Chapter 50: Their Secret II (2)

  This is the third time I've heard this sentence, I grabbed Mrs. Liu's hand and said: "Do you know Ye Erlang?" I stared tightly at Mrs. Liu's eyes, my heart was tense and about to jump out of my chest, not knowing what answer I would hear from her mouth.

  Liu's mother looked bewildered and shook her head, saying: "There were so many people, I don't remember."

  I was furious: "How could you not remember, he's also a member of the Dream Club, he even left a letter saying he wanted to take him home, with your address on it, how can you say you don't remember?"

  Liu's mom, who had gradually calmed down, suddenly tensed up again, stood up from the chair in an instant, grabbed my hand, and her face was full of fear. "What did you say? He has my address there? She doesn't want me anymore, I'm the second one, I've finally become the second one!"

  Liu's mother's voice was already shaking, and she kept repeating that she had become the second one. I was getting impatient, so I shouted loudly: "What is going on here?"

  My loud shout had a significant effect, and Mrs. Liu gradually calmed down, seemingly having made up her mind, she sat back down again, stared blankly for a moment, and slowly said: "I'll tell you a story, the people in the story you all know, because you will also be one of them."

  As soon as I heard the story and found it had something to do with me, I was stunned for a moment but didn't say a word, quietly listening to Mrs. Liu continue. Mrs. Liu paused for a moment, seemingly thinking about how to start, then after a while, began to speak: "I'm a pitiful yet hateful woman, many years ago I met a man and without any official status, willingly followed him and even gave birth to a daughter for him. I originally thought that such days were already very happy, as long as he could wholeheartedly treat us mother and daughter well, I wouldn't mind anything else. But I didn't think that my nightmare had only just begun."

  I knew the daughter that Mrs. Liu was talking about must be Xiaorui, and as for the man, it goes without saying that it's Old Chu. Although she spoke a bit too much, I didn't interrupt her, no matter what Xiaorui is, after all, I used to like her very much, and I don't know anything about her past, maybe this is my chance. Actually, ghosts are kind of like stinky tofu, when you haven't eaten it, you think it smells terrible, but once you take a bite, you realize it's not that bad, maybe it's because of the influence of movies and TV shows, I always thought ghosts were very scary, but after coming into contact with a few, now that I think about it, they don't seem to have caused me any harm, the fear in my heart has also gradually faded away, and I can sit calmly and listen to Mrs. Liu tell stories.

  The man in Mrs. Liu's mouth was Lao Chu. Originally, Mrs. Liu thought she had found a reliable person to depend on, but Lao Chu was actually a male chauvinist who looked down on women. When he saw that the newborn baby was a girl, he didn't have a good expression for her every day. After two years, he simply brought back his son born with another woman outside. Originally, this son was born out of an affair with that woman, and she had her own family. In order to inherit the property, she refused to return the child to Lao Chu. Lao Chu also didn't dare offend the woman's husband, so he let his son stay by her side. After the woman got the inheritance, she no longer cared about this son and handed him over to Lao Chu, then went abroad to settle down.

  Lao Chu doted on this son to an indescribable degree, and as a result, Liu Mama and Xiao Rui's days became even more difficult. They were often beaten and scolded by Lao Chu. Liu Mama was a weak person, and she could only silently endure everything. Only in the still of the night would she dare to hold Xiao Rui and cry secretly.

  I was already fuming when I heard this, and I couldn't help but complain to Mrs. Liu: "Since he treats you like that, why don't you just leave him?"

  Liu's mother sighed and said, "Otherwise, how can I be called a pitiful and hateful woman? I just couldn't bear to leave him. I thought that one day he would treat me well."

  I shook my head in dismay, and indeed, as she had said herself, Mrs. Liu was a pitiful, hateful, and tragic woman all at once. But by doing so, she had also made life difficult for Little Rui; I didn't need to ask to know that her childhood must have been miserable. Sighing, I continued to listen to what Mrs. Liu had to say.

  Liu Mama's tolerance and endurance did not bring her any favorable changes. Old Chu became increasingly disgusted with her and Xiaorui, even going so far as to confront Xiaorui about whether she was the product of Liu Mama's infidelity with a wild man outside, saying that he only had one son and no daughter. Liu Mama still endured Old Chu's abuse with fantasy, expecting a miracle to occur.

  At that time, Old Chu still had a decent job, and Mrs. Liu was alone at home with the two children. That morning, Mrs. Liu saw that the two children were still lying in bed and hadn't woken up yet. She quietly left the house to take advantage of the time to buy some vegetables. When she rushed back home, she saw that Xiaorui had already gotten out of bed and was standing by the window looking outside, while the originally closed window had been opened by someone for no apparent reason.

