Chapter 21: Breakfast
Sunday.
There is no shrill morning reading bell, and no gazes to avoid.
In the past, the early morning hours were either spent moving bricks on the construction site, or on the way to school, thinking about which unlucky guy to grab a steamed bun from.
At this moment, a bowl of steaming porridge was placed in front of her.
“Eat quickly, Xiao Ming, or it will get cold.”
Ling Yicai pushed the bowl of white porridge in front of Xiahou Ming, and considerately picked up a piece of meat floss she had brought with her chopsticks for her.
The movements are so natural as if she has lived here for a long time.
Xiahou Ming silently picked up the spoon and took a sip.
The porridge was very hot, and the warm rice aroma instantly enveloped her stomach, which was cramping due to hunger.
Her mother sat in the main seat, smiling from ear to ear.
“Xiao Cai is really capable.
She got up so early to make breakfast.”
She praised with satisfaction.
“Xiaoya, look at you.
You always skip breakfast in the morning.
How can this be okay?
You should learn more from Xiao Cai.”
Xiahou Ming ignored her mother’s words.
She put down the spoon and looked at Ling Yicai calmly.
“You shouldn’t have done my share,” she said flatly.
“The rice at home is almost gone.”
Ling Yicai still had that calm smile on her face and said softly:
“I know, don’t worry.”
Then she turned to Xiahou Ming’s mother:
“Auntie, don’t say that.
This is what I should do.
But Xiaoya is really too thin.
She needs to eat more.”
“Xiao Ming?
Which Xiao Ming?”
The mother looked at Ling Yicai in confusion, then at Xiahou Ming.
Ling Yicai’s smile froze for a moment.
She felt Xiahou Ming under the table, gently nudging her ankle with her toes.
“Ah… yes, I’m sorry, Auntie.
I made a slip of the tongue.
It was… Xiaoya.”
“That’s right!”
The mother seemed to have found a kindred spirit.
“This child used to be very wild!
Come here, Xiao Cai, let me show you something.”
She deftly dug out an old photo album with a yellowed cover from a corner.
She spread the photo album in front of Ling Yicai and pointed at one of the photos.
“Look, this is Xiaoya when she was little.
She rolled in the mud every day like a boy!”
The boy in the photo is grinning foolishly and holding a cicada in his hand.
Ling Yicai’s fingertips gently stroked the faded photo, and her eyes became extremely gentle and firm.
“Yeah, I remember.”
She whispered to the person in the photo.
“She looks like this.
Xiao Ming has always been like this, she has never changed.”
“Yes, yes,” her mother didn’t notice the strangeness in her words and continued on.
“Xiaoya is well behaved now, but she always seems depressed.
She doesn’t say much all day long.
I wonder if someone has led her astray at school again.”
“Mom, don’t make wild guesses.
No one is leading me astray.”
Xiahou Ming frowned and finally couldn’t help but speak.
However, her defense did not stir any waves.
“Who led you astray?”
Ling Yicai completely ignored her words, her eyes suddenly became sharp, she raised her head abruptly and looked directly at Xiahou Ming.
“Auntie, are you saying… ‘Xiaoya’ is hanging out with some shady people at school?”
She deliberately emphasized the pronunciation of the two words “Xiaoya.”
Her mother was startled by her sudden change of tone and said in confusion:
“I…I don’t know…She doesn’t want to tell me about school…”
But Ling Yicai no longer needed an answer.
An idea that could explain everything split her chaotic thoughts like a bolt of lightning.
‘Yes.
That’s it.’
She looked at the numb Xiahou Ming in front of her, and remembered the figure smiling sweetly with Yu Yuhui in the game hall.
‘That’s not Xiao Ming.
Xiao Ming wouldn’t be like that.
That is “Xiaoya.”’
The daughter who “came back from the dead” as Xiahou Ming’s mother called her was a soul that appeared out of nowhere and occupied Xiao Ming’s body.
It was this thing called “Xiaoya” who was fooling around with that woman named Yu.
It was “Xiaoya” wearing that strange outfit.
It was “Xiaoya” who refused my help and pushed me away last night.
But the real Xiao Ming, the one she loved, was looking at her straight in the face.
Her soul, imprisoned under this wrong skin, was silently asking for help from her!
This realization made her tremble all over.
Not because of fear, but because of the ecstasy of having found the “truth.”
When she raised her head again, that extremely gentle smile was on her face again.
“Auntie, don’t worry,” she said, holding Xiao Ming’s mother’s hand.
“I will take good care of Xiaoya.”
“I will never let her associate with those questionable people again.”
Looking at the two women in front of her who were talking about “Xiaoya,” Xiahou Ming’s heart sank to the bottom.
After breakfast, Ling Yicai began to clean up the dishes very naturally.
“Let me wash the dishes,” she said with a smile, picking up a stack of plates and heading towards the kitchen.
She walked to the sink and turned on the faucet, and the water flowed loudly.
Xiahou Ming also walked up to her without saying a word.
“Xiao Ming?”
Ling Yicai looked at her in confusion.
“I can do it.
You can go and keep Auntie company.”
Xiahou Ming took all the plates from her hands and placed them steadily on the stove to make sure they would not fall.
Then she turned around.
She stretched out her hand and leaned against the wall next to Ling Yicai’s ear, trapping her between herself and the sink.
Ling Yicai was startled by her sudden action.
She pressed her back tightly against the cold edge of the sink, raised her head, and looked at her in panic.
“Xiao Ming, you…”
“Shhh.”
Xiahou Ming put her index finger to her lips, signaling her to speak softly.
She didn’t want her mother in the living room to hear their conversation.
She lowered her head and put her face close to Ling Yicai.
The distance between them was so close that they could feel each other’s breath.
“Tell me honestly,” she looked into Ling Yicai’s eyes, “what were you thinking last night?”
“I’m not angry, I just hope you can tell me.”
Facing her clear and sincere eyes, Ling Yicai’s panicked expression was slowly replaced by pure innocence and confusion.
She blinked and tilted her head, as if she was really trying to remember something.
“Huh?
What happened last night?”
She stretched out her other hand and gently placed it on the back of Xiahou Ming’s hand that was leaning against the wall, stroking it soothingly with her fingertips.
“Xiao Ming, did you… have a nightmare?”
Her eyes were filled with pity.
“Don’t be afraid, it’s not real.”
‘Nightmare?
Not true?’
Xiahou Ming looked at Ling Yicai’s sincere expression, and for a moment she couldn’t tell whether she was lying or really believed it.
“Didn’t we talk a lot about our childhood?
We talked until very late… and then fell asleep.”
She paused and a very sweet smile appeared on her face.
“To be honest, I haven’t slept so soundly in a long time.”
These words, spoken lightly, hit Xiahou Ming’s heart like a heavy hammer.
She couldn’t figure anything out.
It was as if the memory of last night belonged to another person, as if her own pain and struggle were just an unacknowledged joke.
Just when she was at a loss because of her confused mind, not knowing whether she should continue to question Ling Yicai—
Knock…knock…
There was a knock on the dilapidated wooden door.
Two sounds.
Xiahou Ming trembled all over and her arms loosened.
Pala—
She knocked the plate off the stove, and it fell onto the concrete floor and shattered into pieces.
There was deathly silence in the kitchen.
Both of them looked at the porcelain fragments on the ground.
Outside the door, the uninvited guest was still knocking on it relentlessly.
Knock…knock…knock…