Chapter 2 The mysterious man who can't be let go 1
"Ting ting ting..." At seven o'clock in the morning, the alarm clock rang on time.
I tried hard to keep my heavy eyelids open. After the Soul Binding Cage and that person appeared, my sleep quality plummeted. Last night, I was dragged into the illusion of the Soul Binding Cage again.
Fortunately, he retained his last bit of rationality and didn't really kill me as he said during the day, otherwise I would have become the most unjustly killed ghost in the world. However, the Soul Binding Cage is not friendly to its owner, me. Except for a protective shield that is useless in front of that guy, it doesn't give me anything. Instead, I feel exhausted every time I get up after being dragged into the illusion. Damn, today is the worst Monday.
While brushing my teeth, I looked at my slightly yellowish hair in the mirror and couldn't help but sigh that I really looked better with that guy's long black hair. Ah, why am I thinking of that guy again...
"Human, how dare you call me 'that guy'! Do you want to die?" His voice echoed in my mind, a little hoarse, as if he had just woken up.
"You start scaring people as soon as you wake up. You didn't tell me your name, so how would I know what to call you?" I answered him incoherently with toothpaste in my mouth.
But he understood and cleared his throat: "My name is not something that a mere human like you can know."
"Yes, yes, what should I call you then?"
I didn't have the energy to argue with him, so I responded to him perfunctorily, then quickly cleaned myself up, picked up my schoolbag, and rushed out to school.
There were not many people at the bus station in the early morning, which was why I went out before the first Nie bus arrived. Although I had to get up earlier, the empty elevator and carriage made me feel relaxed. After getting on the bus, I walked straight to the window seat in the second to last row and sat down. I looked at the scenery outside the window that seemed to be covered with gauze. As the car bumped along, I felt a little drowsy.
"Lingmiao, this is your new home, do you like it?" Aunt Liu held me, a three-year-old, in one hand and pushed open the door to show me what her home looked like. I was a little overwhelmed by the sight before me, and it was not until Aunt Liu passed through my body that I realized that I was floating in the air and experiencing a very unpleasant dream.
"I like it." I, a three-year-old, hugged Aunt Liu's neck and smiled sweetly. The director's mother said that I should be good in the adoptive family. "I'm glad you like it. Let's go see your room. It's pink." Uncle Li next to me greeted me enthusiastically.
The room was painted pink, there were many teddy bears on the princess bed, and a tricycle on the floor . The three-year-old me rubbed my hands awkwardly, with a light of happiness flashing in my dark eyes. The three-year-old me naively thought that this would be my room and my home from now on, but now it seems so ironic.
"Does Lingmiao like it? Daddy specially painted it pink for Lingmiao."
"Hmm? Yeah! I like it."
“Hahaha, Lingmiao will be mom and dad’s daughter from now on. After the formalities are completed, Lingmiao will be mom and dad’s Li Lingmiao.” Aunt Liu patted my head gently, put me down and let me play by myself.
"Am I not Fu Lingmiao?"
"You are mom and dad 's daughter, so of course you should take mom and dad's last name."
Yes, yes, I am about to say the words that will change my destiny.
I sat cross-legged behind my three-year-old self, almost overlapping her, and we said at the same time, "But Aunt Liu's last name is Liu, Uncle Li's last name is Li, can't I be called Fu?" Uncle Li's smile gradually froze on his face as I spoke, and he tried to say something, but couldn't find the right words to ease the atmosphere. Aunt Liu's face had become ugly, and she took two deep breaths to suppress her anger.
"Why do you want to be called Fu?"
"Because Fu Lingmiao is..."
The three-year-old me pursed my lips and swallowed the second half of the sentence. In fact, Aunt Liu and Uncle Li both understood what I was going to say.
"Oh, fortunately the procedures have not been completed yet." Aunt Liu said expressionlessly, took out her mobile phone from her bag, and walked out of the room.
"Um... Lingmiao, don't cry..." Uncle Li tried to comfort me awkwardly, stretched out his hand and then retracted it halfway.
