Li Xiu slowly looked around like a rusty robot.
The elevators in the complex building have stainless steel inner walls. Although they cannot reflect a person's every detail like a mirror, people can still see vague reflections when they walk in.
Li Xiu was now standing in the middle of the elevator, watching the shadows gradually emerging around him.
The shadows reflected by the stainless steel plates were so blurry. No matter how hard Li Xiu tried to open his eyes, he could only see their distorted bodies that were obviously not like those of living people, and those blank faces that were as pale as paper.
"Woo…"
A short sob escaped from Li Xiu's throat.
He fell to his knees on the ground, completely exhausted.
Accompanied by an ominous sound of electricity, the incandescent lamp on the top of the elevator suddenly flashed and then went out completely.
Deathly darkness completely filled the space around Li Xiu.
There was something, cold and wet, with dry skin wrapped around slender bones... Countless dead hands reached out from this darkness and tightly grasped the curled-up boy in the elevator, who was whimpering in fear.
…
"Help... wu... help me..."
Someone was pushing Li Xiu's shoulder.
"A Xiu? A Xiu, what's wrong with you?"
An old and familiar voice sounded in my ears.
Li Xiu took great pains to open his eyes amid sobs, and then he saw his grandmother's kind and worried face.
"Did our Ah Xiu have a nightmare today? Why is she crying?"
Seeing Li Xiu wake up, grandma seemed relieved. She opened her lips and smiled at Li Xiu.
"I--"
Li Xiu suddenly sat up, gasping for breath. He looked at the old man beside the bed in surprise and doubt. He felt that his head was as heavy as a stone, and his blood seemed to have just been frozen in a cryostat. Until now, there was no way to perfectly transport it to his heart.
He was shivering all over with cold, but his heart was beating extremely fast.
"Nightmare..."
Li Xiu stared at her grandmother and slowly repeated what she had said.
"As expected, eh? Studying has been too stressful lately, hasn't it? Ah Xiu, I'm not saying anything harsh on you, but your grades are already good enough. You don't really need to work so hard."
Grandma looked at Li Xiu with a look of understanding, and said with half lovingness and half headache.
"Forget it, hurry up and get up. If you don't get up now, you'll be too late for breakfast. For a student your age, the most important thing is to ensure good nutrition. Otherwise, what will happen if your brain doesn't have enough energy after studying so much every day..."
The old man naggled habitually, patted the school uniform that had been prepared for Li Xiu by the bed, and then walked out the door.
As her grandmother's back disappeared, Li Xiu looked around and found herself lying in her own room.
Tall floor-to-ceiling windows let the morning sun pour into the luxurious bedroom. Li Xiu sat on the bed, surveying the octagonal room. The bedside dresser gave him a vague sense of discomposure. He paused for a long moment, then covered his head with his hands and let out a muffled groan.
My head hurts...
How strange...why did he feel that his room was so strange?
"A Xiu, hurry up!"
Just as Ah Xiu was thinking hard, she heard her grandmother's call from outside the door again.
Li Xiu rubbed his temples, staggered out of bed, changed into school uniform and walked out.
After going downstairs, Li Xiu saw the neatly arranged breakfast on the dining table at a glance.
The yolk of a sunny-side-up egg is almost oozing out, resting on a golden, crispy layer of buttered bread. The smoked ham sizzles on the plate, emitting an alluring aroma.
Grandma poured the milk into a glass and pushed it towards Li Xiu's plate. When she saw Li Xiu, she waved and called him to come down and eat.
"What are you looking at, Xiu? Isn't this your favorite breakfast today?"
At the dining table, a gentle woman was also urging Li Xiu.
The woman was young and beautiful. Li Xiu looked at her and felt vaguely that she looked familiar.
Next to the woman sat a middle-aged man in a suit. From Li Xiu's angle, he couldn't see the man's face at all. He could only see that he was lowering his head, eating the food in front of him with big mouthfuls.
Opposite the woman was a tall young man.
Following the woman's gentle call, the young man turned around and looked at Li Xiu who was hesitating at the stairs.
"A Xiu, what are you dawdling about? Come on, why are you always so dazed after getting up?"
The boy, who was about the same age as Li Xiu but a size larger, stared at her helplessly. Although he was scolding her, his tone was quite doting. As he spoke, he stood up, walked straight to the stairs, took Li Xiu's hand, and led him directly up the stairs to the dining table.
"Eat quickly! Otherwise you won't grow taller."
The boy pushed Li Xiu down on the seat and ruffled her hair.
"Fang Qianan...what are you doing...wait..."
Li Xiuqiang cheered himself up, and when he saw the boy's face, he finally came back to his senses and spoke subconsciously.
"Fang what?" However, after hearing his words, the boy was stunned for a moment, and looked at him with a puzzled expression, "Hey, Ah Xiu, you didn't really sleep stupid, did you?"
He lowered his head, moved closer to Li Xiu, and gently touched the boy's forehead.
"You even called my name wrong?! Wait, are you trying to piss me off on purpose?"
He stared into Li Xiu's eyes and said as if jokingly.
But when Li Xiu heard his words, she shuddered uncontrollably. Before her brain could react, her lips moved automatically: "...Li Yu."
"Um?"
The boy still seemed unsatisfied, and held Li Xiu's face with his cold hands, forcing Li Xiu to look into his eyes awkwardly.
Li Xiu's eyelashes fluttered slightly, and when he spoke again, he was much more straightforward: "Brother Yu."
It was at this moment that the nightmare that had been lingering in his mind since he woke up in the morning suddenly faded away, and Li Xiu finally woke up.
What the hell is wrong with him today? Why does he feel that his home is so strange and he can't even recognize his relatives?
"Good morning, Dad and Mom."
