SES Chapter 226 Part 2

She moved on. After a short while, a timid voice suddenly called out beside her, “Mom…”

Mu Dai shuddered. The scene felt unbearably familiar. Without thinking, she stepped into the ripples.

It was a cramped apartment in a run-down building in Nantian County. The living room was dark. The bedroom door was ajar, light spilling out, mixed with a man’s heavy panting and a woman’s moans.

She saw three- or four-year-old Mu Dai, hair tied into two little pigtails, standing at the doorway. She twisted the waistband of her pants nervously and said, “Mom, I’m really hungry. I want to eat.”

Bang.

A large leather shoe slammed the door shut. A rough voice barked, “Go to sleep! Say another word and I’ll beat you!”

Little Mu Dai pouted, crawled back onto the sofa, curled into a corner, still twisting her pants. Mu Dai heard her soft, almost-crying whisper: “I’m not pretending to be hungry…”

Mu Dai’s vision blurred with rage. She rushed to the door and kicked it—but there was no sound, no reaction.

Little Seven said from the side, “You forgot. Your power can only be used on your past self.”

Holding back tears, Mu Dai knelt in front of little Mu Dai, heart aching, unsure what to say. In a daze, she thought: If I ever get the chance, I’ll have a daughter. I’ll love her with everything I have. I won’t let her suffer at all.

She called softly, “Sweetheart.”

Little Seven said, “She can’t hear you. You can enter her—for a little while.”

Mu Dai cupped the child’s small face. Before she could speak, everything went dark. When the light returned, she looked down at her hands—tiny, chubby little hands.

The next second, hunger crashed over her like a tidal wave. No wonder little Mu Dai had kept twisting her pants.

Mu Dai clenched her teeth. “Let’s go. We’re getting food.”

She dragged over a stool, climbed up to open the door, and ran downstairs. It was already night. All the shops were closed. She wandered for a while until the smell of meat drifted over.

Following it, she heard a woman’s voice. “Xiao Tong, eat another piece—here.”

A boy answered impatiently, “Enough already—I can’t eat anymore.”

Then she saw the boy come out, kicking stones in frustration. He was chewing a pancake, holding another one in his hand. After checking that no one was around, he tossed the extra one onto the ground.

Thrown away was still thrown away. Dust it off and it wouldn’t be dirty. Mu Dai rushed over to pick it up—but just as her hand reached out, the boy noticed and stomped on it.

“Thief! My family’s food!”

Now it couldn’t be eaten. Mu Dai ground her teeth. “You threw it away!”

“Even if I throw it away, you don’t get to eat it.” He sneered at her. “My mom says your mom sells herself. Your family’s stuff is dirty. You’re dirty—full of diseases.”

Starving and furious, Mu Dai kicked him in the knee, snatched the pancake from his hand, and shoved his head toward the ground. “Eat! Eat the one on the ground!”

The boy refused desperately. Enraged, Mu Dai slammed his head down once, then turned and ran.

On the way back, she devoured the pancake in just a few bites—at least it filled her stomach a little.

As she climbed the stairs, her vision suddenly went black. Before she could understand what was happening, she was standing off to the side again.

Little Seven muttered, “I told you—you only get a little while.”

She saw little Mu Dai standing on the stairs, eyes wide, murmuring to herself.

“How did I get here?”

“I need to hurry back to sleep, or Mom will spank me.”

She scampered upstairs. On the last step, tired from climbing, her little bottom stuck way up in the air.

Ripples appeared beside them. Little Seven tugged at Mu Dai. “Time to go—you can’t stay long.”

Letting herself be pulled away, Mu Dai suddenly said, “I should’ve helped her wash her hands.”

Later, Xiao Tong and his mother would come looking for her. Little Mu Dai would be beaten.

She sighed softly and returned to the dark passage. Little Seven, shoes hanging around its neck, hopped ahead, leading the way.

Mu Dai felt a bit lost now. She wasn’t running as urgently. As the sand continued to flow across the dial, her slower pace seemed to slow the sun’s shadow as well.

Suddenly, a gentle voice rang out: “I’ve looked at all these children… none of them seems quite suitable…”

Mu Dai’s whole body jolted. She turned sharply.

Within the rippling scene, she saw a young Huo Zihong sitting in a reception room. Uncle Zhang sat beside her. The orphanage director looked apologetic. “There is one little girl—she was sent here recently, but she’s not very healthy. Always sick, always sleeping. I’m afraid… she’s not suitable either.”

Huo Zihong smiled softly. “Then let’s forget it. These things depend on fate. Maybe the timing just isn’t right.”

…

Something was wrong.

Mu Dai’s heart pounded violently.

Aunt Hong had once told her about adopting her: “There were so many kids, but I noticed you right away. You were so quiet, sucking your finger and smiling at me from the side.”

How could this little girl have been sick and asleep? And how could Aunt Hong have said something like ‘let’s forget it, the timing isn’t right’?

If Aunt Hong didn’t adopt her, where would her life go?

…

As the sun set, the director walked Huo Zihong out. “Actually, you could wait a few more years. Medicine will be more advanced than—there might be hope. No rush to adopt.”

Huo Zihong kept smiling gently. Uncle Zhang rubbed his hands awkwardly. Then suddenly the director exclaimed, “Oh! The little girl ran out! She didn’t even button her clothes properly!”

They looked over. A small girl was standing by the wall, head tilted, as she’d just woken up. Her clothes were wrinkled and crooked. The director hurried over, buttoned her shirt, and tugged up her pants.

The little girl kept staring at Huo Zihong, looking straight into her eyes.

Huo Zihong stared back.

After a moment, she said softly to Uncle Zhang, “The way this little girl is looking at me… it’s like… we’ve known each other for a very long time…”