"The year of the accident in the Wan family, your father was still there, who knew that only a year later, he was gone," Mrs. Xu recalled the past, and a wry smile gathered on the corner of her lips, "From now on, our mother and mother will depend on each other, fortunately, you are angry, otherwise, my mother really doesn't know how to survive this day." ”

"Xiao Wan...... Didn't come back? Xu Chong didn't answer the donkey's mouth.

"Xiaowan?" Old Mrs. Xu stopped what she was doing, "What's wrong with you today?" Didn't Xiaowan disappear with her parents? said that it was missing, but in fact it was dead, but the body could not be found, after all, there was so much blood, even the people in the government said that it was impossible for people to live. ”

Xiaowan, she wasn't in that bed.

Xu Chong had never said this to anyone, although he also knew that not seeing Xiao Wan's body did not mean that she was still alive, but he always had a glimmer of hope in his heart.

Xiaowan is so gentle and lovely, always soft-spoken when she speaks, her eyes are shining with understanding, she is his only friend in childhood, a harbor for him to escape from his father's punishment, and the softest and most untouchable corner of his heart.

That night, he went to Wanjia to find Xiaowan, and over the years, he has been regretting why he didn't look for it again, perhaps, she hid in the corner of the house, perhaps, she also saw him, but she didn't dare to speak. She must have thought he would go find someone to save her, but he ran away in dismay, leaving her to the monster under the bed.

Xu Chong's Adam's apple moved a few times: It's punishment, for so many years, he has been haunted by that nightmare, perhaps, it is Xiaowan who is punishing him.

"You have been thinking about her, after all, she was your best childhood friend," Mrs. Xu whispered to Xu Chong's back, "Although I have never heard you mention her for so many years, I know that you are worried about her in your heart." Actually, I'm very sad that she's gone, who can not like such a girl, it's a pity. ”

Xu Chong said vaguely "Hmm" and didn't answer his mother's words, so Mrs. Xu continued, "I remember that there was a time when you always said that there was a child in the Wanjia family, and you called him, but he ignored you, and you chased him, but you couldn't catch up." At that time, I was so scared when I heard you say this, I thought you were entangled in something, and I went to the temple to help you get a talisman back, and was scolded by your father, do you remember this incident? ”

"And such a thing?" Xu Chong was stunned for a moment, then turned his head to look at his mother, "Why don't I have any impression at all." ”

Mrs. Xu smiled softly, "So what your father said is right, children's words can't be taken seriously, because they can't even tell the difference between dreams and reality, you were only five years old at the time, you must have dreamed at night, and you took it as true." After all, Wanjia has only one child, where did the second child come from? ”

Xu Chong turned his head slowly, but his eyebrows were tightly locked. His mother's words were like a needle, picking open the memory that he had been sleeping in, and it had been sealed for so long that if it had not been brought up, it might have been forgotten by him forever.

But now, he remembered, although it was only a few vague fragments, but they really appeared in his mind.

There is indeed another child, a boy, who looks the same age as him, and looks very similar to Wan Zuhong, which is exactly the same, so he firmly believes that he is a child of the Wan family. Xu Chong still remembers that he often saw him squatting outside the courtyard door of Wanjia, hooking his head and looking inside, but he was reluctant to go in.

"You also did something wrong, are you afraid that your father will beat you?" Xu Chong, who was less than six years old, squatted down next to him and pointed his hand into the yard, "You don't have to be afraid, Uncle Wan is very kind, you see he has never scolded Xiaowan, unlike my father, he will whip my ass with a bamboo stick at the end of three days, look, he has beaten me here." ”

As he spoke, he was about to take off his trousers to show the little boy, but before the trouser belt was untied, the little boy had fled in a panic, and his face was pale, as if he had seen a ghost.

A few days later, Xu Chong saw the child again. This time, he and Xiaowan were squatting at the door playing with mud, the mud stuck to the placket, he was afraid of being scolded by his father, so he wanted to wash it off quickly, but when he turned around, he saw the little boy standing behind, staring at them with resentful eyes.

"Why are you here? Want...... Play together? After speaking, seeing that the little boy was silent, he patted Xiaowan on the shoulder, "He's from your family, can't he speak?" Why doesn't he say yes every time I call him? ”

Xiao Wan turned her head, her big eyes flickered a few times, then turned her head and looked at Xu Chong, "Who?" Who are you talking about? ”

"Isn't it your brother? ...... looks like your father" Xu Chong's voice stopped abruptly because the little boy was gone, and behind them was a gloomy father, staring at the mud on his chest, as if it was the dirtiest thing in the world.

Later, he didn't see the child for a long time, and one night, he woke up with urine, and when he went out to relieve himself, he saw him again, and that was the last time Xu Chong saw him.

In the dead of night, the little boy stood alone outside the courtyard of Wanjia, looking at the shadows of the houses inside. His back looked lonely, as if it was out of place with everything around him. Xu Chong suddenly felt a little distressed, because he himself often didn't dare to go home because of his father's scolding, and lingered outside the door for a long, long time.

"Are you hungry? I still have some snacks here......"

Before he finished speaking, the little boy turned around, and it turned out that he was not deaf. However, he still didn't speak, just looked at Xu Chong, reached out and touched his flat belly.

"It seems that I'm really hungry," Xu Chong smiled knowingly, "You wait, I'll go get you something to eat." ”

After saying that, he sneaked into the stove room, and when he came out, he had an extra oiled paper bag in his hand, which contained a few pieces of horseshoe cake. The little boy didn't leave, but he squatted outside the courtyard gate, his head lowered, perhaps his legs were already weak from hunger.

Xu Chong knew that feeling, his front heart was close to his back, and his stomach was so empty that he wanted to vomit, so every time he made a mistake, he was not afraid of his father beating and scolding, he was afraid that his father would punish him for not being allowed to eat. Fortunately, there is Xiaowan, she will always take out some food from home for him, and help him survive one difficult night after another.

Today, he can help others himself, and this feeling makes little Xu Chong's blood boil.

"Here's it." He handed over the paper bag, "It's delicious, my mother only allows me to taste one piece every day......"

The little boy raised his head, the oiled paper bag fell from Xu Chong's hand, and the horseshoe cake rolled out, stained with the black ash left over from the paper burned by his mother before going to bed.

The little boy's mouth was also stuffed with paper ashes, which was full, and his cheeks were rounded. But he didn't seem satisfied, and he was still stuffing the paper ashes on the ground into his mouth one after another.

On that day, it was the Midyear Festival.