dtnovels Chapter 156 Mom, Where Are You?
Chapter 156 Mom, Where Are You?
"Mom, don't be afraid. I've knocked that big bad guy unconscious and tied him up with a rope."
Xiao Xiao grabbed Shen Wanjun's hand and felt that her mother's hand was cold and uncomfortable.
Shen Wanjun wouldn't listen to a word. She was trembling all over, her thin, pale face covered in tears, and she was pushing Xiaoxiao away with all her might like a madwoman.
"Run, run fast, little...little...run!"
Seeing that her mother seemed somewhat mentally unstable, Xiaoxiao simply put down her flashlight and climbed back up through the hole she had come from.
After emerging from the hole, she glanced at the wall and, sure enough, saw a key lying quietly in a crack in the brickwork at the corner.
She clutched it tightly in her hand, listened quietly for a while, and when there was no sound outside, just as she was about to return to the cave, the system aunt reminded her:
"It would be best to find some sewing machine oil or graphite pencil lead."
"Why, Auntie!"
"The lock around your mother's neck hasn't been opened for three years, and it must be rusted from the damp ground."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Xiao immediately crawled out from under the bed and first looked at Liu Laifu on the floor of the main room.
Fearing he would wake up and cause trouble, she shocked him awake again, only to have him convulse and faint again.
Afterwards, Xiaoxiao looked around the house but couldn't find a sewing machine, so naturally there was no sewing machine oil.
She had no choice but to gently open the door to the main room, run to the small shop in front, take a pencil from the shelf, and tear a page from the ledger on the counter.
After quickly returning to the main room, he found scissors to sharpen the pencil, took out a piece of pencil lead, and crushed it into powder.
Wrap it in paper, hold it in your hand, and take the key you just left at the entrance of the cave with you as you go down into the cave again.
Deep inside the cave, Shen Wanjun hung her head, her face streaked with tears, after Xiao Xiao left.
He stared blankly at the flashlight that had rolled onto the ground, looking left and right.
Her thinking was noticeably sluggish, and she wondered if she had just hallucinated.
She was shocked to see her daughter appear before her, and her daughter had grown quite a bit.
Was it something she had been thinking about day and night, or was she dreaming about?
In her dream, she had just driven her daughter away.
This place is dangerous; she really shouldn't be here.
Even in a dream.
But what's with the flashlight shining on the ground right in front of me?
Just then, she heard rustling sounds coming from inside the cave. She tensed up and shrank back in fear.
"Mom, Mom, I got the key."
Xiao Xiao crawled into the hole, spread out his hand to show the key in his hand, and looked very excited.
Shen Wanjun moved her hand away, staring intently at her daughter, blinking repeatedly as she looked at her.
Xiao Xiao picked up the flashlight from the ground and held it up to shine on Shen Wanjun's neck.
After finding the padlock on the chain, she took the key in her other hand and inserted it into the keyhole.
But she couldn't use one hand, so she held up the flashlight and said:
"Mom, can you hold the flashlight for me?"
Shen Wanjun was still touching her daughter's arm when she heard this, and then she took the flashlight somewhat slowly.
After Xiao Teng made his move, he inserted the key into the lock, but no matter how he tried, he couldn't turn it.
Fortunately, the system reminded her, and she picked up the pencil lead powder from the paper packet with one hand, held the lock upside down with the other, and poured the graphite powder into the lock.
Shen Wanjun kept turning her neck, looking her daughter up and down, left and right, muttering to herself:
"Little...little...little...."
"Hey--! Mom, it's me, it's me, Xiaoxiao, Mom, don't move!"
Xiao Xiao responded reassuringly while reinserting the key. After trying for a while, it finally clicked open.
Xiao Xiao looked excited as she carefully removed the iron lock and unlocked the chain.
She saw that her mother's neck was dark and calloused, covered with old scars.
"Mom, let's go! Let's get away from here."
Xiao Xiao was pulling on Shen Wanjun, who was looking at her incredulously, touching her neck while holding the chain.
"Little...little...."
Shen Wanjun, her mouth agape and panting heavily, got up naked and crawled forward with her daughter with a small pull.
Little Xiaoxiao held a flashlight in front, leading the way.
Shen Wanjun only realized she was truly free from the chains that bound her in the underground cave when she climbed around the corner.
She was breathing heavily and rapidly, as if there wasn't enough oxygen in the air, giving her a sense of panic as if she were about to suffocate.
"Mom, relax, don't be afraid, we'll be at the cave entrance soon, stay close to me."
