Chapter 96 5 Hearts
Chapter 96 Five Hearts
The door to room 4-1 is open.
The soft light shines on the mirror, reflecting the scene in the corridor.
When Wen Xishu was enveloped by the light, he first looked at the mirror.
Then he began to look at the person who was crying. The person who was crying was very young, only about twenty-five years old, but seemed to be about the same age as Wen Xishu.
There were many scratches on the girl's arms, scars on her face, and marks on her wrists from being chained for a long time.
But today, the girl did not look at Wen Xishu, but faced Wen Xishu diagonally. Wen Xishu noticed that the girl and the mirror were facing the same direction.
"Plane? Why...why did you get out of bed?" The girl who was originally crying was startled when she saw the man next to her get up, and she stopped crying temporarily.
Wen Xishu said:
"I'm ready."
"What do you mean?" the girl asked.
"I no longer fantasize about being an airplane, and I know that's a problem. I have forgotten a lot of things, but I remember why I came here, and now... I'm fine." Wen Xishu said.
The girl shook her head and said:
"You've had moments of clarity before, but it didn't take long for you to become sober again... No, that's not the most important thing. Jiji, go and notify everyone--"
Before the girl finished her words, Wen Xishu heard the sound of a radio not far away.
[Mo Yuan was very sad. It was already the appointed time, but Ding Dong did not return to the hospital. The floor was completely blocked.]
As the radio sound fell, an old lady's voice came from room 4-8:
"Don't panic, don't panic, Xiao Mo, don't be afraid, Ding Dong will definitely come back, Ding Dong will definitely come back!"
The old lady, leaning on a cane, came out with a kind smile and wearing a loose hospital gown.
"It's okay, it's okay..." The old man seemed to not want to see the little girl being wronged, and kept repeating words like "don't panic", "she will come back", "it's okay".
Mo Yuan shook his head and said:
"It's blocked... The floor is blocked, and the words on the door have changed! Ding Dong is in trouble!"
There is a door in the stairwell. Originally, the words on the door were "Danggui". But now, the words on the door have changed to "No Entry".
This door obviously has some special function, but the only memory I have of the airplane man I play is that I fly and fight on the bed. I can't remember the specific function of this door.
However, judging from the experience in the Ghost Tower, the door was eventually opened, most likely by someone from the three lower floors.
Wen Xishu seemed to understand something.
At this time, someone spoke again, this time it was a child's voice - a chubby little boy, drooling at the corners of his mouth, holding a pipe in his hand:
"My sister is telling the truth, and my grandmother is lying. Hehe, my sister is telling the truth, and my grandmother is lying."
This is the child who lives in Room 4-18. He happened to hear the conversation between Mo Yuan and the old man because he was playing in the corridor.
The little boy started to giggle, but as he was laughing, he started to cry loudly:
"Brother Ding Dong is dead, Brother Ding Dong will never come back, wow, he doesn't want me anymore."
The crying was so sad that it resonated with the blindfolded girl, who also began to sob:
"I want to find him! Let's go find him together! Lele, don't cry, I don't believe he will die. How could he die?"
The old lady was also panicking at this time:
"Oh my... Xiao Dingdong is dead? No, no, he said he would come back. He must have... must have lost his way. Let's go find him and take him home."
Wen Xishu didn't move the whole time, just listened to the conversation between these patients and pondered the whole story.
New characters appear soon:
"Grandma Wu, Xiao Mo, Le Le, I'll go with you... I know where he likes to go."
"When Ding Dong was making shoes for me, we talked about where he wanted to go the most! I know where he wants to go!"
A middle-aged man wearing a rider's helmet appears.
The shoes he was wearing were the shoes with footprints found by Wen Xishu. They were from the resident of 4-12.
At the same time, the chef carrying a rice cooker and holding a fork also came out from 4-16:
"I'll go with you so that I can take care of you along the way. I can make you some food. Let's take the mirror and leave together. No matter what, we have to find him, alive or dead!"
The chef was tall, with a face full of flesh, and looked ferocious, but as soon as he appeared, everyone felt obviously more at ease.
His name is Xiangyang, and he is the one with the mildest symptoms among this group of people.
All alive.
Wen Xishu looked at the chef, the rider, Grandma Wu, Lele, and Mo Yuan. These five people corresponded to the eyes, ears, mouth, nose, and feet...
The mission of the tower is as follows:
或许，你可以找到足以回应那些思念的东西。请让4-1，4-8，4-12，4-16，4-18的病人们感到快乐。
At this point, Wen Xishu finally understood part of the trajectory of his fate.
