021 Thank You for Eight Years of Companionship
On a night even quieter than perpetual darkness, a slender, pale arm gently brushed against a pale face.
He awoke in an embrace long familiar and unbearably warm.
“Good evening, my dear.”
In the darkness, the warm yellow light was the only source of illumination. Strands of black hair scattered before him; he looked up and saw the face etched firmly in his memory.
Exactly as it was eight years ago, when she left him and Mo Mo.
No changes at all.
It was a dream.
He closed his eyes.
From time to time, his unruly yet beloved mother would visit him in dreams, chatting softly.
Sometimes for several days in a row, other times months apart, this continued for eight years, right up until now.
“Why aren’t you speaking?”
“Have you encountered some difficulty recently?”
“Mom,” she asked gently, pulling him closer, the familiar scent winding around him like a serpent.
Tenderness and longing—these were the deepest poisons.
He wore a look of regret. “Something happened.”
“I finally found a stable job at a maid café, thinking I could care for Mo Mo for life. But then I realized this world isn’t what I thought.”
“It’s so dangerous. Mom, I encountered creatures that control shadows, a clumsy magical girl who wets herself, a murderous maniac who crushes buildings effortlessly, and even fingers that mutate when swallowed...”
“Worse still, Mo Mo’s been doing things behind my back. Suddenly, this world feels utterly alien.”
“Life is already so fleeting.”
“Why make it so complicated?”
“To be honest, I’m a little scared.”
He curled up in “Mom’s” embrace. “I’m really scared, Mom.”
She lowered her eyes and stroked his hair. “What are you afraid of?”
“I’m afraid I can’t protect my little sister.”
He said solemnly, “She’s doing so many dangerous things behind my back. I’m terrified something will happen to her when I don’t know.”
Because she’s his sister, he must protect her.
Because she’s his sister, he would die for her without hesitation.
Simply because she’s his sister—nothing more.
He was really not a brother obsessed with his sister.
“Is that so? You really are a good brother, Mo Bai. But…”
“Mom” said with slight displeasure, “You have to take care of yourself too.”
“Are you eating breakfast properly?”
“I’m the type who dies if I eat breakfast.”
“Are you exercising during breaks?”
“I’m the type who dies if I don’t lie down after work.”
“Are you staying up late at night?”
“I’m the type who dies if I don’t sleep early.”
“Mom” tapped his head in mild anger. “Look at you—completely disregarding your own health.”
---
“Skipping breakfast, no exercise, staying up late—do you want to end up like those guys still hunting monsters on Valentine’s Day who start balding at thirty?”
Mo Bai was taken aback. “Mom, where did you learn that?”
“Keeping up with the times—I surf the internet too.” She smiled proudly. “Do you like someone?”
“No.”
Mo Bai answered honestly, “Because you ran away, forcing me to be a father to Mo Mo, I’ve lost all those worldly desires.”
“I have Mo Mo, and that’s enough.”
“No way!”
“Mom” pouted. “A sister is a sister, but she can’t be with you forever.”
“Mo Bai, you’re so wonderful—you must find a beautiful girl with red hair and golden eyes to take care of you.”
“Red hair and golden eyes...” Mo Bai’s eyes went blank. “That’s pretty specific.”
“Mom” nodded vigorously. “Of course! I guarantee girls with red hair and golden eyes are good girls.”
“Oh, I’ll try.” Mo Bai scratched his head. “But does it have to be red hair? I personally prefer girls with pink hair.”
Mention pink-haired girls—who would you think of first?
“Eh… pink hair, huh?” Mom frowned. “Well... okay.”
“At least it’s close to red, but the golden eyes cannot change.”
“Got it, got it...”
Mo Bai responded and looked up at the crimson moon hidden behind the dark clouds of the deep night.
This was the eternal image in his dreams.
The ever crimson crescent moon.
He couldn’t help but ask, “When will you come back?”
“I don’t miss you, but Mo Mo probably misses you a lot.”
“When will you go see her?”
“Mom” was silent.
After a few seconds, she whispered, “Sorry, I don’t know.”
“Wait a little longer, wait a little longer.”
Mo Bai smiled.
His memory involuntarily returned to eight years ago, when his beloved mother decisively left.
She dragged a suitcase, standing by the shore, watching him carrying Mo Mo.
To him and Mo Mo, she said with deep regret, “Sorry, I have to leave you.”
“Xiao Bai.”
“Take good care of your sister, and take care of yourself too.”
Yes, his real mother only called him Xiao Bai, not Mo Bai.
And she was never gentle—only harsh and bossy.
She certainly never came to him in dreams.
So, she could never answer his questions.
He always knew this, but never exposed it.
He just wanted someone...
to confide in.
“Sorry, I always knew you weren’t my mother.”
---
Mo Bai slowly freed himself from her embrace and stood up. He no longer looked at this false figure resembling his mother but stepped out of the room he hadn’t left in eight years.
He stared straight at the crimson moon.
“Thank you.”
Mo Bai whispered, “Thank you for keeping me company these eight years.”
“You have fulfilled...”
“My small desires.”
“Now, I no longer need you.”
He stretched out his hand, bidding farewell to the crimson moon.
“So please, go back.”
He no longer needed a fake mother to support him.
This dream should end.
Mo Bai closed his eyes.
Everything should end now...
Just as Mo Bai was indulging in such melodramatic thoughts, the “mother” who had been silent behind him changed.
She transformed into a girl with long crimson hair and golden eyes.
She silently stood behind Mo Bai, tiptoed, reached out, and then...
threw him down in a wrestling tackle.
Mo Bai: “???”
“Damn it!” Even in a dream, the pain was real. He was slammed to the ground so hard he nearly lost consciousness.
The red-haired girl gripped Mo Bai’s neck tightly, straddling him. Mo Bai’s eyes rolled back, tongue lolling. “Goddamn it, I’ve put up with you for eight years—eight years!”
“You say thank you and then send me away? Telling me you don’t need me anymore?”
“I’m the manifestation of your dream!”
“You perverted brother-obsessed scumbag! Shrimp-headed man, I’ll strangle you to death!!!”
“Uh...” Mo Bai began frothing at the mouth, flailing his hands wildly. “This... this isn’t right, is it?”
Where did his super gentle mother go?
What was this angry, strangling older sister nonsense?!
In his expectation, they would say thanks, part ways, the red moon would vanish, and he would return to the real world—a warm little story.
Why was it completely different?!
He was really going to be strangled to death in his own dream!
“Help!!!”
In his sleep, Mo Bai wailed, “Mom, sis!!”
“Save me, tooth and nail!!!”
The crimson moon was about to consume him dry (tragic).
Meanwhile, in the real world, watching Mo Bai convulse in her arms, looking as if he had been savagely beaten, Mo Mo’s expression grew puzzled.
Had her brother...
gone mad?