Xiao Xiao heard Shen Wanjun's frightening panting.
With the help of the system's explanation, she learned that this was because extreme emotional stress caused the oxygen in the blood to be consumed too quickly.
Breathing too rapidly leads to excessive expulsion of carbon dioxide, causing respiratory alkalosis and resulting in a feeling of suffocation.
Simply sit or lie down, relax, and adjust your breathing rhythm to return to normal.
But right now, it's absolutely impossible to stop.
Even if she stops, Shen Wanjun will not stop.
"Mom, breathe slowly, relax, don't be afraid. That big bad guy is tied up very tightly, he can't hurt you anymore."
As Xiao Xiao crawled forward, she whispered words of comfort to herself from inside the cave.
Shen Wanjun looked at Xiaoxiao like a bewildered child, and then obediently began to breathe slowly, gradually calming down.
The mother and daughter climbed to the entrance of the hole one after the other. The little one climbed out of the hole first, then lay down under the bed and pulled her mother out of the hole by the hand.
Shen Wanjun finally saw the light outside. She lay under the bed, panting heavily for a moment, and then, as if electrocuted, quickly crawled out from under the bed and kept a safe distance from the terrifying hole.
"Mom, don't be afraid. I'm here. No one will dare to bully you."
Xiao Xiao felt very sad seeing her mother naked, hugging her shoulders, and looking terrified.
She first picked up her own camel-colored coat from the bed and draped it over her mother's shoulders. Then she looked around the room but found no women's clothes, only men's clothes.
She had no choice but to pick out a clean top and pants for her mother to change into first.
Then, grasping Shen Wanjun's arm, which was so thin it was practically skin and bones, he softly comforted her:
"Mom, can we stay until tonight?"
Shen Wanjun's hands trembled as she tightly gripped the small hand. In the dim light of the room, her eyes shone with a hazy, diffused light, making it impossible for her to see her daughter's face clearly.
So he got very close, touching this little girl here and that little girl there, his mouth agape and his eyes wide as he carefully examined her.
He uttered intermittently words of surprise:
"Little...Little, really...it's you? My...child, you've grown up? Waaah..."
"Mother...."
When Shen Wanjun started crying, Xiaoxiao couldn't hold back anymore and hugged her mother, crying along with her.
After crying for a while, Xiaoxiao raised her head, took her mother's hand, and said:
"Mom, come on, look, is it this big bad guy who hurt you?"
She led Shen Wanjun by the hand into the main room, where Liu Laifu was still unconscious, lying stiffly on the ground.
Upon seeing the man on the ground, Shen Wanjun nervously gripped her daughter's hand, her frail body trembling slightly.
"Mom, don't be afraid, he can't hurt us."
Xiao Xiao said this as he went up and kicked Liu Laifu, who was on the ground, several times.
Shen Wanjun, however, was somewhat frightened and pulled Xiaoxiao back a few steps.
"Mom, don't be afraid of him. He's like meat on a chopping block right now! Humph! I can hit him however I want. Mom, sit down first, I'll cook you some instant noodles!"
Xiao Xiao pulled Shen Wanjun to sit on a stool in the main room. Seeing that her mother was still a little afraid of the man on the ground, she simply used all her strength to drag the man into the east room.
Then, he opened a crack, went to the convenience store, took a pack of biscuits and a pack of instant noodles, and then returned to the main room with the instant noodles that Liu Laifu had made earlier.
"Mom, eat quickly!"
Xiao Xiao handed over the chopsticks, urging her mother to quickly replenish her energy.
The instant noodles of this era were actually quite delicious, being deep-fried. However, later instant noodles became increasingly bland, losing their appeal after just one bite.
Shen Wanjun, holding her chopsticks, glanced around somewhat absentmindedly, then looked at Xiaoxiao and said:
"You...eat too..."
"No need, Mom, I'll eat the cookie, you eat yours!"
She tore open a small bag of cookies and started crunching them out.
After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Xiao Xiao heard a noise coming from the east room. Shen Wanjun, who was drinking soup, trembled like a startled bird, and the chopsticks in her hand fell to the ground.
"Mom, don't be afraid, I'll help you fight the bad guys!"
Xiao Xiao pulled out a stun gun from behind her waist and led the frightened Shen Wanjun to the east room.
Liu Laifu on the ground indeed woke up. He glared fiercely at the little girl in front of him, and then saw the timid Shen Wanjun.
His eyes widened instantly, staring at the two of them with an incredulous expression.