These patients all have a deep relationship with the great inventor, Ding Dong. And Ding Dong seems to have died outside.
The closing of the door meant that Ding Dong had encountered an accident and activated some kind of protective measure.
These people have many ways to gain happiness, and they may be able to complete the task by comforting themselves.
But they have not yet confirmed that the great inventor Ding Dong is dead. If he is discovered later... or is targeted by people from the three lower levels, he will probably die.
The final degree of completion will inevitably not be high.
The greatest happiness is to achieve the desired wish, and their happiness is to find the great inventor, whether alive or dead.
Or, find something else that can respond to their longing.
Wen Xishu said:
"Why do you think something happened to him?"
The other people were all shocked because in their impression, the patient at 4-2 could only make the "fufu" sound and imagine himself as an airplane.
Sometimes it's a raptor, sometimes an f-22, sometimes a 747, sometimes a helicopter.
Wen Xishu saw that everyone's eyes were looking at him, so he patiently explained:
"Hello everyone, I'm... Wen Xishu. Well, since everyone is used to calling me Feiji, you can call me A Fei."
"I'm fine. My mind is no longer filled with airplanes. I know you may not believe me suddenly, but that's not important. Just assume that I'm temporarily awake. Before you leave this building and prepare to look for Ding Dong, I want to ask, why did you conclude that Ding Dong is dead?"
Based on the initial favorability of the characters, Wen Xishu chose to ask directly. They were all patients on this floor and had nothing to hide.
Although he was surprised that the style of the plane suddenly changed, Mo Yuan still said:
"The plane, that door... If anyone in our building leaves this floor, the door will have 'Danggui' written on it. If everyone returns to this building, or if someone who leaves this building encounters an accident outside... the words on the door will change to 'No Entry'."
Mo Yuan's nails were quite long. She hugged her arms alone, her nails digging into her flesh. She tilted her head and said in a tearful voice:
"I put the mirror in front of the door every day just to see the words on the door change."
Now Wen Xishu knows that the desk lamp can also provide a view in the mirror.
Wen Xishu said:
"The door has become off-limits. People outside can't get in, right?"
The one who spoke at this time was the rider, his real name was Lei Yihong:
"Yes, airplane. If there is a sign saying no entry, only Ding Dong can come in from outside."
Wen Xishu nodded:
"Everyone, is it possible that the door also has a sensing range? Maybe Ding Dong just left the door's sensing range. First of all, we can't assume that Ding Dong is dead."
"Secondly——"
Wen Xishu was actually certain that Ding Dong was dead, but he couldn't say it directly.
He came to the door at the staircase: "Except for Ding Dong, none of you should have left this floor, right? You should understand the significance of Ding Dong building this door."
Wen Xishu still had some guesses of his own.
"The world outside the door is very dangerous. Many of Ding Dong's belongings are hidden here. If... I mean if, Ding Dong really died, then his wish must be that we can survive well."
"If it wasn't so dangerous outside... I'm afraid Ding Dong wouldn't have built this door, right?"
Wen Xishu stood in front of the door:
"Like everyone else, I am eager to find Ding Dong, but the premise is that we can all survive. So, let's take a look at what Ding Dong has left us and whether there are any means to deal with danger."
Now Wen Xishu's understanding of history is like this -
The great inventor Ding Dong awakened his abilities very early and could make all kinds of magical items.
But these items are not favored by others - Wen Xishu has doubts here. According to the current level shown by Ding Dong, this person is definitely a real Doraemon.
Why were his previous items not favored by others... Why did so many people rush into the hospital crazily afterwards?
And now, the whole building is quiet except for the fourth floor.
Afterwards, Ding Dong was admitted to a mental hospital, where he met a group of patients, became friends with them, and also developed concerns with them.
Ding Dong also opened a museum on the fourth floor. But the museum is actually for the patients on the fourth floor and is not open to the public.
Here, Grandma Wu, Mo Yuan, Lele, Lei Yihong, and the chef all received special props with "body" elements.
Ding Dong must care about them very much, and they also love Ding Dong.
Here, Ding Dong left the most valuable item in the description of the Weird Tower mission...
The fate of Ding Dong now is that he did not tell everyone how to open the item and where it was hidden. He suddenly left the hospital and died outside...
Grandma Wu, Mo Yuan, Lele and others learned that Ding Dong died outside through the changes in the door, so they were very worried about Ding Dong.
