Chapter Sixteen: Lily

  Unlike that dream, the child and woman were not playing hide-and-seek, but sat on a swing hung beside the flowerbed outside the house.

  "Sister, what are those white flowers?" The child's tender voice asked, pointing to the row of flower buds in the flowerbed and looking up at the woman.

  "That's a lily." The woman said with a smile, stroking the child's head.

  "When will it finally bloom?" The child seemed to be fantasizing about the beautiful scenery after the lily bloomed.

  "Hmm... when Dad doesn't come back, it will open." The woman replied after some thought.

  Xiao Yan was puzzled and wondered, why would dad come back when the flowers bloom? Xiao Yan wanted to ask, but they couldn't see Xiao Yan, of course, they also couldn't hear Xiao Yan's words.

  This was the second time, Xiaoyan heard the voice that had tormented her for countless nights. For some reason, this voice was completely different from the one that had called out "Xiaoyan..." in a sad tone before. The feeling it brought to Xiaoyan was also different. Listening to this voice, Xiaoyan didn't feel afraid or terrified, but rather a sense of familiarity and intimacy, even infatuation.

  "Sister, why do you want to plant lilies? I think dandelions are much prettier." After a while, the little kid looked up and asked her sister again. She still remembered the moment when she blew on a dandelion and watched the fluffy seeds float away like tiny umbrellas, so beautiful.

  "Because... Mom wants our family to be harmonious and peaceful. Lilies represent happiness and well-being, everything is in harmony." The woman replied after thinking for a long time.

  The child and the woman both fell silent, as if lost in their own thoughts.

  The swing sways gently in the breeze, blowing through the hair, drifting with the wind, everything is so quiet and peaceful, beautiful and comfortable.

  "Damn those rabbits! Where have they gone?" Suddenly, Xiaoyan heard a deep, slightly drunken male voice shouting loudly, breaking the beautiful scenery.

  Upon hearing this voice, the two sisters on the swing seemed to have been startled and immediately stood up.

  "Sister, what should we do? Father is back!" The child seemed to be very afraid and grasped the woman's hand tightly.

  It turned out that the loud male voice was their father.

  "Don't be afraid! Hide behind your sister, and I'll protect you." The woman suppressed the fear in her heart, smiled at the child who was tightly holding onto her, and pulled the child to her back.

  As the door opened, the owner of that terrible male voice appeared in front of Xiaoyan. The man standing in front of her was tall and sturdy, reeking of alcohol, with a reddish face due to intoxication, and full of anger. Xiaoyan looked at him, feeling inexplicably terrified, perhaps because she was worried about her two trembling sisters.

  "Rascals! Not doing your homework and running here to play! Are all three of you mother and daughters good-for-nothings?! Where's your mom?!" The man bellowed loudly, making one's heart tremble with fear.

  "I've finished my homework, Mom has gone shopping." The woman replied slowly, suppressing the great fear in her heart.

  The child hid behind the woman, tightly grasping her hand and clothes.

  "Finished writing, won't review?! Still dare to talk back! Get in here! See if I don't teach you a lesson! A bunch of useless trash!" The man became even angrier, grabbing the woman's hair and dragging her into the inner room. The woman cried out in pain as the man showed no intention of letting go. The child was also dragged back into the inner room along with the woman.

  The door was kicked shut by the man with a loud "bang", and Xiaoyan didn't have time to follow him in, so she stood still on the spot.

  Listening to the sounds of scolding, crying and screaming inside the house, intertwined.

  Xiao Yan couldn't express the discomfort in her heart. Was it fear? Sorrow? These feelings shouldn't have belonged to her, after all. It was all just a dream, someone else's dream that had nothing to do with her.

  Before her eyes flashed 'her' body unbearable scars, Xiaoyan suddenly felt a sharp pain in her heart, somewhere, involuntarily cramping.

  "Hmm...hmm...hmm..."

  Xiao Yan opened her eyes and panted heavily, as if something was pressing on her chest. She finally returned to reality, the fluorescent light still shining brightly.

  Xiao Yan touched the corner of her eye, feeling a chill and wetness... were those tears?

  In my mind, one by one, the dreams of the past seem to have a thousand threads of connection. Who is 'she' after all? Why does she have a face that looks exactly like mine? The matter becomes more complicated, and the mystery becomes even more obscure.

  Xiao Yan clutched the quilt tightly, feeling afraid, puzzled, uneasy and filled with an unknown sorrow. Why was all this happening? The more questions she had, the more danger there seemed to be. Xiao Yan suppressed her curiosity and stopped thinking about it, regulating her breathing and heartbeat.

  The sister's voice in the dream knocked on the door of memory, echoing in Xiaoyan's ears, echoing in the quiet night.

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