Panguan

This is the moment I was waiting for when I heard it.

He nodded but didn't say a word.

So in the whole building, only the reverberation of the young man's rough voice could be heard, echoing in every room and corridor, dark and clear.

When the last lingering sound dissipated, the corridor was filled with dead silence.

Just when the boy felt a little proud, a little girl's voice rang loudly: "Is it Ajun? I heard Ajun's voice."

There was some void when the voice came through, which was terrifying in this environment. But everyone could tell that it was Shen Manyi's voice.

The face of this young man named Ajun suddenly turned pale.

"Ajun." Shen Manyi called again.

"Ajun?"

"Ajun, are you there?"

Her voice came along the corridor, and her thoughts overlapped one after another, as if she was running towards her, getting closer and closer.

"Why aren't you smiling? Let's play a game! I want to play a game with you."

"I've been looking for you for a long time."

"Are you finally willing to play with me?"

These sentences were intertwined together, accompanied by giggles, coming near and far away, surrounding everyone. They subconsciously looked towards the other end of the corridor.

I could only see the little Shen Manyi standing on Xie Wen's left, and Mr. Li standing on his right, shrouded in black mist, like three silhouettes with unclear faces, looking straight at this side.

They suddenly couldn't tell whether these words were spoken by Shen Manyi or what remained in Ajun's subconscious.

Not long after, there was another voice——

It was a male voice, gentle and not very fast. Mixed with Shen Manyi's giggle, it seemed a bit insubstantial: "Ajun, you are a little narrow-minded."

"Ajun, what kind of person assumes that others always see only filth? You have a sensitive temper, and I don't want to say harsh words."

"Ajun, a gentleman must be polite and courteous."

"Ajun."

"Forget it, go ahead and copy the words."

"Ajun, I recognize your handwriting."

…

Those sounds intertwined and filled the whole house. With each word, the three silhouettes in the depths of the corridor would get closer, ghostly and silent.

Soon, everyone heard the movement of thin ropes again, like something with many arms and legs crawling on the ground.

They turned around and saw that the person crawling this way was none other than the charred body lying in the bathroom.

"Is it Ajun?"

"Ah Jun."

"Arjun."

"Brother Jun."

…

The sighs of the cooking mother-in-law, the high-pitched calls of the housekeeper, and the timid screams of the little girl came one after another.

Ajun pulled a face, became more and more anxious, and finally blocked his ears. He said harshly: "You are so annoying!"

The moment these words fell, the layered sounds suddenly sank, like a tune that had changed its key, twisting from joy to sorrow. The calls turned into wails and wails.

Shen Manyi stood in front of Ajun while wailing, stretched out her head and stared at the man in front of her who was much taller than her, but whom she regarded as her younger brother, and asked quietly: "Ajun, why did you fold me into the sofa?"

Ajun looked down at her and said, "Because you are too noisy."

"You're really too noisy."

"You kept laughing and laughing, running upstairs and downstairs, and your voice was everywhere. You were really too noisy."

"Do you know what day that day is? It's the anniversary of my mother's death."

"Do you know what Death Day means?"

Ajun looked at Shen Manyi's face and said hoarsely: "You don't understand. You only know that bows are beautiful, swings are fun, and you can be a bride wrapped in a torn curtain. You are 16 years old, and that's all you know."

"It's a joke when you go out, you know? You don't know either. Because everyone in the family is used to you and goes along with you. You talk nonsense, but no one corrects you. Even Mr. Li tells you that it is right. That's it."

"He also said that you look very smart when you wear glasses. You can even miss words when copying books. You are smart-" Ajun sneered and said: "You are really having a good time, just because you are The eldest daughter of the Shen family. If it were any other person, let alone 16, even 12 might not be able to survive."

He really hates Shen Manyi and the Shen family.

Many people told him that his mother's ancestors were rich and she was originally a wealthy lady. Her life was probably no worse than Shen Manyi's. The results of it? As luck would have it, her biological father died, and the eldest lady turned around and became a wet nurse, taking him with her to live under someone else's roof.

He had never felt the so-called good life for a day. He had only heard about it from other people's mouths. The more he heard about it, the more he felt that God was unfair. Why is it that some people are born with good clothes and good food, while others are looked down upon by others.

And if a well-off person shows some kindness, he must be grateful.

There are always people who say: Young master and young lady of the Shen family treat you so well. Mansheng regards you as his own brother, and you don't have the airs of a young master at all.

Every time he heard such words, he felt ridiculous. Just charity. Is it an earth-shattering act of kindness for a young master who knows no pain to bend down and give him two candies?

It's just because the person bending over is the young master. It's as if the stupid person is Shen Manyi, so even stupid people have become "innocent and cute and worthy of pity".

She could live her 11th birthday year after year, pointing to this year as 1913, next year as 1913, and the year after that.

It's 1913.