Xiaoqi, what did the doctor say?" Auntie walked into the room wearing an apron.
"You say I'm recovering well." Lin Qiye shrugged. He hesitated for a moment and then asked: "Aunt, is this Dr. Li... really sent by the hospital?
"Yes, what's wrong?" Auntie asked doubtfully.
Lin Qiye shook his head, "It's nothing, I just think he's a little strange."
My aunt seemed to have remembered something and said, "By the way, I just realized that I ran out of soy sauce while cooking. I have to go out and buy some soy sauce..."
"Let me go, Auntie." Lin Qiye said proactively, "There are still vegetables in your pot."
The aunt was startled, and after a moment of hesitation, she nodded, "Then be careful and pay attention to your safety."
Lin Qiye hummed, changed her shoes at the door, and then pushed the door open and walked out.
Walking along the stairs covered with small advertisements to the first floor, Lin Qiye walked along the familiar alleyway towards the main street.
On the low wall beside me, the gray-white wall was bare, with a few yellowed advertisements plastered here and there. The cement pavement under my feet was full of potholes, and if I wasn't careful, I would step into a shallow pit.
He walked into the nearest small shop on the street, picked out the cheapest bottle of soy sauce, carried a plastic bag, and walked toward home along with the scattered crowds.
Lin Qiye looked up and saw the setting sun burning the clouds in the sky into fiery red. The chirping of cicadas in the distance mixed with the music from the video store on the corner, echoing in his ears.
"How I want to go back to that summer,
How much I want to come back to you.
It seems like I can meet again,
Those episodes about you at the beginning..."
Lin Qiye took a deep breath and raised the corners of his mouth slightly.
Yes, this is what he likes, a simple and warm life.
boom--!!
Just when he passed a traffic light, a loud buzzing sound suddenly came from the distance, and the ground beneath his feet began to tremble!
"There was an earthquake?" Lin Qiye steadied himself in shock and looked up.
I saw that the originally beautiful sunset sky had disappeared. Dark black and deep blue separated the boundless sky, and everything around me became dim.
Lin Qiye lowered his head and suddenly froze on the spot.
At some point, the pedestrians who were waiting with him at the traffic light had disappeared, and the entire street was empty, not even a single person in sight.
Under the two-color sky, the red traffic lights on the road flashed, reflecting the young man's figure in deep red.
"What...is going on?" Lin Qiye muttered to himself.
At this moment, a gray-robed Taoist suddenly appeared in front of him, looked into Lin Qiye's eyes, and spoke calmly:
"It's time for you to wake up..."
As soon as he finished speaking, the streets around Lin Qiye shattered into pieces, like a world built of mirror images, which collapsed. Everything around him turned into nothingness and dissipated in the gray mist.
Lin Qiye seemed to have lost weight, and his figure fell rapidly.
Countless streams of light appeared around Lin Qiye, and those were memories of his past.
Night Watch, Team 136, training camp, Loki, the lost city...
The memories that had been covered by his dust emerged at this moment and poured into his mind. Lin Qiye's eyes shrank, and a look of pain appeared between his eyebrows.
He remembered.
As his memory recovered, the deeply buried pain, sadness, and regret exploded like gunpowder and emerged in his heart again.
"Are these...all fake?" Lin Qiye's figure fell rapidly. He stared blankly at the soy sauce bottle in his hand and muttered to himself.
Suddenly, he seemed to have thought of something, and he suddenly raised his head and looked upward, with a strange look in his eyes.
"I can't leave like this." Lin Qiye's eyes burst out with dazzling golden light, and his falling figure suddenly stopped!
"Whether it's true or false...this is my last chance to say goodbye to them..."
After Lin Qiye's words fell, the city that collapsed into nothingness reorganized again, and the dots of golden light returned to the original appearance of the streets. He held soy sauce in his hand and stood on the deserted street.
The red light of the traffic light above his head flashed, and Lin Qiye stepped forward fiercely, running towards home.
Every time he took a step, the city behind him turned into golden light and dissipated into endless mist.
He didn't look back, but looked straight ahead, where there was a short old house.
Finally, he stopped in front of the low house.
The entire fantasy world has disappeared, and only the short house in front of me stands in the mist, with golden light spots spreading around it, like an isolated island in the sea.
Lin Qiye took a deep breath, opened the door, and walked in.
"Xiao Qi, have you bought the soy sauce?" My aunt walked out of the kitchen and saw Lin Qiye with tears on her face at the door, and suddenly froze on the spot.
"Auntie." When Lin Qiye saw her aunt, a smile appeared on her lips.
The aunt hurriedly stepped forward, took the soy sauce from Lin Qiye's hand, and wiped the tears from the corners of Lin Qiye's eyes with her hands, "You kid, why did you end up like this when you went out to buy soy sauce?"
Lin Qiye stared at her aunt's face, the sourness in her heart was rolling. She opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but nothing came out.
"It's okay..." After a moment, he shook his head.
"Are you hungry?" Auntie asked with concern. She looked back at the kitchen and said, "Go and sit down first. The meal will be ready soon."
Lin Qiye nodded, walked to the chair next to the dining table and sat down, looking at the busy figures in the kitchen in a daze.
After a while, her aunt came out of the kitchen with two plates of steaming dishes and placed them in front of Lin Qiye. She wiped her hands on her apron and handed the chopsticks to Lin Qiye.
"Eat it quickly while it's hot."
Lin Qiye took the chopsticks and stared at the food in front of him. After a moment of silence, he started eating with big mouthfuls.
Auntie likes to add more salt when cooking. After all, it is the cheapest condiment at home. This means that every meal she cooks is salty. After Lin Qiye and Yang Jin protested countless times to no avail, they had no choice but to accept it.
This reality.
The same goes for this meal.
But Lin Qiye did not waste any time and gulped down all the food. He had never thought that his aunt's food could be so delicious, as if what was added to the food was not a lot of salt, but the sweetness of life.
"Eat slowly, eat slowly, don't choke." My aunt advised from the side, "You are really hungry..."
The surrounding walls gradually collapsed into nothingness, and the last remaining corner of the world began to disintegrate, including the door, bedroom, kitchen, bathroom...
Rooms disappeared one after another, and finally, only the corner next to the dining table was left, suspended in the mist.
In such a strange situation, my aunt seemed not to notice at all, and just looked at Lin Qiye who was eating with concern.
Lin Qiye raised his head, swallowed the food in his mouth, and slowly said:
"aunt."
"What's wrong?"
"In the future, I still want to eat the food you cook."
The aunt was slightly startled, "You kid, what nonsense are you talking about? As long as you want to eat it, when won't your aunt make it for you?"
"Yeah." Lin Qiye nodded and looked down at the empty bowl in front of him. Not even a grain of rice was left.
"I will definitely...let you come back."
He muttered to himself.
He put down the chopsticks in his hand.
The aunt, dining table, chairs, and empty rice bowls all disappeared, leaving Lin Qiye alone, standing alone in the mist.