  Liu Mama saw Xiaorui standing in front of the window and was startled, hurriedly pulling her back, asking: "Has brother woken up yet?"

  Xiao Rui looked at Liu Mama and pointed outside the window with her hand, saying: "Brother is down there."

  Mrs. Liu was startled and rushed to the window, sticking her head out to take a look. What she saw almost scared her to death. On the ground lay a corpse, which was the son that Old Chu had brought back from outside. The ground was covered with blood and flesh, and it looked like he wouldn't survive.

  Mrs. Liu was so scared that her face turned pale, now people in the neighborhood have gone to work, and no one has discovered it yet, but Mrs. Liu was already frightened beyond recognition, only knowing to grab Xiaohui's hands and shout loudly: "Why is this happening? Didn't I tell you not to play by the window?"

  Xiao Rui shook her head and said, "We didn't go play by the window."

  "Mother Liu said loudly: "How could this happen if you didn't go to play by the window?"

  Xiao Rui faced her mother's anger, but was surprisingly calm, looking at her and saying: "Because an aunt told me, 'Xiao Rui, push him down'."

  My heart suddenly tightened, this sentence is too familiar to me. The last time I went with Xiaoyue to find the secret of Chujiang Mountain's success, I saw this sentence on a piece of paper taken out from the coffin. At that time, I thought it was Xiaoyue who pushed me into the coffin. Now it seems that it should be what "Auntie" said to Xiaoyue when she was still a little girl, but I don't know how it was remembered and written on that piece of paper.

  Liu Mama was frightened by what Xiao Cui said and asked: "What aunt?"

  Xiao Rui said: "That aunt is wearing a red skirt, she looks really good, but mom, why are that aunt's teeth red?"

  Liu Mama felt a chill run down her back as she listened to Xiao Rui's words, and her eyes darted around, but she saw nothing. "Where is Auntie?" she asked.

  Xiao Wei said: "It's right behind you, just turn around and you can see it."

  Mrs. Liu suddenly turned around, but saw nothing. This made her even more frightened and she quickly took out her phone to call Old Chu, then rushed downstairs to prepare to collect the boy's body. There are not many people in the neighborhood now, but soon the early risers who went shopping will be back and it will be a big deal.

  Lao Chu rushed back home from work, his eyes already red. When he saw his son's body, he burst into loud wails and held him in his arms. Mrs. Liu didn't know what to do, trying to comfort him on the side. After crying for a while, Lao Chu stood up and slapped Mrs. Liu in the face, saying she couldn't even take care of their child at home.

  Liu's mother was hit by Old Chu's slap and stumbled, her face immediately swelled up. Old Chu was still not satisfied, rushed over to grab her hair and slammed it against the wall. Suddenly, Liu's mother's face was covered with blood. Xiaohua cried out "Wa" and tightly hugged her mother, saying: "It wasn't mom who pushed brother down, it was Auntie who told me to push him."

  Lao Chu let go of Liu Mama in his rage and grabbed Xiaorui with one hand, asking: "What aunt? Where is she?"

  Xiao Rui was pinched by Lao Chu until it hurt, but she didn't dare to cry out loud. She trembled and said: "Auntie is right behind you, can't you see? She's wearing a red skirt and has long hair."

  When Grandma Liu said this, her body couldn't help but tremble. It was clear that although these things had happened many years ago, she had never forgotten them. I saw that she was emotionally agitated, so I stretched out my hand and gently patted her to comfort her.

  Liu's mother raised her head, and her eyes were filled with sorrow. She said: "He listened to Xiaorui's words, but he didn't see anything, so he thought Xiaorui was intentionally lying to him, saying that I had colluded with a wild man to cut off the roots of the Chu family. While speaking, he dragged Xiaorui into the room. I desperately pounded on the door, but he wouldn't open it. I heard Xiaorui crying and shouting "Mom" inside. I heard him scolding people inside. I heard Xiaorui's struggling voice gradually becoming weaker, and my heart also sank down gradually. But I didn't know what to do."

  After a while, he opened the door and I saw that his hands were covered in blood. I was terrified and rushed into the room, where I saw...I saw Xiaorui hanging from the ceiling with her head down, and the floor was covered in fresh blood. Mrs. Liu became increasingly agitated and incoherent, pointing at the ceiling and saying: "Look, look, it was right there! My poor Xiaorui was hanged to death in that very spot! That heartless man said Xiaorui had seen something she shouldn't have seen, so he made sure she would never see anything again. He...he gouged out Xiaorui's two eyeballs and threw them at my feet."

  A chill ran down my spine, I never thought there were such cruel fathers and weak mothers in the world. If only Liu's mother had been a bit stronger, this wouldn't have happened. But she wasn't, and this living being can be said to have died completely at their hands. In an instant, I felt unspeakable disgust towards Liu's mother.