They finally decided to look for Ding Dong, even if it was just to find Ding Dong's body.
I'm afraid that the fate of everyone will be shaped by this decision.
They did not find anything that "could respond to their longings." So soon after they left, everyone died outside.
or……
As soon as they open the door, they face a crisis, so many items remain in the museum.
And in the world of the strange tower, the reason why I always have a sense of crisis coming from the three lower levels... must be because of this.
What Wen Xishu didn't understand was why Ding Dong didn't tell them what the most powerful item was and left in a hurry.
Why did the invitation for this mission start after Ding Dong died, rather than before? Ding Dong was undoubtedly more valuable than everyone here, but he died.
Therefore, Wen Xishu had to clarify these doubts. He stopped in front of the door and said:
"What awaits us after we open the door is a danger that even Ding Dong may not be able to handle. I understand everyone's desire to find him, but we can't open the door rashly."
Everyone was surprised that the plane was so calm today, spoke clearly, and thought more logically than before.
"There are many miracles in this world... Sometimes fate will give us many hints before we do something stupid."
"I don't know what happened to Ding Dong, but I suddenly became sober today and no longer crazy. I think I have a mission. Just think of it as Ding Dong's arrangement."
Everyone here believed that Ding Dong was a miracle, and Wen Xishu's words calmed everyone down.
Mo Yuan said:
"What do you want to know?"
Wen Xishu said: "I want to know about your past. Ding Dong's help to you."
"I always feel that Ding Dong must have left something behind. With this thing, he can go out without any worries. This is something that can protect us."
At this time, Lele suddenly said:
"Brother Feiji is telling the truth, hehehe, it's the truth."
Lele is a little stupid, with saliva always hanging from the corners of his mouth. He cannot tell whether a person's words are true or false, and can only judge by his pipe.
The pipe is just like Pinocchio's nose. The difference is that Lele's nose will not grow longer if he tells lies. Lele will not tell lies. The pipe will only grow longer if others tell lies.
"LeLe, can you bring some stools?"
"Okay, okay." Lele ran to each room to move stools.
After a while, several people had stools to sit on, and they formed a circle, which was somewhat like a mutual aid society.
Wen Xishu said:
"Let's start with... Mo Yuan."
Thanks to the extremely high initial favorability, Mo Yuan, Grandma Wu, Lele, Chef Xiangyang, and Rider Lei Hongyi, the five of them finally decided to listen to "Airplane" and tell their own stories as well as the influence of Ding Dong on them.
Wen Xishu is also about to find out what kind of person the great inventor is.
……
……
Mo Yuan began her story.
When Mo Yuan was a child, her parents worked in other places and rarely spent time with her. Mo Yuan has always lived with her grandmother.
Basically, they could only see their parents during the Chinese New Year. After entering junior high school, Mo Yuan had the ability to take care of herself and began to help her grandmother with chores.
She is very sensible and grateful for her grandmother's company. Her grandmother also tells her love stories from their time when transportation was slow.
Mo Yuan listened with envy. A girl of thirteen or fourteen actually had many beautiful fantasies about these things.
Grandma died when Mo Yuan was in the third year of junior high school. After his parents came back and attended the funeral, they sent Mo Yuan to boarding school. They were really busy, and Mo Yuan didn't blame his parents, because it was the same in many families, with parents busy making money outside.
She is a good and sensible girl. She knows that it is not easy for her parents to earn money, and she also knows that her ability to study is a reflection of her parents' love.
But she is not good at studying.
Her academic performance has always been not very good, even if she tried hard, it was not very good. If a person keeps doing things he is not good at in an environment, does not get positive feedback, and is in a depressing or even somewhat oppressive atmosphere, his mentality will change.
It was also at this time that Mo Yuan started dating a senior from outside the school.
The process of this love affair is actually not worth caring about. For Mo Yuan, there has never been a love affair in her life that was not done with care.
Puppy love is bound to end, and Mo Yuan hopes to be encouraged and accompanied, while studying will only put pressure on her...
So she loved passionately and madly. She always thought that she should only fall in love once in her life, just like the stories her grandmother told her.
But the more she did this, the worse her grades dropped, and her parents finally had to come back because of a call from her teacher.
Father and mother were very disappointed with Mo Yuan. They told him about their hard work outside and how difficult it was to support Mo Yuan's studies...
This relationship naturally won't have any result. It's not because Mo Yuan gave up, but because the boy gave up, because he still wanted to study hard.
