The woman was very enthusiastic. After the few people entered the gate, she warmly pulled them inside the house.
Outside was pitch black, and there were only two kerosene lamps lit inside the house.
But even with the two kerosene lamps, the room was still dim. The faint light spilled onto the door, turning the originally pitch-black room into a dim space with speckled shadows.
The woman’s terrifying face happened to be in the area where light and shadow intersected, with half of her face in the light and the other half in darkness.
The visual effect was oddly satisfying.
Li Cancan obediently sat on the stool, holding the skeleton in her arms. Her legs were pressed together and the hands placed neatly, as well-behaved as an elementary school student in class.
The woman glanced at the skeleton in her arms, “Give me your sister. I’ll help you put her back together.”
Li Cancan subconsciously glanced at skeleton Pan Pan, who nodded at her. She handed skeleton Pan Pan over with trembling hands, “Here… here you go. Th-thank you.”
The woman took skeleton Pan Pan and began to carefully assemble her. Her technique was also unfamiliar, but she was incredibly patient.
The kerosene lamps in the room occasionally flickered, casting moving shadows on the woman’s face and the skeleton as light and darkness intertwined.
When the woman assembled it, there was no special technique; she simply tried one bone after another, swapping if one didn’t fit.
During the assembling process, Pan Pan remained silent.
One big, one small were silent as the assembling was done.
The three people and a wolf cub in the room seemed like redundant background. In this room, only the two mattered to each other, with no space for anyone else.
After an unknown amount of time, the woman put the skull back in place with a crisp “click”.
She gently stroked the skull, her voice soft, “There, all done.”
Skeleton Pan Pan stood there blankly, seemingly without any intention of speaking.
The woman didn’t get angry and continued, “Little sister, how old are you?”
“I’m six years old,” skeleton Pan Pan was silent for two seconds before answering the woman.
“Six years old, how coincidental. Our Pan Pan is the same age as you. She’s outside but very well-behaved. You two will surely become good friends. Oh, I haven’t asked for the little friend’s name yet.”
Skeleton Pan Pan hesitated for a moment, “Coincidentally, my name is Pan Pan too.”
The woman’s mouth split into a terrifying grin, “Ah, how coincidental. Why don’t you go outside and play with our Pan Pan for a while? There are her favorite rubber bands on the ground, you can play with them too.”
Skeleton Pan Pan glanced at the motionless “Pan Pan” outside for a moment but couldn’t resist asking, “Why is your Pan Pan sitting there silently?”
“Because our Pan Pan is well-behaved. She has always been obedient since she was little. She is the favorite of her mother and me. We are very grateful that Pan Pan came into this world.”
“But now, Pan Pan is too obedient,” the woman glanced outside, “I also want Pan Pan to be like other little girls, laughing freely, wearing beautiful clothes and reading books. If possible, I hope to take Pan Pan to see the vast blue sea, to see towering peaks, to explore the vast world outside.”
“I want to tell our Pan Pan that life is not confined to a small house. The sky is high, the sea is wide, and it’s full of colorful splendor.”
Skeleton Pan Pan hesitated for a long time before retreating a few steps, somewhat flustered. “Um, Auntie, I’ll go play with your Pan Pan now.”
After saying that, she ran out of the door without looking back.
In the room, only four adults were left, or rather, five.
The moment skeleton Pan Pan left the room, the woman put away her “smile.” She looked at the three of them coldly. Just when Li Cancan thought time had stopped, the woman suddenly spoke, “I remember you three.”
“You three appeared at my birthday banquet, gave me a hairpin, and then left.”
The three of them exchanged glances.
Bai Lixin: “Do you remember me? I’ve been here once before.”
The woman nodded slightly, “I have some impression, but I can’t recall clearly. I was mentally disoriented at that time.”
Bai Lixin was a bit puzzled, “I thought we had gone to the wrong village that time, so it is the same village? What’s going on?”
The woman replied, “Tingting and I have been searching for Pan Pan. The pain of not finding her became an obsession. So, every time we reach a point of extreme pain, time would loop back to my birthday. We keep searching for Pan Pan in this loop, but as soon as the loop goes back, I forget about looking for Pan Pan. I can only follow the previous events and repeat the same things over and over again.”
“Because we couldn’t find Pan Pan, our minds were not quite normal, always in a daze.”
“Until the last time, you three appeared in our loop. You broke the cycle and gave me Pan Pan’s hairpin.”
