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墨書 Inktalez
After having breakfast, she drove towards her parents' house.
The sunlight outside was exceptionally strong, making it hard to look directly at it. The ultraviolet rays penetrated through the car windows and hit her skin like a sharp blade, causing an unbearable sting.
After about a twenty-minute drive, she arrived at her parents' residence.
It was an old residential building constructed in the 1970s, and her parents lived on the fourth floor.
She parked the car downstairs and walked through the dark, damp corridor to the entrance of the unit, where she happened to run into her parents' neighbor, Aunt Zhang. They nodded slightly to each other and exchanged smiles.
She entered the dark hallway and began to climb the stairs with difficulty. The old residential building did not have an elevator. The four flights of stairs were still somewhat challenging for her, and large beads of sweat dripped down her face, forcing her to stop and rest for a moment.
After several stops along the way, she finally reached the fourth floor. By this time, she was panting heavily and utterly exhausted.
She rested outside the door for several minutes before gently knocking on her parents' security door.
When Liu Siling opened the door, she was startled to see Qi Luoling standing outside with a pale face, as if she were about to faint.
She hurriedly supported Qi Luoling into the living room and helped her sit down slowly on the sofa. Then she called out loudly for her husband, Qi Qiang, asking him to bring a warm, damp towel.
Qi Qiang quickly took a light yellow towel from the drawer of the bedside table in their room, rushed to the bathroom faucet, turned on the hot water, soaked the towel, wrung it out, and handed it to Liu Siling.
As Liu Siling gently wiped away her daughter's sweat, she said with concern, "How is your health getting worse? Aren't you taking traditional Chinese medicine for conditioning? It seems not only has it not improved but is feeling increasingly severe."
Qi Luoling took the towel from her mother's hands and wiped her own sweat while smiling. "I'm feeling much better; I just had a nightmare last night and sweated a lot, so I'm not feeling well today."
"What kind of nightmare did you have?" Liu Siling asked with some worry in her expression.
"It's just a bunch of messy dreams, I've forgotten them all," she said dismissively.
After wiping off the sweat, Qi Luoling placed the towel on the coffee table in front of the sofa.
She suddenly noticed several worn-out old photo albums on the black coffee table, one of which was open, revealing yellowed old photographs inside. Many of the pictures had faded colors, and some were discolored. There were also stains on the surface of some photos.
"Mom, you're reminiscing about the past again," she said playfully, turning to Liu Siling, only then noticing that her mother was wearing a pair of reading glasses to see the photos clearly.
"Yes, your mom is looking at your childhood photos, recalling those moments from when you were little," Qi Qiang said as he brought over a cup of lukewarm water and handed it to Qi Luoling with a smile.
"Sigh, time flies so fast. Tomorrow you'll be 24 years old. In my heart, just yesterday you were still a chubby baby quietly lying in my arms," Liu Siling lamented about the passage of time.
"Hehe, that's why they say time is a thief! Mom and Dad, you were really a handsome couple when you were young; you matched perfectly! Look how chubby and cute I was as a child," she pointed to a photo of herself at one month old with her parents.
Her mother sat in a bamboo chair holding her in her arms, her eyes crinkling into crescent moons with laughter. Her father stood behind her mother, gently resting his hands on the armrest of the chair, smiling.
Suddenly, her gaze was drawn to the cape wrapped around her as a baby; its colors were quite special, made from many different fabrics in seven colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet—bright and colorful like a rainbow. The colors of the cape seemed familiar, as if she had seen them somewhere before.
She suddenly recalled that dream. In the dream, the baby was wrapped in swaddling clothes that were exactly the same color as this cape—vividly colorful.
She felt her heart race suddenly, contracting violently as if she couldn't catch her breath; the cup in her hand began to tremble slightly with her shaking.
To hide her discomfort, she shivered and raised the cup to drink all the water in one go.
After a few seconds, she regained her composure and asked nonchalantly, "Mom, this cape was so beautiful when I was little; who made it?"
"Ah?" Liu Siling did not expect her to ask this question and was taken aback.
However, Liu Siling quickly regained her composure, exchanged a meaningful glance with Qi Qiang, and then said, "This was given to me by a neighbor aunt who used to live where Mom stayed."
"Which aunt? What was her name?" Qiluo Ling continued to press.
"Let me think, that aunt's surname is... is Li, yes, it's Li," Liu Siling said after pondering.
"Oh, do you still keep in touch with her?"
"No, not at all. She moved away shortly after you were born, and back then we didn't have phones to stay in contact, so we lost touch over twenty years ago. Why are you asking so many details? What's wrong?" Liu Siling said somewhat displeased.
"Nothing, I was just asking casually." Seeing her mother's expression of annoyance, Qi Luoling hastily ended the topic.
Was that dream meaningful or meaningless? Did it have some connection to herself? Or was it purely a coincidence? These bizarre dreams were making her feel a bit on edge, almost to the point of developing a nervous breakdown.
Was she overthinking it? It was just a dream after all. Perhaps she was just too curious. There was no need to make a big deal out of it. Maybe after some time, when her body recovered, these strange dreams would disappear as well.
"Ling'er, what are you thinking about? Your health is so poor; overthinking can harm your spleen! By the way, I asked you to come over today because I have something for you," Liu Siling suddenly became excited again.
"What is it?" Qiluo Ling asked in confusion.
"I met a fortune teller and wanted him to read your fortune."
"Mom, I realize you know so many people from all walks of life. Sometimes I wonder if your acquaintances are lined up waiting for you to recognize them," Liu Siling said with a grin.
"How can you speak like that, girl? I'm only doing this for your own good. Listen to me, the house across from us has been rented out, right? The tenant is a man who studies the I Ching. He says his family has been deeply involved in studying divination, feng shui, and destiny for generations, and he has a profound understanding at such a young age. Since we are neighbors, I've tried to strike up a conversation a few times; he's quite mature," Liu Siling said seriously.
"Mom, you're really too friendly!" Qi Luoling chuckled.
"Be serious. Recently, we've noticed that things haven't been going well for you. First, you had that inexplicable miscarriage, and then your health has been poor. We thought it might be good for him to take a look at your fortune and do some divination to help turn things around."
"Fortune-telling these days is just a scam to get money; they only say what sounds nice," Qi Luoling pouted.
"In the past few days, I've observed that people have been coming and going to see him for fortune-telling. Ling'er, I must say, that man really seems to know his stuff. When he first moved in and was directing the moving company in the hallway, I opened the door and greeted him warmly. He glanced at me and said, 'You are very fortunate to have such a caring daughter.' He could tell right away that I had a daughter; isn't that impressive?"
"Mom, it's either a son or a daughter; isn't that just probability? He got lucky and guessed right."
"Don't be hasty; listen to what I have to say. He continued by saying your daughter is born in the Year of the Monkey, and this year is her zodiac year, so she needs to be especially careful. Last year wasn't great for her, and if this year brings more misfortune, she needs to find someone to help ward off disasters and pray for blessings."
"Fortune-tellers all say the same thing; their ultimate goal is just to make money."
"Ling'er, you're judging him with a narrow mindset. He said he'd help you for free since we're neighbors. It won't cost anything. Why don't we let him take a look?" Liu Siling asked tentatively.
Qi Luoling remained silent for a moment. Although she looked down on fortune-telling and divination, she understood her parents meant well. Fine, if it would ease their minds, she nodded in agreement.
Liu Siling was delighted and immediately stood up with Qi Luoling, opening the door and heading to the neighbor's house.
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