Ning Xin lived in the house provided by her parents for two months.
Originally, they came over every day to cook for her, and they would eat dinner together before going home. By the third month, they just moved in, truly becoming a family.
They were exactly what Ning Xin had imagined before.
Gentle, patient, and kind.
Despite being in management positions, they had no temper at all and treated her incredibly well.
They not only did her laundry, cooked, and cleaned for her but also made sure her bedding was neatly folded every day.
With such thoughtful care, Ning Xin felt too embarrassed to treat them as outsiders anymore. She helped out as much as she could, and the titles “Dad” and “Mom” became more and more natural to her.
When her dad learned that she hadn’t gone to college, he asked if she had any thoughts about continuing her education.
After considering for two days, Ning Xin expressed her interest. So he found out about a university that offered special enrolment programs, hired a tutor for her, and after three months of study, she successfully enrolled.
Ning Xin was overjoyed and bought gifts for her parents to show her gratitude.
However, her parents turned around and gave her money, saying that helping their children complete their education was something all parents should do, and they would take care of all the tuition and living expenses during her university years.
Ning Xin naturally refused, and after much persuasion, they finally took the money back.
University life was just as she had imagined, with a beautiful environment and a strong academic atmosphere.
Since her major had quite a few social examinees who came to improve their qualifications after working, her presence as a twenty-something student didn’t seem out of place at all, and she even made many friends.
Four years later, Ning Xin graduated from school and entered a local company to work.
The income was decent, not too busy either. She could leave work on time every day and have dinner with her parents.
On her twenty-eighth birthday, her parents suggested she start meeting potential partners and introduced her to many friends’ children.
Most of them had decent jobs, good looks, and came from good families.
Ning Xin met a few of them and chose the one with the best personality to marry. The following year, they had a baby boy, and they named him Wuyi after the date of that day.
Their days were like a jar of honey, seemingly ordinary but sweet enough to not find any flaws.
As Wuyi grew up, Ning Xin began to focus more on him, hoping for his good health and success in his studies.
When he turned five, she and her husband took him on a trip to the beach as a family of three.
Wuyi was playing with sand on the beach while she and her husband sat nearby discussing what to have for dinner.
Suddenly, he burst into loud tears. Ning Xin thought he might have been scratched by a seashell and quickly ran over to check, but there was no trace of injury.
“Why are you crying, Wuyi? You’re not hurt.”
The little one wiped his tears with a look of grievance, his speech not quite fluent yet.
“Mommy only talks to daddy. I-I called you several times, but you ignored me.”
Ning Xin couldn’t help but smile and picked him up, brushing the sand off his clothes.
“Mommy was just chatting with daddy and didn’t hear you. I will never ignore you, Wuyi.”
“Do you promise?”
He asked in a childish voice.
“Sure, let’s pinky promise.”
Ning Xin hooked her pinky finger around his tiny one, shook it gently, and was about to speak when a fragment suddenly flashed through her mind.
“We both must remain faithful. Whoever cheats first will be punished by the heavens. Pinky promise, hanging together, for a hundred years, no changing.”
She seemed to have held someone else’s hand like this before, but unlike Wuyi’s chubby little hand, that person had broad and large hands with calluses on the knuckles, likely from handling weapons. They always firmly grasped her hand when she was afraid.
Who was that person?
She gazed at the vast blue sea in front of her, but couldn’t recall.
Only that sentence echoed repeatedly in her mind — we must both remain faithful.
Her husband was right there beside her. Was she the one breaking the vow?
Upon returning home from the trip, Ning Xin felt restless all day, unable to focus on anything.
Finally, one evening, her husband couldn’t help but ask her, “Xin Xin, what’s wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell? Do you want to go to the hospital for a check-up?”
She lifted her head and looked at this handsome and gentle man, the man who had lived with her for five or six years, sharing a bed every night. Suddenly, she felt that his face was so blurred.
Blurred as if… a standard template.
“What’s your name?” she asked.
“What?” he replied.
“Answer me.”
“Are you crazy?” He touched her forehead and called their family.
Soon Ning Xin’s parents and his parents all rushed over and sat in the living room, asking her what was wrong with concern.
She couldn’t explain. Her body wasn’t in pain, but she felt dizzy and lethargic.
Wuyi hugged her legs and blinked his eyes.
“Mommy, are you sick?”
“Mommy isn’t sick, mommy just…”
She caressed his round head and suddenly remembered something.
She hurriedly ran into the room and began to search through boxes and cabinets.
Her family followed her every step of the way.
“Xin Xin, what are you looking for? Let us help you find it.”
She suddenly found them annoying, always caring for her, always saying things she wanted to hear.
Just like… just like they existed because of her existence.
Like characters in a third-rate novel, without a story, without a plot, without a future, their only purpose being to support the main character.
The sudden thought made her shiver, and she searched even harder.
Finally, she pulled out an old, worn-out suitcase that had been buried at the bottom, covered in a thick layer of dust.
Ignoring the dirt, she eagerly opened the suitcase to reveal a large red velvet box.
Opening the box, a set of jewellery made of pure gold appeared before her, quietly shining with brilliance.
They had been sealed in dust for many years, yet they remained unchanged.
The colours, shapes, curves, were all the same as when she first saw them.
When was that? When did she see them for the first time?
Who bought this set of jewellery?
Ning Xin felt dizzy and collapsed on the ground.
Her family panicked, calling emergency services, taking care of her, creating a chaotic scene.
When she regained consciousness, she found herself in the hospital, surrounded by white walls.
Her husband sat by her bedside all night, his eyes tired with dark circles, but he smiled as soon as he saw her awake.