Mo Yuan accepted it silently.
Later, Mo Yuan went to college, a very ordinary private university. In school, Mo Yuan fell in love again. There is nothing much to say about the object of love and the process. In the end, Mo Yuan took love seriously, but the man had a girlfriend in another school.
After learning the truth, Mo Yuan was naturally very sad, but she has always been a girl who dares to love and hate. In this situation, Mo Yuan decisively broke up with her second boyfriend.
Mo Yuan missed her grandmother very much and wanted to ask her how she could have someone who was willing to accompany her and stay with her for the rest of her life, just like her and her grandfather.
At the age of 22, Mo Yuan started working and began his third relationship.
This time, Mo Yuan's love interest is a civil servant. This civil servant is indeed not handsome, but Mo Yuan's parents like him very much.
Because the man is seven years older than Mo Yuan, he takes good care of her.
In fact, Mo Yuan's requirements have always been very low, just being nice to himself is enough.
This civil servant finally did not give up on Mo Yuan, nor did he flirt with her. He looked very honest and worked very hard. He did everything Mo Yuan asked him to do very well.
Working within the system also made him better than his peers in dealing with human relationships, and Mo Yuan's parents also received many preferential treatments.
They once reached the stage of discussing marriage, and the boyfriend was successfully upgraded to fiancé.
But at this time, Mo Yuan's eyes... lost their sight. He went to several hospitals, but none of them could give any result. Mo Yuan only felt that his eyes hurt, as if they would hurt when exposed to the sun.
Even at night, Mo Yuan felt the moonlight was stinging, so she had to wear a blindfold.
This incident had a great impact on Mo Yuan, because after spending tens of thousands of yuan on unsuccessful treatment, her fiancé became her ex-boyfriend.
"I am grateful to God for giving me such a young and beautiful girl... I have always felt that your appearance has brought me a lot of happiness. I never thought that someone like me could have such a beautiful girlfriend and even get to the stage of discussing marriage... But I am sorry, I cannot accept that she will not be able to take care of herself in the future."
At the darkest moment of her life, the love she thought she had also become dim.
This incident made Mo Yuan mentally inferior. She couldn't help but wonder if she was unworthy of love, and if there was no such thing as lifelong love?
Interestingly, Mo Yuan felt that it was right for the other person to leave him, and that it was the right thing to do. He shouldn't waste someone's life.
But she really hoped that the man would be willing to stay, at least give it a try, or hold on a little longer...
Being unable to see the light for a long time caused Mo Yuan to begin to undergo some other special changes.
She felt that she was extremely eager for light, but she was afraid of the stinging pain when she opened her eyes. She didn't dare to remove the blindfold, but she felt an inexplicable restlessness in her heart.
By chance, Mo Yuan was injured while walking on the road because he couldn't see. The wound was like a flower blooming in the white soil.
During this process, Mo Yuan actually felt a sense of calm. The pain made her urge to tear off the blindfold completely fade away.
When the blood flowed from her skin, she finally no longer felt inferior or felt the stinging in her eyes.
In order to verify this, Mo Yuan began to hurt himself.
This scared the family, and as a result, Mo Yuan was admitted to a mental hospital, on the fourth floor of Jiangcheng Mental Hospital.
Here, in order to prevent Mo Yuan from self-harming, the doctors and nurses locked Mo Yuan with chains.
When the restlessness could not be calmed down...Mo Yuan began to become hysterical. She screamed like a mad woman.
On several occasions, in order to prevent Mo Yuan from screaming, the hospital staff would force Mo Yuan to receive a sedative.
As time went by, Mo Yuan became more and more agitated and looked more and more like a... madman.
This is Mo Yuan’s story.
After listening to Mo Yuan's story, Wen Xishu had a strange feeling. It was as if the first half was about a girl's youth, and the second half suddenly became weird.
From Wen Xishu's perspective... Mo Yuan suddenly became blind, maybe it wasn't because of a disease? But some strange power.
Mo Yuan continued to narrate:
"At that time, I felt that I was suffering inside and out, as if something was crawling inside me... I longed for the light, but I was afraid of the light."
“I tried to harm myself to find peace, but I couldn’t find peace.”
"I'm lonely, I want someone to accompany me..."
Mo Yuan is very lonely, and it would be nice if someone could accompany her to distract her.
