen, you have to bear it, otherwise your skin will... it will fester, and that will make you feel even worse." At this moment, her mother, Yueya, would always stand in front of Wan'er, her back slightly bent, her clear eyes filled with heartache, but even more so with determination.
"Really?" Wan'er endured the pain, buried her head, and lifted her clothes. She saw red scale-shaped marks vaguely growing on her belly, and was so frightened that she quickly put her clothes back down.
"Wait here, I'll go find you a rope and tie your hands together, that way you won't..."
As she spoke, Mom turned around, secretly wiped away a tear, and quickly ran into her bedroom. A short while later, she returned with a thin, red string, about a foot long, resembling a vein, on her hand. And on her left wrist, a small scarf was inexplicably wrapped around it…
"You have to go back to your bedroom. You can't drink water or soup today, and you can't go near anything containing water. Wait until after midnight, and the marks on your body will fade." The mother, head bowed, deftly tied Wan'er's wrists with a red rope, led her by the arm, and headed towards the bedroom…
Wan'er wanted to see what was hidden under the veil, but her arm gradually went numb, and the numbness began to spread throughout her body...
"Remember, stay calm and wait until 12 o'clock," Wan'er, bound by a small red string, couldn't move at all. With her mother's help, she lay quietly on the bed, enduring the faint pain and itching. She didn't know how much time had passed before she slowly closed her eyes...
"I'm sorry, my child, it's my fault that you suffer this heart-wrenching pain every year. I only hope you can escape this disaster..." In a daze, Wan'er heard her mother's suppressed sobs. She tried to open her eyes, but her eyelids wouldn't open.
Around midnight, Yueya sat on the edge of the bed, and with a sigh of relief, reached out and took off the little red rope that had bound Wan'er, and held it in her palm. "Perhaps one day, Mom will no longer be able to take care of you. Remember to wrap the rope around your wrist every birthday, so you won't scratch yourself."
"Mom, why would you say that?" The next second, the pain and itching disappeared, and Wan'er opened her eyes, looking at her mother, whose face was pale. "Mom! Can you tell me what's wrong with me? Why can't the doctors find anything? I swore to study medicine because of my illness, but I've read so many books and still haven't found the root cause. And this red rope, it's as soft as a blood vessel, why is there such a strange rope? Are you hiding something from me?"
"How could you think like that? You are my precious child. Just remember that I am doing this for your own good. Some things will become clear in time. I admit it's my fault, but I really don't know why this is happening. This rope was prayed for before Buddha. It will make you more comfortable when it's tied up." Crescent Moon pretended to be calm, looking up at Wan'er. Seeing her mother's melancholy eyes, Wan'er couldn't bear to ask any more questions.
The mother hurriedly stuffed the red string into Wan'er's pillow and fled the bedroom as if escaping...
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