Chapter 52.1 Sister
He Tianlei looked at Lin Banxia’s smile and felt a creepy feeling for no reason. He even took a step back and looked at Lin Banxia with fear in his eyes.
Lin Banxia was completely unaware, he said: “Where can I find Xiaohua?”
“How do I know?” At this time, He Tianlei already regretted discussing this issue with Lin Banxia. He licked his lips nervously, “But if you give me some money, maybe I can help you think about it.” He said tentatively, “Do you not remember much about the past? This is normal, after all, it has been so many years…”
Although he knew that the ultimate reason why He Tianlei and his family called him back was for money, Lin Banxia still found it funny to see him in such a hurry. His smile became even brighter: “You want money, right? Sure, if you help me find Xiaohua, I will give you money, five hundred thousand, not a penny less.”
He Tianlei looked at Lin Banxia as if he were looking at a madman: “What are you looking for her for? Don’t you understand yet? She is not a human being at all.”
Lin Banxia said: “Do you still want money?”
He Tianlei stammered: “Of course.”
Lin Banxia said coldly: “Then go find her.”
He Tianlei looked at Lin Banxia blankly, feeling that he was extremely strange.
“Whenever I find her, I will give you money.” Lin Banxia’s voice was as cold as ice.
He Tianlei said nothing, but Lin Banxia no longer needed his answer. He waved to He Tianlei, said goodbye, turned around and went downstairs.
Song Qingluo followed him and called Lin Banxia softly.
Lin Banxia paused as he walked quickly, then turned his head to look at Song Qingluo. His eyes were mostly red, and he didn’t know whether it was because of anger or sadness. His eyes were completely empty of the aggressiveness he had when facing He Tianlei, leaving only emptiness and confusion, and his voice was choked, as if he was about to lose control of his emotions: “Song Qingluo, it turns out that I don’t have a sister.”
Song Qingluo’s heart sank slightly, and he said: “Banxia.”
“So I don’t have a sister.” Lin Banxia slowly squatted down, as if his body couldn’t bear the weight, and his whole body curled up.
Song Qingluo walked to Lin Banxia and hugged his shoulders. He said, “It’s okay, I’m here.”
Lin Banxia let out a slight sob. He lowered his head, as if he was crying, yet as if he was suppressing it. He was like a child who couldn’t control himself and wanted to cry but was afraid of being hurt by crying. His whole body was shaking.
Song Qingluo hugged him into his arms and stroked Lin Banxia’s slightly hunched back as if to comfort him: “Cry if you want to.”
Lin Banxia said nothing, and finally calmed down after a while. When he looked up again, his eyes were already dry: “Sorry…”
“You don’t have to say sorry to me.” Song Qingluo said, “It’s not your fault.”
Lin Banxia struggled to smile: “Say… my sister can’t really be… one of those things, right?”
Song Qingluo said: “Not necessarily.”
“That’s right.” Lin Banxia murmured absently, “What if they are deliberately lying to me.”
Song Qingluo didn’t respond and gently rubbed his hair.
Lin Banxia reluctantly cheered up and showed the same gentle expression as usual: “Let’s not talk about this anymore. You have been running up and down with me. You haven’t eaten all day. Let’s go find something to eat first.”
Song Qingluo said: “Okay.”
The two slowly walked out of the hospital and sat down at a random store in the town. Lin Banxia ordered what he wanted to eat, but still seemed a little distracted. Song Qingluo asked him what he was thinking about, and he twitched his lips: “I was just thinking about the memories I made with Xiaohua before.”
Song Qingluo said: “Do you remember clearly?”
“Not sure.” Lin Banxia took a bite of the noodles. “It’s a little blurry, but I vaguely remember some details.” He looked at the noodles in the bowl and whispered, “What impressed me most was going out with Xiaohua to catch fish to eat. It was night and everything was dark. She and I walked on the field ridge next to the paddy field… The field ridge was very narrow and covered with all kinds of weeds. Some weeds were edible, and some were not……”
Song Qingluo said: “Is there anything else?”
“Yes.” Although Lin Banxia felt uncomfortable in his stomach, he still stuffed as much food into his mouth as possible. He was a man who had suffered from hunger, so naturally he would not waste any food. “It’s quite a lot. To be precise, it’s just …”
Song Qingluo said: “Just?”
“It’s just that I don’t know clearly.” Lin Banxia said, “It’s as if it’s blurry, separated by a frosted window.” He had never doubted himself before, but now after He Tianlei’s reminder, he suddenly realized that there did seem to be some problems with his memory.
After saying this, he took another big mouthful of noodles and smiled: “But on the bright side, if what He Tianlei said is true, even if my sister is not a human, she still existed…”
Song Qingluo frowned and said, “If you don’t want to laugh, then stop laughing.”
Lin Banxia’s smile faded. He looked down at the noodles in the bowl and said, “I want to visit the place where I used to live.”
“Okay.” Song Qingluo said, “I’ll accompany you.”
Although the appearance of the town had changed greatly, the location of the main roads had not changed much. His aunt and uncle’s house used to not be in the town, but in a nearby village. The village was very close to the town, and it only took a bit more than half an hour to walk at a child’s pace. It was a pity that the surroundings had changed too much, and Lin Banxia was not familiar with it. While asking for directions, he walked forward. It was almost as the sun set that he found his previous residence. Fortunately, although the houses had changed a lot, the paddy fields were still there. Lin Banxia even saw the fishpond where he used to fish.