At this time, Ding Dong appeared. When talking about Ding Dong, Mo Yuan became much gentler:
"Ding Dong's arrival is simply a miracle. You may not believe it, but the first thing Ding Dong said when he came here was—"
"The compass of destiny tells me... I can find the meaning of my life here. Hello, my name is Ding Dong. Thank you fate for letting us meet. Maybe I can help you." Compass of destiny?
Was it also made by Ding Dong? Wen Xishu discovered some blind spots.
"Did Ding Dong come here on his own initiative?" Wen Xishu asked.
Mo Yuan nodded:
"He came here on his own initiative."
Wen Xishu felt something was wrong. He began to recite the description of the Weird Tower mission again.
Some works in this world are only noticed by people after death. He had advertised his works everywhere, saying that they would be useful in the end of the world. He even made them into small gifts and gave them away for free. But people were laughing at him.
He is very strong in his heart, but he is always misunderstood by others because of the strange things he makes and the bizarre things he says. Geniuses are always lonely, and so are madmen.
He ended up in a mental hospital.
At this time, Wen Xishu discovered something different.
"He was very strong, and he ended up in a mental hospital. I actually overlooked such crucial information!"
"In my previous understanding, the great inventor was not understood, felt lonely, had some mental problems, and eventually ended up in a mental hospital."
"But this doesn't fit the description of someone who is mentally strong."
The task description uses "very powerful" to describe a person, which shows that this person's spiritual world is really rich and not so easy to be destroyed.
Wen Xishu found this interesting. He became more and more curious about Ding Dong.
Mo Yuan said:
"After Ding Dong came here, he started listening to my past and he was very emotional."
Ding Dong was very emotional at the time, and said to Mo Yuan in a somewhat excited tone:
I thought I came here because of the call of the items, but I didn't expect that I could find more content here.
Mo Yuan didn't understand this sentence, but Wen Xishu, as a listener, had some understanding of it at this time.
"What else did he say? Did he ask you anything?" Wen Xishu asked.
Mo Yuan said:
"He lived here directly. A lot of the conversations that followed were daily conversations. After listening to my story, he made a lamp..."
"This lamp is amazing. I can see everything in the mirrors and what other people see within the range of the light, but the images are all reflected in my mind... I don't need to take off the blindfold to see it."
"My eyes no longer felt any pain, but at the same time I saw the light, and the restlessness in my heart slowly disappeared."
"I started to become normal, and it all started with Ding Dong."
Wen Xishu asked again:
"Think carefully, did he have any other problems before he made this lamp?"
Mo Yuan frowned slightly:
"Others? Ah... I think there are, yes, there are. He asked me, after experiencing a series of failed relationships, do I still yearn for love?"
Wen Xishu said:
"What did you say?"
Mo Yuan smiled:
"Of course I do. My grandma was the best person to me when I was a child. I believe I can find the kind of person she described, the one I can spend my whole life with. I just... I doubted myself for a while, but I don't doubt that there are people in this world who are worth loving. If I meet that person, I won't be afraid."
Mo Yuan's smile did not last long, because when she thought of Ding Dong, the expression on her face showed obvious loss again.
Wen Xishu said:
"What about Ding Dong's response?"
Mo Yuan realized that Feiji seemed to have thought of something, and she also became serious:
"Ding Dong just said thank you to me... and said he envied me for having such a heart."
Wen Xishu nodded, and had an idea in his mind.
"Grandma Wu, how about you?"
A new voice came from the radio in room 4-8:
"The plane is no longer a plane, but it is indeed the plane that changed the trajectory of fate. His trouble at this moment is his desire to get the truth of the story."
Grandma Wu said:
"Oh, me, I don't have any stories... I just feel empty inside, and I always want to do something for others."
……
……
The story of Grandma Wu is not really a story. When she was young, she helped many people and taught many children. She also learned some medical skills when she was young, which made her a celebrity in the town.
She was not a teacher, but because she had followed her father to recite prescriptions since she was a child and could recognize words, she would also teach the children in the town to read and write. If some people in the town had headaches or fevers, she would also help to check on them.
In everyone's evaluation, Grandma Wu is a kind-hearted person.
After getting married, Grandma Wu focused on her children, all of whom were very smart. Grandma Wu's husband was the principal of a primary school at the time.
They should have had a happy family, but Grandma Wu's husband was imprisoned because of a false accusation, which also caused the life of Grandma Wu and her family to fall into a slump.
All the people who had been taken care of by Grandma Wu began to stay away from her, fearing that they would suffer the same injustice. It’s not that they didn’t know what kind of person Grandma Wu was, but no one would speak up for her.
