"Say sothing!" Shang Qingi fud, but her anger only grew when her outburst received no response! She didn’t understand why her son was becoming more reticent! The only exchange between mother and son now was his daily "Mom," and nothing more.
He wore a blank face, "I rember."
"Rember what?"
"Everything," he said slowly, "I rember the Su family’s kindness, and... I haven’t visited Grandma in over a month."
"Ronggui..." Shang Qingi pressed her temples, "Since you rember everything, do you rember you promised Rongxing you’d have dinner with her? And then it was dark, and you still weren’t back! Rongxing waited for you all afternoon!"
"I apologize."
"What?"
"I will apologize to her!" he repeated.
"This isn’t about apologizing! Ronggui, I know Grandma raised you, and you have a strong bond with her, but we aren’t a part of the Xu Family anymore! Grandma has her pension, and when the old man passed away, he left her a substantial amount of money, enough to last her a lifeti! Why do you still visit her so often?"
"I understand, Mom."
"..." Shang Qingi felt her words stuck, blocked by his attitude. It wasn’t that he had a bad attitude; it was too good! Always so obedient, always so compliant, every ti she called him for a talk, he would appear so respectful and docile, listening to her criticisms. If she didn’t call him, he’d remain excessively quiet, as if he didn’t exist in this ho.
Once she ran out of words, he would continue to stand quietly. Without her dismissal, he wouldn’t move away. Her son was always obedient.
But, given he was obedient about everything, why did he consistently refuse her on the matter of Old Lady Xu? Whenever he promised not to go, he would still go against her wishes! And each ti he brought leftovers back! How many tis had she told him not to bring them back, yet he wouldn’t listen, causing the Su family to think he disdained their food!
She glared at the plastic bag with fury born of disappointnt, "The Su family’s food is so exquisite, yet you crave those coarse things from the alley! I really don’t know what you’re thinking!"
He remained silent, as always, never arguing.
"Enough, enough, go upstairs!" Shang Qingi was truly irritated.
"Yes, Mom, good night." He walked upstairs at a steady pace, neither fast nor slow.
Shang Qingi sighed. How did it co to this? When her son was young, he was sweet and talkative, loved by everyone. If she hadn’t watched him grow up herself, she’d suspect he was swapped!
Returning to his room, he locked the door and opened the lunchbox. The familiar aroma wafted out. He closed his eyes slightly, and a vision of a sweaty little boy running through the alley appeared before him. The aroma floating in the alley ca from the kitchen in his family’s courtyard, fragrant enough to fill the entire alley. The boy rushed into the courtyard, shouting, "Grandma, Grandma, I sll beef stew, don’t I?"
The scent of beef stew lingered in dreams. That night, his entire dream was filled with the aroma of various dishes: beef stew, fried atballs, braised pork, braised pork trotter, noodles with mixed sauce...
Suddenly, a little dog barged into his dream, chubby and ugly, trailing him and licking his heels. The scene shifted, and the little dog was tied to a tree, beaten with sticks, yelping miserably, its cries sharp and despairing, mingled with a boy’s frantic screams, "Stop it! Please stop it!"
The boy’s voice was hoarse from crying. Finally, the dog fell silent, and so did the boy’s wailing.
The entire dreamscape turned gray and white, and everything ceased to exist, leaving only the tree. Underneath lay a large pool of dark red blood, and a motionless little dog, its flesh mangled, with a burst of white brain matter on its head, a pair of glistening black eyes gazing at him as though tears were flowing, mixed with blood, forming a small river...
The crimson river flowed and flowed, until it reached his feet, then suddenly, like a flood, it surged, overwhelming, mixed with the scent of blood, engulfing him...
He couldn’t breathe, gasping deeply, waking in a fright.
A dream.
Still echoing in his ears, "Stop it! Please stop it!"
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