Pain
Especially painful, her whole head feeling dizzy and swollen,
Bai Zhi reached out and touched her head, only to feel a thick bandage.
She hadn’t wrapped up her head with a bandage when she went to rest last night, had she?
She just had her ears pierced, and it turned into an infection.
Hearing that alcohol could disinfect, she had directly used baijiu to clean it.
Feeling that external application wasn’t enough, she took some internally as well.
Honestly, the taste of that baijiu was truly terrible.
It choked her and the smell of the alcohol was nauseating, making her want to vomit; she really didn’t know why so many people liked to drink it.
Clearly, Bai Zhi’s mind had already wandered off.
Could it be that she was sent to the hospital because of alcohol poisoning?
Her eyelids were very heavy; she could hardly keep them open.
Her head also hurt terribly, as if someone had smashed it with a huge blow.
She furrowed her brows and started forcing her eyes open.
She couldn’t help but touch her head.
“Hey, hey, no touching, no touching. Dear granddaughter, you mustn’t touch it. You’ve got a big gash on your head; you can’t touch it.”
An unfamiliar voice rang out by Bai Zhi’s ears.
Dear granddaughter? Grandfather?
That couldn’t be right. Her grandfather had been buried many years ago. Could they not joke with her like this, it wasn’t funny at all.
This must be a dream. Open your eyes, open your eyes, Bai Zhi told herself to quickly open her eyes.
Forget it, she couldn’t open her eyes. Just reach for the phone, where was it?
Her hand wouldn’t obey her either.
Right, she was powerless in a dream; she could never dial out on a call. Better force her eyes open.
Pinch herself.
With great effort, she opened her eyes, and her head hurt a lot.
Better do something with her hands.
Bai Zhi reached out and pinched herself hard on the leg.
“Ah.”
Suddenly, her eyes opened wide.
Oh,
What was this place?
It looked like a wooden house,
and she was lying on the kind of wooden plank bed that existed many years ago.
And even more terrifying was that there was a living grandfather standing in front of her?
It was her grandfather, looking exactly as he did in her memory, the grandfather who used to hold her and tell her stories about long-haired monsters.
Bai Zhi’s eyes immediately became sour, and tears fell.
“Grandfather… I miss you so much.”
I miss the fried rice with eggshells you made,
I miss the wrinkled clothes you mended,
I miss the wooden cars you crafted.
The old man was heartbroken to see the young lady crying, still holding a porcelain bowl,
The kind with green and blue borders?
“Xingxing, dear, come drink a bowl of sugar water. It’ll stop the pain.”
Xingxing?
Right, grandfather always called her Xingxing, but she didn’t like sugar water.
And this place—it wasn’t their home,
So, was she still dreaming?
Seeing Bai Zhi in a daze, grandfather felt distressed,
his voice choking up,
“What’s wrong, is your head hurting? Have some sugar water. Just stay with grandfather, don’t go back.
Your parents are blinded by something; their own daughter doesn’t matter to them, but a picked-up child does, isn’t that crazy?”
Grandfather got angry thinking about that son; recalling how his granddaughter was at death’s door, he really felt like killing them.
“Grandfather?”
Bai Zhi was somewhat confused; she couldn’t understand what grandfather was saying,
Suddenly, she felt dizzy…
She quickly held on, “Grandfather, I’m feeling dizzy.”
Hold on, she must hold on, otherwise if the dream ended, she wouldn’t see her grandfather anymore.
“Dizzy?”
Grandfather was anxious too, quickly setting aside the sugar water and letting Bai Zhi lie down, then took off a jade pendant from around his neck and hung it around Bai Zhi’s neck.
“This is the family heirloom jade pendant from grandfather, it protects our family, protects our Xingxing. You lie down, grandfather will cook for you, how about some millet porridge?”
Bai Zhi blankly stared at the jade pendant, feeling even more bewildered—this was her jade pendant alright,
But grandfather’s words were too strange,
Then another stabbing pain came,
This time, it was an unbearable pain that continued,
like countless needles, pricking inside her head, over and over…