Starting with dissecting ghost stories

"Hahaha.."

"Ugh~"

"Hahaha"

On a swing in the children's play area of ​​the community, a girl stands on the swing, holding onto the iron chain next to the swing with both hands. Behind her, a man with an indistinct face smiles and helps the girl push the swing.

The man kept one hand on the swing seat to control the swing and prevent any accidents from happening.

"Dinner's ready!"

A strong, resonant female voice came from the balcony on the third floor of the building behind the apartment building.

Upon hearing the sound, the man laughed and lifted the girl off the swing, letting her sit on his neck.

"Time to go home for dinner! Mom's going to be angry!"

"Okay~"

The girl held the man's head, her smile never fading—she loved the current perspective, which made her feel like she had suddenly become an all-powerful adult like her father.

With each step the man climbs, the step he just stepped on falls down into the bottomless black hole below.

After the man stopped at the door on the third floor, he knelt down with his hands still on the girl's calves and said with a smile, "Come on, Xiaoting, help Daddy open the door."

"Um!"

The girl leaned forward slightly and reached out her little hand.

"Clatter."

She opened the door.

"...Hmm..."

Wu Xiaoting woke up with a start, breathing heavily. She raised her hand to touch her cheek and found that her face was covered with warm tears.

She just seemed to have had a very, very long dream...

As if to verify something, she ignored her messy, bird's nest-like long hair, rolled out of bed, opened the door, and rushed out of the room without even putting on her shoes.

As soon as she stepped outside, she smelled a delicious aroma... it smelled like steamed buns, with a hint of milkiness. A man was in the kitchen, whistling and shaking a pot; he seemed to be making some kind of new, homemade dish. "Dad!" Wu Xiaoting rushed over and hugged the man from behind, wiping her tears and snot on his clothes. "Oh? You're awake? Come on, try Dad's new creation later—egg custard with milk powder," the man said with a grin, without turning around. "After the rice flour wrappers are steamed, stuff this in and add some strawberries."

"Cake?" Wu Xiaoting looked up and asked curiously.

"Rice noodle rolls," the man corrected seriously, "a new type of rice noodle rolls."

"This can be called rice noodle roll?! I don't agree!" A wailing voice came from the living room as she protested, "I absolutely will not eat a single bite!"

Wu Xiaoting turned around and saw her mother with an "angry" expression. Compared to the dream, she didn't seem so haggard, and her white hair and wrinkles had decreased significantly.

"It's okay, we have a backup plan. I also steamed some buns. If all else fails, we can have buns." The man seemed to have come prepared. Whenever he researched new breakfast ideas, he would always prepare a normal breakfast.

"I'll eat, I'll eat." Wu Xiaoting smiled and walked to the dining table to sit down. The influence of the nightmare seemed to have completely disappeared.

"You haven't brushed your teeth or washed your face, you're filthy, go now." Mom came from the living room, grabbed Wu Xiaoting by the back of her collar, and pushed her towards the bathroom.

"Brush your teeth after you finish eating, otherwise you'll just get them dirty again," Wu Xiaoting argued, drawing out her words.

"Go away, go brush your teeth, your breath stinks."

"It doesn't smell at all!"

Wu Xiaoting entered the bathroom, where the setting sun shone obliquely through the half-open window.

She reached out, picked up her toothbrush and cup, looked at her blurry reflection in the mirror, squeezed toothpaste onto her brush, and started brushing. Why was the mirror so blurry? Was it fogged up? Had someone just taken a shower?

Wu Xiaoting smiled and reached out to wipe the mirror in front of her.

I'm so happy, it feels like a dream.

dream

She stared at her left hand as she wiped the mirror, stunned.

This is a dream...

Looking at her hands, she inexplicably remembered this sentence.

This phrase seemed to be something she had been repeating constantly, and whenever she saw her hands, it would subconsciously replay in her mind. This is a dream...

No, this is definitely not a dream.

Wu Xiaoting withdrew her hand with trembling hands. She brushed her teeth haphazardly with her eyes closed, then quickly rinsed her mouth. She simply wiped her face with a towel and ran out of the bathroom.

"How long did you brush? Have you forgotten how you used to go to the dentist every day when you were a kid?" Mom seemed quite displeased when she saw Wu Xiaoting finish brushing so quickly.

"It's alright, just wash it again after you finish eating. That way, you can clean up any sweet bits too." The man chuckled as he brought out his new-style rice noodle rolls, placing one in front of each person.

"You too, always spoiling her, aren't you afraid of spoiling her too much and making her develop bad habits?"

"What's there to be afraid of? Xiaoting is in junior high now and hasn't gone through a rebellious phase yet. If you ask me, we should just spoil her."

"Filthy logic..."

"Okay, okay, I'll spoil you this once. Come on, give me a kiss."

"Get lost! That's so cheesy! Xiaoting's still here!"

Wu Xiaoting picked up her chopsticks, closed her eyes, picked up a piece of rice noodle roll in front of her, and took a bite.

"Hey, hey, I saw it! It looks like I poisoned it, and its eyes are closed!"

Wu Xiaoting's actions seemed to hurt the man, who let out an exaggerated, strange cry.

The rice noodle rolls were sweet with a hint of strawberry tartness... It was more like a cake with cream replaced by rice flour skin than a rice noodle roll... It was just a bit over the top.

"Delicious..." Wu Xiaoting buried her head and finished everything on the plate.

"It's so delicious? I'll try it... It really is delicious, honey, you should try it!"

"Really?! ...Ugh... What is this?!"

