Feng Qingran finished her drawing and set down the brush.
After the ink on the paper dried, she carefully stored it away.
She found an inconspicuous spot in the room and hid the paper there.
Once this was done, Feng Qingran suddenly felt her mind go completely blank.
Who was she?
Where was she?
What was she supposed to be doing?
Knock, knock, knock!—
A knocking sound came from the door.
“Ranran, are you done? If we wait any longer, the food will get cold.” A woman’s clear, gentle voice reached her ears, instantly lifting her mood.
Feng Qingran blinked her almond-shaped eyes and suddenly realized—the person outside was her mother.
She scurried over on her small feet, pulled the door open, and threw herself into her mother’s embrace. Her clear, bright almond eyes sparkled as she chirped sweetly, “Mother, I missed you so much! Where did you go earlier?”
The woman picked Feng Qingran up, tapped her lightly on the nose, and her beautiful eyes twinkled. “Don’t be scared, Ranran. I’ve always been here with you.”
“But… Mother, I just had a nightmare. In my dream, I couldn’t find you anywhere, and I had such a miserable, miserable time…” Feng Qingran’s voice was soft and childish, tears welling up and spilling over without her realizing.
Her eyes brimmed with tears, her face a picture of fear.
Seeing Feng Qingran like this, the woman’s heart ached terribly.
With a hand as smooth as jade, she cradled the back of Feng Qingran’s head, letting the girl rest on her shoulder as she softly comforted her.
“Be good, Ranran. Mother won’t leave. Mother will always stay with you…” The woman’s reassurance soothed little Feng Qingran’s heart considerably.
“Mother, I don’t know why, but I feel like I’ve forgotten so many important things. But no matter how hard I try, I can’t remember. What should I do?” Feng Qingran’s eyes were pure and clear, filled with confusion.
It was just the two of them, mother and daughter, depending on each other. They had never even left the village.
Why did she have memories of the outside world in her mind?
“Be good, Ranran. If you can’t remember, then don’t force yourself. Come with me to eat first.” The woman carried Feng Qingran into the main room and set her down on a stool.
Feng Qingran stared at the woman with wide, round eyes, but her thoughts were drifting far away.
The woman served Feng Qingran some rice and said gently, “Ranran, what are you thinking about now?”
In her adorable, childish voice, Feng Qingran said, “Mother, I was thinking about the people in my dream. They could ride clouds and mists, summon wind and rain, and even fight monsters…”
“They could even do so many strange things. Were they immortals?”
Feng Qingran hugged her bowl, having no appetite at all.
The woman’s beautiful eyes shimmered with a gentle light. “There’s no such thing as immortals in this world. They’re just figments of people’s imaginations.”
“Alright, Ranran, eat up before it gets cold.” The woman urged her gently.
Feng Qingran didn’t move. She lifted her small face and continued, “Mother, I heard people say that things which feel familiar might be memories from a past life. Do you think the things I dreamed of are memories from my previous life?”
The woman patted Feng Qingran’s head, her touch incredibly tender. “Ranran, we only have this one life. Even if past lives exist, we wouldn’t be able to know about them.”
“Hurry up and eat. After you finish, Mother will take you to the village to play.”
Feng Qingran’s hand, holding the chopsticks, paused. Her delicate, jade-like face was full of bewilderment. “Mother, haven’t we always avoided interacting with the villagers?”
She remembered the villagers always calling her mother a ‘loose woman,’ ‘shameless,’ a ‘seductress’…
Although she didn’t understand what those words meant, she deeply disliked anyone speaking ill of her mother!
Later, they even started calling her a bastard.
Finally, her mother had had enough. They moved to the most secluded part of the village and cut off contact with everyone.
The woman’s beautiful eyes held a soft, pleading look. “Ranran, today is your grandfather’s birthday. We should still go and see him. As for the villagers… we’ll inevitably see them around. We can’t avoid them forever.”
“But Mother, you never used to say that. And I don’t want to go to Grandfather’s house.” The thought of the way her grandfather looked at her made Feng Qingran afraid.
And her grandmother—she always pinched her and wouldn’t let her cry.
Then there were her uncles and aunts. They always looked at her with disgusting expressions.
Her older cousins liked to bully her and always tried to push her into the manure pit…
The woman stroked Feng Qingran’s head. “Ranran, they are still my family. If we don’t go, it might reflect poorly on you in the future. I don’t want people saying later that Ranran doesn’t respect her elders.”
The woman casually picked up some food and placed it in Feng Qingran’s bowl, encouraging her to eat.
Feng Qingran clutched her chopsticks, looked up at the woman with a dazed expression, and, as if possessed, asked, “Are you really my mother? Will you really never leave me?”
Feng Qingran tilted her small head, her almond eyes clear and transparent.
She didn’t know why she was asking this.
She also didn’t know why the food that usually looked so appetizing held no appeal for her today.
And her mother, though still gentle and serene, seemed to carry an indefinable sense of strangeness.
Feng Qingran’s little head was filled with things she didn’t understand. Was she sick?
Her mother had once said that when people are sick, they tend to have wild thoughts.
Right now, her mind was full of bizarre and peculiar ideas.
Seeing Feng Qingran clutching her chopsticks without moving, the woman asked with extreme gentleness, “Ranran, why aren’t you eating? Why are you spacing out?”
“Mother, will you really never leave? And you’ll never lie to me?” On her small face was a look of great confusion.
“Ranran, we’ve depended on each other for so long. How could I bear to leave you?” The woman patted Feng Qingran’s head reassuringly.
Feng Qingran set down her bowl and chopsticks and slid off the stool.
She ran to the woman’s side, looked up, and asked, “Mother, then swear it. Promise me you will never leave me from now on! And swear you will never, ever lie to Ranran!”
Something flickered deep in the woman’s eyes, then she said tenderly, “Ranran, no matter what, Mother will always be with you. If you ever can’t find me, it just means I’m accompanying you from a place you cannot see.”
