(13) Six paintings

Tear open the brown paper bag and see a letter. Six drawings and two diaries. The six paintings are all sketches of figures, the paintings are gray, and at first glance they are from Xiao Yu's hand.

The first picture is of Xiao Yu herself. Short hair and big eyes, slightly more pupils, thin cheeks, with a strange light in his eyes, and his demeanor is vivid.

The second picture shows a total of two people, who seem to be the same age as their grandchildren, on the left is a baby, with no sparse hair on the head, slightly chubby cheeks, and an open mouth and a smile, and on the right is an old man in his fifties, with a slightly bald forehead, a tall and large nose, a pinch of benevolent mustache under his lips, and his eyes slightly squinted but his expression is indifferent. The two are about palms apart, and the color treatment is even more contrasting, and the background on the right is overly gray and feels very incongruous.

Flipping through the third picture, the three jumped almost at the same time, a woman and a child. It looked like a mother and son, the woman was about twenty years old, wearing a black dress, Xi'er felt very familiar, as if she had seen it somewhere. Zhizi's body shook strongly, the child was about two or three years old, and his head was cut by something, and he was drenched in blood, which was quite frightening.

The fourth is a middle-aged woman in her thirties and forties, with sunken cheeks, slightly high cheekbones, lips pursed, and only eyes that seem to be about to emerge from the painting.

The fifth painting shows a man and a woman, both about forty years old, perhaps a couple, left and right.

The woman has her hair in a bun and is a rather traditional woman, with plump cheeks and a happy expression, and she opens her mouth and smiles.

The man's eyes were small, his face was full of stubble, his expression was wooden, and the two of them were dressed very plainly.

There are more than a dozen people in the sixth picture, and three of them are quite bright in tone, so they are particularly prominent, and if you look closely, you will know that they are Tongtong. Xi'er. Zhizi three. The rest of the people are indisputable, dark in tone, and not very clear in outline, as if to deliberately emphasize the uniqueness of the three people, or perhaps to indicate the importance of the three people who are different from others...... It's just that there is a gap between the position of the three of them and the way the three of them usually get along, Xi'er is separated between Tongtong and Zhizi, not Tongtong and Zhizi holding each other, and at the same time, the faces of the two are outward from each other, I don't know what it means?

All but one of these six paintings. Except for the characters on the six sheets, Xi'er almost didn't know it at all, but she faintly felt that there was a subtlety in it, but she couldn't see any clues after looking at it again and again.

The diary records more than a decade of vague years. It's not every day, and the length is not fixed, and some only have one or two sentences. The handwriting is sometimes sloppy, sometimes neat, which may represent Xiaoyu's mood at that time. The last page is written about ten days ago, and in a rather strange tone, it reads: "What is the end? I want to know too!

And who will make up for it? “

It seems to be expecting the end of a novel or episode, and then there is no more account. It is estimated that after writing this sentence, it was sealed in an envelope, and then it was written on the cover that three people would open it together, but why it was not sent, no one knows. The obituary that the three of them received together may have been found by the aunt in the classmate directory, or it was a special confession by Xiaoyu before she passed away.

Opening the letter, the three of them read it carefully: Kiritsu. Xi'er. Zhizi: You may be surprised to receive this package, but just think about my past, the most real thing is that I spent it with you.

I still remember the first time I met you, your expression of fear towards me, even I couldn't believe it, and in the end we became good friends, and all this may be fate after all, or a special arrangement of God.

As you might think, I'm weird, why do I like to tell ghost stories so much? Actually, you don't know about being with them, but I live more easily, and my memories seem to be woven in this way.

The first picture I painted when I was 10 years old, and everyone was shocked by me, because I could clearly depict what I would look like five or six years later, and at the same time, the tone of the brush was gray and the eyes were strange, in fact, this is what I felt in my world, and it has been deeply etched in my mind since I was four years old.

The second painting is a shadow that I have never been able to wave away in my heart, and they have all left this world because of me.

The third picture is of two people who have been with me all the time.

The fourth picture is that I have never been able to figure out who the person in the painting is, and I left home at the age of seventeen, but the purpose is to find this vague answer, and I finally figured it out a month ago.

The fifth picture is the image of two people that came to my mind when I found the answer.

