Du Xiaoman was buried under the tiles of the bathroom, already decayed, her body chopped into several large pieces, and her face split open.
Seeing her corpse, I wished I could tear myself apart.
"Du Xiaoman, I'm sorry."
"I didn't care for you enough."
"If I had noticed your abnormalities earlier, this wouldn't have happened."
Du Xiaoman's daughter was found.
However, Du Xiaoman's parents refused to adopt her.
They said the child was a bastard.
They didn't want her.
I became the child's guardian.
"Du Xiaoman, don't worry, I will take good care of the baby."
"I will definitely raise her well."
I held the child and gently spoke in her ear.
In a daze, I fell asleep.
In my dream, I saw Du Xiaoman.
"Du Xiaoman."
I reached out to embrace her.
But I grasped at nothing.
"Nana, thank you for taking care of the baby."
"The baby is with you, and I feel very at ease."
Du Xiaoman smiled at me.
Her face still looked as beautiful as before.
There was no longer that terrible scar.
I wanted to call out to her, to ask what had happened.
I wanted to tell her that I would trade my life for hers.
But I couldn't make a sound.
Du Xiaoman slowly disappeared into the darkness.
I was drenched in sweat, waking up suddenly.
"Wow—"
The baby suddenly cried.
I hurriedly tried to comfort her.
"Baby, be good, don't cry."
"Mommy is here, don't be afraid."
I turned on the light to check if she had wet or soiled herself.
She hadn't.
I held her and walked in circles around the room.
"Wow—wow—"
She kept crying.
I was at a loss, just about to prepare formula for her.
Suddenly, she stopped crying.
I looked down and saw two faint red marks on her cheek.
It looked as if someone had kissed her.
Could it be that my earlier dream about Du Xiaoman was not a dream?
Did Du Xiaoman really come by?
I was overjoyed.
"Baby, be good. Mommy will definitely protect you well."
" Junior, how did you perform the hypnosis?"
Yang Mengling blinked her eyes, looking at me curiously.
In the testimonies of Chen Feng and my mother-in-law, there were two instances of a woman's crying.
The first time, I was pretending.
The second time, I was also pretending.
However, I had only hypnotized Chen Feng once.
And that was in the hotel, in that special environment.
That night...
I indeed heard the crying.
I patted Yang Mengling's shoulder: "This is a secret."
" Junior, just tell me."
"Anyway, you won't need it next time."
I sighed and warned her, "Hypnosis has its risks, so don't use it casually."
Yang Mengling pouted and muttered softly, "Stingy."
I patted her shoulder and said, "Alright, can you help me check when Chen Feng and his son will be sentenced?"
Yang Mengling's eyes lit up. " Junior, are you thinking..."
I nodded.
"Okay, I'll help you look it up right away."
"They were sentenced: one to death and the other to life imprisonment."
I breathed a sigh of relief.
Finally, I felt at ease.
Pushing the stroller, I unknowingly walked to the place where I first met Du Xiaoman.
"Du Xiaoman, thank you."
"Thank you for still being alive."
"Look, the baby is so cute."
I squatted down and stroked the baby's cheek.
When Du Xiaoman was six years old, her Junior was born.
She had always been the neglected child.
Her parents had always wanted a son.
After Du Xiaoman's Junior was born, she was completely overlooked.
That day, I attended the summer camp at school with Du Xiaoman.
I sat in the corner eating breakfast with bread and milk.
Suddenly, I saw a dirty little girl staring at me eagerly.
"Here you go."
I handed her the bread.
She devoured it hungrily.
"What's your name?"
"Du Xiaoman."
I extended my hand and smiled at her, saying, "My name is Nana. Let's be friends."
Du Xiaoman nodded vigorously after swallowing the last bite of bread.
"Wow—"
The sound of a baby crying interrupted my thoughts.
I picked her up from the stroller and held her in my arms.
She looked at me and giggled.
Her smile was so innocent, so adorable.
Just like Du Xiaoman.
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