“In fact, I didn’t even know it was a loop when you entered. Every loop felt like the first time for me. So, I didn’t realize that you were outsiders.”
“It wasn’t until you gave me the hairpin that the cycle was broken. Tingting and I remembered everything. So, we have to thank you three.”
“From now on, Tingting, Pan Pan, and I can finally reunite and live together, without worrying about losing anyone.”
Bai Lixin glanced at the motionless girl outside the door, “This Pan Pan… um…”
He, who was usually articulate, seemed inexplicably tongue-tied today.
“She is the hairpin,” the woman answered the question Bai Lixin hadn’t asked.
Not only Bai Lixin but also Sun Ning and Li Cancan’s eyes went wide.
The woman continued, “The hairpin was a gift for Pan Pan. We believe Pan Pan’s soul must be attached to it, but she’s too embarrassed to come out right now. But it doesn’t matter, we can wait patiently. After all, time is the one thing we have in abundance now.”
After saying this, the woman’s gaze fell on the wooden Pan Pan and skeleton Pan Pan outside.
Her eyes were unfocused, and it was unclear on whom she was looking at.
When she turned her neck, the face inside her hair was revealed.
Li Cancan was unprepared and screamed instinctively. Then, realizing her rashness, she quickly covered her mouth, her helpless eyes darting around, not knowing where to put them.
“I actually have a question I’ve been wanting to ask you,” Bai Lixin drew the woman’s attention, “I not only appeared in the deserted village before, but I also saw the mirage of this village from the past.”
“I saw Liang Tingting helping you escape from the mountain. You had already run away then. How did you come back? And you even stayed for five years. What happened to Liang Tingting?”
Suddenly, laughter came from outside. Everyone was attracted and peeked out, only to see skeleton Pan Pan playing with rubber bands on the ground.
She bounced and hopped on the ground, occasionally making a “click, click” sound from her joints.
Seeing this, the woman chuckled. A trace of tenderness and indulgence appeared in her hideous eyes. “Look at her, how happy she is playing.”
She just watched quietly, staring for a while before turning her head to look at the three, and said in a solemn voice. “This story is long, let me start from the beginning and tell you.”
“At that time, I escaped with Tingting’s help and headed west along the highway. It took me a day and night to reach the county town. I was tired and hungry so I hid in a rubbish heap behind a restaurant. When hungry, I ate the leftovers and steamed buns thrown away by the restaurant.”
“My home is very, very far from here, so far that I didn’t even have the money to take a bus back.”
“Three days later, when I had a little strength, I reported to the police and asked them to rescue those people. But the one I wanted to rescue most was Tingting.”
“I took them to the village, envisioning a scene where the police would arrive, and those women would rush over. But the actual situation shocked me.”
“Not a single person dared to admit it. They cowered there, not daring to say a word.”
“And I didn’t see Tingting and Pan Pan.”
“Later, I chased after someone and asked, only to find out that Tingting died in a fire at school. She couldn’t escape during the fire and died inside.”
“As for Pan Pan, she was taken by the wolves on the mountain…”
The woman’s voice choked a bit, “If only I had gone back earlier, if I had called the police first, if I could have come back a day or two earlier, Tingting wouldn’t have died.”
“I hated myself, I regretted it deeply.”
“But I couldn’t understand, why didn’t those abducted women admit they were kidnapped? Life in that village was obviously so painful for them. Maybe they saw my despair so one of the sisters revealed the truth to me.”
“The reason Tingting didn’t have the strength to escape from school was that she was badly beaten. She was beaten because they discovered she helped me escape.”
“The villagers feared I would bring the police, so they gathered all the women in the school.”
“They hurt Tingting in her favorite and most sacred place and used her to threaten the other women. If they tried to escape or admit they were kidnapped, they would face the same punishment.”
“The reason those women didn’t dare to admit it was because they were scared of being beaten. I don’t blame them, really, prolonged abuse makes people gradually lose themselves, eventually losing their complete personality. It wasn’t the villagers who killed Tingting, but they led to her death.”
“At that time, I suddenly didn’t want to call the police anymore. For some people, letting the police handle them is too easy for them. I wanted to solve it my way!”
“Later, I came back to this village, knelt in front of all the men, begging for their forgiveness like a dog without dignity.”
“I started to suppress my pride, amd become the gentle woman they imagined. I could handle everything, both in public and behind the scenes, helping this family and that family.”
“Gradually, they lowered their guard against me, and even started relying on me.”
