Chapter 19

  The bus stopped in front of the station under our building.

  Under the gray-blue sky, the high-rise building is wearing a mottled outer garment, and the marks of years of wear and tear are clearly visible on its exterior. The eight-story old building is filled with neighbors who can't get along with each other. For over a decade, the residents of this street have been struggling at the bottom of society, often quarreling over trivial matters, but also having moments of warmth when one family has trouble and eight families come to support them.

  Familiar are the damp stairs and walls; the frequently malfunctioning old elevator; the sound of mahjong being played in someone's home; clothes hung out to dry on the windowsill...

  More than a decade of time has been trapped in this old building, slowly weathering with the years.

  The bus emitted a mouthful of dirty exhaust and slowly drove to the next stop. She glanced at the window of her home on the fifth floor, then picked up her backpack and walked slowly along the crowded street to the downstairs entrance, where she greeted the administrator who was reading the newspaper, and waited for the elevator.

  The elevator hadn't opened yet, but the moving company's workers were already crowded in front of the elevator door with large and small pieces of furniture. It seemed like someone was moving in again. Youyou let out a sigh, thinking that the elevator would probably be too crowded to get in, so she simply ran up to the fifth floor from the old staircase next to it.

  The dimly lit corridor on the fifth floor, with its cold and dark walls stretching past door after door. This old building had few days of direct sunlight because newer and taller residential buildings kept springing up beside it, so even in the height of summer, the corridors remained gloomy, deep and chilly.

  The damp floor, always greedily absorbing the humble footsteps. The corridor is always quiet, close to death.

  In the gloomy environment, the old woman next door placed a brazier at the entrance and burned paper money inside. The paper money emitted an orange-yellow flame with a hint of dark green, like the ghost fire in a desolate tomb. As I walked by, I smelled the smoke from the two incense sticks lit on the edge of the brazier, which was like the smell of charred flesh during cremation.

  The old woman muttered to herself, her wrinkled face lifted up, and her sinister eyes made her heart feel eerie. She quickened her pace, nervously taking out the key in front of her own door. A gust of cold wind blew over, extinguishing the candles on the stove, and the ashes of the paper money swirled in the air. The old woman was shocked and pale, repeatedly muttering that something was amiss, and hastily retreated back into the house, slamming the door shut with a bang.

  The empty corridor was as solemn as a dark tomb at this time, with many wandering spirits floating around.

  The door creaked open and then slammed shut. The room was still dimly lit and eerily quiet. Outside, the bustling city streets contrasted sharply with the silence inside, like two separate worlds that didn't intersect. Dad hadn't returned from work yet, and little brother was probably still at kindergarten. The room looked a bit messy.

  I don't know who was playing Alan Tam's old song, it was floating and lingering in the sky outside the building. Then it was interrupted by a knock on the door behind me.

  "Who is it? Lok Chai?"

  She called out her brother's name, glanced at the clock on the wall, and it was time for kindergarten to be let out. She opened the door, a chill wind blew across her body, she felt as if someone had walked past her side. She looked back at the house, then looked down the corridor.

  Not a single person.

  Who's knocking at the door?

  She hesitantly closed the door. Just now, she clearly heard the knock on the door, right? She even suspected that her ears had developed a post-operative complication, having heard strange ball-bouncing sounds in the hospital, and now...

  It might be that stray cat that often wanders around this old building. Youyou remembers that dirty black cat always sneaking into other people's homes to steal food, or scratching at the door with its paws. The knocking sound just now was probably that annoying black cat causing trouble again.

  So when the knocking sound came again, she opened the door and scolded loudly: "Stinky cat! Dead cat! Looking for death!"

  The person standing at the door was shocked by her scolding, with their eyes wide open and mouth agape. Youyou looked at Fang Ajie and Leizi outside the door, her face suddenly turning red, but she still pretended to be nonchalant and said: "Oh, it's you guys who are back. I thought it was that annoying stray cat."

  Aunt Fang didn't take it to heart. She said, "Yóu Yóu, you're discharged from the hospital, huh?" while carrying Le Zi into the house. It wasn't until then that Yóu Yóu saw the two tear streaks on Le Zi's face and asked, "What's wrong?"

  "Got bullied by Xiao Pang and the others again, huh?" Fang Ayi put Lezi on the sofa and brushed off the dust from his body. "When I went to pick up Lezi just now, I saw Xiao Pang riding on his back playing horseback ride, while the other kids were cheering him on."

  "How stupid! Being fooled by others and not even knowing how to resist!" Youyou rolled her eyes at Lezi, "You have no shame, but I do."

  Le Zi, who had been scolded, felt wronged and his eyes became watery again, his nose slightly twitching. Fang Ayi quickly comforted him and then turned to Youyou and said: "You shouldn't scold your brother."

  ...walked slowly into the kitchen with a low hum and drank some water.

  Cool boiled water poured into the stomach, but the troubles in my heart couldn't be washed away. As for Lezi, Youyou had always been dissatisfied with him. Although he was his biological younger brother, their mother had died giving birth to him, and he was also very stupid. Other kids didn't want to play with him, and they would call him "low B仔" (idiot). Every time this happened, Youyou felt ashamed, and didn't even want to have such a shameful little brother.

  After drinking water, she felt hungry again. She hadn't eaten anything today. She found a package of instant noodles and lit the stove to boil some water. While waiting for the water to boil, she heard Aunt Fang leave, then Leizi ran in barefoot, pulling on her clothes and shouting: "Sister, play with me."

  "Nonsense!"

  Yu Yu brushed his hand aside, glared at him and said, "Play by yourself!"

  Le Zi saw the displeasure on his sister's face, couldn't figure out what he did to make her angry again, feeling wronged, he burst into tears.

  "I'm so fed up! Go cry outside if you want to!"

  Youyou gave Lezi a push, pushing him out of the kitchen. He sat on the floor in the living room and continued to wail. Youyou didn't care about that anymore, took out an iPod from his bag, put on headphones and turned up the volume to the maximum. Chen Yixun's song drowned out Lezi's crying like a wave.

  Pour boiling water into the cup, wait for five minutes, and then Yu Yu takes off his headphones, picks up chopsticks and slowly starts eating noodles.

  The music in the living room seems to have stopped crying. Youyou heard that he seemed to be playing a flying chess game with someone, and was having a great time. At first, Youyou thought it was Fang Auntie coming over to play with him again, but from the kitchen window of her own home, she could see Fang Auntie hanging clothes on the opposite balcony.

  Is he playing alone?

  When she finished eating and walked out of the kitchen, she found Le Zai putting away the flying chess pieces. The door was open. She couldn't help but curiously ask: "Le Zai, who were you playing with just now?"

  "Ah Lian." Le Zai replied without lifting his head.

  "Who is Arlene?"

  "Arian is Arian."

  Aren? Youyou heard this name for the first time.