Chapter 59. This Is Your Dad!




While having breakfast, everyone was excitedly discussing where to go for fun today.

Xiao Lang’s cell phone suddenly rang, and he picked up the call.

“Mom.”

“Well, I slept in the hotel last night, so everyone has company.”

“What? Didn’t you say you would be back in a few days? Oh, I see. Okay, then we’ll take a look around the neighborhood today.”

After hanging up the phone, Xiao Lang said apologetically: “Why don’t we go for a walk around the old streets around Shunping City during the day? My parents heard you were coming and rushed back to treat my college friends to a good meal at home.”

Xiao Lang was the host, and everyone naturally expressed their gratitude for his parents’ enthusiasm.

So today’s itinerary was set. They would not go to the distant ancient villages for the time being but instead walk along the old streets of Shunping City.

In the afternoon, Xiao Lang handed over the next itinerary to Tian Luo.

He said: “I will go home to help out first, so as to prevent my parents from being too busy to prepare a large table of dishes, and I can also tell them a word about the dishes you guys don’t like.”

Anyway, with Tian Luo, a local, there, and everyone had already gotten to know each other, they decided to split up into two groups. Xiao Lang would go home, and the rest would continue to travel around Shunping City.

Just when Xiao Lang turned around and prepared to leave, Du Yan suddenly called him.

Du Yan rubbed his temples and looked very tired: “I didn’t sleep well last night, so I’ll go with you this afternoon. I can rest for a while at your house.”

Xiao Lang was stunned and said: “Are you going to stay at my house with me this afternoon?”

Du Yan smiled and said: “If you find it inconvenient, I can go back to the hotel and sleep.”

Xiao Lang shook his head quickly and said: “There’s nothing as such. If you want to come, I’d be happy.”

So for the afternoon trip, everyone was divided into two groups. Tian Luo took Xiao Lang’s roommates to continue walking around the old streets in Shunping City, while Du Yan followed Xiao Lang back to his home.

Xiao Lang’s home was in an old residential area. His parents were both employees of state-owned enterprises. They were all colleagues living in this residential area. The relationship between neighbors was very harmonious, so his parents were too lazy to move to other places and have lived here ever since.

This kind of honest community was composed of residential buildings with five or six floors, and there were no elevators. The stairs were very narrow, only two people could pass through at the same time, and the corners were piled with residents’ daily necessities.

The corridor was a little dim, and the light bulbs seemed to be broken. Xiao Lang led the way and turned back to tell Du Yan: “Be careful, there are too many things in the corridor, don’t trip.”

Xiao Lang’s home was on the fourth floor. The security door installed at the door was quite new, but it seems a bit out of place with the surrounding environment.

Xiao Lang took out the key and opened the door. The decoration inside was quite different from the dim corridor outside and had a very modern style.

Xiao Lang turned around and said to Du Yan: “It looks OK inside. My parents just think that everyone living here is familiar and more friendly.”

Du Yan nodded and lowered his head to put on the slippers that Xiao Lang handed over.

Xiao Lang heard some movement in the kitchen and shouted: “Mom, there are guests at home.”

Soon, someone came out of the kitchen.

Xiao Lang’s good looks might have been inherited from her mother. Even though this middle-aged woman in front of him was already old, it was obvious that she must have been a well-known beauty when she was young.

Xiao Lang introduced: “Mom, this is my friend Du Yan.”

Du Yan smiled and greeted her: “Hello, Ayi.”

Xiao Lang’s mother nodded with a smile and seemed to have a very gentle temper.

Xiao Lang asked again: “Where’s my dad?”

Mother Xiao said: “He’s out buying groceries. You take care of Little Du, and I’ll go get some fruit.”

After saying that, Mother Xiao turned around and walked into the kitchen. Xiao Lang led Du Yan to sit on the sofa and poured him some tea.

The sound of a kitchen knife hitting a chopping board could soon be heard in the kitchen, clattering and rhythmic.

Xiao Lang sat on the sofa, answering questions from the kitchen in a disjointed manner.

Mother Xiao’s questions were probably about how school was this semester? How did the friends who came to Shunping have fun? Were they happy? And other family matters.

Du Yan had a smile on his face, listening to the conversation between mother and son, but his eyes kept falling in the direction of the kitchen.

Perhaps Xiao Lang had not been home for a long time and was too excited to see his family, so he did not notice that it took too long to cut the fruit. The regular clattering sound lasted for a long time. Even if ten watermelons were cut, this time was far exceeded.

Du Yan glanced at Xiao Lang and finally spoke: “Xiao Lang, there are only two of us now, there is no need to prepare too many things, let Ayi come over and sit with us.”

Xiao Lang came to his senses and realized that his mother seemed to have stayed in the kitchen for too long. He said loudly: “Mom, don’t bother. It’s just Du Yan and I. Cutting so much fruit and leaving it for later, they won’t be fresh anymore.”

There was no reply from the kitchen, only the regular sound of the knife cutting on the chopping board.

Xiao Lang thought his mother didn’t hear him, so he repeated it again, but there was still no response from the kitchen.