Of Grandma Wu's three children, two died of illness, and only the eldest daughter later married and moved far away, avoiding that place as if she were avoiding the plague.
Later, the injustice of Grandma Wu's family was finally cleared, and she was innocent again. However, her husband had died.
Grandma Wu, who had always been self-reliant, was so sad that she moved to another place and started a new life.
She never complained about the past. In the new environment, Grandma Wu was still warm-hearted and her kindness was not distorted. Her diligence and thriftiness allowed Grandma Wu to save a sum of money in the following years and opened a small shop next to the school.
She likes the atmosphere of the school. There will always be some absurd things in an era, and a person will always experience some ups and downs, but she does not resent the suffering that knowledge brings to her.
Many people around her had been taken care of by Grandma Wu, so they were naturally willing to take care of Grandma Wu's business. Gradually, Grandma Wu's life got better.
But the old man’s hardships did not end there. A few years later, the Internet era brought everyone closer together.
Grandma Wu never imagined that... her eldest daughter would hate her so much.
The eldest daughter's marriage was unfortunate. In that era, marrying far away was a gamble in itself, and she made the wrong bet.
But she blamed all her resentment on her mother because her father was dead.
Many years later, she began to feel moved by herself, lamenting how difficult her life had been over the years. She should have had a good husband and a good family, but because of her mother, these were out of reach.
After finally learning that her mother was actually doing well and had managed to save a lot of money in such a desperate situation, she began to accuse Grandma Wu and fabricate some stories about the past.
When Granny Wu finished her story, she just smiled bitterly:
"I did owe her something, so I left her some money, and I donated the rest to a school. That was the school where my husband used to teach, and I wanted to be closer to him."
"But my daughter was very angry. The story she made up was that I reported my husband...I betrayed my husband."
"People around me didn't know the truth, so naturally some people believed me, but many people also started talking about me behind my back."
"People would say, what kind of injustice would it take for a child to treat his mother like this?"
"But I... really have no other choice."
There are many people in this world who are not good at being parents, and Tang Rui's story is not an isolated case. But there are also many children who cannot understand the difficulties of their parents.
Grandma Wu said:
"After that incident, I was a little traumatized. My daughter made me sad. I felt like someone was always blaming me..."
"I wanted to calm their accusations, so I thought about doing something to help them. I heard someone saying they had a headache, so I wanted to feel their pulse."
"I also heard the children crying and saying that the questions were difficult. I wanted to explain them patiently..."
"But in the eyes of outsiders, I look like a lunatic. They think I became like this because I feel guilty towards my daughter."
"In their eyes, everything I do is atonement, just to balance out the guilt in my heart."
"But I really want to help them. I think by helping them, I will gain peace and happiness."
"Later... I came in here, and I kept hearing various voices in my ears. I wanted to help the owners of these voices."
Wen Xishu said:
"And now? Have you found peace and happiness?"
Granny Wu nodded:
"Yes, I got peace and happiness because Ding Dong came and Ding Dong gave me that radio."
"It's really miraculous... No, it's not magical, it's Ding Dong itself that is a miracle. After the radio comes, I won't hear any noise anymore. My world is suddenly quiet."
"But occasionally, the radio would automatically play the inner troubles of people around me, and I would ask these people if there was anything I could help with."
Wen Xishu had some answers in his heart:
"Grandma, did Ding Dong ask you the same question? The same question as Mo Yuan?"
Granny Wu nodded:
"He did ask. He said that after going through so much condemnation, are you still willing to help others?"
"Of course I am willing..."
Wen Xishu said again:
"Did Ding Dong express his gratitude to you as well?"
Granny Wu nodded again:
"Ding Dong is a little confused. He doesn't know whether he should be kind to the world. He hopes to be like me, not to think about this problem, but to always look at the world with kindness."
Wen Xishu sighed:
"Thank you, grandma. People like you are really rare. Meeting Ding Dong is indeed a miracle, but Ding Dong is also lucky to meet you."
Wen Xishu looked at Lele:
"What about you, Lele?"
The person who answered the question was not Lele, but Granny Wu. Granny Wu said:
"Hey, Lele wasn't like this before. He just believed people easily. He believed whatever they said. Once, Lele and other children went to play by the river... Those children hid, leaving only one child behind and said..."
Even someone as helpful as Grandma Wu was a little angry at this moment:
"He said, Lele, others have fallen into the river, let's go and save them."
