Chapter 83
... Yang Duoduo, you met the wrong person.
In the room, Qiu Yufei's flat narration continued - in fact, Xu Ming really suspected that she was reading directly into the phone; outside the room, Xu Ming rubbed his face vigorously, and for a moment he didn't know whether to laugh or not. By the way
, Duoduo, didn't you just break up with a scumbag? Why did you find another one? Duoduo, are your legs okay?
Xu Ming thought expressionlessly and listened for a while. Realizing that Yang Duoduo's bloody love story seemed to continue for a while, he stopped paying attention and got up carefully, turning his eyes to the surroundings.
301 is a two-bedroom and one-living room apartment. In addition to the living room where she is now, there are two bedrooms, a kitchen and a bathroom. The room where Qiu Yufei and the little girl were should be the master bedroom, but the door was closed too quickly just now, so Xu Ming didn't have time to see what was going on inside; and the door of the other secondary bedroom was also tightly closed at this moment .
Xu Ming had no choice but to walk around the living room twice, and then went into the kitchen next to it.
The kitchen was empty at this moment, and there was no one in front of the stove, only something was bubbling on the stove. The pot was covered with a transparent glass lid, and Xu Ming looked inside, but saw hot water surging in the pot, and white mycelium could be seen faintly between the bubbles.
Frowning slightly, Xu Ming slowly stepped back. His eyes then fell on the refrigerator next to him.
It must be said that the presence of that refrigerator is really strong. The old-fashioned single-door refrigerator has a slightly yellowed white surface and slight cracks on the handle. Various refrigerator magnets are stuck on the door of the refrigerator, and there is also a huge nutritional table required by the human body, which arranges a bunch of common foods in the form of a pyramid according to the needs of the human body.
Xu Ming is very familiar with this chart, because his aunt's refrigerator always had this thing stuck on it. However, upon closer inspection, the content on it seems to be completely different -
at the bottom of the pyramid, there is a pile of human trunks and limbs. The label next to it is "豚", and next to the word 豚 is a small, red tick.
Going up one level, there are all kinds of simple monsters. The label next to it is "豚吃豚的豚". There is also a small red tick next to this line of labels.
On the next level, there are several little people standing hand in hand. The label next to it is "Imperfect Family". There is also a small red check mark next to this line of words, but the check mark is only halfway, which looks a bit out of place.
Above this level, there is another row of the same little people, but they are painted more delicately and brightly, and the label next to them is "Perfect Family". But there is no red check mark next to them.
On the top level, the things drawn become simpler, just an open door. There is a line of small words next to it - "Freedom".
There is also no red check mark next to this line of label.
Xu Ming suddenly realized - what nutritional pyramid, this is the Maslow's spiritual needs chart of the household owner.
The top three levels are easy to understand. At present, it seems that the little girl is in charge of this 301. She wanted a family, so she tricked someone from outside to come in and serve as her family, but she hasn't found a "perfect family" yet, so this requirement has not been met; she has found "imperfect family", but perhaps because the number is not enough, so this requirement is half-checked.
Finally, she wanted freedom, but now she still can't leave the apartment building, so this requirement is not checked.
...But what do the two floors below mean? "Pig" and "pig that eats pig"...
Xu Ming has seen the word "pig" in other places before, and has a general understanding of it, which is roughly equivalent to "monster" and "unwelcome person". But this word suddenly appeared on this demand list, which is quite puzzling.
Does the little girl need a "pig"? It doesn't make sense from the previous case. She kicked Po Haitang out of the house, which was equivalent to demoting him from a "human" to a "pig". But after that, she never cared about Po Haitang again, letting him run around up and down the stairs...
If she had a need for a "pig", why did she let Po Haitang go and let him run around?
There is also a "pig that eats pigs"... At present, it seems to refer to monsters that eat people. But those monsters stayed in their rooms and didn't even have direct contact with her. Where did the red check mark behind this demand come from?
Xu Ming frowned, and felt that the question marks in her mind began to bubble out like the water in the pot.
After staring at the refrigerator magnet for a while, she seemed to think of something and suddenly reached out to take down the nutrition pyramid. Turning it over, he saw a piece of paper stuck to the back of the fridge magnet. On the paper were two lines of crooked words written in pencil.
[Accept the imperfections of your family members,
[and work hard to make them more perfect!]
...?
What does this mean?
Xu Ming stared at the two lines of words and frowned unconsciously. At this moment, he heard a tapping sound at the door, as if someone was approaching.
Xu Ming was startled and subconsciously put the fridge magnet back. Then he remembered that he was in a simulated space and he breathed a sigh of relief. At this moment, the footsteps had already reached the door. Xu Ming simply stood there and looked directly at the other party, thinking that it was a good opportunity to observe the other family members in the house...
However, as soon as her eyes were cast, her expression froze.
