Quick Wear: Don't come over here, you are looking for trouble

Chen Zui wants to give Xu Bai the most unforgettable confession.

Chen knew that Xiaobai wanted that promise, but he couldn't and couldn't tolerate himself giving a hasty response.

At least there should be flowers, cake, and a beautifully decorated venue.

……

Xu Bai is afraid of ghosts.

He didn't tell anyone.

He even hid it well in front of Chen Zui - because Chen Zui was always with him, and when the two of them were together, Xu Bai was not afraid of anything.

As humans, there are always things that we are afraid of.

Some people are afraid of slippery snakes, some are afraid of centipedes with many legs, and some are afraid of spider silk that floats in the wind but is invisible to the naked eye.

Some people say that these "fears" are carried in genes and are destined from the moment we are born.

When did Xu Bai start to be afraid of ghosts?

He sat cross-legged on his bed in the orphanage. The checkered coarse sheets had a clean smell of laundry detergent.

In an orphanage, pretty children will be ostracized. Being "pretty" means they can leave earlier. Even if these children don't understand what "leaving" means, they all naively believe that the outside world is colorful, delicious, and good. At the very least, it is two or three times better than the orphanage.

Xu Bai is cute.

He always gets picked.

Finally came back for various reasons.

The child didn’t know why, maybe some things were destined. Xu Bai always wanted to wait for the person who was truly good to him.

Chen Zui came to the orphanage later than Xu Bai.

"Look, he's been sent back again!"

Xu Bai heard the whispers, but he didn't really care. He would become numb after hearing such words all the time, and their words didn't have any substantial impact on him.

until--

"The kids turned their pockets inside out."

The dean said sternly, "Come one by one, let the teachers check!"

"What happened?" Xu Bai didn't understand what was happening, so he asked the child standing next to him in a low voice.

"Don't you know?" The person being questioned leaned in closer and replied quietly, "Teacher Zhao's ring was lost, and the dean is very angry. Now he suspects that there was a thief among us."

"Huh?" Xu Bai blinked. He wasn't panicking, just surprised. "We?"

The children came forward one by one, their pockets turned open and empty.

Xu Bai put his hand into his pocket and was about to take something out when his fingertips suddenly touched a round, hollow object. He was stunned for a moment.

I touched it carefully and found it was a ring.

"What are you standing there for? Hurry up, next one."

The dean urged him, Xu Bai bit his lip and grabbed the ring that appeared out of thin air in his hand.

"Did you take it?" a rather childish voice questioned, followed by the same sentence repeated one after another.

"Did you take it?"

"...No, it's not..." Xu Bai had already begun to tremble. His tender face turned pale, and tears began to accumulate in his eyes. "I don't know what happened. It... I don't know why the ring is on me. I really don't know..."

Who wouldn’t understand this reaction?

The dean asked the children to disperse and do their own things, leaving Xu Bai alone who had begun to sob uncontrollably.

She said, "I believe you."

Teacher Zhao took the lost ring from Xu Bai's trembling little hand, put it back on her hand with great care, and stroked Xu Bai's hair. "It's okay, it's good that you found it."

"Teacher." Xu Bai couldn't stop crying. "It really wasn't me. I don't know what happened. It wasn't me..."

It doesn't matter anymore.

Teacher Zhao touched the ring and told Xu Bai, "This ring is actually not worth much. It's just because it was given to me by my husband. This year is the first year since he passed away, so..." Teacher Zhao paused, "It has a very special meaning."

"It's okay." The dean handed over a tissue, "Wipe your face and go play."

Teacher Zhao and the dean did not blame Xu Bai, but they did not listen to his explanation either.

Since then, the feeling of being excluded has become more obvious.

"Teacher, I won't live with a thief!"

"Me too!"

"Me too!"

"And I!"

There are only so many houses, and someone has to live with Xu Bai.

As it got darker, the teachers came to check and then left.

"Hey, let's go, get up quickly, let's tell a story!"

Several children gathered together, not caring that Xu Bai was pursing his lips and holding the quilt tightly.

"It's my turn, it's my turn!"

They exchanged glances, one of them nodded in Xu Bai's direction, and then the story began.

"This story happened in the pitch-black night... 'Snap!' The dormitory lights suddenly went out! Then, the sound of fingernails scraping against the wall could be heard. 'Swish, swish... swish, swish...' It was incredibly piercing."

Xu Bai wanted to cover his ears, but they were very close and some sound would always leak in.

"Everyone in the dormitory was very scared, but the noise was too harsh, so they decided to open the door together to see who was playing the prank."

"three."

"two."

"one!"

Xu Bai grabbed the quilt and started to get nervous.

"There's a figure standing outside the door."

"When the lights came on, they all saw clearly...it wasn't a person at all."

The childish voice suddenly became eerie and strange. "Its entire body is pitch black, even its face and eyeballs are black... It slowly stretched out its hand, and its long black nails suddenly grew longer!"

Xu Bai let out a cry of surprise that was suppressed in his throat!

They heard the story become more excited, "The nails pierced the body, and with a "pop", the whole person was torn in half, and blood spurted out and spread all over the ground -"

Xu Bai could no longer hold on. His heart was pounding and he closed his eyes tightly. He heard the sound of the wall being scraped and the sound of the light switch being turned on with a "click".

"The ghost said."

Xu Bai was trembling. He couldn't tell whether he was telling a story or reality.

"I've got you—"

……

"Hey, it's just a ghost story. Look how scared he is to tears."

"You have something to hide. Thieves are different from us."

The sound of giggling came from all directions, and Xu Bai knew what a "ghost" looked like for the first time in their "story".

……

The night after hearing the story, Xu Bai started dreaming.

There were many hands in the darkness, pulling him and cursing.

My arms and legs were grabbed and I couldn't breathe, like I was drowning.

--Thief!

——Disgusting thief!

——You are morally corrupt, die, die!

Children are not all innocent.

Being young is not an excuse.

The child who came over to explain the reason to Xu Bai that day quietly put the ring in his hand into Xu Bai's pocket, and then watched coldly as he became the target of public criticism.

The scary "ghost" in the story becomes an outlet for all emotions. The causes planted since childhood are difficult to get rid of and are almost instinctive, so even emotional deprivation cannot be eliminated.