"Le Le jumped into the river without hesitation, but he was not a good swimmer. The water was turbulent and the child was scared. I didn't expect Le Le to actually believe it."
"After that incident, Lele...became like this."
Wen Xishu guessed:
"Has Lele lost the ability to distinguish truth from lies?"
Granny Wu nodded:
"I often chat with Lele, and I found that he actually had this tendency before that incident. He always easily believed other people's lies that were trying to hurt him."
Wen Xishu said:
"So Ding Dong came, and he knew that Lele would continue to believe... so he made the pipe for Lele?"
At this time, Lele spoke:
"Hey, Brother Ding Dong told me a story about a child who lied and whose nose grew longer. He also said that there was a detective who liked to use a pipe and was very smart. He hoped that I would become smarter."
Wen Xishu smiled:
"LeLe, you will."
Wen Xishu did not ask another question, which is whether Lele will still trust others in the future.
He has the answer to this question, and I think Ding Dong also has the answer.
The obsession with love, the obsession with helping others, the obsession with trusting others... Wen Xishu became more and more convinced that Ding Dong came here for some purpose.
Wen Xishu looked at the cook Xiangyang:
"Brother Xiang, what about you?"
Xiangyang said:
"My story is actually simpler than theirs. I am a person who is a bit picky about my cooking skills... I have been studying cooking, participating in many competitions, and winning many championships."
"But I also always feel that food is getting less and less delicious. I have my own disciples and I am very strict with them. Sometimes I am so strict that I beat and scold them and use very unpleasant words to humiliate their intelligence."
"Everyone thought I was sick. Once, in a very prestigious cooking competition, the food I cooked was criticized for being unpalatable. So I started tasting the food they cooked..."
"I cursed and said, 'It's all shit.' Do you think I tasted bad? This also led to me insulting my opponent and the game, and I was expelled."
"Later, my students started saying that I had a problem with my taste buds and could no longer cook delicious dishes."
"My restaurant business started to plummet, and negative news about me started to appear constantly."
"My mind was filled with all those ingredients... They seemed to be alive. I could see the various changes they would undergo when put together with other ingredients. Some of these changes I knew, but some of them... were new to me."
"Does it sound like I'm hallucinating? I'm like an art student who sees various pigments automatically combining into new colors."
"I suspected that I was crazy. Plus, the pressure during that period was really too great. My family also thought that I was picky about the taste of food to a pathological degree."
"They thought that the food I was expecting didn't exist. Or it already existed, but there was something wrong with my taste buds."
"Sometimes... when too many people say it, something false becomes true. I really thought there was something wrong with my sense of taste."
"So I came here. My temper, combined with what I thought was an imbalance in my judgment of food, made me mentally ill."
"Then Ding Dong showed up and saved me with his pot that could transform all kinds of food into the state I wanted."
"Strictly speaking, this thing is a miracle. My skills are not yet advanced to this level. The food made in this pot... perfectly meets my standards. When I eat it, I know! There is nothing wrong with my taste buds!"
"And I understand one thing! Above the pinnacle of perfection, there is the realm of God! My efforts are far from enough!"
"Everything I suffered was just because I didn't have the ability to do it! My mood suddenly became open-minded, because Ding Dong used miracles to show what I was pursuing, proving that it was not my nitpicking, but that it really existed."
Wen Xishu actually admired such people a little. Geniuses sometimes lower their standards appropriately... and then they become geniuses in the eyes of the general public.
But if they are too hard on themselves, they may become monsters in people's eyes.
People hate monsters, expel monsters, and don't believe in monsters.
"To this day, Brother Xiang, don't you still regret your extreme dedication to your career? If you take a step back, you can get back everything you lost."
Xiangyang shook his head:
"How could I possibly regret it? I'm not even old enough to die yet. You absolutely cannot say that I can't reach that level!"
Wen Xishu applauded and praised:
"You have a heart that wants to reach the pinnacle of your career... No, you have a heart that has the utmost enthusiasm for your career."
After Wen Xishu finished speaking, Xiangyang was slightly surprised:
"What you said is very similar to what Ding Dong said to me, Feiji, you are indeed very different today than before..."
“Could this also be Ding Dong’s miracle?”
Wen Xishu smiled and looked at the last person, Lei Yihong.
"Brother Lei, what about you?"
Lei Yihong felt that the plane seemed to have found some kind of pattern. He couldn't put it into words, but he was willing to cooperate with the plane:
"I am under too much pressure. I am not as legendary as my brother. I am just a... useless father. My daughter has cancer, and I have been delivering food to make money."
