The corridor was splendid and resplendent, but at the same time it was empty.
Two surveillance cameras in the corners of the roof slowly moved along with the two's steps and captured their figures.
The walls on both sides were covered with dark gold wall stickers. Xiaolan turned her face sideways and saw the distorted face reflected in the wall stickers.
"We're here!" Ling unlocked the door and put the key card on it.
Xiaolan raised her head and glanced at the house number on the door, "405, I see there are only four households here."
Ling turned around and smiled playfully, "Isn't 404 unlucky?"
Children understand a lot.
The security door opened silently, and Ling first let Xiaolan into the house. The breeze passed through the room, and with a bang, the door closed, blocking the world inside and outside the house.
"Your home is so big," Xiao Lan changed her shoes and followed Ling into the living room, "but..."
Ling smiled a little lonely, "But it's very empty, right? Because my mother is usually not at home, and I'm usually alone, and I have to go to school during the day."
There were only a few simple pieces of furniture in the spacious living room. Xiaolan sat down on the sofa under Ling's guidance.
"Then you today..."
"I asked for leave," Ling sat next to Xiaolan, hugging her knees and shrinking into a ball, "but my mother doesn't know yet, and I can't let her know."
Xiaolan sat upright and looked directly into Ling's eyes, "You didn't tell your mother what happened last night?"
Ling avoided Xiaolan's eyes and shook her head, "Mom will only think I'm joking."
"Ling, tell me the truth," Xiaolan lowered her voice, "Did something happen before?"
Now think about it, last night, why did Ling start to have fear before something happened? And when faced with strange things, her reaction was different from that of normal children.
"Nightmare..." Ling buried her head in her arms and said vaguely.
"What?"
"Nightmare," Ling raised her voice, and her exposed dark eyes trembled, "I have been having nightmares lately, always dreaming that... something happened to my mother."
"What happened?" Xiaolan asked patiently.
Ling shrank again, with a hint of fear in her eyes. She shook her head, "I don't know... I don't know..."
"Ling," Xiaolan held Ling's hand, "Ling, calm down, I'm listening, I believe what you said, tell me, what did you dream about?"
"I dreamed that... my mother was missing," big tears welled up in Ling's eyes, "My mother died and would never come back. Mom... in the dream, it seemed like it was real, but the next day
In the morning, my mother would still be in the kitchen making breakfast for me. She told me that the things in my dreams were all fake, but...but..."
"Then why are you crying?" Xiaolan put her arms around Ling's shoulders, "Mom is right, dreams are all fake. When you wake up, isn't your mother still there?"
"But what happened last night was not a dream! It really wasn't a dream!" Ling cried out, "Something must have happened to mom! There must be something mom is hiding from me!"
Xiaolan quickly patted Qi Ling's back to comfort her, "Okay, okay, don't be afraid, it's okay, I will help you figure it out. Don't you believe Sister Tianshen? I will help you talk to your mother when she gets off work.
Okay? Be good and stop crying..."
Ling choked in Xiaolan's arms for a while, and finally her tears gradually stopped. She sniffed a little embarrassedly, asked Xiaolan what she wanted to drink, and walked to the refrigerator with her head lowered.
"Ah, there's nothing to eat in the refrigerator." Ling scratched her head shyly.
The refrigerator was empty except for a thick layer of white frost.
"It's okay, it's okay, I won't eat." Xiaolan picked up the alarm clock placed on the refrigerator and found that the hands were no longer moving. She shook it a few times and put it back to its original position. "What time will your mother get off work?"
"Usually 10:32 in the evening." Ling rubbed her eyes and replied.
"It's so late," Xiaolan was startled, "and it's so accurate. Doesn't Ling wait for her mother to come home every night before falling asleep?"
Ling lowered her head and laughed a few times. The atmosphere was finally not as heavy as before.
The two of them sat on the sofa and chatted. The night slowly crept up to the corner of the window. Ling jumped up and opened the lamp in the living room, looked out the window, and reached out to carefully close the curtains.
"Mom will be back soon!" After Ling finished doing these things, she sat back on the sofa excitedly.
"Yeah," Xiaolan adjusted her sitting posture to be more dignified, "What time is it?"
Ling turned around and pointed to the refrigerator, "There are still ten minutes."
Xiaolan looked at the broken alarm clock and felt a little confused, but she didn't pay much attention to it. After a few minutes, she and Ling stood up together and ran to the door to prepare to greet Ling's mother.