After seeing his wife actually take a bite, the man spat out the rice noodle roll in his mouth and burst into laughter.

He gave Wu Xiaoting a smug look, then dodged his wife's deliberate punch and slipped into the kitchen to get some steamed buns. Wu Xiaoting enjoyed this peaceful, warm, and happy morning until she changed her clothes and stood at the door.

Her father was still washing dishes in the kitchen, her mother was putting on her shoes, but Wu Xiaoting's hand lingered on the doorknob.

"What's wrong? Open the door, we'll be late!" the mother urged from the side.

Upon hearing this, Wu Xiaoting took a half-step back.

"I...I have an upset stomach today, I'd like to ask for the day off..." Wu Xiaoting said, her head down, her voice slightly flustered. "Trying to fake illness again, huh?" Her mother seemed to see right through Wu Xiaoting's lie and said, "Stop dawdling, open the door." "I won't open it..." Wu Xiaoting mustered her courage, put her hands behind her back, and took a step back.

"Wu! Xiao! Ting!"

"What's wrong?" Seemingly noticing the strange atmosphere outside, the man, having finished washing the dishes, dried his hands on his apron and walked out of the kitchen. "Look how you've spoiled her. Now she's faking illness to avoid going to school," the mother said irritably.

"Xiaoting, are you feeling unwell?" The man half-squatted down in front of Wu Xiaoting, looking her in the eye, and asked softly, "Where do you feel unwell? Did you eat something bad?"

Wu Xiaoting didn't speak, she just kept shaking her head.

"You had a nightmare this morning, didn't you?" The man smiled, reaching out to ruffle Wu Xiaoting's hair. He said softly, "Since we don't have meetings today, how about Dad takes you to school?"

The man straightened up, took off his apron, walked to the door, opened it, and then reached out his hand to Wu Xiaoting. Had a nightmare...?

Yes... I had a nightmare.

Just consider it a nightmare.

Wu Xiaoting looked up, tears welling in her eyes, reached out and grasped the man's large, strong hand. With her schoolbag slung over her shoulder, she stepped through the door. Her father, wearing slippers, rode his motorcycle and took her to Yucai Middle School.

Wu Xiaoting turned back to say goodbye to her father, staring blankly as he rode his motorcycle further and further away. Finally, she turned and walked into the school gate, returning to her class.

She instinctively walked to the right of the speaker—but there was no table there anymore.

Wu Xiaoting stood there, looking at the empty seat next to her, somewhat at a loss. After hesitating for a moment, she walked over to the class monitor and asked, "Class monitor, where is my seat again?"

"Still half asleep?" The class monitor pointed to the window seat in the back row. "Aren't you sitting next to Shen Yuan?"

"Oh... thank you."

Wu Xiaoting walked to her seat. Shen Yuan was already sitting in the second-to-last row by the window; she always seemed to arrive at school very early. "Early...feeding? You cried?" Shen Yuan asked curiously after seeing Wu Xiaoting's face. "What's wrong? Did your mom scold you again?" Wu Xiaoting stared blankly at Shen Yuan for a while before sitting down next to her and saying, "Nothing, just groggy from sleep." Was she...originally Shen Yuan's deskmate? Why? Because...in the nightmare, Shen Yuan believed her? Was she subconsciously more dependent on her?

What does my dependence on her in my dreams have to do with reality...?

Wu Xiaoting shook her head, took a deep breath, and cleared her mind of the noise.

Today was a short quiz, and the teacher graded the papers right away. I got a perfect score.

"Another perfect score, how is her brain even structured..." Shen Yuan poked Wu Xiaoting's temple with her finger and said speechlessly, "Give me a little bit of your brain."

"Watch fewer movies and read more books," Wu Xiaoting said earnestly.

"Hehe, play is play, study is study, the most important thing is to balance work and rest."

It was almost noon when school ended, and the last physical education class was a 400-meter test.

Wu Xiaoting led the entire field and even broke the school record for boys.

Shen Yuan slumped on the grass, looked at Wu Xiaoting, and complained, "How can someone be good at both academics and sports... It's not fair!" "Hehe." Wu Xiaoting just scratched her head in a slightly smug way; she had never felt so happy.

"Hey, look over there, what are they doing?" Shen Yuan, sitting on the grass, pointed in the direction of the school wall.

Following the direction Shen Yuan pointed, Wu Xiaoting saw a person wearing a mask and sunglasses climb over the wall into the school and walk quickly towards the administration building.

"Teacher, teacher! Someone has climbed over the wall into the school..." Shen Yuan called out to the PE teacher, but soon she rushed towards the administration building.

"Hey! Xiao Yuan!" Seeing Shen Yuan suddenly rush over, Wu Xiaoting also ran after her. "What are you doing? We're still in class..." But soon, Wu Xiaoting knew why Shen Yuan ran over.

The masked man headed towards the school clinic.

They ran to the first floor of the administrative building and heard a man's slightly frantic shout coming from the direction of the school clinic.

"Hahaha! It's you! He wasn't wrong!"

"You didn't lie to us... You're nothing special! Your name doesn't deserve to be mentioned alongside mine!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

"Dang Langyi!"

After several gunshots and the sound of windows shattering, Shen Yuan and Wu Xiaoting ran to the door of the school clinic.

Inside the school clinic, on the pink floor tiles, a blurry figure in a white coat lay in a pool of blood…

"elder brother!!!"

Shen Yuan screamed at the top of her lungs, almost crying as she ran towards the fallen figure, leaving Wu Xiaoting trembling in place. This is reality...this is reality...this is reality...

This is reality...

What has happened is a reality that cannot be changed.