Chapter 7

Now there were two more characters.

I'd been so frightened by the dress matching mine that I hadn't noticed them.

I slowly crouched down to take out the doll and look more closely.

But my head hurt more and more.

My vision blurred.

I blinked, struggling to make out those two characters.

Then everything went black.

When I woke again, I was lying in an unfamiliar room.

An old wooden bed.

Plain wooden furniture.

Walls that had once been white, now yellowed in great patches.

An uneven cement floor.

Beside me stood a low stool and a bamboo basket.

A black cloth covered the basket. There seemed to be something inside.

The room was small.

Opposite the bed was a window, the paint almost entirely peeled from its frame.

Only two thin panes of glass remained. They looked as though a gust of wind could knock them loose.

Through it, I could see another room opposite.

Nothing to tell me where I was.

The whole place conveyed one thing.

Age and decay.

...

Where am I?

Why have so many strange things been happening?

I was just with “Mom.”

Right!

I'd heard Grandma's voice.

Maybe she was nearby.

I got out of bed and tiptoed to the door.

Creeeak...

Careful as I was, the old wooden door still gave a piercing squeal.

I stayed behind it and listened.

Nothing.

Only then did I peek outside.

There was an open courtyard, rather like a very simple traditional courtyard house.

Less than four meters across from me stood another room.

Its door was tightly shut.

Strangely, its window was covered with a black cloth.

In the middle of the yard, between my room and the one opposite, was a large water jar.

To the left was a gate, probably leading outside.

To the right were two more rooms.

I looked up.

Dusk was falling.

Unease rose inside me again.

I didn't know where I was.

I didn't even know whether this was reality or another dream.

If horror movies had taught me anything, it was not to be too curious.

The jar.

The strange room opposite.

The basket under the black cloth.

The two rooms on the right.

I didn't want to investigate any of them.

I only wanted to leave this unsettling place.

I headed straight for the gate on the left.

If I could find somewhere with people before dark, I'd feel safe.

“Why won't it open?”

I struggled with it for ages.

Left.

Right.

Pull.

Push.

Nothing worked.

Was it like the door at “Mom's” apartment?

Was there someone here with strange powers too?

Or, to put it another way—

A ghost?

“You need to slide back the bolt at the top.”

I looked up.

Sure enough, there was another bolt above me.

I reached up and slid it aside. With a click, the gate swung inward.

“Thank you...”

The words came automatically. I was about to leave, but stopped after a single step.

Someone had spoken to me.

A man with a very hoarse voice.

Dusk had deepened, making everything hazy.

I gathered my courage and slowly turned.

An old man stood behind me.

His hair was white, his face deeply lined, his body thin as a stick.

But his eyes didn't belong to his age. They were bright, alert—even sharp.

He stood expressionless, studying me.

“Who... who are you?”

I stammered.

After everything with “Mom,” I was much calmer than I would once have been.

But facing a strange old man in a place like this still made me nervous.

“I'm the man who saved your life. Come inside. Your grandmother will be here later.”

He turned and went toward the room I'd just left.

At the mention of Grandma, the fear clutching my heart finally loosened.

It seemed he didn't mean to hurt me.

He'd mentioned Grandma.

And I really had heard her voice before waking.

I looked at the unfamiliar world beyond the gate. It was fully dark now.

After a moment's hesitation, I followed him.

He was sitting with his back to me on a low stool in the middle of the room.

The basket I'd noticed earlier stood beside him.

Its black cover had been pulled aside.

I went closer and peered in.

Empty.

There was nothing inside.

The old man still had his back to me, both hands held in front of him.

The shabby room.

The weak yellow light.

The gaunt old man.

My scalp prickled, and the unease returned.

“What did you mean when you said you saved my life?”

I spoke to his back.

One hand stayed on the doorknob, ready to shut the door and run if anything happened.

He didn't answer.

He sat as still as a statue.

When he gave no response, I tried again.

“Do you know my grandma?”

At last, he moved.

Slowly, he turned on the stool until he faced me.

As soon as I saw what was in front of him, I recoiled.

He was holding a doll.

I couldn't make it out clearly, only that it was female.

His eyes were closed.

His lips kept moving as if he were speaking, but I couldn't hear a sound.

The doll instantly reminded me of the one in Mom's room.

The scene was too strange.

After what had happened, dolls already terrified me. His behavior made my skin crawl.

I let go of the doorknob and turned to run.

I just wanted to get away from this eerie place and this eerie old man.

“Say hello to your mother.”

His voice stopped me as I turned.

I looked back at him in astonishment.

His eyes were open now.

He raised the doll in both hands.

Only then could I see its face clearly.

It was a middle-aged woman with her hair pinned up, wearing a long red dress.

A small mole sat beneath her left eye.

The outer corners of her eyes tilted upward, giving them an entrancing, foxlike beauty.

Her nose was high and elegant, its tip small and finely shaped.

The doll's face was extraordinarily beautiful.

