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House Doctor
墨書 Inktalez
On a winding, serene path, an electric scooter sped along. The early spring weather was warm, with lush green wheat sprouts and newly budding trees lining the roadside; everything felt so beautiful.
Suddenly, a procession appeared in the distance, moving slowly forward. The girl on her electric scooter continued to race ahead, getting closer and closer.
Unbeknownst to her, the wind began to pick up, and bright sunlight was gradually obscured by clouds. The sky darkened, but the girl, lost in her thoughts, remained oblivious to the changes around her.
The temperature dropped as she approached the procession; the wind grew cooler, and the air seemed to freeze in that moment.
The girl snapped back to reality and noticed the funeral procession drawing nearer. The eerie sounds of weeping echoed across the vast space as people dressed in mourning clothes slowly approached... slowly approaching...
When she regained consciousness, Liu Qingxi felt utterly weak, her head pounding as if it were about to explode. Rubbing her aching head, she cried out, "Ah! What happened?"
"Oh no, it's time to get up again. My head is killing me. Did I drink too much last night?" Liu Qingxi's mind was foggy. After years of hard work, she had finally reached her current position; socializing over drinks was unavoidable. For an entire week, there hadn't been a moment without alcohol.
What bad luck! Why hadn't the alarm gone off yet? With her eyes closed, she reached for the alarm clock on her bedside table. "Hmm? Where is it? Let me see what time it is... Huh? Why isn't it ringing?"
She opened her eyes just a crack, groggily searching for the alarm clock in the dim light. But why was the wall so dark? Hadn't it just been renovated?
Suddenly sitting up, she bumped her head with a thud. "Ah!" The already painful spot throbbed even more. Liu Qingxi couldn't help but lament her misfortune.
"Big sister, you're awake! Are you feeling okay?" A child's voice suddenly called out as a boy who looked about six years old walked in.
The boy had messy yellow hair tied up and was extremely thin; his arms were little more than skin and bones. His large sunken eyes looked at her with surprise. Liu Qingxi felt as if this world had turned surreal!
Where was this? How did she end up here? Wasn't she supposed to be in her own house? She clearly remembered the light blue walls that had just been renovated. Who was this little boy?
Looking closely at her surroundings, she noticed that above her was a dark stone ceiling, with uneven walls beside her and scattered stones of various sizes on the ground.
Her mind spun in confusion; Liu Qingxi had no idea where she was.
"Um, little brother, where is this?" As an urban white-collar worker, she wasn't completely clueless. Since the little boy called her "big sister," he must be her younger brother.
First, she needed to understand where she was and who the little boy in front of her was.
"Sister, you forgot? This is our home! You've been sleeping and not waking up, I was so scared! Boohoo~~~"
Wait! Hold on a second, sister? When did she have a brother? Clearly, Liu Qingxi had grown up with her grandmother and had no siblings at all!
"Sister, why aren't you talking? Wah wah, I miss you so much!" The little boy hugged Liu Qingxi, crying with snot and tears.
At that moment, Liu Qingxi snapped out of her shock. She looked at the little boy in front of her and then at her own thin arms, finally realizing a fact!
She had crossed over! Crossed over... How could something so terrifying happen?
Thinking hard, she remembered that she hadn’t been at work but had returned to her hometown for the holidays. Her beloved grandmother had passed away many years ago. She had gone back to share some heartfelt words with her grandmother, to tell her that she was living well.
She wanted to buy some fruits and paper money to place on her grave. But before she could buy the fruits, she encountered a funeral procession on the small road leading to the town, and then everything went blank...
When she opened her eyes, this was the scene before her: clearly a cave, dark and damp.
Thinking about her modern life, she had worked hard for many years to get into university and studied architecture. Although her classmates often said they couldn’t afford houses after building them, she finally had a place to settle down in the big city.
After saving for five or six years, she managed to make a down payment and spent another year doing simple renovations. She wanted to share this good news with her grandmother so that she could rest easy in another world.
But before she could say anything, she ended up here.
How pitiful it was for her tiny apartment in the city! How pitiful it was for the tens of thousands spent on renovations—was this dark and damp place really her home? The contrast was too great!
As the little boy cried, he spoke intermittently, and from his fragmented narrative, Liu Qingxi learned what had happened.
It turned out this was a family fleeing from disaster. They had come from very far away—far enough that even the little boy didn’t know how far it was; he only knew they had walked for a long time to get here. The reason for their migration was that their hometown had flooded, submerging all the houses and fields.
The entire village had come out to escape the disaster, and their family was among them. Unfortunately, their parents had already passed away during the journey. Now only their grandfather, grandmother, uncles, and brothers remained at home.
Finally, Liu Qingxi sorted out her thoughts. This was a large family, with their parents having a total of seven siblings: five sons and two daughters.
At least from Liu Qingxi's perspective, this was a big family. In this era, it was quite normal; the concept of having many children for blessings was deeply ingrained in people's minds, and having six or seven children was not unusual at all.
Unfortunately, the parents of this body were the Third Son, occupying an awkward position that often led to them being overlooked.
From the mouth of this younger brother, Liu Qingxi learned that Aunt and Aunt were formidable figures, and the original parents were often bullied.
On the road fleeing from disaster, they always exerted the most effort in finding food but received the least to eat. Already lacking nutrition and overworked, the father eventually lost his life due to a cold and high fever, while the mother, overwhelmed by grief and already weak, could not withstand the blow and passed away.
It is said that it took one or two months to find a place to settle down. This village was called Ten Li Pu, and seeing their family's plight, the villagers allowed them to stay.
However, there was no proper housing available; they could only find a dilapidated cave to squeeze into as a family.
The original owner was particularly unfortunate; prolonged hunger led to malnutrition. She walked as if floating and accidentally fell, hitting her head against a rock, which ultimately led to her demise.
Thus, modern Liu Qingxi arrived and took possession of this emaciated body, becoming part of this family.
"Where are they?" Liu Qingxi had no memories of the original owner and could only gather some information from this younger brother to avoid revealing herself in front of the family.
"Sister, you've been sleeping. Uncle and Aunt went up the mountain to find food, and Grandma and Grandpa are ahead clearing wasteland." Following the explanation from the little boy, Liu Qingxi understood the general situation of this family.
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