Chapter 16 Sister Huo’s Love
Sister Huo wiped away her tears and stroked Old Wang's head with affection.
"Come let Mom take a good look... You've gotten fatter, shorter, uglier... and your hand is broken."
Sister Huo, full of love for her son, pulled Old Wang into her arms again and broke into loud sobs. "My Son, you suffered so much outside!"
Old Wang finally found an outlet for his emotions. "They all bullied me!"
The two of them cried for a long time.
I found the dry crying pointless, so I turned on the stereo and played Sister Huo's favorite song.
There's only Mom who's good in the world.
A child with Mom is like a treasure.
Throw yourself into Mom's arms, happiness won't be missing~
The light melody flowed out and somehow fit this fake mother-son pair's deep feelings.
"Son, come here." Sister Huo pulled Old Wang toward the kitchen. "Mom made your favorite food."
Several dishes sat on the dining table, all covered with lids.
Though the food itself was hidden, the fine tableware alone made it clear the dishes would be extraordinary.
Old Wang had been tormented all day and was starving.
He reached out at once to grab them.
"Hands!"
Sister Huo blocked him. "No eating without washing hands!"
She dragged Old Wang to the sink. "What did Mom teach you? Illness enters through the mouth. You must wash carefully!"
As she spoke she gripped Old Wang's fat hand with one hand and picked up a peeler with the other.
Old Wang realized something was wrong, but in his current state he had no strength to break free.
He yelled wildly yet could only watch the cold blade slowly approach.
"Wash the back of the hand first. This joint hides dirt the easiest."
Sister Huo spoke gently. The peeler followed her motion and soon pushed the skin off the back of Old Wang's hand.
"Oh my, why is your joint so dirty?"
The joints received extra attention.
The tendons were scraped to shreds. Blood turned the sink red.
"Ahhh!!!!!"
Old Wang's screams shook heaven and earth.
I had to lower the volume to protect my hearing.
Xiao Mei on the third floor was affected too. She rolled over, covered her ears with a pillow, and kept sleeping soundly.
After both hands were washed, Old Wang had lost all the skin but gained a pair of red-and-white palms.
Red was flesh. White was bone.
Everything showed clearly.
I thought it a pity. Sister Huo should have washed his face as well.
This guy had no shame anyway.
Only then did Sister Huo notice Old Wang's strange state.
She asked with a touch of heartache, "What's wrong? Did Mom hurt you?"
Old Wang had been tormented into a walking corpse. He stared blankly at Sister Huo and did not move.
"Oh, it's bleeding."
Sister Huo lifted Old Wang's hand and put it into her mouth to suck. "It's all Mom's fault."
Then came a crisp crack.
She bit off a section of Old Wang's little finger!
Right in front of him she chewed it up and swallowed.
Old Wang was scared stupid. He looked down at his hand, then at Sister Huo with her mouth full of blood, then at his hand again, then at Sister Huo... over and over.
He laughed one moment and cried the next.
It seemed he no longer knew what year it was.
"Don't run away again, okay." Sister Huo stroked Old Wang's cheek and smiled with a bloody mouth. "Or Mom will eat you."
The lyrics looped right then to "A child with Mom is like a treasure."
Sister Huo then led the puppet-like Old Wang to the dining table.
The covers finally came off.
The dishes were feces and live rats.
"Eat up. All your favorites."
Sister Huo grabbed a fat squeaking rat, yanked hard, and tore the head from the body.
She placed the rat head on Old Wang's plate. "Quick, taste it."
The rat was not fully dead. Its scarlet eyes stared at Old Wang while its mouth still squeaked.
"Ugh!"
Old Wang could not hold it back and emptied his stomach at once.
"Eat. Why won't you eat!" Sister Huo looked curious.
"Is it not to your taste?" Sister Huo grew anxious.
"You don't love Mom's cooking anymore, do you?" Sister Huo turned angry.
"Is it that cheap woman who locked up your stomach! You and your dad are both no good!" Sister Huo flew into a rage.
"Eat right now or I'll kill you!" Sister Huo raised a kitchen knife and chopped it into the table. "Eat!!!"
Old Wang clenched his teeth, grabbed the rat head and bit into it.
He chewed while retching. Stomach fluid pushed out between his fingers.
"Good Son. Mom's good Son." Sister Huo wept with joy, hugged Old Wang's neck, and said softly, "You really are Mom's good boy."
I switched them to another song.
Listen to Mom's words, don't let her get hurt~
Suddenly Old Wang collapsed face-first onto the table.
His whole body went stiff. Only his eyes could still move.
There had been knockout drugs in the food.
"Mom loves you too much. I cannot lose you again." Sister Huo pulled out a syringe and pushed out the air. "This is glue. Mom will turn you into a specimen so you can stay with Mom forever, okay? My good boy?"
"No good. Something bad will happen!" I was startled and ran out at once.
Before I left I remembered one important task still unfinished.
"Xiao Zheng, don't you feel that everyone here is talented, speaks so nicely, and you super like this place?"
Xiao Zheng's mouth twitched. "At a time like this you're still doing memes?"
I said, "No. A while ago I released a patient from here who stirred up huge trouble outside. The story about him is in section four of Zhihu author Li Yunzhou's personal column. Click his homepage pinned article and you can see it."
"This dialogue is so stiff it sounds like an ad, Director."
"Who says it isn't?"