Volume 1: Lan City Storms 004 Chong Xiao Jiu Tian
At night, the clear moonlight poured into the narrow and cluttered small room. The girl lying on the bed was fast asleep, her face uneasy, and sweat gradually seeping out from her forehead.
In dreams, giant trees of tropical rainforests in the Americas surround me, with branches and leaves covering the sky.
Mo Zihan stood in the midst of the jungle, looking around at the familiar rubber trees, cacao trees, and the Victoria amazonica that was unique to this place, its leaf blades reaching a diameter of 1.5 meters.
Infant fist-sized poisonous mosquitoes fly by in a hurry.
Suddenly, she tilted her ear slightly and quickly turned around, only to see a figure tied to the rope on a branch of a giant tree, rapidly sliding down. She couldn't make out the person's face, but felt an unusual sense of familiarity.
That figure landed steadily on both feet, walked slowly to her front, she tried hard to see the person's face, but only saw long hair over shoulders and elegant posture.
"We look exactly alike." The voice echoed in his ears, as if it was what the other person said, yet also seemed to be his own inner voice.
"Ah!" The slender figure sat up from the small bed, covering her chest with one hand, her forehead full of sweat. She furrowed her brow tightly, threw off the covers and got out of bed, turned on the dim lamp in the room, and walked to the mirror.
In the mirror, a thin and small body, seemingly less than 1.6 meters tall, with a frail build. Stretching out his hands, those small hands were like skin wrapped around bones.
Touching my own cheek, I gaze at the thin and slightly pale face in the mirror. The thin cheeks make a pair of eyes look very big, this face is exceptionally familiar from the bottom of my heart.
Mo Zihan suddenly closed his eyes, trying to grasp that familiar feeling at the bottom of his heart, but like every time before, it flew further and further away, and he couldn't catch it.
The environment in her dream seemed more familiar and comfortable than the family she was currently living with.
But after recalling for a long time, I still couldn't recall the reason, and even the familiar feeling in my dreams was slowly fading away.
He smiled wryly to himself, turned around and sat back on the bed, letting out a long sigh. Maybe it was just an illusion, everything, maybe it was all just his own wild imagination.
Perhaps she was Mo Zihan, the most inconspicuous little girl in a poor family in Lan City, with poor academic performance and a timid personality. She had an ordinary-looking mother who was rough around the edges, and a father who was addicted to drinking and gambling, neglecting his duties.
Under the dim yellow lamp, the girl sat at the foot of the bed, licked her dry lips, and tried to open her mouth slowly, "Mom... mom..."
"Mom..."
"Mom..."
At first, there seemed to be a hint of awkwardness and resistance, but gradually, the corners of her mouth revealed a happy smile.
A warmth that originated from the bottom of her heart spread throughout her body, this title, seemed to be a long-awaited desire, yet also seemed to carry a sense of stubbornness, causing her to feel a chill from the bottom of her heart.
Morning light pours in through the window, shining on the blue and white small bed. The girl slowly opens her eyes, and a hint of confusion flashes across her clear pupils, gradually becoming calm.
She reached out and picked up the small alarm clock on her bedside table, looked at the time, and it was only 4:00 in the morning.
For some reason, from the day she woke up, every morning at this time she would wake up, just like the familiar biological clock that had been with her all along, and it hadn't been disrupted by the sudden change, even though she had hardly slept a wink the night before.
She lifted the quilt, Mo Zihan quietly opened the door to her parents' room and listened for a while before slowly opening it. Inside, her parents were sleeping soundly under the old, thick quilt, with Mo Junbao's snores echoing loudly.
She closed the door and Mu Zihan came into the yard.
Her home is a small bungalow, commonly seen in Lancheng nowadays. The house is not big, with two rooms, some haystacks and firewood piled outside, and chickens and ducks raised in the yard.
Mo Zihan came to the yard and turned on the faucet, with icy water pouring out. She quickly washed her face and brushed her teeth, then changed into a tracksuit in the house before running out of the yard wearing a pair of worn-out sneakers.
She prepared for morning exercise because her body was too weak and frail, making her feel that she had to start exercising.
The sun was high in the sky, still with a hint of redness from its initial rise. The air was extremely refreshing on this September morning as I ran along the road, surrounded by emptiness without a soul in sight.
All the way along the courtyard ran out of the bungalow area, outside is Lancheng River Bank, the riverbank around has been developed, high-rise buildings towering, is considered to be in the city center.
Mo Zihan heard yesterday that the bungalow in her neighborhood seemed to have received a demolition notice from the government, and perhaps for the sake of urban construction, this old bungalow area would soon be sacrificed.
The riverbank in Lancheng is lined with clean railings, and as you head north along the railings, you get closer to the city center. However, in this small city where life moves at a slow pace, it's still completely deserted at 4 am.
The only sounds echoing through the ears were the whistle of the ships and the lively chirping calls of the birds.
An hour of running had already made her forehead sweat, and her legs were slightly soft. Mo Zihan leaned against the guardrail by the river, gazing at the water, with a calm expression in her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she spread her arms wide and let out a loud shout, her voice as clear as a rainbow, like an eagle soaring through the sky, straight up to the ninth heaven, piercing the clouds!
Several large birds suddenly spread their wings and flew away in a hurry towards the distance.
"What the...! Why are you yelling so early in the morning?! Can't you let people sleep?!" A resident from a nearby flat shouted out of their window, their face red with anger.
Mo Zihan's lips curled up with a smile, but in her heart, it was a wave of relief, as if she had thrown away the depressed and annoyed mood that had been suppressed since she woke up.
As if she hadn't heard the insult at all, she put her hands on her waist and ran forward again.
If you observe carefully, you will find that every time she takes a step, the distance between her steps is exactly the same. Only someone who has undergone long-term rigorous training can achieve such precision in their stride.
After running, Mo Zihan stood by the river and started stretching exercises, flexibly rotating each joint, relieving muscle tension after intense exercise, and regulating her breath.
After a series of actions, it was already six thirty, people began to appear on the street one after another, tricycles were parked along the road, and the aroma of soy milk and fried dough sticks filled the air.
Before long, the small chairs by the street were filled with people having breakfast, and both sides of the riverbank were lined with vegetable stalls. The elderly haggled over prices while carrying baskets, women rode bicycles to send their children to school, and the sound of bicycle bells rang out, as the quiet city gradually woke up after a night's sleep.
Mo Zihan walked through the crowd and returned to Pingfang District, her memory was good, even if she had only walked a road once, she could clearly remember the route back and forth.
Just as I walked into the courtyard, I saw two figures standing in the courtyard, seemingly arguing with my mother about something.
Digression
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