I still can't figure out the sixth picture, why I keep thinking of this scene in my head, I really can't understand it.

Since I was four years old, I have lived a very painful life, my brother has taken away my father's love for me, but the most painful thing is the accident, which buried my illusions about the whole world. From then on I began to fear the rain, and every rainy night I would cry in fear because the accident came back to me, and I didn't have the courage to face it, but no one would be there for me, because they clearly told me that I was not their own daughter at all.

I've been lonely and no one wants to have their little ones with me.

One night, I found a two- or three-year-old child standing next to my bed, his head bleeding incessantly, but he kept shouting, "Eat ice!" Eat ice! I'm going to eat ice! ”

He kept pulling my hand. I tried to wipe the blood off his head, but he shook his hand, as if he thought it was funny. I have a strong and special feeling about him, he always appears in front of me out of nowhere, he only likes strawberry ice, and no one seems to be able to see him except me.

He grew up with me, but he didn't grow up at all. He was my first and only friend, and it wasn't until I was ten years old that I met the man in the second picture, my teacher. It was he who discovered my talent for painting, and in him I enjoyed my father's love again. However, dreams always shattered so quickly, and I became more and more afraid of him, and finally I escaped from the bomb shelter. The next day, he was gone forever and ever. It was there that I met the woman in a black dress, and I only remember the teacher falling down with a look of astonishment. It happened that it was another rainy day, and I didn't know if the teacher hugged me for the fear in my heart or for what? Because I don't remember the scene anymore, I remember seeing the woman's smile and knowing that we were smiling very happily, but I don't know where she came from.

Since that day I have had a second friend, but we rarely talk to each other, and we seem to understand each other through the look and smile, but I like her very strongly. I love the way she dresses, and what she wears seems to fit me perfectly.

During my time with her, I had many strange visions in my mind, and those fragmentary images almost always repeated the appearance of the same woman, and at the age of twelve I finally drew her clearly, a woman I did not know at all.

(14) The end of the story?

Her appearance. The figure and even the voice of the voice were so clear that I dreamed of her every other day from that day, and each time I woke up from the dream almost frantically, but I could no longer remember anything but her, those bright and clear eyes, I don't know if I saw through something, or what to say?

Covered in cold sweat, I couldn't tell whether I was scared or expectant. I always thought that she was the mother who abandoned herself in pursuit of happiness, but that feeling was neither hatred nor longing, but a complex feeling that was difficult to hold on to but lingered.

If she really is my mother, how will I face her? That's when I met Whiskers, and Whiskers' only hope was to find his mother, and I couldn't help but cry when I looked at him. If she really is my mother, I think this is the first and last time I shed tears for her.

Meeting you may be the last gift from God! Your acumen. Innocence and straightforwardness almost completely infected me. At that time, she disappeared, and did not leave any news, I looked forward to her return, but I was also afraid of her appearance, the truth is still beautiful, maybe it is easier to fall asleep at night without dreams!

For three years, whenever I think of you in my ghost story, those longings. With a smile or a frightened face, pain is no longer so important.

She came back when the tour bus pulled into downtown Taipei. The moment I walked into the hostel, I realized that all of this was deliberately arranged by her, because I could almost smell her smell clearly, and I could hear her laughter enough to drown you out, and the tight and strong sense of oppression enveloped me.

She told the story through my mouth, and then she began to laugh maniacally, circling the room frantically, as if all her pain had been fully cathartic, and then she slowly quieted down, looking straight at Zhizi with both eyes. At that moment, a clear scene surfaced in my mind, it turned out that Zhizi was her real target, but I couldn't stop it.

Zhizi, forgive me! I know you didn't believe it at the time, but I really couldn't have predicted that this would be the case.

The rain six years ago sent away Zhizi and Tongtong, and that feeling came back, Looking at me trembling all over, Xi'er comforted me and said, "Soon, we will meet again!" ”

From that night on, I saw that face again, and it appeared in my dreams almost every night, and in the end I couldn't tell if it was a dream or reality, like an unbreakable spell that haunted me. One night I screamed almost madly, and when I woke up soaking wet, I went into the bathroom, and I saw those eyes in the dark, and I finally understood completely, sixteen years had passed, and I finally knew myself again.