“Xin Xin, are you still feeling uncomfortable?”
She shook her head, looking out the window without wanting to speak.
“Are you hungry? We bought some porridge for you. Have some.”
He opened the insulated food container, revealing fragrant seafood porridge, spooning it gently for her to drink, patient and tender.
Before long, her parents and Wuyi walked in.
Ning Xin said to her husband, “You take Wuyi out to play for a while. I want to talk to them.”
Her husband, as always, complied without argument. He never argued with her, taking Wuyi out of the hospital room.
Her parents sat by her bedside, looking at her with concern.
“Xin Xin, what’s wrong with you? You really scared us.”
She looked at her father’s face, then at her mother’s, and asked, “When did you find me?”
“When you were 23, why?”
“What was I doing then?”
“You had opened a lingerie store, but it didn’t do well, so you closed it.”
“Did I have anyone else around me at that time?”
“Someone else? Like who?”
“Just… friends or something.”
They looked at each other and shook their heads.
“We never heard you mention anyone, and after we brought you home, no one came to see you.”
“Is that so?”
But she couldn’t shake the feeling that there should have been someone significant in her life.
“You two should go out,” Ning Xin waved her hand with her eyes closed. “I’m a little tired and want to rest.”
“Alright, take your time to sleep. Call us if you need anything.”
Her parents left the room, closing the door behind them.
It became very quiet, not a sound could be heard.
A few hours later, her husband came knocking at the door.
“Xin Xin, are you awake? It’s time for dinner.”
There was no response in the hospital room.
He gently pushed open the door, and the food in his hands fell to the ground with a thud.
Pulling back the covers, there was no one in the bed. Ning Xin was long gone.
The evening breeze was a bit chilly.
Ning Xin walked on the street in her patient gown, occasionally receiving looks from people as if she were mentally ill.
This feeling seemed familiar to her, as if she had experienced it before.
She walked aimlessly, not knowing where to go, just not wanting to go home.
Her home was perfect and warm, the house beautifully decorated, the family warm and harmonious.
But everything was too perfect, so perfect that it felt like living in a fantasy.
Recalling the years since reuniting with her parents, she had done a lot.
Studying, working, getting married, having children…
From having nothing to a thriving family and career, but upon closer reflection, she felt like she hadn’t really done anything.
Her life felt like playing a game on the lowest difficulty level, because it was just too easy. Every level was effortless, lacking a sense of achievement, devoid of emotional fluctuations, and she had no interest in looking back on the past.
“Miss, buy a bracelet, it’s pure silver.”
The shout brought her back to reality. Ning Xin looked around and realized she was at People’s Square, though she couldn’t recall how she got there.
The night market at the square was always bustling, with many people coming here specifically after work.
She squatted down, looking at the various items, feeling an inexplicable familiarity, as if she had once been a part of this place.
“How much can you earn in one night?”
“Maybe a few hundred, depends on luck, more during holidays. But I heard someone used to sell lingerie here a few years ago and earned tens of thousands in a day.”
Selling lingerie… earning tens of thousands…
A face faintly emerged in her mind, but it was too blurry to make out any features, only a sense that it should be a man.
She continued walking forward and saw a toy stall.
Several children, accompanied by their parents, were picking out new toys. One of them picked up a plastic sword and swung it around vigorously.
“Dad, I want to give this sword a cool name.”
“Sure, what will it be?”
“Daybreaker!”
He swung the sword, and the light bulb inside the plastic sword flickered, as if reflecting the brilliance.
Ning Xin stared at them in a daze, hearing the word “director” in her ears.
She turned around, realizing she misheard; the person actually said “seal,” asking how much the seal was being sold for.
A greyish-white dog barked, looking particularly like a wolf.
A stunning woman in a cheongsam walked past.
She saw a tall man whose back seemed oddly familiar. She hurried to catch up, but he disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Everywhere was crowded with people, everywhere were strangers she didn’t recognize.
Ning Xin looked up at the surrounding skyscrapers, feeling like she was sinking into a quagmire.
Sinking deeper and deeper…
She wanted to get out.
She didn’t want to be forever submerged.
She shouted into the night sky, and the scenes around her began to distort.
Figures, trees, buildings, all merged together.
It was surreal, incredibly strange.
“Xin Xin, don’t go.”
Her husband and parents called out to her.
She covered her ears and ran forward, trying to escape from them. A small figure appeared ahead, stumbling towards her.
“Mommy, don’t you want me anymore?”
Wuyi, with red eyes, looked like a forsaken child.
He rushed into her arms, clinging to her legs, tears streaming down his face.
“Don’t go, okay? Stay and be with Wuyi.”
His voice was so tender, so soft. Even if he asked for the stars in the sky, Ning Xin would want to pluck them for him.
Her heart twisted in pain, and she bent down to kiss his tender face.
“Wuyi, I’m sorry.”
Her dream had awakened; she had more important people to be with.
Would that older boy, forgotten and abandoned by her, also feel saddened with red eyes?
Ning Xin gritted her teeth, pushed Wuyi away, and rushed towards those distorted and strange scenes.
A cool breeze blew, and everything vanished.
She stood under the moonlight, behind her, desolate wilderness, and in front of her, a simple two-story building with a ridiculous sign above the door — “Madhouse of the Apocalypse.”
The handwriting was exquisite, beautifully done.
Ning Xin remembered the name of the calligrapher.
Nie Ran.
The door was partially open. She walked in, turned on the light, and found the living room empty.
“Is anyone here?”
“Nie Ran? Lang Xiao? Wan Yue?”
“I’m back, where are you all?”
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