Chapter 16
"I've been busy." Ward was unusually serious. "It's very important, but I haven't neglected you either."
I heard a laugh that sounded like a smug, mocking laugh, which seemed out of place in its immature tone, to the point that it sounded somewhat ugly and distorted.
I reluctantly picked up a roll of paper from the table and threw it into the air. It noticed and immediately pretended nothing had happened: "But I won't be around forever anymore. Next time you need me, call me by that name you just used!"
I guessed it was about to leave, so I quickly called out to it, "Since you say you know everything, do you know the original owner of this body?"
It let out a questioning "Huh?", then said, "There's no such Qinghe. You're the only one. Everyone's memory of Qinghe is of you, the one from out of town. There's no second one. If someone next to you says there's another you, just consider them crazy!"
It couldn't help but let out a string of malicious laughs, seemingly with great disdain.
It left. Along with my belated anger and utterly confused thoughts.
Upon reflection, I realize I have no obligation to maintain my high moral standards. In fact, none of the information I found corroborated Qinghe's daily life. Now, Ward is even vouching for me, though I don't know if his claims are true or false.
Its laughter filled me with a sense of fear and unease, as if I were facing a mastermind. My suspicions were directed at everyone, including the possibility that I had been harmed by it.
...In short, I can't torture myself with this anymore. I have to volunteer at the welfare home tomorrow, so I need to be in good spirits.
I got up, opened the window to get some fresh air, and looked down to see cat scratches on the window frame.
There were also scratches in the twins' room. At six in the morning, I stared at the two scratches, which were exactly the same in shape and force, and pondered.
I don't know whose cat this is; if it's a stray, then I'm worried it might attack everyone in the house in the middle of the night. As a warning, I solemnly announce: "A cat has entered the house."
The twins glanced at me in surprise, their movements perfectly synchronized. Then, realizing they were doing the same thing, they glared at each other fiercely.
I disagree with their approach: "You should be wary. It might even be a group operation, sneaking not only into the rooms of you kids who are too active during the day and sleep soundly at night, but also into the room of me, an adult who's always frowning and sighing because I'm struggling to make money. You know that..."
When they mentioned "sleeping," I noticed they were snickering. But when they said, "I have some in my room too," I couldn't help but notice.
The two brothers moved with lightning speed, leaving me dazzled as they simultaneously inflicted numerous bruises and pinch marks on each other's bodies.
"I told you not to have an attack! I told you not to have an attack! Are you sick or what? If you can't be cured, go die! Get out!"
"How can you be so shameless? If you can't live anymore, just throw yourself in the river and kill yourself, okay? Your old face is disgusting!"
I:"……"
I guess they were arguing because the other hadn't protected the family well.
I calmly asked, "What are you doing?"
Hua tried to ingratiate himself with me: "We didn't do anything... Brother, we were just getting to know each other better."
“We brothers have always been this loving and respectful; even if you saw it with your own eyes, you would believe it. We maintained good social distancing and perfectly fulfilled the terms of the contract. Even if you ask us now, we don’t agree that what we were just doing as brothers was part of the fight.” He looked at me pitifully again, “You really think so, don’t you?”
Whether it was a stray cat or not was no longer worth investigating. I sighed, pulled them both over, and applied medicine to each of them one by one.
The older brother's injuries were clearly more severe, covering both the surface and inside his clothes. The younger brother's wounds were concentrated on his body, densely packed in places I could hide from him.
I gently wiped the wound on his face with iodine. His eyelashes trembled slightly, and he dared not look at me. His mint-green eyes were partially hidden, making him look even more beautiful, like a friendly big cat.
"Now you know you're embarrassed?" I was too close to him, and my voice boomed in his ear, startling him. "Are you uncomfortable? I'll step back a little."
I'm not used to getting this close to others. But since it's a wound, I'm afraid I might not be gentle enough, so I only feel like I have the cotton swab in my own hands when I'm close.
If it weren't for the fact that the person on the other end was a person, I would have liked to just climb up and wipe them slowly.
"No." A blush crept onto her cheeks again, and she said shyly, "It felt very comfortable. Thank you so much... Mmm!"
Curious about why he was blushing, I inadvertently applied a little too much pressure: "Oh, sorry, why don't you wipe it yourself..."
This is a little awkward. At this age, shouldn't the brothers be starting to experience romantic feelings? They haven't mentioned going to school... Should we ask them if they want to enroll?
He quickly pressed down on my wrist: "You can wipe it! You know, I can be a bit careless sometimes, and besides, I have to take care of him. I'm afraid I'll forget I still have a wound on my face after all that." He placed his face in my palm, his eyes watery, staring at me intently. "You wouldn't bear to leave a scar on my face, would you?"
Hua, who was standing to the side, was probably getting impatient. He pressed me down, quite dissatisfied: "It's almost time for you to go out, brother. His wound has only been treated less than a quarter of the way."
I really wanted to say, "You know you've done this so many times," but when I looked up, I saw his unrepentant face. With a headache, I gave in and said, "I'll put some on you too... and then you two can apply it to each other. If you can't see the color of the medicine when you get back, neither of you should talk to me tomorrow."
I wish I hadn't looked at the cat's paw print, but it was so deep that I almost thought the cat was about to die there, so it painfully left a mark to hold onto the world.
Fortunately, there was no blood around, which dispelled my doubts.
Besides, it's also possible that the cat is too fat to climb up.
Lost in my own thoughts, I was completely unaware of Hua's changes. I just felt a strange heat rising around me. Before I could even ask, "Who turned on the heater in this weather?", the heat wave suddenly surged, and a sharp, dull pain shot through me. Hua had successfully left his teeth marks on my neck.
I quickly pulled him away and threw him onto the sofa next to me. The sound of the impact made me close my eyes in pain.
Actually, I didn't feel that bad. He deserved to be hit, because the bite marks on my neck had started to bleed.
I:"……"
Hua bared his teeth and roared at me meaninglessly, his blue eyes red and his nostrils flaring. I quickly locked him in their small, dark room—a room they'd had built themselves, very sturdy—then came out looking refreshed, and said to me with a melancholy expression, "I'm so sorry you had to witness his ugly side again. Let me give you some emergency treatment. Perhaps he needs a rabies shot at the hospital. What do you think? Do you need me to come with you?"
I waved wearily, having no expectations for this morning or the day: "Could you find me a piece of gauze? I'll just put this on and see if I have time to go to the hospital after the volunteer work is over."
I think it would be better if the world were destroyed, or perhaps it would be better if I died sooner.
These chaotic days are unbearable. I don't even want to face Mondays or my phone anymore.
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