Chapter 52 Old Campus "Honey, give me some face?"...
A minute passed quickly. From hidden spots all over the playground, little sunflower heads began to emerge one after another, like surveillance cameras searching for suspects, quietly turning their necks and scanning the surroundings.
Not seeing their target, they exchanged glances and asked each other for directions.
Xue Chao drew the curtains slightly, and Jiang Ming withdrew his gaze, recalling the information they had just exchanged: "We can't just hide here forever. If Qian Liang doesn't show up, the 'Three, Two, One, Red Light, Red Light' game won't end. We have to take the initiative!"
Do you know where he is?
“Someone knows.” Jiang Ming smiled brightly. “That annoying brat not only altered people’s paintings but also broke their dolls. That annoying little girl must have a way to deal with it. We need to win her favor again.”
While Xue Chao was dealing with Jiang Ming's age and a group of paper cutouts, Jiang Ming wasn't really idle either. She entered the playground's game area and played with the children on slides, swings, and other playground equipment, as well as hopscotch, card throwing, and eagle catching chicks—all classic childhood games. She blended in perfectly and had a great time. Moreover, she knew each child's preferences and interpersonal relationships like the back of her hand, and could even explain gossip like who was giving each other the silent treatment or who pulled whose braid. Xue Chao quickly surrendered and handed over the next plan to the little social butterfly.
Jiang Ming led him into the toy room, easily finding the little girl's Barbie doll that had been dismantled to pieces, and excitedly began to reassemble it in a wildly imaginative way.
While keeping watch for him, ready to scoop him up and hide him in the cabinet next to him, Xue Chao looked at the little brat with a complicated expression as he put his legs up to his arms, and even did it backwards: "Are you sure you're here to gain favor, or to add another unforgettable act of idiocy to this little girl's already miserable childhood?"
"Don't you think this has a surreal aesthetic?" Jiang Ming proudly held up the strange doll with limbs that looked like reptiles. Before he could argue his point, his expression suddenly changed. With a cold look on his face, he quickly disassembled the limbs and reassembled them into a normal shape. "Uh, never mind. How can a monster be a person?"
Xue Chao ignored the kid's complicated mental world and placed the Barbie doll on the windowsill facing the playground as planned. Then they hid in the cabinet in the next classroom. After a while, sure enough, a child opened the door of the next classroom and went in without coming out.
When are we leaving?
Jiang Xiang opened a crack, but Xue Chao slapped away his cheeky little hand: "Don't come any closer, it's crowded enough."
The child protested, "I didn't squeeze you at all! You just thought I was cute and kept trying to grab my hand..."
The two fell silent at the same time, huddled on either side of the closet. Although the space was cramped, they weren't pressed against each other, yet they both felt touched.
They immediately pushed aside the clothes hanging on the wall and discovered that what they were leaning against was not a cabinet wall, but a mirror.
The mirror didn't reflect their image; it showed a pink room, brighter than the cabinet but with an old-fashioned look, like a layer of time's gray had been laid on top of the pink, turning it a pinkish-brown.
The room was filled with all sorts of headless dolls, leaving almost no room to stand. They wore beautiful lace princess dresses, with pink, blue, purple and white colors layered together like delicate spider webs.
They were met by two dolls right next to the mirror, with the feel of human skin.
A little girl in red leather shoes stood in the center. That splash of red tore through the dusty pink of the room, its almost defiant brightness instantly drawing everyone's attention.
She was holding a huge pink doll, which covered her head. The doll also had no head, so it was impossible to tell what kind of animal it was, but it was probably a bear or a rabbit.
The assembled Barbie doll was in her other hand. She asked, "Did you guys assemble Barbie?"
Jiang Ming immediately took credit: "We also restored your painting, no need to thank us. We just thought that kid was too annoying, so we stood up for him. Weren't you particularly moved?"
The little girl twitched her toes but didn't speak. Xue Chao was less polite: "But if you don't teach him a lesson, your beloved things will be trampled on again by others without a care. You can't expect a kind person to appear every time. When you're down on your luck, it's common to encounter scoundrels. Besides, we're not good people either. We're helping you to find him—what do you think?"
These words were a bit harsh and profound for a child, but the little girl seemed to take them to heart and slowly put down the doll—a plastic doll's head resting on her human flesh and blood neck.
Long, golden-brown curly hair made of synthetic fibers cascades down, and plastic features mimic the face of a European child, frozen in a standard smile. The lips are painted with special pigments to follow the shape of a raised area, and the pupils are two embedded green plastic beads. Suddenly, the term "uncanny valley effect" seems to have been coined for this scene.
The idea of using something else as a head on a person's body was already jarring enough, but the head, being so close to a human head, pushed the horror to a new level. Even Xue Chao, who was quite brave, subconsciously gasped. Jiang Ming had already snuggled back into his arms.
