"Brother Jing, are you alright?"
"Hmph, Ouyang Feng, you this person..."
Every summer and winter break, the TV would consistently play "The Legend of the Condor Heroes."
The two sat on the bed watching TV for a while; suddenly, Li Zhiyuan felt sleepy.
He hadn't rested since last night; initially, it was due to excessive emotional stress, and now that his emotions had ebbed, fatigue swiftly overwhelmed him.
Cui Cui mistakenly thought that Li Zhiyuan didn't want to watch TV anymore, so she got off the bed and began showing him the stuffed dolls, toys, and picture books in her room.
Although very sleepy, Li Zhiyuan still watched her, trying hard to respond to each of her introductions.
The little girl was immersed in the joy of sharing, but soon she realized she couldn't hear any responses, turned her head to look at the bedside, and found that Li Zhiyuan had leaned on the bed and fallen asleep.
Cui Cui immediately stopped talking, tiptoed over, carefully straightened Li Zhiyuan, folded the thin quilt covering the bed for the summer, and placed it on Li Zhiyuan's stomach.
Then, she pushed the electric fan towards him, pressed the small knob at the back of the fan, and the fan started oscillating.
After doing all this, she brought over a chair, sat by the bed, propped her face with her hands, and watched Li Zhiyuan sleeping.
After watching for a while, she secretly smiled, her ears turned red, she turned her face away, and after a while, she couldn't help but continue watching him.
Time passed unknowingly .
"Little Cui Hou, Little Cui Hou, bring Little Yuanhou down for a meal," Li Juxiang's voice came from downstairs.
Cui Cui immediately went downstairs and said to Li Juxiang, "Mom, Brother Yuanhou is asleep."
"Then you eat first, we'll save some food for him."
"No, I'm not hungry, I want to wait and eat with Brother Yuanhou."
In the village, most conscious parents would stop their children from going out to find friends near mealtimes, fearing they would be invited to the dining table and appear as if intentionally taking advantage of the situation.
However, sometimes it was inevitable, and they would naturally end up at the table.
Cui Cui had never experienced this; she was willing to wait for Li Zhiyuan to wake up and eat with him.
Li Juxiang smiled, nodded, and went to the living room to call her mother and card-playing friends for lunch.
Cui Cui ran back upstairs, sat back in her place, and continued to watch Li Zhiyuan:
Cui Cui moved closer with some puzzlement because she noticed that Brother Yuanhou's brows were furrowed.
"Granny, I brought Brother Yuanhou over to play."
"Okay, go ahead. Bang!"
Li Zhiyuan looked at Cui Cui standing in front of him and then at Liu Jinxia, who was playing cards with three friends in the living room; he knew he was dreaming.
Because the scenes around him were too disconnected from reality, his vision was all in shades of black and white, all the people and objects seemed to have been sketched with charcoal.
Although they were able to depict corresponding people and objects, they were somewhat blurry and distorted, with rugged lines carrying a sinister randomness.
Li Zhiyuan looked down at himself; he found that he was normal, but everything else in the dream, other people and objects, were abnormal.
This reminded him of the tracing paper sheets in his mother's study, similarly with charcoal traces on a white background.
He dreamed of the scene when he and Cui Cui first arrived at her house and greeted Liu Jinxia; next, Cui Cui in front of him, holding his hand, walked inside.
The delicate hand of the little girl now holding his was very rough, a bit painful, like sandpaper.
He couldn't help but break free, stopping his steps; Cui Cui continued walking inside alone, but her arm still maintained the posture of leading someone.
Meanwhile, in the living room, where Liu Jinxia and the four were playing cards, suddenly there was no sound.
Li Zhiyuan turned back and saw that all four had frozen, motionless.
Even the smoke rings Liu Jinxia exhaled were stuck there, not dispersing.
This stillness also gave Li Zhiyuan an opportunity to observe; the charcoal marks on the three card-playing friends were gentle and light, while Liu Jinxia's outline was thick, deep, and harsh.
Standing there for a long time, Li Zhiyuan was puzzled; every time he dreamed before, he could wake up immediately upon realizing it was a dream, but this time, he was still in the dream.
Eventually, Li Zhiyuan decided to walk further inside, seeing Li Juxiang selecting vegetables; the lines on her body were also harsh, contrasting starkly with the delicate lines surrounding her.
Li Zhiyuan walked up to Li Juxiang, the deep charcoal marks sketching detailed expressions on her face, she was smiling, her gaze filled with reminiscence.
"Aunt Juxiang, Aunt Juxiang?"
Li Zhiyuan tried calling her a few times and waved his hand in front of her; Li Juxiang remained motionless, not even blinking.
After leaving that place, Li Zhiyuan went to the stairway, and before climbing up, he took off his shoes, walking up barefoot.
He arrived at the bedroom, the standing fan stopped moving, and the TV depicting Guo Jing and Huang Rong only showed a blurry sketch.
Cui Cui was pointing at[,]