“I had initially planned to close in on them, but one day, I saw those human traffickers again. I thought, killing one was the same as killing a hundred. Since they all had to die, why spare these beasts?”
“So I spent three more years pleasing those traffickers. Gradually, they also let down their guard.”
“I spent five years lurking, disguising myself, gaining everyone’s trust, and then came the day you saw the net closing in.”
————————————-
In the live broadcast room
[She’s so strong. She endured hardships, was resilient, and was able to bend and stretch. If she hadn’t been abducted here, she could have achieved great things. It’s a pity]
[Life always has so many unexpected events and hardships.]
[But seeing her ultimately take revenge on those villains, I feel relieved.]
[I hope they have a better life in their next reincarnation, without these human traffickers.]
[There’s something in my eye, it hurts so much. Even if they take revenge in the end, what can it change? Tingting is gone, Pan Pan is gone, they are so pitiful.]
[In fact… generally speaking, women who are abducted and sold end up in tragic and miserable situations. Because they entered the buyer’s house as commodities, it’s difficult for them to enjoy dignity in that household. In the eyes of those buyers, they are tools, not human beings.]
[They are clearly human, yet not treated as one. It’s really infuriating, those who buy and sell are equally guilty. Fuck, it makes me so angry, it makes me cry.]
[When Ah Jing was setting up the skeleton for Skeleton Pan Pan just now, they both looked so terrifying, yet I felt it was so heartwarming. Suddenly, I really wished time could freeze in that moment. Obviously the person you want to see most is right in front of you, but you don’t know, it’s so heartbreaking.]
[I really hope they can reunite as a family in the end, Pan Pan, please go home soon, I beg you.]
——————————-
“Later, someone poured hot water on my face.”
“At that time, I was very happy to get my revenge, and at the same time, I felt extremely desperate because I lost Pan Pan’s memorial tablet.”
“In extreme joy and sorrow, I became dazed, turning into a mad woman.”
“I walked and walked with Tingting’s memorial tablet in my arms, and before I knew it, I had arrived here. Then Tingting somehow appeared in my body.”
“It’s quite nice this way.”
“With Tingting in me, I can be with her all the time, except we’ve always been missing Pan Pan.”
The woman sighed deeply and then laughed again. “But now we have Pan Pan too. You all understand the whole story, right?”
The three people in the room had very serious expressions.
After the woman finished speaking, the three of them remained silent for a while.
Skeleton Pan Pan pushed the door open and walked in from outside, holding the fallen skull and arm in her hands, she approached the woman, “Aunt… Auntie, it fell off again, help me put it back.”
The appearance of Skeleton Pan Pan instantly dispelled the heavy atmosphere in the room. The woman took the bones from Pan Pan’s hands. She was very skilled this time and quickly reattached them at the joints.
Once the bones were reattached, Skeleton Pan Pan didn’t go out to play again. When the woman asked why, Skeleton Pan Pan just pursed her lips and didn’t speak.
The woman didn’t ask further, she just stood up and said, “You must be hungry after your journey here. Let me prepare some food for you in the next room.”
Li Cancan politely said, “It’s not necessary, we’re not hungry.”
The woman glared at her, “You might not be hungry, but the child must be. Look how thin this little girl is, she’s all bones. She needs to eat. You must eat, wait here for me!”
Everyone: “…”
‘She’s thin because she’s just bones! Even if you feed her ten pounds of meat, she’ll still look like this.’
Bai Lixin tugged at Li Cancan’s collar, giving her a subtle hint with his eyes, then said, “Thank you for your trouble.”
The woman then smiled, “Don’t worry, I guarantee it will be your favorite food!”
While the woman left, the room was left with only Skeleton Pan Pan and the other three.
Li Cancan glanced at the “Pan Pan” outside and asked, “Did you see anything while you were outside for so long?”
Skeleton Pan Pan nodded, poking the unmoving “Pan Pan” outside with her bone finger. “She’s just a lifeless object, she’s not me at all. She has no soul, she’s just an empty shell. My aunt and my mom were fooled by her!”
Skeleton Pan Pan paused for a moment, angrily saying, “The three of you are also liars!”
Bai Lixin: “I mentioned before that we came here to just take a look. We’ve finished taking a look. Pan Pan, how about we leave? You can think about how to punish me when we go back.”
Skeleton Pan Pan suddenly froze.
She hesitated and poked the table with her finger, “How can we leave now? That’s so impolite. My aunt and mom are preparing food next door for us. It’s disrespectful to them to just leave. We have to finish the meal before we go!”