"But I'm the Joker, I should be the one to catch you." The little girl's lips were fixed in shape and couldn't open or close. Her voice sounded muffled and childish, as if it were coming from the slits of her eyes.
"This is a game played by someone you hate, so why are you listening to him?" Xue Chao curled his lips, like a rebellious elder who would secretly take a child out for ice cream and a race car ride behind their parents' backs, with a hint of tacit malice. "Besides, it's only a joke if you have a joker in your hand. Do you have one?"
The little girl was startled, and touched the pocket of her skirt; her playing cards were gone!
Jiang Ming realized what was happening and glanced at Xue Chao—the little girl was the "Ace of Diamonds," and Xue Chao hadn't just randomly picked a card.
The little girl said, "I know where he is. He's trying to cause trouble for me again. He's definitely at the tea party in the attic. I'll take you there to catch him."
Jiang Ming: "But if we go out like this, we'll be discovered. A lot of the Jokers have already entered the building."
The little girl rolled her plastic eyes: "So you have to pretend to be my parents and come with me to the tea party."
Two headless dolls stood up, one on the left and one on the right. One was wearing a black suit and the other a white dress. Jiang Ming's reaction was astonishing. He rushed out of Xue Chao's arms, through the mirror, and straight to the suit, grabbing the doll in his arms.
With a "bang," the pink sequins exploded, and he transformed from a child into a young man in a sharp suit.
His smiling eyes, both affectionate and mischievous, fell back on Xue Chao. He was blatantly up to no good, acting like a complete madman: "Of course we'd love to! Hurry up, darling, don't keep our daughter waiting."
Xue Chao: "..."
He gave him the middle finger without any politeness. Jiang Ming covered the little girl's plastic eyes with a strange cry and scolded, "Don't scare the child. I'm not saying this is the 'almost done' thing yet? You don't need to dress up like that. You'll always be the most beautiful in my heart."
Finally, he couldn't hold back anymore and leaned on the shoulder of the doll next to him, laughing so hard he couldn't straighten up.
"[Jiang Ming] Hahaha, you've done all sorts of good deeds!"
"[Jiang Ming] in women's clothing! In women's clothing! In women's clothing!"
"[Jiang Ming] That backless dress is amazing!"
Xue Chao wore an expression of incomprehension. What kind of taste do audiences have these days? They don't watch real beauties, but instead watch a man dressed as a woman. And judging by looks, shouldn't that scoundrel player be more suitable?
"I've worn women's clothes quite a few times, nothing new," Jiang Ming said with a smile, as if he could read minds. "You're not scared, are you?"
Xue Chao replied coldly, "Yes, so can I not wear it?"
Jiang Ming smiled and said, "No way, how can you bear to let a child grow up without a mother?" As he spoke, he lovingly wiped away non-existent tears under the girl's plastic eyes.
Xue Chao doesn't like to dwell on the same thing over and over again. Being stuck in this situation seems annoying, but it doesn't actually touch any of his core emotions. The "shame" or "anger" that Jiang Ming and the audience expect are irrelevant to him. It's just that Jiang Ming's smugness, as if he had been tricked, is a bit unpleasant.
So, after confirming that this was the optimal solution at the moment, Xue Chao touched another doll without much resistance. The light silk white dress fell to his ankles, and the collar and long sleeves were outlined backward, with only two thin ribbons hanging down to cover it up, which were tied at the waist.
His sexy back muscles were just right, like a bone butterfly hidden in his flesh and blood, and the rise and fall of his breath was like the butterfly flapping its wings.
He wore a skirt and didn't have many feminine features. Instead, the skirt made the clothes look like a unique androgynous robe. Because of his cold and evil temperament, he resembled Lucifer wearing Michael's holy white robe.
Jiang Ming somehow appeared behind Xue Chao, reached out and touched her, and whistled softly, "Wow, wife, you're so fair-skinned."
Xue Chao ruthlessly pressed his head down, almost knocking him to the ground, and finally remembered his haughty and aloof opening line: "Get lost."
The little girl, holding one child in each hand, led her troublesome "parents" into the stairwell. The so-called attic was actually a small classroom on the top floor, where they often played house.
Xue Chao then had the opportunity to see the true appearance of the stairwell; the path leading to the top floor was locked.
"We can't go to the rooftop." The little girl said in a frightened and confused tone, saying something she couldn't fully understand. "The rooftop is the road to heaven. If you go there, you can't come back, and you'll never see your mom and dad again."
"You've seen him?"
The little girl sensed the doubt in Xue Chao's words: "I've never seen it, but the teacher knows. She said that the girl who fell went to heaven. The adults all say that heaven is a good place, and she doesn't suffer there, but they don't let us go."
Someone fell off the rooftop?