The figure had already appeared at the kitchen door and was staggering towards the gas stove, apparently wanting to take a look at the pot on the stove; and Xu Ming, knowing that the other party could not touch her, still involuntarily dodged to the side when she saw it approaching, and her body almost hit the refrigerator.
...Yes, "it".
This was the only reference Xu Ming could think of.
Because she simply couldn't tell whether to use "he" or "she", because at this moment, the person who appeared in the room... or these people... looked too messy.
It was human-shaped overall. It also had relatively standard features. Two eyes, a nose, a mouth, hands and feet, all intact, and the body proportions were very normal.
The problem was that this relatively normal body... obviously did not come from one person.
It had a male torso, but the head clearly belonged to an adult female, with mature and regular facial features. The left and right arms were different in thickness and color, and the same was true for the two legs - Xu Ming suspected that they might be different lengths, because it limped when it walked.
Rough stitching marks could be seen everywhere on the exposed skin, with skin of different colors sewn together like randomly assembled fabrics; only the head part was relatively smooth, but the moment it passed in front of him, Xu Ming clearly saw that there was a noticeable gap between the other's scalp and hair.
The original hair of this head had obviously been replaced. As mentioned before, it was topped by the head of an adult woman, but the hair was extremely short and uneven, which was more common among men. It looked very unpresentable.
...No, it should be said that it was too unpresentable.
Not only the hair. Everything was too unpresentable.
It was not just a matter of distortion and weirdness. The smell of stench and decay came over him, and every seam seemed to reveal malice and arrogance.
It seemed that something suddenly rose from his stomach. Xu Ming covered his mouth reflexively and tried his best to stay calm, but his chest was still churning uncontrollably, and his nose was slightly sore.
...So that's it.
Now she finally understood what the words "make the family more perfect" written on the piece of paper meant.
"Brother!"
At this moment, there was another noise in the living room. The little girl seemed to have finally heard enough of the story, and was calling in the living room: "Brother, is the soup not ready yet? It's time for us to eat!"
"..."
In front of the gas stove, the crooked figure paused slightly, and then slowly turned its eyes.
"Coming." Then it responded, the voice was low and hoarse, like crushed sand.
It picked up the pot of hot soup from the gas stove, walked out slowly, and passed lightly in front of Xu Ming again. Xu Ming stared at its figure gradually going away in a daze, and after a while, he closed his eyes with complicated feelings and exhaled heavily.
*
Xu Ming's attitude towards the title of "brother" is a bit subtle.
On the one hand, she still can't figure out which of her memories from the past year are true and which are false. Now, she doesn't even dare to swear that she really has a brother; but on the other hand, she has indeed received a lot of text messages from "brother" this year, there is no doubt about that.
Most of those text messages express a central idea, which is to ask her "not to go home"; and from the current situation, those text messages that once made her very unhappy are probably the best goodwill of a certain existence.
Because of this, the call of the little girl outside gave Xu Ming an even stronger shock.
Although it was impossible to confirm whether the "brother" who was stitched back was the one who had been sending him dissuading text messages, Xu Ming quickly adjusted his emotions and quickly moved back to the simulated space in the living room. He stood not far from the dining table and continued to observe carefully.
There were three figures sitting at the dining table. The one in the middle was the little girl. On the left and right were the "brother" who was stitched back and the pale-faced Qiu Yufei.
The arm of Panpan that she had snatched back was also placed next to the table, occupying a chair alone. It seemed that it was used as a substitute for future family members.
In addition to the broken arm, the other three people had bowls in front of them. The bowls were filled with turbid hot water and white mycelium soaked in the water.
"Brother" had already picked up the bowl calmly and started eating quickly and silently; Qiu Yufei, on the other hand, stared at the cutlery in front of her, her mouth opened and closed, and it was obvious that she was trying to stay calm, but there was a rejection in her eyes that could not be concealed at all. ...
