Chapter 2 1. The first day (morning)

"...Thinking about it now, I've actually been aware of something wrong from the very beginning. It's just that I didn't pay attention to it at the time, and it was impossible to think that this little 'wrong' would be the beginning of a series of horrible incidents later. .” (Jining Diary) The mother was cooking lunch in the kitchen. When the doorbell rang, she was cutting pork with greasy hands. She could only shout to her son's room: "Jining, go and open the door!" Ji Ning, who will be in the third year of high school next term, is enjoying the rare leisure in the summer vacation. He sighed impatiently, said "wait a minute" to the online video chat partner, then stood up, walked to the living room and opened the door.

A clear voice jumped in together with the little guy at the door. "Cousin Ji Ning!" Ji Ning was stunned for a moment, then he laughed and said, "Doudou!" "What, Doudou is here?" Mother wiped her hands with a veil and came out of the kitchen.When the little guy saw her, he called out, "Auntie!" "Hey, Doudou." Ji Ning's mother smiled at her nephew, looking at the door, "Where's your mother, behind?" Doudou walked towards the living room, untied a bag he was carrying, and put it on the sofa. "Mom didn't come, I came alone!"

"What?" Ji Ning's mother opened her mouth in surprise. "You came alone? No way?" While talking, she walked to the door and looked outside, but she did not see Doudou's mother.She walked into the living room suspiciously and asked her 7-year-old nephew, "Doudou, what's going on?" "Auntie, I'm dying of thirst, please pour me a glass of water." Doudou said, sticking out her tongue. Only now did Ji Ning and his mother see that the little guy was flushed and sweating profusely, apparently he had walked directly from the station on this hot day.Mom hurried to get a cup to pour water, Ji Ning said "no need", took out a can of Coke from the refrigerator, and handed it to Doudou.Doudou lifted the lid of the Coke, drank it all in one gulp, and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "It's so cool!"

Ji Ning's mother squatted in front of Doudou, and asked in a puzzled and anxious tone: "Doudo, tell aunt, why did you come alone? Could it be something happened at home?" Doudou said disapprovingly: "No, my mother said that now that I am grown up, I can go to the city by car alone. She sent me to the car and went back." Ji Ning's mother looked at him suspiciously. "Really? Even so, she should have called me first?" Ji Ning said: "Mom, you can call and ask Auntie now." "Your aunt's house doesn't have a phone, so I can only call the village committee's communication room and ask them to call for help. It's really troublesome." Mom said with a frown.Pausing for a moment, he said to himself again, "But I have to call to find out." As he spoke, he walked to the landline in the living room and pressed a series of numbers.

Doudou held Ji Ning's hand, her eyes sparkled. "Cousin, are there any new games installed on your computer?" Ji Ning scratched his cousin's nose with his fingers. "I know you're thinking about this, let's go, come to my room." "Okay!" Doudou slid off the sofa like a loach, clapped her hands and rushed to her cousin's room. Ji Ning remembered that he was still making an online video with someone, so he walked to the computer first, said to the person in the video "Let's chat next time", then turned off the chat tool, and pointed to a few icons on the computer desktop. "These are newly installed games, you can see what you like to play."

"Great!" Doudou clicked on one of the games with the mouse and was immediately addicted to it. Ji Ning sat aside and watched Doudou play, teaching him from time to time.After more than ten minutes, my mother walked to the door of the room, beckoned to him, and said in a low voice, "Jining, come here." When the mother and son walked to the dining room, Ji Ning saw his mother frowning, and asked in a low voice: "What's the matter, have you found my aunt? Nothing really happened, right?" "Your aunt came to answer the phone. I asked her, and she also said that she wanted to exercise Doudou's independence, so she asked him to come to us by bus alone. But..." Mom hesitated, "I always I feel a little bit wrong..."

"What's wrong?" Mom glanced at Doudou in Ji Ning's room and lowered her voice. "It's not that you don't know about the situation at your aunt's house. Doudou has been dependent on his mother since he was a child, and your aunt regards him more than anything else. In the past, when you came to the city to play, your aunt would not stop holding him when you went shopping. Hold Doudou's hand, afraid that he will get lost, or some accident will happen - but this time, she let Doudou come alone, isn't it strange?" What his mother said made Ji Ning feel that this matter was indeed somewhat unusual, and it also reminded him of his aunt's unfortunate experience.

My aunt lived in the village of my hometown, and married my uncle at the age of 23.Both of them have little money and rely on meager income to maintain a family, but this does not affect that they have more joy and happiness than anyone else.After the arrival of the son, this warm little nest is even more perfect.But no one could have imagined that when Doudou was about to turn one year old, a strange thing happened—the little uncle "disappeared" inexplicably one day.My aunt searched the whole village and even the whole county, but found nothing.The little uncle evaporated like dew—this mysterious disappearance has remained a mystery until now.

After that—my aunt almost wanted to wander around the world, searching the whole world.But in the end, for the sake of her son—the only remaining meaning of her life—she compromised, and did not waste any more time and energy on that meaningless search.But everyone knows that in my aunt's life, every day, even every minute and every second, she is looking forward to a miracle—one day, her beloved husband will appear at the door and return to her—— But this hope, in exchange for a full six years of disappointment. Thinking of this, Ji Ning felt his nose a little sore.He looked at his mother, and found that his mother was also looking sad, apparently also caught in the past just like him.Ji Ning took a deep breath. "Mom, what do you think is going on?"

Mom shook her head in a daze, and after a few seconds, she seemed to come out of that bitter memory. "I don't know, I just think it's kind of weird." Ji Ning comforted his mother: "Maybe we are thinking too much. After all, Doudou is 7 years old now, and my aunt may really want to exercise him. I saw a TV program that let a 4-year-old child fly to another city alone Going to the parents—it's nothing compared to that." "Maybe." Mom nodded slightly and breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, I'm going to add two dishes and make a few more delicious things. You let Doudou go to the health clinic to take a shower, and then take him upstairs to meet your grandma-she must be happy that Doudou is here .”

Ji Ning nodded and walked towards his room.