Chapter 4 My New Home (Part 2)

  "Has Little Autumn woken up? How is she? Is she still feeling uncomfortable? Are her arms and legs okay? Can she move?" Everyone kept asking questions, chattering non-stop, creating a chaotic din that instantly heated up the atmosphere in the room. Some touched my forehead, others touched my arms and legs, and every pair of eyes shone with genuine delight, a joy that came from deep within, without any pretence. My heart was quietly moved by this, their faces filled with relief, as if they had just seen me wake up, each person feeling like a weight had been lifted off their shoulders.

  But I was a bit dizzy, who are they! It seems to be very close to me! That must not be pretending, but I don't know any of them! Besides, where is this? Looking at their appearance towards me, each one looks like my family member, I am completely confused, half-opening my mouth, staring with wide eyes, unable to say a word, looking at them with a dazed gaze, they didn't notice my abnormality, just happily chatting with each other.

  My gaze turned to the middle-aged woman who was carrying a bowl of soup, the first person I saw after waking up. She met my gaze and saw the confusion and searching in my eyes, and immediately, a hint of worry appeared on her face. She busied herself pushing away the crowd and sat down beside me on the edge of the bed, hastily grasping my hand. I felt that her hand was very rough, but it was extremely warm. This warmth reminded me of my mother's caress, and a thread of tender feelings quietly rippled in my heart. In an instant, my chaotic mind had a somewhat melting feeling.

  "Qiū ér, what's wrong? I'm your mom. Are you still not feeling well? That's not good. Tell me, Mom will go get a doctor for you right away. Don't scare me!" Her voice was trembling with a hint of tears. "My mom?" In an instant, I completely understood - I wasn't dreaming, I had really crossed over. My brain went blank, losing all thinking function, and I was petrified, unable to accept the reality in front of me.

  "Autumn, Autumn!" The urgent and anxious cries woke me up, bringing my thoughts back to reality. It was her calling out to me, her voice filled with worry and concern, pulling on my hand, which trembled slightly - a genuine expression of a mother's deepest care and anxiety for her child's life, impossible to fake or pretend.

  "Autumn, what's wrong? Don't you recognize your mom? I'm your mom! You seem not to recognize everyone else either. Aren't these all people who often come to our home - your second uncle and aunt, third uncle and aunt, Grandpa Zhang and Grandma Zhang? Is that your sister Ling?" The others surrounding me also noticed my unusual behavior, stopped their chatter, and turned their inquiring gazes towards me.

  I gently closed my eyes, suppressing the turbulent emotions in my heart. It was a complicated feeling that I couldn't quite put into words. I calmed myself down and thought, "It seems that I've definitely crossed over to this world. This is an unchangeable fact, so thinking about anything else is meaningless. The people around me, their concern for me, made me feel not even the slightest bit of strangeness or distance. This person who claims to be my mother, and my mother from my past life, are roughly the same age. And I really can feel her deep love for me. I have a natural affection for her. I remember when I was young and got sick, my mom was like that too. Since I've come here, then my future life will be tied to these people and this environment. I'll just have to accept it. If you can't change reality, then you might as well accept it." Thinking this way, I put down my emotions and felt a sense of relief in my heart. It was strange, maybe because I had let go of my worries, but I suddenly felt really hungry.

  "Mom, I'm hungry," I said to her as I opened my eyes. This one word "mom" didn't feel awkward or forced at all, it came out very naturally. "Okay, okay," she replied, taking away the leftover meat soup from last night that was on the cabinet and quickly running into the kitchen. Soon, she brought back a steaming hot bowl of fragrant meat soup, helped me sit up against the pillow, and handed me the bowl. I took a sniff and was immediately surrounded by the rich aroma of the meat soup. "Deer meat soup? That's pure wild flavor! I've only seen deer in the zoo before, let alone eating deer meat or drinking its soup - it wasn't even something I'd dreamed of doing. In my past life, wild deer were a third-class protected species. Today, I get to drink this purely natural, uncontaminated wild deer meat soup - what a treat!"

  I couldn't help but swallow hard, my mouth watering uncontrollably as I downed nearly half the bowl in one gulp. The scalding hot and rich meat broth hit my stomach, and that feeling, every pore on my body opened up, it was so refreshing! That was comfort, that was aroma, yes, it was a soul-stirring aroma, absolutely.

  "Right, and there's meat too. I still want to eat rabbit meat. Just drinking soup won't satisfy the craving in my heart," I said. "Mom, is there any meat? I want to eat some." When they heard me say this, everyone in the house burst out laughing. That girl I called Ling Jie looked at me with a mischievous gaze several times, and when she saw me looking back at her, she lowered her head, pursed her lips, and couldn't help but laugh secretly. Oh, she's quite pretty. My face suddenly turned a bit red. Let me clarify that in my past life, I wasn't someone who easily got shy, but in front of girls, I had a small weakness - my face would turn red.

  My uncle in this life, tall and sturdy, with a dark red face, thick stubble, a pair of bright eyes, laughing loudly, patted my shoulder heavily with his rough big hands. His strength was so great that he must have had a martial arts background. My aunt stopped him, "Be gentle, the child just woke up, can you use such force?" Uncle chuckled and withdrew his hand, turning to say to my mother in a loud voice, "Sister-in-law, go get some meat quickly, Xia Qiu has been unconscious for three or four days, she must be starving. Take more, it's good for her to recover from her injuries." Ah, Uncle, you're really my kindred spirit! I almost wanted to hug him and take a few bites. We two are really on the same wavelength, he knows me so well! However, in fact, my injury had already healed under my own inner power, taking care of my body was just a small matter, solving my hunger and filling my belly was the big deal, the fundamental purpose.

  "Eldest sister, bring another bowl of meat soup and eat the meat together with it. Don't you know that eating meat without drinking the soup is a waste? Young people should eat more, there's no harm in it. At your age of over 10 years old, it's the perfect time to eat well and build a good physique!"

  Wait! "Cough, cough, cough" A mouthful of meat soup almost choked into my trachea, I started coughing loudly, almost choking to death. "Slow down, there's more, this kid, his temper is just like his dad's," My mom's scolding voice rang in my ears. "Over ten years old? I look very young, don't I? Not to mention that I'm not even close to being an adult, I'm almost thirty years old, how can I possibly look like a teenager? What kind of eyes are those?" I have to verify this.

  "Mom, is there a mirror? I want to see if my face is hurt," I said. My mom was about to go find a mirror. "Auntie, I have one," Ling Jie said with a smile she couldn't hold back, taking out a small round mirror from her pocket and handing it to me. It's true that girls all have a love for beauty, even carrying mirrors with them. The mirror was very compact, still warm from her body temperature, and had the faint scent of perfume that girls often wear. Holding the mirror, I saw my reflection staring back at me. At that moment, I was shocked. Is this really me? The mirror reflected a completely unfamiliar face. I felt like my brain had short-circuited, it was so unexpected. The me in the mirror...