Gao Ming knew that Xuan Wen had gone to the gastroenterology departnt based on the information on the dicine bottle. However, he had no idea what Xuan Wen had encountered. Normally, Xuan Wen would never ignore Gao Ming. Perhaps she was purposely hiding it, or she had been influenced by sothing in the ho.
For the sake of security, Gao Ming didn’t act strangely. Almost the mont he turned around, he fully settled on his attitude and expression.
“Auntie, I’ve developed the pictures, but the colours are still a bit strange.” Xuan Wen walked past Gao Ming. Perhaps unintentionally, her hair touched Gao Ming’s nose. The fragrance of rose lightened the sll of dishes. It also allowed Gao Ming to notice a titled, small wound on the back of Xuan Wen’s neck. This was the first ti Gao Ming saw a sign of weakness in this normal, warm and kind family.
Without saying much, Gao Ming finally understood sothing. He lowered his head to glance at the toy dog he was holding. He and the big dog entered the intestine together. The big dog had always been with him, but when he turned around, he saw only a plastic toy on the ground. The toy dog that would occasionally make sounds should be the big dog. Based on this theory, the box of toys should be the ghosts Situ An had collected.
If the toys were ghosts, then what were the humans in this world?
The elders sleeping in the chaise, the kids playing hide-and-seek, the aunties and uncles playing in the yard… No ‘human’ was that simple in this ho.
Gao Ming and Xuan Wen maintained a fixed distance. One was a psycho killer, and the other was the youngest psychiatrist at the prison. No one could see through their acting.
“Is it because the lighting during the shoot was too dark?” The middle-aged woman took the bag from Xuan Wen. She pulled out a few enlarged black-and-white pictures from it. The pictures were taken at the apartnt. Most of them were pictures of Situ An and the middle-aged woman. The pictures were nice but all of them had no colour. The middle-aged woman looked welcoming and kind, but in the pictures, she was as lifeless as a corpse.
Standing next to her, Situ An was tall and handso. Different from the middle-aged woman who always had the sa set of clothes, he wore different outfits in the pictures. He was in a nurse outfit, a scholar outfit, an exercise outfit, and a suit. There was a picture taken by the dining table. Situ An was wearing the clothes of the temp leader of the east city investigation centre. Situ An would often return ho to take pictures with his mother to preserve the mories.
“No. This is not right.” The middle-aged woman touched Situ An in the pictures, “Situ An used to have colours in the pictures. My kid has colours. Why is he like now?”
The black-and-white pictures didn’t fit with this ho. They didn’t belong in this world.
“Are you sure? Uncle Zhang at the photography centre said…” Xuan Wen hesitated.
“What did Ol Zhang say?”
“He said that the pictures were originally black-and-white. He wanted to make sure you didn’t rember things wrongly.” Xuan Wen’s voice was calm. Her tone made it easy for her to gain other people’s trust and affection.
“Impossible! How could I forget the pictures I’ve taken with my own child? My child has colours!” The middle-aged woman said confidently.
“Then, why are you black-and-white?” Xuan Wen was leading up to this question.
“I…”
“Do you believe the colours of black and white are not good? Is that why you don’t hope your child to lose his colours? But you have forgotten that he had the sa lack of colours as you did. Could there be problems with the pictures?” Xuan Wen spoke faster, not giving the woman the ti to think.
“I know my child is not black-and-white in colour. He should be back from work soon. I’ve prepared all the food for him.” The woman changed the topic.
“Give it so more thought. Where did it go wrong?” Xuan Wen pointed at the black-and-white pictures. She casually pointed at the mirrors in the pictures and the shadows on the ground. She was trying to drop a hint for the middle-aged woman. She hoped the woman would look at her reflection.
Gao Ming said nothing as he stood beside the toy box. He had a guess regarding what Xuan Wen was doing.
Xuan Wen, who entered Situ An’s ho earlier than he did, was not made crazy. If anything, she was trying to slowly ‘cure’ Situ An’s family.
“Everything I see now is an illusion.” Gao Ming held the plastic dog. “This should be what Situ An’s mother desires to see. I want to see the actual appearance of this ho. The key is to shake Situ An’s mother.”
The middle-aged woman stared at the pictures for a long ti before pushing them away. “My son will be ho soon. He is different from .” The woman was anxious. She walked to the phone and called the sa number again.
“Do you rember where Situ An works? I can go find him at his workplace.” Xuan Wen picked up the pictures from the ground.
“He works as a temporary nurse at Li San Hospital.”
“Your son is good at everything, but he is not good at taking care of people. Why did he choose to be a nurse? I don’t an to offend anyone, but I think nursing is a hard job. Honestly, with his looks, even if he doesn’t have a degree, he has better ways to earn money.” Xuan Wen picked her words carefully.
“He just wants to accompany .”
“But you’re at ho, and he’s at the hospital every day. How is he accompanying you? Plus, aren’t you currently at ho, and he’s at the hospital?” Just as Xuan Wen said that, there was a thud beside the dining table. The little fatty sneaked a bite of the ribs and accidentally knocked over the bowl with the fruits. The ripe apple rolled to Gao Ming’s feet. He realised there were red blood vessels underneath the apple’s bruised skin.
While the woman’s attention was on Xuan Wen, Gao Ming slowly retreated to the door.
“Do you want to accompany you to the hospital? I know you are worried since he hasn’t answered your calls.” Xuan Wen helped the middle-aged woman. Her every sentence concerned the middle-aged woman.
“No. I promised Situ An that I would wait for him at ho. No matter what he experiences outside, I will always keep a light open for him at ho.” The middle-aged woman rejected her. She dialled the numbers again.
The woman placed the speaker beside her ear. She couldn’t rember how many tis she had called her child already, “I know my son. He will co back ho…”
There was a ringing sound and the woman’s expression changed. However, she listened to the speaker and realised the ringing didn’t co from it but from the corridor outside the apartnt.
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