Xiaolan and Ling exchanged glances. Ling's cute and well-behaved look did not reveal that she had cried bitterly just a few hours ago.
A few minutes later, there was a sound outside the door, the handle was twisted slightly, the door opened, and a slender woman appeared outside the door. She looked at her daughter with gentle eyes, smiled a few times, turned around and closed the door.
The woman wore a slim-fitting camel-colored windbreaker, a simple and elegant look, and had eyes as dark and bright as Ling's, like gems.
"Mom!" Ling took the leather bag from the woman's hand and hung it on the shelf on tiptoes.
The woman squinted her eyes and touched Ling's hair, "Ling'er is so good."
The woman changed off her shoes and walked straight into the living room.
Xiaolan had a bright and friendly smile, and just said "Hello, aunt", the woman seemed not to see her, directly passed her and walked to the refrigerator.
Her raised hand paused awkwardly in mid-air.
Well……
Ling ran to her mother at a loss and tugged on her sleeves, "Mom, I...I have friends coming over to play..."
"Ah? Do you have friends?" The woman turned around in confusion and looked in the direction pointed by her daughter's little hand.
Her pupils swept around, and it took a while before she focused on Xiaolan.
Such beautiful eyes, but their expressions are so bad?
"Oh, I just..." The woman hurriedly put her hair behind her ears and smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry, little girl, I've been tired all day long, so maybe I'm a little... a little..."
"It's okay, Auntie." Although Xiaolan was still smiling, she already had doubts in her heart, "I am Ling's friend and I came to play with her."
"Okay, okay, it's already so late. Let's just stay here." The woman rolled up her sleeves and walked to the kitchen counter. "Auntie will prepare delicious food for you. Just wait a moment..."
"But in the refrigerator..."
Before Xiaolan finished speaking, Ling tugged on her sleeves and pulled her away with a mysterious look on her face.
"What's wrong?"
"Go to my bedroom and say it," Ling made a silent gesture, "don't let mom hear it."
The two of them quietly came to Ling's bedroom. Xiaolan looked around and saw that the decoration and furnishings were exactly the same as what she saw in the crystal ball.
Ling pricked up her ears and listened to the door for a while. The symphony of pots and pans was playing outside the door. After confirming that her mother had not followed, Ling pulled Xiaolan to the bedside and sat down.
"Sister Tianshen," Ling's voice was almost inaudible, "later... do you want to ask mom later?"
Xiaolan raised her chin in distress, "Ling, don't mind if I say something."
Ling nodded honestly.
"You really don't think... there's something wrong with Auntie?" Xiaolan said tactfully.
Ling's expression stiffened, "Is it the mother from last night?"
Xiaolan pursed her lips solemnly, "She is the mother now, the mother outside."
Ling's eyes drifted to the door, then quickly came back, "Mom...there's nothing wrong."
Xiaolan took a breath, thought about it, and finally laughed, "Yes, Ling, what did you want me to ask Auntie?"
"Ask her about the... ghost I saw last night," Ling just mouthed the last word, "and where she went last night."
"Didn't you ask?" Xiaolan scratched her chin and asked.
Ling pouted, "But mom didn't tell me anything... If it was Sister Tianshen, maybe mom would say something... Sister Tianshen, didn't you say you would help me..."
Xiaolan couldn't bear the humanoid pendant and kept shaking her body, and agreed with a smile.
"Children!" The call from outside the door sounded at the right time, "It's time to eat!"
As soon as she opened the door, there was a smell of food that hit her nostrils. Xiaolan walked to the dining table in shock and stared at the delicious food on the table, and her stomach growled in response.
"Wow... Mom is so awesome!" Ling dragged out a chair for Xiaolan and sat next to her mother.
"Children, eat quickly," the woman said with a smile, serving a bowl of soup for Xiaolan, "while it's hot."
"Auntie, did you go out to buy the food just now?" Xiaolan took a bite and it was so delicious. "The refrigerator is obviously empty."
When the woman came back just now, she didn't see any food in her hand.
The woman raised her eyebrows, filled another bowl and brought it to Ling, "You kids, how do you know where the vegetables are placed? Eat quickly, and rest after eating. You have to go to school tomorrow..."
