Chapter 34: The Strange Old Man and Woman

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The young boy inside me felt very nervous. Finding nowhere to hide, he whispered to me, "You had better not do it, so that everyone can stay safe. If there are consequences, who knows what will happen?"
A message arrived on my phone. I took one look and understood everything. It was a funnel, categorized into types A and B; by folding it, it could be used quickly.
This thing was completely foreign to me, and I had no idea what would happen if I used it. I had no choice but to say into the phone, "Alright! Can I buy it and try it out?"
There was the sound of a key turning in the lock outside. I panicked and shouted, "I have to hang up, someone is home!"
She sent back a disgruntled voice, "I haven't finished talking yet! You were fine a moment ago, but now you have something to do? Fine! I'm done talking to you!" The call ended.
It was indeed my stepmother. She went into the main room, looked around, and asked me...
In reality, I knew as little as she did. She thought for a moment and muttered, "That's impossible, isn't it? Their house is very far from here!"
Just then, a ringtone came from her handbag. She hurriedly took it out, glanced at it, hesitated for a long time, then dialed and held it to her ear without saying a word.
"Are you even human? Seducing another man and beating him into such a state? I will report you!" The person on the other end could not wait any longer; their voice was loud, bordering on a roar.
It was an old woman's voice, and I could hear it even from that distance! Who exactly was she? Which man did my stepmother seduce? Who did she beat up like that? My mind was muddled, filled with a pile of questions.
Stepmother wanted to hang up, but she pulled the phone away and then put it back to her ear, saying nothing.
"Xin Yanru, is that you? Why aren't you saying anything?" the voice came again.
Stepmother was hesitant and had no intention of speaking. In the end, she hung up the phone. A moment later, it rang again. After considering it for a while, she had no choice but to turn it off...
Despite this, her heart remained restless. She paced between the main room and the hallway, as if she couldn't stay still at home.
"Zhengtai, Mom is going out for a while. Take the laundry out of the machine and hang it up. I won't be back tonight!"
She was the head of the household. It looked like she was heading to see Scarface again. To be tainted by another man—she was truly hopeless. I had no choice but to nod and call out, "Mom, buy me a female cup!"
"What is that for?" It was the first time she had heard of such a thing, and she looked very puzzled.
I had to show her the photo Jiang Meili had sent via phone and briefly explain how to use it...
"I know, it didn't use to be called that! I'll see where to find one and buy it for you, Mom."
I watched her leave. Recalling that the bedsheets and quilts in the main room were disgusting, I went in to tidy them up, bundled them all together, threw them into the washing machine, and pressed the automatic switch. It began to whir. I went into the small room, lay down on the bed, and picked up my phone. I thought again about the events at the temple and grew to hate Scarface even more: not only had he stolen someone's wife, but he was also driving a wedge between me and my stepmother. That woman praying for a child was even more incredibly ignorant...
Regarding this issue, I searched the web, and there were many theories. One article caught my attention: the idea of "sending children" was pure nonsense. It presented a pile of theories expounding on feudal superstitions, with one sentence being particularly important: "We must believe in science!"
Although I read many authentic explanations about "child-sending," I ultimately concluded that scientific theory was the most correct.

