Along with her gaze moving downwards, when she saw Li Zhiyuan in the mirror, the disgust in her eyes did not fade.
Li Zhiyuan carefully tugged at Li Lan's sleeve. He really wanted to ask his mom what he needed to do to make her like him as before, instead of becoming increasingly indifferent over the years.
He believed that as long as he knew, he could quickly correct it, because he was quick at learning.
"Ah Lan, Ah Lan, Ah Lan!"
Outside, came the shouting of his dad, who ran over sweating profusely, not even catching his breath, he anxiously asked, "Ah Lan, how is Xiao Yuan, is there anything wrong?"
Li Zhiyuan was embraced by his father.
Li Lan watched the embracing father and son; she seemed to be trying to restrain herself, but the muscles around her mouth twitched slightly, revealing a mocking smile.
The man looked up and saw.
At that moment, various emotions that had been accumulating inside burst out and he almost roared in a trembling voice:
"Ah Lan, what exactly do you want, what do you need to be satisfied, do you really have to torture us in this way?"
After shouting, he sat on the ground, crying.
"Dad, don't cry." Li Zhiyuan stepped forward, wanting to wipe his father's tears.
But then he met his mother's gaze, and he immediately stopped all movements.
Li Lan closed her eyes, and after a while, she opened them again, then turned and walked out, leaving the father and son behind.
Li Zhiyuan watched ahead, the shiny tiles reflecting the receding silhouette of his mother.
"Why are you still here?"
On the bed, facing the "self" wrapped in a quilt and shivering, Li Zhiyuan asked again.
But the other party, still did not answer.
Li Zhiyuan shook his head: "Thank you for helping me fool the doctor in that check-up, but you don't exist."
I don't have schizophrenia.
As the words fell, the thin blanket was tossed on the bed.
The "self" who was previously wrapped in it and shivering and calling mom, disappeared.
"Rustle...Rustle......Rustle......"
Suddenly, the sound of clear water could be heard around.
The thick darkness finally faded, turning into a gray splashed with light ink.
But at least, visibility had improved.
Li Zhiyuan slowly stood up, looked around again.
He was standing on the bed, yet it felt like standing on a boat.
Because around him, were the dark turbulent river waves, and in the river, floated corpse after corpse, densely packed like endless paddy fields.
"Grandmaster said that after the ritual I would return to normal.
But why, I still had a dream.
At that moment, it seemed like the wind started blowing over the river.
The wind passed through the corpses, bringing with it the unique stench of death.
Much richer than the scent of rice.
Li Zhiyuan stood and watched for a long time; he even walked to the head of the bed and leaned on the rail to look.
He didn't know how long this dream would last, nor did he seem to have a way to wake up on his own.
Li Zhiyuan sat down on the bed, tidied the disheveled thin blanket, folded it neatly, lay down, and covered himself with the blanket.
he prepared to sleep.
Li Zhiyuan opened his eyes, it was already daylight outside.
He knew he really woke up.
This sleep was very comfortable, refreshing and energizing him entirely.
Li Zhiyuan couldn't help but wonder, perhaps sleeping in a dream is the real deep sleep?
If that's true, then a dream like last night, he wouldn't mind, and in fact, might even miss it.
After all, no matter how terrifying the nightmare, if experienced enough, he could get used to it.
He looked down and saw that the black loops on his neck, wrists, and ankles had broken by themselves.
Grandmaster had said they could be cut off in the morning; it should be fine, right?
He got out of bed, walked to the door, closed his eyes before opening the door, and took a deep breath.
It's a habit he learned from his mom who often stood in front of the bathroom mirror after getting up, making an effort to take deep breaths.
Although even now, Li Zhiyuan was unclear about the purpose of doing so.
However, after opening the door, the warm sunlight enveloped him, and Li Zhiyuan's lips curled into a smile, as if the darkness of last night had dissipated at that moment.
He picked up the basin and toothbrush cup, went to the terrace to fetch water, and started washing up.
"Xiao Yuan, come down for breakfast after washing up," Aunt Liu called from the yard.
Li Zhiyuan went downstairs, the small wooden stool wasn't placed inside this time, but on the yard instead.
On the stool was already a bowl of white porridge, a salted duck egg, a dish of sour eggplants, and a dish of pickled ginger.
"There's more porridge in the pot; should I get you another duck egg?"
"That's enough, thank you, Aunt Liu."
"What's there to thank, this is Aunt Liu's job."
Li Zhiyuan was curious about how much Grandmaster must be paying Aunt Liu.
But then, Grandmaster's money should be enough; although he lives "luxuriously," he also has many sources of income, and most importantly, he has no children, does not save money, earns a lot and spends it all.
"Aunt Liu, has Grandmaster gone out?"
"No, he hasn't gotten up yet, I guess."
Li Zhiyuan started eating breakfast, first tapping the duck egg on the stool to make a crack, then peeling an opening and using chopstick tips to pick out the contents to eat.
As he was almost done, he saw twenty meters away on the eastern end of the yard, there was also a square wooden stool and small bench set, with white porridge and pickles on it.