This was the fourth time today that Jiang Wenxin had to slam on the brakes. Dou Dou, sitting in the passenger seat, banged her head into the glove compartment, utterly unaffected by the supposed security of the seat belt.
With a struggle of her short legs, she pulled her little head out of the glove compartment and said foolishly, "Mommy, I'm still fine, I'm really amazing."
Looking at her daughter's adorable demeanor, the corners of Jiang Wenxin's eyes were damp with moisture.
The first time Jiang Wenxin braked abruptly, it gave her quite the scare, until Dou Dou comforted her, and she remembered that Dou Dou wasn't a living being - bumping into the dashboard had no effect on her.
The reason she braked so abruptly was that someone had suddenly dashed out from the side of the road – her reaction was only to hit the brakes reflexively.
The first time it happened, she hadn't realized that the other party wasn't human. She wanted to confront them, but thinking of Dou Dou, she felt she shouldn't waste her time on such trivial matters.
Yet unexpectedly, it seemed that the person noticed Jiang Wenxin's gaze and directly poked half their body through the windshield, scaring her into a cold white sweat until she realized they were like Dou Dou – not human.
Fortunately, Dou Dou was fiercely protective, and directly "roared" at the person.
"This is my mom's car, you're not allowed to get on."
Her little form first startled the person; then it seemed they got angry, glaring at Dou Dou, who then jerked in fright and involuntarily curled back.
Seeing this, Jiang Wenxin was no longer afraid. Fury surged within her, and she shouted at the person, "Get out!"
Then, the ghost seemed to be frightened by something, hastily fleeing the vehicle.
What Jiang Wenxin didn't know was that in the moment of her anger, the three fires on her body shot up a foot high, burning fiercely, and that's what drove the ghost away.
After a few times, she noticed that as long as her gaze didn't meet theirs, these ghosts would ignore her existence.
So, after the last bout of sudden braking, she quickly moved her gaze to the passenger seat.
Sure enough, the ghost crossing the road glanced at her car and then left.
"Damn it, how do you even drive..."
At that moment, cars behind her started to overtake, rolling down windows and cursing loudly at her.
However, after catching sight of Jiang Wenxin's appearance, their voices unconsciously lowered.
Jiang Wenxin knew she was at fault too and hurriedly apologized before restarting the car.
"Mommy, they're scolding you," Dou Dou said somewhat angrily.
"Cursing is indeed wrong, but it was Mommy's fault. Mommy shouldn't have braked suddenly; it could cause accidents," Jiang Wenxin patiently explained to her.
"Why did you brake all of a sudden?" Dou Dou asked, puzzled. The source of thɪs content is 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭•𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚•𝕟𝕖𝕥
"Because Mommy was afraid of hitting someone," Jiang Wenxin said.
She could no longer distinguish who was a person and who was a ghost, so all she could do was choose to brake. Otherwise, if she made a mistake and actually hit someone, it would be serious trouble.
Throughout the rest of the drive, Jiang Wenxin was extremely cautious. At last, she arrived at her own residential complex and parked the car with a sigh of relief.
Unbuckling the seat belt, she looked over to the passenger seat subconsciously, only to find that Dou Dou had already gotten out of the car and was waiting for her on the sidewalk.
She hurried down, intending to remind Dou Dou not to run around, but she swallowed her words at the last moment.
Stretching out her hand, she said, "Let's go, we're going home."
Dou Dou happily placed her little hand in her mother's palm.
Then she bounced and hopped along with her mother towards home.
Watching the lively Dou Dou, Jiang Wenxin felt a momentary daze, as if Dou Dou had never left.
If only she could always keep Dou Dou by her side, that was what Jiang Wenxin wished in her heart.
No, Dou Dou had always been there; it was just that she couldn't see or touch her.
As long as she could keep seeing and touching her like now, Dou Dou would always be her Dou Dou.
Thinking so, she found herself at the elevator entrance without realizing it.
All the way here, it was Dou Dou tugging her along, the little guy was already very familiar with his home.
These two years of "alone" life, no one to pull, no one to hold...
She cried, felt wronged, but in the end, she had to learn some things by herself...
But the moment the elevator doors opened, Jiang Wenxin was startled again.
For there stood an old man with a cane in the elevator.
The old man's face was covered with thumb-sized tumors, which looked extremely disgusting.
Because his face was full of tumors, his eyes were squeezed into mere slits, emitting a chilly light.
He first glanced at Jiang Wenxin, then his gaze fell on their clasped hands.
"Can you see ghosts?"
The old man's voice was raspy, making one feel extremely uncomfortable.
Then he asked again: "How come you can suddenly see us?"
Dou Dou called out sensibly, obviously recognizing the old man.
Jiang Wenxin hid Dou Dou behind her, and seeing the elevator doors about to close, she had no intention of getting in. The old man directly walked out with his cane.
Seeing this, Jiang Wenxin pulled Dou Dou back a few steps, and watched the old man warily, with a vague sense of familiarity, yet she couldn't recall where she had seen him before.
"Dou Dou's mother, I mean no harm, I'm just curious how you can suddenly see us?" the old man asked somewhat curiously.
His gaze, however, was directed towards Jiang Wenxin's shoulder.
Jiang Wenxin didn't speak; instead, Dou Dou quietly poked his little head out from behind his mother.
Just then, a few more people came over to wait for the elevator, and Jiang Wenxin breathed a sigh of relief.
At that moment, another elevator arrived, and Jiang Wenxin quickly followed the crowd in.
The old man did not follow them into the elevator but simply squinted, with a smile on his face, staring at Jiang Wenxin. With his face full of tumors, he looked especially ferocious until the elevator closed, blocking their line of sight. Only then did Jiang Wenxin breathe a sigh of relief, but her heart could not relax.
She looked down at her precious child hugging her leg, hiding behind her, and gently stroked the little head with her hand.
Upon opening the door, Jiang Wenxin instinctively looked behind her, saw that the old man had not followed, and quickly pulled her daughter into the house.
Once inside, Dou Dou immediately started looking around, then asked with some confusion, "Hasn't Daddy come back yet?"
"Your dad has some things to deal with tonight; he'll be back a little later."
Dou Dou sounded a bit disappointed; she had thought she would be able to see Daddy as soon as she got back.
At this moment, Jiang Wenxin couldn't wait to ask, "Dou Dou, do you know the old man from just now?"
Dou Dou nodded and then said with some confusion, "He's Zixu's grandpa. Don't you know him, Mom?"
"Zixu's grandpa?" Jiang Wenxin was somewhat enlightened.
The Zixu brother Dou Dou mentioned was a little boy who lived upstairs, above their apartment, named Lu Zixu, two years older than Dou Dou, and who often played with her since they were in the same complex.
And Lu Zixu had always been cared for by his grandparents. However, his grandpa had passed away earlier than Dou Dou's accident, a year earlier.
But in her memory, Lu Zixu's grandpa was a kind and friendly old man who would laughingly greet her every time they met, definitely not looking as ghastly as he did now.
"But I remember him not being ."
"Grandpa Lu said he was sick," said Dou Dou.
Dou Dou was too naive, believing whatever someone said. These words were obviously deceiving. He was already dead, turned into a ghost, so what illness could he have? A ghost's sickness?
It seems that things were not so simple. With this thought, she walked to the door and peered out through the peephole.
Then she was so startled that she nearly fell to the floor, bottom first.