Li Xiaoming had his own room, while Li Xiaodong and Li Xiaodie shared a room with bunk beds.

  As the door opened, Li Xiaodie's eyes never left the bowl in Qin Nuo's hand.

  She g her mother and said, "Mom, I want a bowl too. Is there a?"

  Her mother seemed not to hear her, smiling at Qin Nuo, "Son, I've set an arm for you. Make sure to sleep on time, okay?"

  Li Xiaodie blinked, wanting to say more, but Li Xiaodong pulled her bad said coldly, "Go back to sleep. It's just a bowl of soup, what's so special about it?"

  Their mave them a cold gnd left with the bowl.

  Li Xiaodong looked at Qin Nuo with murderous i, the rese in his eyes deepening.

  With a bang, the door was shut.

  Qin Nuo also got up to close the door and added a lock.

  With the room sealed off and no crazy family members around, Qin Nuo immediately felt a sense of security.

  "I used to think school was dangerous, but now this home feels even more so."

  "A family of five, with messy and plicated retionships. Mother dotes on Li Xiaoming, but behind that affe is a twisted possessiveness, not allowing her son any hint of rebellion."

  "Was it the father who cheated, or the mother?"

  Qin Nuo only pohe question without delving deeper. To him, it made little difference who was unfaithful.

  Having almost finished his homework, Qin Nuo turned off the lights and y down on the bed.

  Though he wasn't very sleepy, he decided to follow his mother's instrus and keep a regur schedule, just in case.

  Who knew if she might be croug by the door, cheg if he turned off the lights, or pressing her ear against the door to listen for any sound?

  He even suspected there might be a hidden camera in the room.

  Thinking of this, Qin Nuo couldn't help but g the room's hidden ers.

  Such behaviht seem overly sensitive, perhaps exaggerated.

  But for a woman with a strong possessive desire, surveilnce is the best form of expression.

  After some time, Qin Nuo, tossing and turning, finally felt his eyelids grow heavy and gradually drifted into sleep.

  Creak... creak.

  In a half-asleep, half-awake state, Qin Nuo seemed to hear the sound of the door haurning.

  His sciousness immediately became alert.

  The handle tio turn, as if someone was trying to open the locked door with a tool, but after several attempts, it remained unopened.

  The person, evidently afraid of making too muoise and waking others, tried a few times unsuccessfully and the.

  Qin Nuo stared at the shadow disappearing uhe door, feeling suspicious.

  Was it his mother, or his siblings?

  Or perhaps the father with a cleaver stu his forehead?

  Does this family have some serious issues, trying to break into his room in the middle of the night?

  Qin Nuo eechless, uo sleep peacefully.

  He didn't know what time he fell asleep, but at six in the m, he was woken by the arm clock by his bed.

  As soon as Qin Nuo turned off the arm, his mother's voice came from the door: "So up, brush your teeth, wash your face, and have breakfast. You o be at school by seven."

  Qin Nuo responded, getting dressed.

  When he opehe door, he noticed the handle had clear signs of tampering.

  After a moment of thought, Qin Nuo headed to the bathroom.

  After washing up, he found breakfast already set oable, his backpack packed and ready to go.

  As Qin Nuo sat down, his med him to drink the pe first while she peeled an egg.

  Li Xiaodong and Li Xiaodie also got up, but their breakfast was much simpler, just two bowls of pin pe.

  In the er, their father seemed to be holding a neer, having sat there all night.

  Li Xiaodie looked longingly at Qin Nuo's hearty breakfast.

  Li Xiaodong gritted his teeth, eating his pin pe.

  "Son, finish the chi pe and then drink the soy milk, okay? I've put milk in your backpack, remember to drink it after your m reading." Their mother smiled at Qin Nuo, ign the looks from his siblings.

  From the er came heavy breathing.

  Their father's voice, filled with anger, gred at their mother: "Are you doing this for me to see?"

  "And what about the other two, are they just animals?"

  Their mother wiped Qin Nuo's mouth with a towel, nontly saying, "Don't push your luck."

  "I'm doing my best to make this family happy."

  Their father's hands trembled as he held the neer, calming down after a while, and said nothing more.

  Quickly finishing his breakfast, Qin Nuo grabbed his backpack, eager to get to school. This family felt like a tig time bomb, ready to explode at any moment.

  His mother saw Qin Nuo to the door, helped him with his shoes, and suddenly said, "Son, did you not sleep well st night? You were tossing and turning."

  "Or maybe there are mites in the bed. Should I wash it for you?"

  This made Qin Nuo's face ge.

  Damn! How did she know?

  Could she really be twisted enough to install a camera in the room to monitor him?

  Thinking of this, Qin Nuo suddenly suspected she was the orying to open the door st night, probably not expeg him to lock it, so she gave up.

  Such a mother was not just doting, but horrifying!

  "No, it's just some things on my mind. I slept well st night," Qin Nuo forced a smile.

  "It's normal to have things on your mind as you grow up."

  "If you have any troubling thoughts, you talk to me. I've been through it and help you open your heart," his mother said, patting Qin Nuo's hair.

  Qin Nuo responded, slinging his backpack over his shoulder as he left.

  As he went downstairs, Li Xiaodie seemed to be waiting for him in the hallway, smiling as she said, "I heard everything."

  "I'm really envious of you, bretting mom's love, even being ed about your sleep."

  "I wish mom cared about me like that, but she doesn't."

  Qin Nuo's mouth twitched, replying coldly, "I really wish she would trahat care to you, so you could experiehis 'love'."

  "It actually be transferred," Li Xiaodie answered seriously, tilting her head with a smile. "As long as brother dies, mom will trahat love to me and sed brother, right?"

  "Move aside," Qin Nuo's face darkened as he brushed past Li Xiaodie.

  "Brother, the neighbor upstairs installed an air ditioner. I saw on TV that if the screws aren't tightened, it fall in strong winds and crush the owner just leaving the house. It's sic."

  "Brother, be careful when you go out, look up!"

  "Sis is just worried about you getting crushed."

  Qin Nuo turned back, angrily saying, "Shut your crow's mouth!"

  With that, he quied his pace dowairs.

  At the stairway door, he recalled Li Xiaodie's words. Just as he was about to step out, he paused and pulled back.

  Hesitating whether to leave through the back door, he heard a otion upstairs.

  Then, with a loud bang, a bck shadow crashed onto the ground in front of him.

  The outdoor unit of the air ditioner smashed onto the crete, shattering into pieces, with smoke billowing out.

  Qin Nuo's expression froze, his mouth agape.

  Could it really be that accurate?

  Behind him, Li Xiaodie, who had just e down, giggled, "See, brother, I told you to be careful."

  "Sigh, if brother dies one day, sis will be so sad."

  Though she said this, her face was filled with excitement, as if eagerly anticipating that day...

  JOSOLUNA