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However, how to determine right from wrong had always puzzled me; were the stories of village women receiving children true or false?
I had no choice but to search for the answer, and I finally found it: people cannot live without eating, drinking, excreting, and sleeping.
From this theory, I understood why it was possible to "send children." In fact, this was a massive secret; it could only be hidden quietly in my heart...
The automatic washing machine beeped to signal that the laundry was finished. I hung the clothes on the balcony line with hangers and came back to lie down. Just as I was about to search the web, there was a heavy knocking at the door...
"Who is it?" I was confused. Who would come at such a late hour? And why was the sound so loud?
"Thump! Thump! Thump!" The heavy pounding against the door provided the answer.
Who could it be? So overbearing! If you are a guest, shouldn't you knock more politely? Can you really knock like that?
I felt a surge of anger, walked out, and shouted, "Who is it? Why aren't you saying anything?"
The knocking stopped, and it became quiet. I was very strange. When I opened the door, it was an old man and an old woman, over seventy years old, their skin loose and covered in wrinkles. They were dressed in elderly attire. I didn't recognize either of them and asked in bewilderment, "Who are you looking for?"
As soon as the old woman spoke, I recognized her—it was the person who had called my stepmother, the one looking for Xin Yanru. After speaking, she pushed me aside in a fit of rage and barged into the house.
I couldn't make heads or tails of it; my brain was in chaos. She had spoken with my stepmother, and it was hard to kick them out.
The old man and woman were furious, searching everywhere in the house. After checking every corner, they returned and stared at me, asking, "Where is your mother? Where did she go?"
"I don't know!" I didn't know them, so why should I tell them?
"We were just talking to her a moment ago, and now she's gone?" The old woman didn't believe me and kept staring at me, muttering.
"Who are you people? What do you want with her?" I was very confused and wanted to understand the situation.
"Is something wrong with your brain? I am your grandfather, don't you know that?" The old man widened his eyes and roared.
Zhengtai sent a message inside my body: "They are your grandfather and grandmother."
Now I finally understood, but in my heart, they were still strangers. I felt no sense of kinship and couldn't conjure up any warmth.
The old man and woman interrogated me like a prisoner, applying pressure with every word. The old man was particularly overbearing: "Go out and look for her! We will wait here at home!"
I had no choice but to dial my stepmother's phone. I held it to my ear, and in less than a minute, she answered: "Mom, the people who called you are here at the house. What should I do?"
When stepmother learned it was a man and a woman, she understood everything and told me to hand the phone to them...
The old man was extremely indignant. He snatched it from my hand and shouted into the receiver: "Come back immediately! Is it enough just to beat him like that? He's lying in the hospital and needs someone to take care of him. Your mother and I are old!"

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My stepmother's gentle voice came through the phone: "Dad, we already went to the hospital, but we left because we had no money! If I send him in, I still won't be able to pay the hospital fees!"
"I've already paid the fees, just get over here! You need to explain his situation to me clearly. Who exactly beat him? He's just making 'ah-ah' noises for half a day, and I can't understand a word!" The old man's tone was very firm.
This problem was very thorny. Stepmother considered it for a long time; it was better to explain everything to the old man over the phone. He listened, stunned, and couldn't help but cry out, "What a wicked creature!"
Even after cursing, he still didn't believe it. He had heard there was a man driving a black sedan who often entered and exited the residential area's gates...
I immediately recalled what Pi Tiantian had said. Neighbors in this complex were indeed full of gossip and nonsense. He had only been here once, yet it had become "often," and besides, the sedan had never entered the complex gates.
They talked for a long time, their tone softening compared to before, and finally, the call ended...
I had no feelings for the old man and woman and couldn't find a single word to say. I took back the phone, retreated into the small room, lay on the bed, and read the many messages Jiang Meili had sent.
One of them read: "Zhengtai, I love you! You didn't answer my call, I was worried sick!"
There were several others even more nauseating: "Zhengtai, marry me! I'll be a good wife! I'll do whatever you tell me to!"
I felt disgusted reading them! Jiang Meili really wanted to be a lesbian with me! How hard was that to understand? I didn't know what kind of relationship she and Zhengtai had before.
Regarding this, I looked inward at my own body and asked, "Was it like this before?"
There was no reply, but my brain received information: "I love Jiang Meili, and she loves me; it has always been like this! Our classmates say we are so close that even sharing a pair of pants would be too loose."
This piqued my interest greatly, and I asked, "How many couples are there in Class 3, Grade 2?"
My brain received another piece of information: it wasn't clear exactly how many, but we were the most obvious pair. Classmates often looked at us with confused expressions, and some even used it to make jokes: "What do lesbians use? Is it..."
Actually, they were better at pretending than anyone else. I knew of several pairs myself, even more disgusting than lesbians; they often criticized others while being worse themselves. I took the opportunity to ask: "How do monks at the temple 'send children' to people?"
Zhengtai inside my body had only heard it from others: "The 'Guanyin sending children' is a massive scam. Everyone knows that Guanyin is a male deity (a man) who transformed into a female. There are many stories about her; the most accurate version cannot be verified, but there is one thing: in order to kill two birds with one stone, the monk performs a ritual, claiming that the spirit of Guanyin has possessed him, and takes the person seeking a child to a place he has specifically set up to 'send the child'... you know what happens next!"
I seemed to understand, yet not entirely; however, there was no need to ask further.
Stepmother appeared in the living room, argued with the old man and woman for a while, and shouted, "Zhengtai, you stay home and sleep. You have school tomorrow. I'm going to the hospital with your grandparents."
I lay on the bed without getting up and shouted back, "Got it!"