The braised chicken tasted great, and the hot food warmed her up. Perhaps because she was in a good mood today, Xia Lian even had an extra bowl of rice.
After putting down her chopsticks, she patted her tummy with an innocent expression and said, "I'm full."
"I've almost finished eating. This place is pretty good." Wen Mo let out a burp. He asked for more rice twice and only stopped when he was completely stuffed.
After paying the bill, Wen Mo slung his backpack over his shoulder, pulled Xia Lian up, and left.
It's just past 2 PM now, so if I go to the hotel tonight, I still have a few hours to spare.
"Where are we going now?" Wen Mo, who wasn't a local, turned to Xia Lian and asked.
"I want to go back to my old home."
The former home refers to that dimly lit little rented room. Even in a small county town with a low cost of living, the mother and daughter still couldn't afford a nice place and had to squeeze into the rented room. After the mother was hospitalized, Xia Lian was basically alone at home.
Wen Mo responded and immediately hailed a taxi.
However, the car couldn't go any further because it was all narrow alleys inside.
"You know the way, right?" Wen Mo stepped into a ditch, his expression unconsciously revealing a hint of disgust, but he still spoke to Xia Lian without making a sound.
"I recognize it. It's up ahead, about a five-minute walk."
The alleyways connect to the paths, and beyond those paths are several more alleyways. If you don't have someone to guide you, it would be quite difficult to even get out of the alleys. The winding and complex maze-like layout is reminiscent of a typical maze in a county town.
Xia Lian walked ahead with practiced ease, occasionally pointing and looking at her surroundings with a hint of nostalgia.
There are few streetlights in the alley, only a faint light shining through the windows of the neighboring houses. It's a little normal during the day, but at night it's basically blind, terrifying, damp and dark.
Wen Mo turned to look at the woman beside him.
This girl has to deliver food after school, it's probably already dark by then, doesn't she feel scared? Or... has she already gotten used to being scared?
Occasionally, she could hear arguing, children crying, cooking, and all sorts of noises coming from somewhere. Xia Lian seemed to ignore them and just kept walking forward.
After walking for a while, the two stopped in front of a building in a relatively corner. The building was not tall, and at first glance, it only had four floors.
"Is this the place?" Wenmo pointed to the building in front of him. "Which floor did we stay on before? By the way, can we go inside and take a look?"
The first floor is the parking area, with a few bicycles crammed together. Going up, the dark, uneven stone steps are dusty.
"Third floor." Xia Lian uttered two words, and the higher she went, the tighter she gripped her fist became.
The corridor had no windows, only a dim little lamp at the corner of the stairs, and there were three door numbers on each floor.
"The one in the middle."
Xia Lian pointed to room 302 in front of her, her eyes trembling slightly as memories flooded back into her mind like a tidal wave.
As usual, she walked back to her house alone after school, but this time she didn't have a key, and she wasn't alone.
"There's no key, is there?"
"Back then, it was given to the landlord." Xia Lian shook her head, somewhat wistfully stroking the familiar house number. She had originally wanted to go in and take a look, but now she realized it was probably impossible.
There were some shoes on the shoe rack by the door, both men's and women's shoes, so it's likely that the place was rented out during the summer vacation.
"Perhaps we could talk to the people inside, even though it would be a bit impolite." Wen Mo could see what she was thinking; she simply wanted to go in and see how things were now.
Just as the two were standing at the door in thought, the familiar door was gently opened, and an unfamiliar figure peeked out.
Are you here to find someone?
He was a middle-aged man with a wary expression. He had a wooden stick on his back, probably taken from a broom and used as a weapon for self-defense.
"Ah, I'm sorry to bother you, we...we were the previous residents."
Wen Mo quickly apologized, and Xia Lian beside him also lowered her head.
Seeing this, the man put down the stick behind him, and his expression relaxed considerably.
I thought there were two thieves standing at the door. The soundproofing in this house is terrible; they were always whispering, so it was hard for anyone to hear them.
But when they saw that they were two young children, their initial wariness vanished instantly.
"Previous residents? Those who lived here?"
“Yes, this is where you are now. We all lived here until summer vacation.” Wen Mo explained, and casually included himself. Although he hadn’t lived here before, he was still tied to the same rope as Xia Lian.
The man scratched his head, also confused about what these two were here for. "So you've come here to..."
“We were just passing by…we felt a little nostalgic and thought we’d come in for a look, but we didn’t expect that people were already living there.” Wen Mo, acting as Xia Lian’s translator, spoke her heart out, his expression incredibly sincere.
Upon hearing this, the man immediately understood why they had come. After thinking for a moment, a woman who looked to be around thirty years old walked up behind him, carrying a small baby in her arms.
"Come in, you two, sit down for a while," the older woman said with a smile, nudging the man with her elbow. The man immediately fell silent. "Go get these two kids a glass of water, don't just stand there like idiots."
Upon hearing this, the man awkwardly turned around and went to pour water.
"No need to trouble you like that, we just wanted to take a look," Wen Mo quickly waved his hand, not wanting to bother them too much.
"Oh, it's alright, come in, come in, feel free to look around."
The older sister was a very honest person and warmly welcomed the two of them inside. The man brought out two chairs from inside and gestured for them to sit down.
Xia Lian's eyes never stopped moving. As soon as she entered the room, she looked around. Although many of the furnishings had changed, the familiar feeling still remained.
"Are you students?" The baby in the older woman's arms was sleeping soundly, and the man beside her handed her two glasses of water.
"Yes, I'm still in school." Wen Mo took the water but didn't drink it right away. Instead, he chatted with his older sister about everyday things.
"Boyfriend or girlfriend?"
"Yes, we are a couple."
Wen Mo smiled, this time he was completely honest and didn't care about so much.
Xia Lian's eyes hadn't stopped scanning since she entered the room; everything was so familiar.
The familiar stove, the place she frequents most, where she always takes the lead in cooking.
The familiar dining table doubles as a desk; after meals, I would push the food aside and place my books on it to study.
And the bed in the room, although the bedding had been changed.
She didn't miss this place; she simply felt that the time she spent here with her mother was incredibly precious. Even if life was tough, having her mother by her side made it all worthwhile.
Looking at the older sister holding the baby and the older brother sitting next to her playing with the child, Xia Lian just watched quietly without saying a word.
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