But when Xue Chao asked her more probing questions, the little girl couldn't say anything. It's not that children can't feel the weight of death; on the contrary, their intuition, closest to the nakedness of the beginning of life, is far more acute than adults imagine. But that nakedness also makes them unable to understand the painful meaning that people give to "death," so everything seems a bit detached. After asking her again and again, she only said, "She went to heaven. What, is heaven not good?" This left Xue Chao speechless.
“Not so good.” Jiang Ming suddenly interrupted their conversation, seemingly listening to their idle chatter without much concern, and casually chimed in, “I’ve seen them. Angels are all ugly, covered in eyes. Heaven only exists in fiction; once it becomes real in your eyes, it’s no different from hell—what’s that saying? ‘Conversion is on the road.’” [1]
This was even harder to understand than "death." The little girl could only come to one conclusion, and said with some dissatisfaction, "Oh, so heaven isn't good. The teacher lied to me."
Xue Chao scoffed. He always treated men, women, young and old equally—without looking down on them or making concessions—and it was unclear who he was mocking.
The little girl started playing house early, attracting some annoying children to cause trouble. She ladylike invited her "parents" to sit down and poured each of them a cup of tea.
Jiang Ming sat on a pink stool, even more engrossed than a little girl, and picked up a floral teacup. If he hadn't remembered that he was the "father," he would have raised his little finger. He pretended to take a sip of the bubbling cola and affirmed, "This tea is delicious, it tastes like soda."
The little girl was not satisfied: "Mom hasn't drunk any yet, you should offer Mom some first."
Jiang Ming was a little surprised: "Are we really that much of a loving couple?"
The little girl emphasized, "This is what a gentleman should do."
"Alright, alright." Jiang Ming picked up Xue Chao's teacup and held it to Xue Chao's lips. His affectionate smile seemed to encompass all the starlight in the sky, and even the sun and moon should bow down to him. "Darling, give me some face?"
Xue Chao suddenly turned his head: "He's here."
He nimbly slipped behind the door, gave the little girl a wink, and she ran over to open the door, quietly letting him in. The little brat was caught red-handed by Xue Chao from behind, before he even had a chance to shout "Three, two, one, freeze!"
Jiang Ming, somewhat resentful at being ignored by the two, muttered in the background, "You two have such a good relationship, mother and daughter."
The game ended, and the antenna on the remote control's head drooped down in frustration. The little girl laughed crisply, like a series of plates shattering on the ground, sharp and eerie.
Xue Chao took the paper house from the boy's pocket and opened it as he spoke: "Remember the bet? What was written inside?"
The bright, pink toy room suddenly went dark, his clothes returned to normal, and the boy's words, "See for yourself," lingered in his ears before the two children vanished in the blink of an eye.
The surroundings have been transformed into a living room, with calligraphy on the walls that reads "Family Reunion," but the overhead light is broken, and the words are hidden in the shadows, as if afraid of being seen by others.
On the long wooden cabinet, hidden behind a triangular white curtain, there was a large empty space, like a living grave. It should have been where the television was placed. Next to it was a fish tank with blue water, green plants, and red fish. Xue Chao almost thought the fish were dead. Then, it suddenly released a string of cold white bubbles, as if it were having a final burst of energy before death.
Someone's clothes were draped over the back of the sofa, cigarette butts remained in the brown crystal ashtray on the coffee table, the dining table was empty, the food was cold, and four pairs of bowls and chopsticks were neatly arranged upside down, as if for the dead. Everywhere there were traces of life, but nowhere was the warmth of home.
Outside the window, it was night. Inside, as if to save electricity, only an incandescent light bulb swayed overhead, flickering occasionally due to poor contact. It was probably like a dying revolving lantern, swaying from top to bottom, its presence or absence bothersome. If you could see it clearly, you would feel uneasy even in death.
Suddenly, a cheerful birthday song drifted from the corner, soft and tender, echoing in the strange old house. It was like throwing a handful of burning coals at a traveler walking in the snow, leaving goosebumps and a chilling, bone-chilling sensation.
He followed the sound around the sofa and went to the dining table. There was a full-length mirror covered with a white curtain. When he lifted the curtain, he saw the same room in the mirror, but it was darker and much warmer. Jiang Ming, who had deliberately turned off the lights and turned back into a child, was sitting at the table, wearing a birthday hat like the main character. He was surrounded by red and green balloons that Xue Chao was familiar with, as well as several gifts piled together, with beautiful and delicate long bows hanging from them.
Jiang Ming's smile was no longer the unrestrained, annoying one he had just displayed. Instead, it was the carefree smile of a child, sincere yet shallow, one that anyone could see right through.
He acted as if he hadn't seen Xue Chao, his eyes filled with anticipation as if he knew nothing.
The singing came from the bedroom reflected in the mirror, and then, click, the bedroom door opened.
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