Chapter 27

  After dusk, the living room was dark without lights. Le Zi wailed in the darkness. Perhaps he would never understand why his sister scolded him again. He still wore those urine-soaked pants, the stinky smell spreading into the air, and his sister was angry with him because of these pants, letting him sit on the floor crying nonstop.

  He didn't eat dinner. Although his sister had put the cooked dinner on the table, he hadn't eaten a single bite. Probably still angry with his sister, he sat on the cold floor, and even though his stomach was starting to feel hungry, he refused to give up his childish pride.

  Everyone scolds him as a low B boy, but he obviously also has dignity and will get angry, and there is no difference with others at all.

  Why does everyone hate him, including his own sister?

  Lezi looked at the half-open door of his sister's room, where a sliver of light had opened up. He stopped crying. He was tired. At just five years old, he already knew how to give up. His sister must be listening to music, so she hadn't heard his wailing at all.

  He opened his tear-swollen eyes and gazed around the room invaded by darkness. The streetlights outside couldn't dispel the gloom in the living room, and the furniture inside lost its warm appearance of daytime, making him feel like they were terrifying monsters lurking in the shadows, ready to pounce on him at any moment.

  Luo Zai felt very scared, his stomach was churning with hunger, and it started to ache slightly. He heard the shouting of vendors selling zongzi from the street downstairs. He thought of those hot and fragrant rice dumplings filled with meat, and he couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva, then his throat became very dry.

  He got up from the floor and climbed onto the windowsill using the sofa. His little head rested on the cold window bars, greedily gazing at the street vendor selling zongzi. He was getting hungrier and hungrier.

  In the silent living room, the door slowly opened. A small black shadow pushed open the door and walked in from the corridor. Le Zi didn't notice the situation behind him at all. The little kid was barefoot, walking without making a sound, but the plastic raincoat on his body made a slight rustling sound when it shook.

  It slowly walked over to Lezi, who was crouching on the windowsill, everything was silent and soundless, as if it were walking in the air without making a single footstep. When it approached Lezi, it stretched out a small hand and placed it on Lezi's shoulder.

  The computer screen light made her face look pale. She chatted with her MSN friends online while shaking her head to the music in her earphones. Later, she got a bit tired from chatting and took off her earphones, lying on the bed to rest for a while.

  It's already very late. Father doesn't seem to be back yet. Has he been working overtime again? Youyou thought of his younger brother who peed in his pants in front of Cheng Yitian once more.

  Has he eaten dinner? Who cares!

  Just thinking about her younger brother's incontinence made her feel ashamed. Although she had done many embarrassing things with Le Zai on ordinary days, today she almost lost face in front of Cheng Yitian, which was something that could not be forgiven no matter what.

  She doesn't want a brother who is laughed at and belittled from head to toe.

  However, blood ties are destined and cannot be changed, they can only be concealed.

  As she thought of this, she scratched her head in distress. At this time, she heard the sound of Le Zi playing rock-paper-scissors coming from the living room.

  "Guess what I'm eating: steamed buns, steamed bread, steamed glutinous rice cake. If you guess correctly, you'll get fragrant sesame balls, if not, you'll get bean paste buns."

  It's like playing with someone.

  Youyou felt very strange. She sat up in bed, thought for a moment, and then went out the door to check on things.

  The living room was not lit, and in the dark environment, fragments of black shadows floated around. Even at home, Youyou couldn't help but feel a chill that was hard to explain. Every gap in the air flowed with a sorrowful breath, swirling, swirling, as if there was a huge vortex waiting for her, ready to swallow her up at any moment.

  Le Zi's voice came from the darkness. The heavy night pressed his small voice very heavily. Youyou walked out a few steps, opened her eyes wide, and vaguely distinguished Le Zi's figure sitting in the living room, raising his hand, saying scissors, rocks, and paper, then hehe laughed.

  "I won again. Arin, you lost again."

  In the darkness, another child's laughter suddenly came. In Yu Yu's eyes, a group of black shadows appeared, overlapping each other, and she couldn't find where that child was sitting. But it was clearly in the living room, hehe laughing. This kind of laughter made people feel sad like a wound on their skin, and the evil and eerie atmosphere began to stir in the dark night.

  "Lei, who are you playing with?"

  Lei Rui turned her head around and stared at her in the darkness.

  Not a sound was made. The room was extremely quiet. Like a dead silent ocean.

  Youyou felt the air was eerily cold, and this uneasy feeling was born from the lush darkness in front of her. She plucked up the courage to walk into the living room and flipped on the light switch. The dazzling light swept away the darkness, and the breath she had been holding back burst out suddenly.

  She saw Lezi sitting on the ground, with a small face that was clearly tear-stained. The corners of his mouth were a bit greasy, as if he had just eaten dinner, but when she squatted down to take a closer look, she smelled the fragrance of zongzi.

  "Have you eaten zongzi?" she asked.

  Le Zi hesitated and nodded, unsure if this would anger his sister. His eyes revealed a fearful heart of being scolded. The light gray pupils hid a pitiful glow like that of a small animal.

  Youyou's severe expression eased up, and she asked in a soft tone, "Did you run downstairs to buy something to eat?"

  Le Zai shook his head.

  "No. It's Arin who gave it to me."

  "Alan?" Youyou felt inexplicably tense again, she looked around the room, and apart from her and her brother, there was no one else. The night outside, driven away, seemed to be waiting for an opportunity to pounce back in, rubbing its fists together.

  "Where is it? Where's Ah Lian?" Youyou stared at Leizi and asked.

  3

  Coca shook his head too.

  "I don't know, Ah Lian was just here a moment ago." Le Zai suddenly looked like he wanted to get his sister's praise, and his eyes shone with pride. "Sister, I just won against Ah Lian! Ah Lian always loses to me."

  "Are you playing rock-paper-scissors?"

  "Yes, I won against Ah Lian, and she gave me zongzi to eat."

  Luo Zai happily said, looking forward to getting praise from his sister. However, Youyou felt that her blood flow was slowing down. Her thoughts were like a river overflowing with floodwaters, drifting with all sorts of debris, small animals and human corpses. She couldn't control her speculation about A Lian.

  Ailian, who is it?