I was crying, wasn't I? I didn't even notice it. I was three years old and stared at Uncle Li, my red eyes full of confusion. Big tears fell out of my eyes, leaving long tear marks on my pink cheeks.
"If a three-year-old can recite pi, isn't it natural that he can remember other things?" But no one could hear my voice, and no one came to wipe the tears from my three-year-old face.
"Fu Lingmiao! Fu Lingmiao! It's time to get off! Fu Lingmiao!" I heard Zhou Mian's pig-slaughtering shout in my ears, and I suddenly woke up. When I saw the familiar school gate outside the window, I realized that I had arrived at my station.
I hurriedly wiped my face, which was dry . Then I dragged my schoolbag and ran out of the car. Zhou Mian was already standing at the back door waiting for me.
"What's wrong with you? If I hadn't seen you suddenly, you would have overslept and been late for work today." Zhou Mian knocked my head rudely.
"No, I didn't sleep well last night, probably." I forced a smile and didn't want to talk. After so many years, when I think back to the first time I was adopted, I still can't let it go.
"Don't fall asleep in class. Today is the class of the great devil Zhao Yan. No matter how much he likes you, he will scold you if you fall asleep!"
"I got it." I patted my face, trying to make myself forget what had just happened. I took two quick steps and followed Zhou Mian's pace towards the classroom.
The warm air from the air conditioner blew on me, making me feel extra comfortable. I looked up and saw that I was no longer in the classroom, but in a European-style living room. I sighed, and I fell asleep in Zhao Yan's class.
The big-screen TV was not on. A pile of parenting books was placed on the marble coffee table. A pregnant woman in a comfortable nightgown was sitting on the fabric sofa with a quiet smile on her face. A little girl in a little dress with her hair loose stumbled down from the second floor.
"Is it a little brother or a little sister inside?" She quickly pounced on the pregnant woman on the sofa, touched the pregnant woman's belly with her little hands, and asked naively.
"Slow down, don't fall." The pregnant woman gently touched the little girl's head and put her hair behind her ears. "Lingmiao, do you hope it's a brother or a sister?"
Ah... this little girl is me when I was five years old. I looked at the pregnant woman on the sofa seriously, trying to imprint her gentle appearance in my mind. This is my mother Yuxin.
"Of course it's my younger brother! Lingmiao, go play by yourself and don't bother mom. Mom is tired." My grandmother, who came in from the yard, just heard it and answered before me.
I pursed my lips, obediently got up from Yuxin's mother's side, and sat on the single sofa in the distance. Yuxin's mother made an apologetic face at me.
"You too, just lie down in your bed and take care of my precious grandson."
Grandma waved her hand and signaled Aunt Zhang to help Mom back to her room.
I didn't look up at the age of five. I sat alone on the sofa, scratching the seam of the sofa with my fingers. I moved my body and wanted to follow Yuxin's mother into the room, but the scene in front of me suddenly changed...
"Mom, my brother is so strong. He kept holding my hand so tightly."
"Because my brother likes you."
"I like my brother, too."
"Why did you come in again? Have you washed your hands? Don't touch your brother without washing your hands! Go wash your hands quickly." The grandmother who led my friend into the room frowned when she saw me, as if she saw something annoyed.
"I've washed it." The five-year-old me muttered, but still obediently left the room, planning to wash my hands before coming back.
I was floating in the air and reached out to close the door several times, but unfortunately my hand went through the door panel without any sense of reality, and ultimately failed to prevent the five-year-old me from hearing the conversation inside the door.
If I hadn't heard it at that time, would I have... No, whether I heard it or not didn't affect the fact that I was destined to be sent back to the director's mother. "This is Fu Lingmiao, right? You dare to talk back? We don't have the same surname. Can you still support me?" The friend who came with grandma whispered to her.
"Aunt Xu, Lingmiao is a very well behaved child." Mom couldn't help but retort.
"Every time she looks at me, she looks dead. Who knows if she is really good or just pretending to be good. Leave her alone and don't scare my precious grandson... Darling, look, Grandma Xu is here to see you."