What did Xiaoyu see? Such a question arose in Xi'er's heart. What kind of truth does Xiaoyu's story imply? Tongtong sobbed lowly, and Zhizi thought quietly, when a childish voice asked, "Are you sister's classmates?" There was a hint of surprise in his tone.

The three of them looked up and saw that it was the little boy they met on the train, a smile appeared on the corner of Xi'er's mouth, and she said lightly: "Yes!" You are? ”

"I'm her brother!" He didn't seem to know what to call it, so he gestured inside, his face was a little helpless, and then said, "My mother told me to come and see her, and I don't know when I had another sister." ”

The three of them glanced at each other, Xiaoyu's younger brother was not ......, the woman walked out, seemed to hear the little boy's voice, beckoned the little boy to go to the inner hall.

"Xiaoyu's younger brother? Could it be that woman is Xiaoyu's biological mother? The three of them thought together.

But why doesn't she look like the painting? Xiao Yu said that he faced it bravely, is it to find his biological parents?

At this time, the uncle walked out, as if remembering something, and an inexplicable excitement flashed through his eyes. Zhizi looked at him helplessly and shook her head and snorted softly. The crowd grew larger, and the little boy walked out with the woman in his arms, and the aunt followed her, and the three of them quickly got up. When the woman saw her uncle, she seemed to be deliberately evasive, and her expression was very uncomfortable, and then the man at the door also came in, took the woman, and at first glance she knew that it was the woman's husband.

"Sachiko, don't be sad, this is Xiaoyu's life!" The aunt shook her head and said to the woman.

"I don't know why she found me, I didn't recognize her at the time!" The woman sobbed and said, "She said she didn't care at all, she just fulfilled a wish, I just wanted to ...... Alas! She glanced at her uncle, with a strong resentment.

"Actually, I never blamed her, she just couldn't look at it! Sachiko, is he Xiaoyu's father? ”

The aunt pointed to the man, and the woman looked at her uncle, and then at the aunt, but she did not answer.

After the farewell ceremony, the three of them may be the only friends in the long convoy, but everything is not important, the raging fire has burned everything, is this how the story ends? Looking at the ashes held by the little boy, the eyes of the three were completely blurred.

(15) Bizarre dreams

The train station in the evening, the bustling crowd. The tears of the three have been drained, and the only thing they bring back is the melancholy and loss in their hearts.

"Kiriri!" A clear voice, a hint of joy flashed between Tongtong's eyebrows.

"Ni Lin!" Xi'er and Zhizi called out almost at the same time. Slightly shorter hair. T-shirt shorts, not very tall, but give a refreshing and healthy feeling.

Tong Tong walked forward quickly without hesitation, Ni Lin hugged her, Tong Tong pointed at the two, Ni Lin smiled lightly but did not let go. Tong Tong shook his head a little and said, "Why are you here?" The voice was low, and the voice was a little complaining.

"Didn't I say I'd pick you up?" With an innocent expression, he then looked at Xi'er and Zhizi, sighed and said, "Go back!" ”

"Hmm. Come to my house tonight! Let's take a good look at the letter and the journal. Tong Tong said, and the two nodded.

"What?"

"Shut up, it's none of your business!" Kiritsu said reprimandingly.

"Good! I'm just a driver anyway. ”

Zhizi looked at the two of them, and a smile flashed before dimming. After a while, he seemed to remember something, and said, "Ni Lin, don't you have many friends studying abroad?" ”

"Yes! I want to go out too, but it just depends on what Kirito plans. What's wrong? Ni Lin looked at Tongtong with a smile on the corner of his mouth.

"What does it have to do with me?" Tong Tong glared at Ni Lin.

"I want to go out to study, and I want you to help me find some information."

"Don't worry! Zhizi, I'm staring at him. ”

After getting off the exchange, it was already more than six o'clock in the evening when they arrived at Tongtong's house, and the three of them went upstairs immediately after eating. The letter described Xiaoyu's state of mind, and the three of them felt very confused.

"What did she mean by rediscovering herself?" Tong Tong said.

"I guess reading her diary should have something to understand!" Zhizi said.