Fortunately. Seeing this, Xu Ming breathed a sigh of relief. She was worried when she heard Qiu Yufei reading a romance novel coldly, fearing that she was too late and this guy's brain was almost drifting away by monsters; now it seems that the situation is more optimistic than she thought. Still afraid, well, that's good. Xu Ming thought silently and moved forward again. His eyes swept over the white mycelium in Qiu Yufei's bowl, and he soon had an idea. Following closely, he saw her lower her body and quietly crawl under the dining table. ——The simulated space and the real space basically overlap, with only a slight deviation. Xu Ming turned around with difficulty under the table, and soon found Qiu Yufei's feet, then quietly reached out and quickly poked Qiu Yufei's calf. This is the method she learned from practicing with the Begonia before - when touching a real object with your hand, quickly cancel the simulated scene to allow the touch to be realized; then, at the moment the touch is completed, quickly build a new simulated scene and hide yourself again. As long as you make sure that you are always in the blind spot of other people's sight when this process occurs, and the speed of cancellation and reconstruction is fast enough, you can basically guarantee that you will not be discovered. ...Even if you are discovered, you will only find a finger, which is relatively safe. On the other side, Qiu Yufei, who was worrying about the soup bowl, had obviously sensed something, and her whole body suddenly became stiff. Seeing this, Xu Ming quickly continued to poke her on both legs. The next second, Qiu Yufei gasped and stood up in a panic. "Well, well..." She spoke a little stutteringly, with her hands firmly on the table. After taking a deep breath, she finally regained some composure, "Sorry, I want to go to the bathroom... No, the kitchen." She wanted to say the bathroom, but before she finished speaking, she felt someone patted her calf. She had to change her words in a hurry. "?" The little girl sitting in the main seat frowned slightly and looked over with a puzzled look, "Sister, why are you going to the kitchen?" Qiu Yufei: "..." "I want to... get tableware." There was another moment of silence, and Xu Ming heard her speak with difficulty, "Get a spoon." "?" The little girl still felt strange, "But why do you want to get a spoon?" "...Because I can't use chopsticks." Xu Ming heard Qiu Yufei say. The tone was a bit self-destructive, but inexplicably firm. The magical thing is that this reason was actually accepted. Xu Ming crawled out from under the table, and even saw the little girl nodding to Qiu Yufei in understanding: "I understand, chopsticks are very difficult to use. "But sister, do you know where the spoon is? Otherwise, let your brother get it for you..." "No! No, no! "Qiu Yufei said immediately, and walked out in a hurry while speaking, "I can find it myself, don't bother... I'll be back soon, you guys enjoy your meal!" Before she finished speaking, she had already flashed into the kitchen and closed the kitchen door. "..." The little girl tilted her head slightly and watched Qiu Yufei leave. Until she saw her figure disappear, she shook her head and sighed softly. "You can't even use chopsticks." She said with disgust, "Sure enough, substitutes are just substitutes, they can only serve as a comforting shadow. They can't be compared with the original at all."
"……" The "brother" at the side paused and looked over with some subtlety.
"?" The little girl looked at it strangely, "Why are you looking at me like that? I didn't say anything wrong."
"…………" After hearing her say this, the "brother" silently withdrew his gaze, paused for two seconds, and shook his head in disapproval.
"Don't worry about it." The little girl lowered her eyes and paused for each word, "It's just a toy that can be summoned and thrown away at will."
"Brother": "……"
?
*
*
The other side.
In the kitchen.
The moment the kitchen door was closed, Qiu Yufei's chest was still pounding, and then she quickly scanned the surroundings, searching for everything she could see as quickly as possible.
——She didn't know how Xu Ming did it, but she felt the touch of slapping on her calf just now.
Five consecutive slaps on one leg. It was the code she and Xu Ming often used in college.
Translated, it means: run straight after class.
... Of course, in a place like this, it is impossible to run. It would be nice to find a chance to move. She originally wanted to go to the bathroom, but halfway through her words, her calf was tapped again. She had no choice but to change to the kitchen. After all, you can't say you want to go back to the bedroom at this time.
To be honest, she was not sure if she was thinking too much. Maybe it was just some simple supernatural event; or maybe her consciousness had been subtly affected, causing some hallucinations and auditory hallucinations...
But no matter what, she felt that she needed to try... What if?
Qiu Yufei thought uncertainly, raised her hand to wipe the cold sweat on her forehead, turned around and was about to search again, but she saw a figure behind her. A
completely unfamiliar figure. Half of the face was beautiful, like a painting, and the other half was covered with scars and twisted.
Qiu Yufei: "..."
Staring at the strange figure in front of her, she took a breath, slowly took a step back, and leaned her back against the kitchen counter.
The next second, she opened her mouth lightly and said uncertainly: "...Teacher Mingming?"
Xu Ming, who was still wondering how to explain to the other party: "..."
"Sorry." The vest fell off so quickly that she didn't know what to say at this moment, "But aren't you guessing too quickly?"
Qiu Yufei: "..."
"The shoes... on your feet, I bought them." She pointed at Xu Ming's feet, raised the corner of her mouth subtly and politely, and pointed at Xu Ming's face, "And this...how to say..."
"It fits your aesthetic, you know? It feels like something you would draw..."
Xu Ming: "..."
I understand. Next time when you pinch your face, don't have too strong personal style.
She closed her eyes, exhaled forcefully, and then spread her hands towards Qiu Yufei, saying in a voice that only the two of them could hear: "Okay, it's best that you can recognize it. Time is limited, so I won't explain the specific reasons. Let's talk about your side first. How did you..."
Before she finished speaking, her voice suddenly paused.
Then she seemed to understand something and sighed helplessly.
"Okay." She raised her hand and patted Qiu Yufei's shoulder. The latter was hugging her and shaking endlessly at this moment, "Cheer up, cheer up, I'm here, don't panic... Are you feeling better? If you feel better, get up, hurry up, go back and hug me slowly..."