The three of them ate quietly, while the woman kept picking up food for Xiaolan and Ling. Xiaolan ignored Ling's look and decided to eat before getting into trouble, lest they be denied food later.
Finally, Xiaolan stepped aside, glanced back at Ling, glanced secretly at the woman who was eating seriously, and pretended not to care, "Auntie, Ling said she had another nightmare last night."
Ling lightly kicked Xiaolan under the table, and Xiaolan shook her head, implying that she should calm down first.
The woman's movements were stagnant, and her eyelashes trembled a few times, "This child always has nightmares, little girl, don't worry about it..."
"But I heard that from a certain perspective, dreams are reflections of reality," Xiaolan said seriously, chewing a piece of green vegetables, "Although dreams and reality do not correspond one-to-one, many dreams are in reality.
has its own prototype."
Ling stared at the woman's profile, "I always dream about my mother..."
"That means Ling loves her mother." The woman put down her chopsticks and smiled, "It means...Ling is afraid of losing her mother, afraid of not having her mother, afraid of something happening to her mother..."
"What happened?" Xiaolan asked keenly.
The woman's voice paused, then she turned her head for a long time and smiled gently at Xiaolan, "What could happen? This kid always thinks nonsense..."
She turned her head and looked into Ling's eyes, and continued, "Mom will always be by Ling's side and will always love Ling."
"Mom..." Ling's pupils flashed with tears.
Mother and daughter hugged each other in front of Xiaolan.
Xiaolan already had the consciousness of a light bulb. Looking at this scene, without saying anything, she raised the bowl and drank up the remaining chicken soup.
"Okay, okay, the dishes are cold," the woman rubbed Ling's hair, let go of her and said, "My mother must be too busy at work during this period and has less time to spend with you. After waiting for these few days, it's just like this
For a few days, my mother will be with Ling every day, so that Ling won’t be lonely anymore.”
Ling nodded happily.
Xiaolan took a big bite of chicken.
After the meal, the woman neatly put away the vegetables and washed the dishes. Xiaolan hugged the spare pillow that the woman had dug out and followed Ling back to the bedroom.
"Mom said she would always stay with me from now on." Ling sat on the bed, happily hugging the doll beside the bed.
Xiaolan was staring at the orange bedside lamp. When he heard her words, he turned around and said with a smile, "Then you are not afraid of the ghost last night?"
"That was a dream, not a ghost." Ling said seriously.
"Don't you insist that it is real?" Xiaolan reached out and wiped the button of the desk lamp.
"I just feel that my mother is always not around me and I'm just worried about her." Ling got into bed and wrapped herself tightly in the quilt. "When my mother can stay with me all the time, I won't be afraid anymore! ...Sister Tianshen, come here quickly.
Sleep here..."
Xiaolan hugged the pillow and walked around the end of the bed, looking down at the snow-white floor. When she came to the window, she raised her head and stared at the blinds and the glass next to the blinds.
Four vague fingerprints are imprinted on it.
"Sister Tianshen!..." Ling urged from behind.
Xiaolan climbed into bed, covered herself with a quilt, and rubbed her fingertips.
That's water on the desk lamp button.
There are also water stains on the white floor that are very similar to the floor pattern.
"Did it rain yesterday?" Xiaolan asked coldly.
"Yes, it rained heavily from yesterday morning to this morning. The ground was wet even if you didn't notice." Ling reached out and turned off the lamp, "Go to bed, Sister Tianshen, good night!"
Snap!
dark.
Ling quietly retreated into bed, and after a while, her breathing became even.
Under the moonlight, Xiaolan looked at Ling's sleeping face.
Safe, quiet, and with a smile.
Have a sweet dream tonight.
Xiaolan raised her eyes and looked at the off-white bedroom door.
Because reality may be much crueler than imagined.
The sounds in the living room gradually stopped, the footsteps pattered away, and the woman must have returned to her bedroom.
Xiaolan sat on the bed and waited quietly for a long time.
"Ling," she called, "Ling, wake up..."
Ling was asleep and didn't react at all.
Xiaolan opened the quilt and stepped on the ground with her bare feet.
Until she opened the door and closed it again, Ling still had no intention of waking up.
Xiaolan walked into the living room.
Only one door is open.
She walked over.
The room was dark, and the moonlight poured in through the window, outlining everything in the room.
There are no curtains, no tables, no wardrobes.
There is only one bed.
There was also a woman curled up on the bed, shaking desperately.