If it had been modeled on a real woman, she must have been the kind of beauty who could steal someone's heart at first sight.

“My mother? Don't joke about that. Where's my grandma?”

I retreated to the door again.

The doll was strangely beautiful.

For a moment, I no longer found it frightening.

Instead, I felt an inexplicable familiarity.

“I'm not joking. This is your mother.”

“You mean you made the doll to look like her? But my mother doesn't look like that.”

“No.”

“Right now, your mother's soul is inside this doll.”

“And the 'mother' you've been with all this time... was a ghost.”

After so much had happened, I'd long since stopped being a materialist.

I'd started believing there were things in this world that couldn't be explained.

But this was the first time anyone had said the word “ghost” outright.

I was still stunned.

“A ghost...?”

I stood in the doorway, staring at him in confusion.

He rose, came over, and held out the doll.

“Your mother's soul has been trapped in here.”

I didn't take it.

As he approached, I backed away to keep a safe distance.

Perhaps realizing I didn't believe him, he waved a hand.

“Wait for your grandmother. She'll explain. I can't be bothered arguing with a little brat like you.”

“When will she get here? It's already dark.”

At the mention of Grandma, I hurried to ask.

“I'll call and see. I can tell her you're awake too. Set her mind at ease.”

He took an old candy-bar phone from his pocket and dialed.

“Hello, little sister? Your granddaughter's awake.”

I felt awkward.

It was strange hearing someone call my grandma “little sister.”

I went over immediately, looking at him with anxious expectation.

He understood and passed me the phone.

“Hello?”

I didn't call her Grandma straightaway.

I still didn't entirely trust the old man.

“Yiyi, are you all right? Does anything hurt? Have you eaten?”

Grandma's familiar voice came through the phone.

Tears spilled down my cheeks.

I didn't know how much time had passed in reality.

But in the dream, I'd suffered for months, living every day in fear and unease.

“Grandma...”

I managed one choked word before breaking into sobs.

“Oh, my poor girl. Don't cry. It's all right now.”

“Stay at Mr. Zhang's tonight. I have to look after your mother at the hospital. I'll come and see you tomorrow.”

“Mom... what's wrong with her?”

Putting together what Grandma had said before and what Mr. Zhang had told me today, I guessed that only the body of the mother I'd been living with was truly hers.

“It's a little complicated. But don't worry, Yiyi. Your mother will be all right.”

“Okay... Don't wear yourself out, Grandma. Look after yourself too.”

She must have had a terrible time lately.

“I'm fine. You can stay at Mr. Zhang's without worrying. You're very safe there.”

“Grandma, who is he?”

I stole a glance at the old man as I asked.

He snorted and looked away, refusing to acknowledge me.

“Oh, that old fellow's been a close friend of your paternal grandmother for decades. You probably don't remember. You met when you were little. He even bought you malt candy.”

After the call, I gave him back his phone.

At last, I felt much better.

Grandma's words had dispelled my fears.

“Mr. Zhang, can I ask you something?”

Now that I'd lowered my guard, my voice softened.

“Go on.”

He didn't seem to hold my earlier suspicions against me.

“Why have all these strange things been happening? Why is Mom in a doll? Can she go back to normal? Where's that ghost now? What happened on New Year's Eve? What day is it? And my mother—”

“Stop, stop, stop!”

“You call that one question? You're firing them off like a machine gun. You're making my head spin.”

He cut me short and clutched his head, looking as though my barrage really had made him dizzy.

“I... I'm sorry.”

“After everything that's happened, I still don't understand any of it. There are so many things I want to ask.”

Realizing I'd rushed him, I stuck out my tongue apologetically.

“Today's the second day of the New Year.”

“No one tricked you into going anywhere on New Year's Eve. You collapsed outside your uncle's door. Your grandmother brought you to me, and I saved you.”

“As for the rest, ask her.”

“I'm going to rest now.”

He turned to leave.

I hurried over and caught his arm.

“Please don't, Mr. Zhang! Tell me!”

“Girl.”

“Your grandmother knows the whole story better than anyone. Wait until she's back and ask her.”

“What you should be doing now is talking to your mother.”

“She misses you.”

He held the doll out again.

This time, I took it.

I studied it for a long while, but couldn't see anything that made it different from an ordinary doll.

“Is my mother... really in here?”

“Can she hear me?”

“She can.”

“Go ahead and talk.”

“But she can't answer.”

“Then can Mom—”

Bang!

I'd been about to ask whether she could return to her body.

I turned at the sound of the door closing.

Mr. Zhang was already gone.

“Ah...”

I sighed and sat on the edge of the bed.

For a long time, I looked at the doll in my hands.

Then I whispered, “Mom...”

“If you really are my mom...”

...

I told her so much.

Everything I'd been through.

My fear.

My loneliness.

And how much I'd missed her.

While I talked, Mr. Zhang brought me some food.

He didn't say much. He simply set it down and quietly left.