Li Xiu struggled to escape from Li Yu's arms and quickly greeted the other two people at the table.
"Good morning, Xiu. Oh, come on... Xiaoyu, you're already grown up, stop bullying Xiu like a primary school student."
Mom scolded as she looked at the two people sitting close together at the table with a smile.
"Yeah, Brother Yu, you only know how to bully me!"
Li Xiu immediately seized the opportunity and started to denounce the boy beside her to her mother.
"I bully you? Hey, are you kidding me? It's obviously you who bullies me every time," Li Yu turned her head and stared at Li Xiu, her tone sounding particularly aggrieved. "You're just taking advantage of the fact that I like you and becoming more and more lawless."
"Alright, alright, we're both going to sleep in the same bed from now on. What's the point of bullying or not..."
Amidst the quarrel, grandma had no choice but to appear and try to smooth things over.
Sleeping in the same bed? What's going on?
Li Xiu was subconsciously stunned, but even such a subtle movement did not escape Li Yu's sight.
The boy reached out his hand from under the table and lightly hooked Li Xiu's palm.
"Don't be shy."
Li Xiu heard Li Yu whispering to him.
"It's not time yet."
What does "not yet time" mean?
Countless doubts flashed through my mind, but like raindrops falling into a lake, they disappeared in an instant, leaving only hazy ripples.
Every time Li Xiu tried to think carefully, his thoughts would involuntarily become scattered.
"A Xiu, come and eat!"
Grandma just happened to urge at this time.
"Ahhh I know, I know!"
Li Xiu instantly forgot what he was thinking.
He said perfunctorily, then looked down at his breakfast.
I have to say, just looking at today's breakfast can make one's mouth water. Li Xiu started to eat it without hesitation.
However, the moment Li Xiu put breakfast into his mouth, he frowned.
Hmm, it tastes terrible.
It looked so delicious, but the sunny-side-up egg and toast in his mouth tasted tasteless. It was like chewing paper scraps. Li Xiu forced himself to chew for a long time, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't swallow the sunny-side-up egg and toast in his mouth.
Finally, Li Xiu gave up resisting his inexplicable body instinct, pulled a tissue to his mouth, and then spit out all the food.
...The laughter and joy at the table suddenly stopped.
Along with the deathly silence came several extremely sharp gazes.
"A Xiu? What's wrong? Why aren't you eating?"
"A Xiu? What's wrong? Why aren't you eating?"
"A Xiu? What's wrong? Why aren't you eating?"
…
Three identical questions came from the mouths of mom, dad and grandma respectively.
Li Xiu covered her mouth and her body suddenly stiffened.
"I, I just...ah, I just don't have an appetite today."
My heart is beating wildly.
Cold sweat began to ooze out.
Li Xiu didn't know why. It was just his family members who cared about him, but he was so scared.
As he spoke, Li Xiu subconsciously glanced at the plates on his parents' table, and then he realized that it was completely different from his sumptuous breakfast. In front of his mother, father, and Yu Ge, there was only a bowl full of raw rice.
...something's wrong... No, isn't this just what my parents eat every day? Why does it feel wrong to me?
Li Xiu shuddered, and when he looked up again he found that he had been in a daze for such a long time, but his mother, father and grandmother had never taken their eyes away from the dark and lifeless eyes.
They were always looking at Li Xiu.
"A Xiu, why don't you eat?"
They continued to ask.
"Eat, can't I eat it..."
Li Xiu stammered and forced the remaining food on the plate into her mouth.
But this time, perhaps because he was too nervous, he found the food even more unpalatable.
The harder I tried to swallow, the stronger the inexplicable feeling of nausea and resistance became.
In the end, Li Xiu even accidentally retched.
He vomited out everything. Li Xiu's body trembled slightly, and tears unconsciously filled his eyes.
"Yes, I'm sorry, I really...can't eat..."
Li Xiu said in a low voice.
My body was shivering from time to time. It was just a small matter, but my voice couldn't help but sound like I was crying.
"Oh, forget it. Skipping a meal isn't a big deal."
Brother Yu stared at Li Xiu for a long time, seemed very helpless, and sighed deeply.
As he finished speaking, the other three people at the table also withdrew their dark and deep gazes. Just like before, they were still so kind and gentle.
"You indulge him even when he doesn't eat. Really, Xiaoyu, I don't know who you inherited this henpecked personality from—"
My mother feigned anger and scolded me.
The father beside him lowered his head even lower and murmured in a voice that everyone could hear: "It's up to me, it's all up to me."
Grandma sighed repeatedly and stared at Li Xiu with disapproval: "Really, how can you not eat? If you don't eat, how will he be able to stand you in the future...Xiaoyu, you will regret this sooner or later."
At this time, Li Xiu had already been hooked into Li Yu's arms, and her cold palm gently stroked down his back.
Li Xiu lowered her head, as if shy, and used Li Yu's figure to avoid her parents' gaze.
But only he himself knows how scared he is now.
Is there something wrong?
Why didn't he hear Brother Yu's heartbeat?
"What are you thinking about?"
A slightly hoarse whisper sounded.
Li Xiu huddled in Li Yu's arms. After a start, when she looked up again, she had forgotten where her fear came from.
"nothing."
The young man stammered, his watery eyes gradually becoming tinged with a hint of emptiness.
"...When I woke up today, I felt a little anxious and short of breath."
Li Xiu rubbed his temples, looking dazed.
Li Yu stared greedily at Li Xiu in his arms, his bright red lips widening wider and wider.
"Don't panic, Xiu...Brother has always loved Xiu the most..."
He said softly.
"Brother Yu won't get angry if you're a little willful."
The author has something to say:
The ghost brother is becoming more and more despicable...
If this continues, it will be difficult to restore the audience's favor even if we give money to the director team!
(The director of socks cries.gif)