Companions on the Road (Book Review Collection) Three Returns Are Not as Good as the First Far Away

  The night grew darker, and in the small apartment of the Qin family, with two bedrooms and one living room, there was a deep silence.

  The doctor has left, Qin Miao still hasn't turned on the light, she adheres to the principle of being frugal with her words, making up her mind that if her parents in the living room don't call her, she won't make a sound.

  After a while, there was suddenly the sound of the door opening outside, followed by a clear and crisp boy's voice: "Dad, Mom, I'm back!"

  "Ah, Xiao Zhi is back, didn't you have dinner at school?" Qin Mama Pei Xia's voice was soft and gentle with a hint of huskiness.

  "I've eaten, mom, I'm going to do my homework."

  "Wait!" Qin Peixiang's voice was low and solemn, "Xiao Zhi, why are you coming back so late today?"

  "No," the boy's voice was a little guilty, "I just went to play some basketball with my classmates."

  "Alright," Qin Peixiang said, now also having no mind to care about him, "Don't go to your sister's room, your sister is back. Go to Mom and Dad's room to do your homework!"

  "Ah! Sister is back?" Qin Yunzhi was delighted, "That's great, I have homework that I don't understand and want to ask her about it. It's strange, why didn't sister turn on the lights? Ah, sis! Are you there?"

  Qin Peixiang scolded in a low voice: "Don't go over! It's not your eldest sister who has returned, it's your second sister."

  "What? Second sister?" Qin Yunzhi's voice dropped, "Dad, Mom, how can second sister come back?"

  Pei Xia couldn't help but cover her mouth and sob again.

  Qin Peixiang angrily said: "Why can't your second sister come back? Hurry up and write your homework!"

  "Oh," Qin Yunzhi's voice trailed off, accompanied by a murmur, "To be honest, I'm actually a bit afraid of Second Sister. Sigh, tonight I'll have to sleep on the sofa in the living room again..."

  Qin Miao was eavesdropping in the small bedroom, her mouth twitching downward uncontrollably. These people really treated her like a madwoman.

  Forget it... A good man doesn't talk about his past heroics. Now that I'm no longer a good man, there's nothing more to say.

  She twisted the door lock and pulled it open, walking into the living room.

  Qin Peixiang and Pei Xia looked over together, their eyebrows and eyes unable to conceal their shock.

  "Dad, Mom." Qin Miao called out in a slightly awkward tone, "Let's have a good talk." As she spoke, she directly sat down on the sofa.

  Qin Peixiang and Pei Xia didn't make a sound, Qin Mian hung his head low, but couldn't help starting to critique in his heart: "Hmmm, the voice is soft and sweet like sugar and pastry. The little girl doesn't look great, but her vocal line is still good. It's just that this Chu region accent is a bit strange. Luckily speaking is an instinct for this body, I don't need to learn it separately, otherwise I really wouldn't be able to speak properly. And that so-called Mandarin on TV, what a hassle."

  He thought for a moment, but still didn't get a response from his parents, so he simply raised his head and lightly coughed, saying: "Dad, Mom, I'm done." As he spoke, he secretly grumbled to himself: "Luckily they didn't make me call them Father and Mother, otherwise I'd rather die than call them that!"

  "Ah?" Pei Xia seemed to have just woken up from a dream and responded with a single word, "What?"

  Qin Peixiang asked cautiously: "Mumu, how are you feeling now?"

  Qin Miao nodded very affirmatively: "I'm fine now. The past two months were like a dream, and I've woken up now, so you don't have to worry." After speaking, she still had some pride in her heart: "Thinking back, with just one clever mouth, I could even make the flower queen of Bianjing infatuated with me; now, making up a small excuse is still child's play?"

  This is typical, and the noble son's spoiled psychology has relapsed again.

  Just then, Pei Xia carefully stretched out her hand in front of Qin Miao, clenched her fist and said a sentence that struck her extremely: "Miao Miao, how many are these?"

  Qin Mu took a deep breath, reiterating the principle of being frugal with words in his heart, and finally squeezed out a faint smile: "This is a fist." After that, he made up his mind that if no one asked him any questions, he would resolutely not take the initiative to speak again.

  Qin Peixiang pointed at the coffee table in front of the sofa and asked: "What's this?"

  "Tea table." Qin Mu's face was expressionless.

  After some thought, Qin Peixiang picked up a stack of materials on the tea table, which was the psychological counseling materials left by the doctor. He decided to use the methods on it to test his daughter's mental state.

  "Qin Miao, what do you think your identity is?" Qin Pei Xiang asked cautiously. According to the doctor's words, Qin Miao had delusional-type schizophrenia, and she was controlled by her self-delusional spiritual world, thinking that everything around her was unreasonable and wanted to harm her.

  "My name is Qin Miao, I'm an ordinary student at Municipal Third Middle School." Qin Miao psyched himself up, knowing this was a crucial moment. If he couldn't get the recognition of Mr. and Mrs. Qin, who knows if he'd have to go back to Xiping Hospital again. By then, it would be hard to say whether he could escape or not.

  "Mumu, if I ask you to go to school tomorrow, will you go?"

  "Go on, isn't it what students are supposed to do?"

  Qin Peixiang's expression obviously relaxed a bit, and Pei Xia beside him tightly grasped his arm.

  "Mumu, what do you think of the people around you?"

  "It's all good."

  "Are you hungry now?"

  "Haven't had dinner, I'm a bit hungry." Qin Miao thought for a moment and said, "Dad, don't you think we should have dinner first?" Her idea was that normal people would want to eat when they're hungry.

  Qin Peixiang and Pei Xia exchanged a glance, both of them feeling somewhat reassured. Which parents would be willing to send their daughter to a mental hospital? If Qin Meng hadn't been causing so much trouble recently, they wouldn't have made that decision either.

  But even such a simple conversation can't tell if Qin Miao has recovered normally, so Qin Peixiang decided to observe Qin Miao's daily life for the next few days.

  "Then, mom, why aren't you going to cook?"

  Pei Xia hastily nodded and got up to go to the kitchen.

  Qin Peixiang said: "That Miao Miao, you rest at home for a few days first, let your mom accompany you, okay?"

  "Alright." Qin Miao agreed readily. Originally, she didn't plan on going out anyway. This world was so strange and unfamiliar to her; she would rather stay home and watch TV or read books.

  Qin Peixiang took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, lit one and smoked while thinking. After finishing the cigarette, he looked at Qin Miao again: "Miao Miao, is there anything you want to do?"

  "Really!" Qin Miao's face lit up with joy, "I want to read books, can you find more for me to read?"

  Qin Peixiang's eyes widened in surprise, and after a moment of stunned silence, he asked: "Okay, what kind of books do you like to read?"

  "I want to see a more comprehensive Chinese dictionary." Qin Miao thought of himself always seeing white characters and gradually understanding that the simplified characters nowadays are different from the traditional characters in ancient times. "It's best to have the Twenty-Four Histories too. Ah, I remember last time I saw on TV a book series called 'Ten Thousand Whys', I want to see that one."

  Qin Miao felt that the "why" she had been carrying in her heart was no longer just over a million.

  "Twenty-Four Histories" and "One Hundred Thousand Whys"? Those two sets of books are quite expensive, aren't they... Qin Peixiang muttered to himself, then smiled faintly after a moment. "Alright, since Mèi likes them, Daddy will buy them for you. Once we get them, your brother and sister can also take a look."

  Qin Miao didn't say anything else, but suddenly felt that the man in front of her wasn't so unfamiliar after all.

  "Those two sets of books are expensive", a few simple words, have already revealed too much information.

  Waiting for you to discover!