Xiao Lang showed a puzzled expression on his face, stood up, and walked towards the kitchen.

Du Yan didn’t say anything but just followed him quietly.

In the kitchen, Mother Xiao was facing away from the door, concentrating on cutting something on the chopping board. There didn’t seem to be anything unusual.

Xiao Lang took a step forward but was afraid of startling his mother and causing her to cut her fingers. So he called out softly: “Mom, why don’t you say anything…”

“This, what is this?!”

Xiao Lang’s angle was just enough to see the things on the chopping board. What caught his eye was not fruit at all, but a pile of unknown things that were so rotten that their form could not even be seen clearly.

The regular clattering sound finally stopped, and Mother Xaio said softly: “Weren’t you looking for your dad? He’s on the chopping board.”

After saying this, Mother Xiao slowly turned around.

Her hair was well-maintained, and was neatly tied into a bun at the back of her head. She turned slowly, and the two people at the door first saw her profile and then her entire face.

Xiao Lang was shocked and took several steps back because the face of the person who turned around was completely blank.

No eyes, no nose, no mouth, nothing.

She faced the two people at the kitchen door and spoke, but the sound came from somewhere unknown, as if it came from her stomach but also from somewhere else.

The voice was full of love, but sounded very strange: “Baby, look at the things on the chopping board. Do you like them? If you don’t like them, mom will buy you another one, okay?”

After asking, she raised the kitchen knife in her hand and walked towards them step by step.

” ! “

Xiao Lang jumped up from the sofa, his forehead covered with cold sweat. He covered his chest and took a few deep breaths, still feeling a little frightened.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Xiao Lang looked up and found Du Yan sitting opposite him, looking at him with some doubts.

“My, my mom…” Xiao Lang said a few words with some stammering, then stood up and rushed to the kitchen.

The kitchen was empty, no one was there and no rotten meat on the chopping board.

Du Yan followed him and asked: “What are you looking for?”

Xiao Lang replied: “Where’s my mother? Is she out?”

Du Yan said in surprise: “When we came back, there was no one at your house. You said your parents went out to buy groceries. Then we sat on the sofa and watched TV. Not long after we watched, you fell asleep.”

It turned out to be a dream. Xiao Lang pinched his brows and thought about the strange dream just now. Could it be that he was too tired in the past two days, so he had such a weird dream.

The two of them sat on the sofa for a long time, but Xiao Lang’s parents did not come back.

Xiao Lang looked at the time and felt something was wrong, so he called to find it, but it showed that the number was out of the service area.

Xiao Lang became a little anxious. He stood up, opened the door, walked to the door of his next-door neighbor’s house, and rang the doorbell.

The person who opened the door was a kind-looking old man. He smiled when he saw Xiao Lang: “Hey, Little Xiao, I haven’t seen you for a long time.”

Xiao Lang said: “Grandpa Zhou, long time no see. I want to ask, at what time did my parents go out today?”

Grandpa Zhou asked curiously: “Didn’t your parents sign up for a tour group and go out two days ago? I heard they said it would take at least a week before they came back.”

Xiao Lang felt even more confused. He thanked him and went back home.

“What’s going on?”

Du Yan comforted him and said: “Old people’s hearing is not very good. Maybe he didn’t hear when your parents came back.”

Xiao Lang nodded hesitantly, and at this moment, his cell phone rang.

He looked and saw that it was his mother calling.

Xiao Lang quickly picked up the phone and asked: “Mom, where have you been? Why haven’t you come home yet?”

The familiar voice from the other end of the phone reached Xiao Lang: “Don’t you have friends coming? Your dad and I went to the countryside to buy some free-range chickens. There was no signal there just now. I will call you back as soon as I get to a place with a signal.”

Xiao Lang’s expression relaxed a little: “I just ran to Grandpa Zhou’s house next door to ask. It turns out that Grandpa Zhou’s hearing is getting worse and worse. He actually said that you didn’t come back at all.”

“Xiao Lang, what are you talking about? Old Zhou next door passed away last month, and now the house is empty, and no one lives there!”

Xiao Lang’s hands trembled when he heard this. He wanted to ask something else, but the call seemed to be disconnected due to poor signal.

Xiao Lang looked at Du Yan in front of him, his expression a little stiff: “You, did you just see someone next door?”

Du Yan just thought Xiao Lang was acting weird: “What are you talking about?”

“That, my mom just said that Grandpa Zhou next door passed away last month…”

Du Yan smiled and said softly: “Xiao Lang, what on earth are you talking about? What next door? What your home?”

Xiao Lang only felt that the sounds in his ears were becoming increasingly blurred, and Du Yan in front of him also became hazy.

“Xiao Lang, Xiao Lang. We are here.”

Xiao Lang suddenly opened his eyes, and what he saw was Du Yan’s face. The two were very close to each other, so he suddenly stepped back.

With a bang, Xiao Lang felt a sharp pain on the top of his head.

“…” Du Yan looked helplessly at Xiao Lang, who had hit the car window: “Why are you so startled?”

Only then did Xiao Lang realize that he and Du Yan were still sitting in the taxi.


T/N:- Daily updates today onwards.



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