Father Qi looked at the old womanâs eyes reddening again, as if she was about to wipe tears away, clicked his tongue and said, "Look at you, is this worth shedding tears for? Itâs not a big deal at all."
Mother Qi wiped the corner of her eye with the back of her hand, sneered, "Youâre saying that because youâre not in my shoes. You had your fill of hugs with your grandson today, hugging Xiao Qi like that... huh, a full man doesnât know what itâs like to be hungry."
Father Qi wanted to laugh but felt it wasnât appropriate, so he held back.
"In this whole day, I didnât hold him for even five minutes before he started crying." Mother Qi felt aggrieved again and said, "You know, he would let everyone else hug him. I saw it at dinner tonight, even the most unfamiliar person could hold him without him crying. But I canât. Whatâs the reason? Could it be..."
Her eyes were filled with fear, looking around, feeling uneasy and chilled inside.
Itâs said that children can see things adults canât. She believed this more than anyone else, especially after the car accident she had experienced.
"Didnât we go to the temple for a ritual before?" Father Qi comforted, "Letâs see how it goes for the next few days."
Mother Qi lowered her head sadly.
Father Qi lit a cigarette and added, "Iâve advised you before not to be so calculating. Youâve ruined your good fortune with your antics. Look at this now? Even your grandson ignores you, feeling upset?"
"Youâre speaking nonsense, what kind of reasoning is that? My grandson is so magical, he knows my antics?" Mother Qi was not convinced.
"Then you said he sees things we canât?" Father Qi asked.
Mother Qi was stumped, "Anyway, thatâs impossible."
Father Qi looked at her with a half-smile, "Donât forget, people are doing, and heaven is watching."
Mother Qi froze, her face turning pale.
Seeing the old ladyâs expression, Father Qi couldnât bear it, so he said, "Alright, donât overthink it. As time goes by, theyâll become familiar. You should control your temper too, donât be like your older sister whoâs still sour about everything. The look on her face is uncomfortable to see, nobody owes her anything. Donât do things that annoy people and draw hatred for no reason, just sleep!"
Mother Qi was half dead with anger, but helplessly had to go to sleep begrudgingly.
In her dreams, it was continuous nightmares, always the scene of the car accident, and that old lady was always waving at her.
Mother Qi mumbled, drowsily opened her eyes, only to see someone standing at the end of the bed, stiffly staring at her, causing her to scream furiously.
Father Qi was startled awake, quickly turned on the light, and asked, "Whatâs wrong?"
"Someone, thereâs someone, someone in the room." Mother Qi pointed pale-faced at the end of the bed and shouted.
The guesthouse room wasnât large, Father Qi looked around, where was anyone?
"You must be having a nightmare, right?"
"No, there really was someone standing there." Mother Qi shivered, "Just standing at the end of the bed watching me."
Father Qi looked over, pointed at the standing clothes rack, with a couple of clothes hanging there, "You saw wrong, mistook clothes for a person."
Mother Qi muttered her mouth, was it that? Not a person?
"Thereâs no one, you saw wrong." Father Qi poured her a glass of water, "Drink some water and go back to sleep."
"I donât dare to sleep anymore, talk to me!" Mother Qi drank the water and said, "I dreamed of that old lady."
"Daytime thoughts lead to nighttime dreams, youâre just overthinking, wildly imagining." Father Qi said with irritation.
Mother Qi said nothing. She decided to go for a ritual, not for anything else but peace of mind.