Tongtong and Xi'er nodded and opened the diary again, and the diary description was also a description of the state of mind, and most of them were very short. It also includes several ghost stories that have been told, but one of them seems to have been soaked in something, and the content is quite detailed to describe Xiaoyu's dream, and the three of them read it carefully, and an inexplicable sense of fear spreads little by little.

I had this dream that night.

It was a dark night, and I saw a haggard woman with sunken cheeks. His cheekbones are high and he holds a kerosene lamp in his hand. It was raining all the time, and the clogs under her feet were on the muddy ground, and there was a lot of mud on her pants and feet. I seemed to have walked a long way, but there was darkness all around me except for the woman and the lamp.

A voice slowly came from the distance, like a dog, no...... No, it was like a pack of dogs wailing and wailing, and the sound became clearer and clearer as she walked. Gradually, as in front of the eyes.

The front was getting darker and darker, and it seemed as if something was blocking the way. When he got closer, he was a big black dog. The tip of its nose was raised high and whined, and tears could still be seen in its eyes in the dim light.

The woman glanced at the black dog and ignored it, walked around and walked forward. After a while, I saw the black dog again, as if it appeared out of thin air, the body shape and posture were exactly the same, but the voice was more poignant than just now, I don't know if it was a warning or a threat. She crouched down and reached out to touch it, and the kerosene lamp approached the black dog's head. Under the reflection of the light, the woman saw that the black dog's eyes were bleeding, and her eyes turned from pitch black to red. The woman was so frightened that she let go of her hand, and the kerosene lamp fell with a "horn", just in front of the black dog, and the red eyes and the blood under the eyes were reflected more clearly. The woman leaned back in panic and involuntarily crawled backwards.

Bursts of wailing and the sound of rain filled the streets. The woman was soaking wet, the cold and fear haunted her from head to toe, and she crawled faster and faster. After climbing about seven or eight hearts, she heard a rustling sound behind her, and something seemed to be approaching. Perhaps she didn't notice it because she was too frightened, and she climbed three or four feet again, raised her head sharply, and screamed wildly. A huge face was pressed against hers, and she felt a chill on her head and face. Two eyes as big as brass bells stared at her without blinking, two curved horns protruding from her head, and the liquid flowing from her face fell on her face one by one.

“…… Where are you? …… Where are you? A man's anxious cry, but I still can't remember the previous name, and the sound is not far away.

Later images are even more blurry. The woman screamed loudly and kept repeating, "I was wrong!" I was wrong! ......" There was no repentance in the shrill voice, nor resentment, but an inexplicable sadness. Her emaciated, haggard face and sad eyes kept flashing in my mind, followed by a few laughs, and I woke up with a tearing pain in my brain.

Walking into the bathroom, I felt like I was her, or she was me. Because I saw those eyes in the mirror, the feeling almost exactly coincided with that of me in the mirror.

"Could it be? Could it be that Xiao Yu ......" The three of them looked at each other, as if they had been suddenly hit by something. Because on the last page of the diary is written this sentence: "I have found me sixteen years ago!" ”

"So that's what she called re-acquainting herself!" The doubts of the three were finally solved. Turning to the next page, it reads: "I must go back to the same place no matter what, I must find the truth of the facts and put an end to this nightmare." Twelve years have passed, and I still can't get my father's love for me back, and this relationship may really be over. ”

"That's Xi'er! I know she saw me, but so what? Now she and I live in different worlds! I think it's right here, it should be inside, I believe in my feelings. Is it really possible to find the truth? But such an environment is so familiar to me, and I believe that it will come to fruition anyway. I'm still lonely, only Weiwei is accompanied by him, he still loves to eat ice so much, and when I find the truth, I should also fulfill his wish for Weiwei! ”

"It turns out that the girl that day was really Xiaoyu. She saw me, but where the hell did she go? Xi'er seemed to have an epiphany.

"Today's Whiskers seemed very excited, I don't know what he saw? Could it be the mother and son who asked me to help her paint this morning, or maybe their affection evokes Weiwee's memories of the past? In fact, even I have a strange feeling, but from Whiskers's expression, I don't feel it, it is a kind of attachment to family affection. So I deliberately kept the painting and asked them to come back tomorrow, if that woman was really Whisker's mother, even if I would be more lonely, Whisker's wanderings would always end, wouldn't it be a happy ending? ”