[334:39:13]

[334:39:12]

[334:39:11]

[...]

"Are you crazy?!"

Feng Ju’s voice suddenly rose to a screeching pitch. He jumped to his feet, and the plastic chair made an ear-piercing sound as it scraped the floor.

When he had just been resurrected, Feng Ju was full of anger, and he didn’t even go home to see the Filial Daughter. Now that he had finally calmed down, it was even less likely he’d want to see her.

Yes, he had done some psychological preparation to help the Filial Daughter escape, but he wasn’t ready with an action plan.

When Feng Ju stood up, he knocked over the soy sauce bottle on the table, the brown-black liquid spreading over the surface like the congealed black blood on the back of his clothes.

He stared intently at the phone in the scoundrel’s hand, as if it were a bomb about to explode.

Feng Ju urgently reached out to grab it, and just as he did so, the call connected.

A familiar and sweet voice came through the receiver:

"Hello, brother...."

Feng Ju’s hand retracted as if electrocuted, his heart racing at 10 beats per second.

The scene before his death flashed through his mind again, and the female voice on the phone seemed to instantly trigger his PTSD. He shook his head wildly at Feng Mu.

The meaning was absolutely don’t mention him, and definitely don’t invite Yuhuai.

Feng Mu acted as if he didn’t see his father’s horrified expression and spoke gently into the phone:

"Yuhuai, it’s so late and you’re not home, Dad is worried about you."

His voice was as tender as a good brother’s for his most beloved but rebellious sister.

Before Feng Yuhuai could speak, Feng Mu warmly invited:

"By the way, Dad and I are having a late-night snack at [Old Chen’s]. Want to join us?"

Feng Ju seemed to have been struck by lightning. He then twisted around sharply, almost fleeing out of the store in a panic.

Feng Mu didn’t stop him, he just squinted his eyes and watched through the dusty glass window as his father’s panicked figure disappeared into the thick darkness of the alley.

The light inside the store cast warm spots on his lenses, hiding the cold glint in his eyes.

The other end of the phone plunged into a deathly silence, leaving only a faint electric hum.

Feng Mu didn’t urge, his long forefinger dipped in the spreading soy sauce, slowly outlining on the wooden tabletop.

The dark brown liquid followed his motions, gradually forming an exaggerated smiley face—with a mouth grinning to the ears, and eyes as two bottomless black holes.

"Brother....."

A voice finally came from the other end of the line, sweet with a barely noticeable tremor,

"Who did you say you’re having a late-night snack with?"

Feng Mu’s fingertips continued to wander on the tabletop, soy sauce seeping along the wood grain:

"Of course, it’s with Father... What? Yuhuai doesn’t think Father would invite me for a late-night snack?"

"It’s not that Father wouldn’t invite you....."

Feng Yuhuai’s voice suddenly tightened, denying vehemently,

"But Father he....."

"Because the dead don’t need to eat late-night snacks, right?"

Feng Mu gently picked up the conversation, his fingertips on the tabletop drawing a heart, which he slowly filled in black.

In the basement, Feng Yuhuai abruptly broke free from Ge Qingming’s embrace.

The red threads danced chaotically around her, slapping the surrounding puppets into disarray.

Feng Yuhuai stood up suddenly from her seat, breaking free from Ge Qingming’s embrace, a chill shooting from her feet to her head, her whole body like falling into an ice cellar, her voice trembling as she asked:

"The car... was it you who drove it away?"

Feng Yuhuai was clearly mistaken, she still wasn’t willing, or perhaps didn’t dare believe Feng Mu’s words.

The scene was too warm for her to imagine.

Feng Mu’s finger painted the last stroke on the table, it was a picture of three smiling faces nestled together, representing a father, son, and daughter, warm and harmonious.

Feng Mu didn’t answer his sister’s question, he just whispered into the phone.

"My dearest sister, brother just hopes you’ll understand..."

His voice was so gentle that it made Feng Yuhuai want to cry,

"Father may stop loving you because of your ’mistake’, but brother never will..."

Soy sauce dripped along the table’s edge, splattering into black flowers on the cement floor.

"No matter what you turn into..."

Feng Mu’s eyes behind the lenses narrowed slightly, his face displaying the same smile as the one on the table, he softly said,

"Whether pride or guilt..... brother will always, always love you just as before!"

.....

The busy tone of a disconnected call echoed hollowly in the dim basement.

She stared blankly at her new father, Ge Qingming, and looked around at her brothers and sisters.

"How could it be..."

Feng Yuhuai unconsciously pressed her hand to her chest, where the warmth from a newly completed family had just filled, now seemed to hollow out deeply.

For some reason, the joy of creating new family members was greatly diminished.

The cold wind in the basement carried a hint of bloodiness, brushing past her hair.

Feng Yuhuai suddenly shivered, the red threads on her fingertips restlessly moving.

"Could it be that I have always been wrong..."

She murmured to herself, her voice carrying an unprecedented confusion,

"The one who loved me most isn’t Dad, but the brother I’ve been ignoring and disliking?"

Buzz—

The phone screen lit up again, a text message quietly jumped into view:

There is no overnight grudge between family members, perhaps just one more meeting between you and your father could clear up your misunderstandings.

"Brother..."

Feng Yuhuai murmured to herself, like in a dream.

After a while, her face regained a sweet smile, she turned to Ge Qingming and spoke seriously: 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

She turned to look at Ge Qingming, her eyes sparkling with serious light, and said coquettishly:

"Dad, I have a dad again. He’s not dead, so he... must be a monster, right?

Hee-hee, Dad is a monster dad, daughter is a monster daughter, that way, Dad will definitely love me again, right?"

She seemed to gradually comprehend the joy of "regaining what was lost" that her father mentioned before he died, her mouth curving slightly as she muttered to herself:

"In the future, I will have two dads who love me.

And, I actually have a brother who loves me the most, hee-hee-hee..."

Ge Qingming’s knuckles made a "crack" sound as he slowly stood up from the iron bed.

The surrounding "brothers and sisters" also rose with him, like puppets on strings, neatly surrounding the elated Feng Yuhuai in the center.

Their mouths rose simultaneously, revealing identical smiles, echoing in unison: "Yes, everyone loves you most!"

Feng Yuhuai rose onto her tiptoes, like a ballet dancer, twirling lightly in a circle.

Her skirt traced a graceful arc in the air, a flush of happiness blooming on her face.

The puppets behind her followed her every step, each step falling exactly in her footprints.

As she stepped out of the black clinic.

Feng Yuhuai suddenly lifted her chin, flicked her fingertips, pulling a red thread to draw a red cloth doll back into her palm.

"Everyone loves me most..."

She said seriously to the red cloth doll,

"Why should you be an exception? You should just love me and that’s enough!"