"I ran through countless red lights, hoping to run faster and take my daughter on a trip at least once before she died."
"but……"
Lei Yihong turned his head away:
"But I was slow, and I still couldn't outrun death. After my daughter died, I kept wondering, why did it have to be my child?"
"Why can't it be me? I always saw many distant places during that time... I opened my phone countless times and looked at snow-capped mountains, deserts, seas, and grasslands with my daughter..."
"Those scenes, after my daughter's death... always call to me when I close my eyes, and I can almost see my daughter's spirit standing in those places, longing for me to go over."
"but……"
Lei Yihong laughed at himself:
"I have never even been out of Jiangcheng. I am familiar with every path in Jiangcheng. As soon as I see the address, I know which road is the shortest. But if I leave Jiangcheng, I will not know anything."
Why is it me...
Wen Xishu actually asked himself this question: Why am I the one who is not loved by my parents?
But in this world, there are also many parents who care about their children very much. To be exact, such parents are the majority. When their children have problems, they will also wonder why the problem is not with them but with their children?
Lei Yihong said:
"Ding Dong gave me a pair of shoes... These shoes brought me peace. Maybe you don't believe it, but these shoes can take me to the scenes in my dreams, or the scenes in my mind, the hallucinations."
"It was so real. When I put on my shoes and really stepped on that land, it felt so real to me!"
"I thought Ding Dong was a god, but Ding Dong told me that those places were not real, but they were not fake either."
Wen Xishu believes:
“It seems that it is a pair of shoes that can reach the place of your inner desire? To others, it may be false, but to you, it is real.”
Lei Yihong nodded wildly: "Airplane! You really have become a completely different person today!"
Wen Xishu said:
"Brother Lei, if your daughter were still alive, would you be willing to give everything again?"
"Of course I am willing! I am her father. From the moment she was born, I had this awareness and mission!" Lei Yihong was a little excited.
He did not let go of his daughter.
Wen Xishu said:
"Thank you, Brother Lei. At least you made me believe that some people in this world are just unlucky. But it doesn't mean that some things don't exist. I envy your willingness to give everything for your family."
It’s a pity that I didn’t arrive in spring, but for Wen Xishu, it’s not so worth lamenting. At least, there is spring in this world.
Lei Yihong sighed:
"Ding Dong also said that. When I was the saddest, I wore those boots and cried in the snowy field that I only dreamed of. At that time, it was Ding Dong who comforted me."
"Now that he's in trouble, I must save him. I've already considered him as my own family!"
Wen Xishu nodded, and he took a step forward, looking at the five people. This trip to the Desire Tower had slightly changed his mentality.
He developed a very strong desire to see Ding Dong.
Because he felt that Ding Dong was very similar to himself.
In everyone's description, Ding Dong redeemed them, but in a sense, they also completed Ding Dong.
Ding Dong has asked almost everyone a question: if you could do it all over again, would you do it the same way as before?
Just like before - continue to love someone, continue to help those who may hurt you, continue to believe in others, maintain enthusiasm for your career, and give everything for your loved ones...
And everyone’s answer here is that they have never regretted it.
It is very likely that Ding Dong does not have these things, or is... questioning them.
Just like Wen Xishu once doubted, are all the virtues and happiness in the world just beautifully packaged but already rotten candies? They are just something used for propaganda, and are essentially a means to weaken people's rational thinking.
But unlike himself, Wen Xishu believed that Ding Dong was kind-hearted, unlike the evil person like himself who killed his adoptive parents.
Because the five people in the mental hospital are, in a sense, five complete "losers".
They have all fallen to such a state, so they are certainly not successful. It can even be said that they should be negative examples.
Not loving, not believing, not helping, not doing, not supporting... maybe this is the way to alleviate their pain.
Just as Grandma Wu said, Ding Dong is confused. He may have been thinking about what kind of life he wants to live and what kind of heart he should have to face the world.
Finally, he followed the guidance of the compass he made - and came to the location of five special "Hearts of Failure".
That is, in this mental hospital.
Wen Xishu said softly:
"I think I already know part of the truth, and I can solve the mystery left by Ding Dong."
"Everyone, please follow me. Before we look for Ding Dong, we will go to 4-26 first."
(There is only one update today, and it came quite late. It was stuck for three hours due to review. I didn’t know about it until I woke up…)
(End of this chapter)