The fishpond was not big and was surrounded by a fence. Next to the fence was a dense bamboo forest. It was very cool to walk in it.
Lin Banxia bypassed the fishpond and walked to the field ridge next to it. He walked along the field ridge for a while, and finally saw the low house he remembered living in with his aunt’s family. No one had lived in the house for a long time, and it looked dilapidated on the outside. Lin Banxia could barely see what was inside through the dirty glass. The previous furniture was still there, he saw the table, chairs, and a huge cabinet placed in the corner of the living room.
In the past, that cupboard should have been the favorite furniture of the children at home because it was usually filled with many delicious snacks. However, this was not the case for Lin Banxia.
It was his nightmare, and whenever he made his aunt unhappy, he would be locked up inside.
Lin Banxia thought he would be emotional when he revisited his old house at this time, but he was not. He looked at the cabinet through the glass, as if he was looking at the memories belonging to others. He actually did not care about the things that should have caused him pain. Untouched, his heart was as calm as a deep lake.
“They have all moved out.” Lin Banxia looked around, “The land has not been planted.” He pointed to the mountains in the distance, “I used to go to that mountain often, especially in the summer. The bushes there grow many sweet and sour fruits…” He smiled as he spoke, with a nostalgic look on his face, “It’s just that there are a lot of thorns, and I often got pricked in the hand.”
Song Qingluo asked: “Want to go there for a walk?”
Lin Banxia nodded.
The two of them went for a walk around the hillside. After the sun completely set, Lin Banxia reluctantly headed back home. On the way back, he passed by the place where his aunt lived again. As he lowered his head and walked forward, he suddenly heard a childish voice belonging to a little girl – “Brother!”
Lin Banxia suddenly froze and turned to look behind him, but there was nothing behind him.
Song Qingluo saw that he looked strange and asked what was wrong.
“Did you hear someone calling me?” Lin Banxia was in a daze.
Song Qingluo shook his head, indicating that he didn’t hear anything.
“Then I must have heard wrongly.” Lin Banxia said, “I heard… Xiaohua’s voice.”
Song Qingluo looked calm and said, “Let’s go back to the hotel first.”
Lin Banxia nodded.
After running around outside for a day, Lin Banxia was a little tired, so he simply took a shower and lay on the bed. Song Qingluo went out for a trip, and when he came back, he had a bottle of Coke and several packages of steaming barbecue in his hand. He handed it to Lin Banxia and said, “We haven’t eaten anything for dinner, so we’d better fill our stomachs.”
Lin Banxia was actually not too hungry, but he couldn’t refuse Song Qingluo’s kindness, so he drank a few sips of Coke and ate something.
As night fell, Lin Banxia was lying on the bed struggling with insomnia. Song Qingluo beside him seemed to have fallen asleep, breathing evenly, but he couldn’t fall asleep no matter what. When he closed his eyes, some random thoughts would appear in his mind. During the day, although he said harsh words to He Tianlei, he actually didn’t expect He Tianlei to really get Xiaohua back. It was more like venting.
Lin Banxia turned over and faced the window. Through the glass, he saw the shadows of the trees outside under the moonlight. With the breeze, the shadows swayed. At first glance, they seemed to be alive. Lin Banxia didn’t feel scared at all, he just remembered some memories that he had forgotten. However, these memories were not coherent, more like fragments. Sometimes they were lush mountains and forests, sometimes they were golden paddy fields illuminated by the sun, sometimes they were terrifying insults, sometimes they were crisp laughter.
Lin Banxia’s consciousness gradually blurred, and he closed his eyes, as if falling into a deep sleep.
Song Qingluo did not fall asleep. He had been worried about Lin Banxia, so he kept his eyes closed and pretended to fall asleep. Lin Banxia turned over again, seemingly still not asleep. Fortunately, after a while, his breath gradually became lighter, and he seemed to have finally fallen asleep.
Song Qingluo was breathing a sigh of relief when he felt the soft bed tremble suddenly. Lin Banxia, who was sleeping peacefully next to him, suddenly sat up from the bed.
Song Qingluo opened his eyes and looked at Lin Banxia’s back. He called softly: “Banxia?”
Lin Banxia didn’t respond or look back. His body stiffened for a moment, then he turned around and got out of bed, walking straight to the cabinet opposite the bed.
Song Qingluo also sat up from the bed. He saw Lin Banxia’s footsteps stop in front of the cabinet. He stretched out his hand and opened the cabinet door.
The hotel cabinet was empty, but Lin Banxia seemed to see something in it, and in a soft voice he called out the name he had missed for a long time: “Xiaohua.”
The next moment, he actually raised his feet and stepped into the cabinet door.
Only then did Song Qingluo realize that something was wrong. He shouted Lin Banxia’s name and rushed towards him. However, it was too late at this time. The moment Lin Banxia stepped into the cabinet door; the cabinet door came alive. It closed on its own with a crunch. In just a few breaths, when Song Qingluo rushed to the cabinet door and opened it again, Lin Banxia, who was supposed to be inside, had disappeared.
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