Grandma carefully picked up the younger brother, squeezed his little hand and waved to Grandma Xu with a loving look on her face.
"It was you who scared your brother." I, a five-year-old, held the door lock, increasing the strength in my hand as if I wanted to pull the door handle off, and said angrily in a low voice.
"Fu Lingmiao! Stand up right there! You slept so soundly in class and even talked in your sleep! What kind of good dream was that? Tell us about it and let us be happy together." The big devil Zhao Yan slammed the table and scolded loudly.
My deskmate Li Zimei pushed me hard. I stood up nervously, lowered my head and rubbed my face to sober myself up: "I'm sorry."
“Sit down and stop daydreaming.” Maybe I apologized too quickly, and the great devil Zhao Yan felt embarrassed to say anything else.
Although the devil Zhao Yan didn't make things difficult for me, I couldn't muster up the energy. I propped my head up weakly, staring at the blackboard with empty eyes, and kept thinking about what happened just now. In one day, I remembered the two things I least wanted to mention in my short life. It was really not a pleasant experience.
As soon as the bell rang, Zhou Mian rushed over and said, "Fu Lingmiao, what's wrong with you? You're so abnormal."
"That's right, Fu Lingmiao. What are you thinking about? I can't help but gossip about you since you can make us 'elites' lose concentration in class. What will happen if your grade ranking drops?" Ling Jiao, who was sitting in the front row, heard Zhou Mian's voice, turned around and looked at me, and couldn't help but make some sarcastic remarks.
Li Zimei hated to see Ling Jiao like this, so she stood up and said to her, "Even if Ling Miao fell back a hundred places, she's still ahead of you. What so proud of?!"
"Then why are you showing off? You act like you're ahead of me. It's funny. Where is Fu Lingmiao? What does it have to do with you?"
"You!" Li Zimei was not a rude person, but she was defeated in one round and could only sit down angrily.
As for Ling Jiao, I could never afford to offend her, but I could always avoid her. At the moment, I was in no mood to join this inexplicable battlefield.
Zhou Mian, on the other hand, never spoiled Ling Jiao: "Ling Jiao, please stop causing trouble. Ling Miao, what time did you go to bed yesterday? Did you stay up all night translating again?"
Ling Jiao, who was originally sitting, was obviously unhappy with what Zhou Mian said. She took out a small jar from the drawer and walked over, throwing it in front of Li Zimei, and said unhappily: "Who is causing trouble? You ask so many questions as if it will be useful! Li Zimei, take a cup and make a cup of black tea for your most respected Fu Lingmiao to refresh your mind and relieve fatigue. Don't make the water temperature too high, 80℃."
Li Zimei glared at Ling Jiao, then obediently took the cup and teapot to the water room behind the classroom. I found it funny to see Zhou Mian being choked by Ling Jiao and unable to speak. Ling Jiao was probably the only person in the world who dared to be so unscrupulous in front of Zhou Mian.
"You still have the energy to laugh? You've gotten yourself into this state just for a few bucks. People who don't know would think that the Nie family is heartless. You're clearly being protected by others, yet you still think you're so independent." Ling Jiao turned the gun towards me with satisfaction and bombarded me with a barrage of attacks.
"Ling Jiao, that's enough! Ling Miao, lie down and rest for a while. Ling Jiao, come here!"
Zhou Mian noticed that something was wrong with my expression and pulled Ling Jiao away, not letting her continue saying anything in front of me.
It was not until Ling Jiao was pulled out of the classroom by Zhou Mian that I slowly loosened my clenched fists. My nails dug deep into my palms, but I didn't feel any pain. Ling Jiao looked willful and did things without any rules, but she could always find the key to the problem.
But why should I be blamed by her?
If Zhou Mian and Li Zimei hadn't cared about me, no, if I hadn't been distracted in class, no, if I hadn't said those words yesterday and been dragged into the illusion of the Soul Binding Cage at night, none of this would have happened.
It's all because of that person! It's all because of the Soul Binding Cage! I raised my hand and tightly grasped the Soul Binding Cage hanging around my neck. Otherwise, I should just throw it away...
