The next day, before leaving.
Lu Qing straightened his attire and turned to his sister, who was wiping "Black Cat" on the bed, saying:
"Su Ling, let's change the time from Sunday to Saturday afternoon, okay?"
"Huh?"
Su Ling was slightly taken aback, then smoothly nodded, naturally replying,
"Sure, brother, I don't really have a sense of time. Whatever day you say is fine."
She gave him a gentle smile, her expression flawlessly serene.
In truth,
for someone who stays at home every day,
the concept of "what day of the week" or "what date" is easily erased.
Because every day is the same,
every day is uneventful.
Except for the rapid improvement in her piano skills,
except for the increasingly close connection with "Black Cat,"
except for getting closer to her little milestone—"playing a heart-stabbing piece in front of her brother, making him break down and unable to resist touching the piano."
Su Ling felt that there was no essential difference in her daily life.
And obviously,
Lu Qing had no idea that
his sister had already become suspicious yesterday.
Without even mentioning "Twilight Coffee," he had accidentally let it slip, suggesting they go there together.
Clearly, this would make the extremely sharp Su Ling sense something amiss.
She had initially thought it was a tacit coincidence between siblings,
but coupled with today's sudden and unannounced "change of time,"
Su Ling understood even more—
he was changing it for someone else.
【He was planning something.】
No one could deceive her when she was fully focused.
Even her brother, under her heightened vigilance, would reveal his intentions with the slightest clue.
"Indeed, practicing the piano too intensely recently has left me too exhausted, and failing to conduct 'information countermeasures' late at night was a mistake. It was laziness."
Su Ling reflected as she watched her brother leave the house.
She rubbed her sore neck and stood up to stretch slightly.
"Sigh."
Ever since "Phase Two Deconstruction" encountered unprecedented obstacles, Su Ling had become even more withdrawn and silent.
Although "Black Cat" had alleviated some of her mental burdens, the root of the problem remained unresolved.
Her brother's secrets involved too many areas—
so many that it was overwhelming, so many that it was incomprehensible:
How did he explore so many fields?
A person's lifetime is limited, and if wasted, one would realize that
【an entire year holds very few memorable moments.】
——Blurring of Nodes.
That is, "time wear" leading to "memory wear."
Changing this is extremely difficult—
It requires full commitment to live a life outside the established track as much as possible.
To "do what one wants," to "pursue what one likes, cares about, and wants to explore."
Though difficult, once achieved,
The number of recalled nodes will increase like bamboo shoots after a rain.
Even years later.
"I want to accumulate enough splendid slides before the final chapter of life arrives."
An abstract mark her brother had muttered on Weibo.
Now, Su Ling "somewhat understood" it.
Brother is always like this, so hard to understand.
Always contradictory,
always extreme,
always wearing a calm and peaceful expression,
while hiding a heart that had long turned to stone and crumbled.
“He still has things he is hiding from me.”
Many, many things were kept from me.
"There are secrets he can't tell me."
“He knows that once I discover them, I will dig deep and trace the roots.”
"——In the end, it would only hurt myself."
Su Ling hugged "Black Cat," her face scrunched up.
Previously, she had followed her brother's mark and explored a little about "the way of heaven."
Then, she immediately hit a copper wall and iron wall.
Things like "12.21.12 enjoying mountains, waters, and people" are illogical, groundless, impossible to start with, and impossible to investigate;
Or "The spirit of inspiration smiled upon me, thus today I light three lamps, dedicating them with reverence."
Or "On the first and fifteenth of each month, offer new fruits and request holy water. Bless my body and mind, and grant me pure spirit."
…
Su Ling realized she had blind spots too.
There were things she wasn't good at either.
Like how everyone has their strengths and weaknesses in certain subjects,
When it came to "Traditional Chinese Medicine," "the Way of Heaven," or "traditional cultural customs," Su Ling found them incredibly difficult and confusing.
Especially since her brother's extremely abstract behavior could no longer be interpreted with ordinary thinking.
Even though she was willing to consult various materials, under Lu Qing's extraordinary behavior patterns, she felt hindered at every turn.
As my brother's condition worsens, his secrets have become increasingly enigmatic, and it's harder for me to decipher him, to understand him like before.
"Tricky" was Su Ling's only recent feeling.
More frustrating than encountering new techniques in piano practice, more daunting than pieces that were too fast to keep up with.
Pieces could be practiced, skills could be built, but her brother's secrets,
If she couldn't dismantle them today, it didn't mean she could dismantle them after a night's sleep.
The second phase before the maiden was the past named "Music";
but clearly, Lu Qing's past wasn't just about music.
Why did he choose "creation"?
Why did he "offer Buddha" at home?
What was the "God of Inspiration"?
Could that thing really help her brother?
Why did he go into the house to light three sticks of incense every morning before leaving, unwavering as if struck by lightning?
What was the meaning of such actions?
Even when she was asleep, he would silently finish the incense before leaving the house.
"...He's such a realistic person, so stubborn, so difficult to entice."
Ah...
Su Ling felt helpless.
——Her brother was like an abyss.
When she gazes at him,
He would also quietly observe her.
By now, Su Ling fully understood the meaning of those words.
“Forget it, I should shift my focus and relax a bit.”
To protect her emotions, Su Ling sighed softly,
put down "Black Cat," and picked up her phone from the table.
——She skillfully opened the "Home Panorama Smart Monitoring System" mini-program.
"While brother is still waiting for the elevator, I'll just..."
"Huh?"
Her thoughts came to an abrupt halt.
stopping at
the suddenly opened door of Room 1902,
The sudden appearance of a girl——
She was beautifully made up, at the precise time of morning for school,
silently passing by Room 1901,
and in the panoramic view of the surveillance,
she energetically trailed behind her brother,
reaching out her small hands from behind,
naturally,
without any shyness,
as if they were a couple who had been together for a long time,
and softly grasped his arm.
……
……