Pats Little Shrike's Tail - Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Something happened when Shen Qingyi was in middle school.

At that time, 12-year-old Shen Qingyi had just started seventh grade. She was like any other person, going to school, coming home, and doing homework. She was no different from other middle school students.

One rainy night, there was thunder and lightning outside. The nanny got up in the middle of the night to check the windows and door locks. The community was an old but conveniently located school district. Shen Qingyi could get to school just by crossing a road, and the walk from home to school wouldn’t take more than ten minutes.

While the nanny was checking the windows and doors, she suddenly found that the sliding door to the balcony was open. Rainwater was seeping directly from the balcony, soaking the wooden floor of the living room.

“Oh no!”

The nanny was shocked. She quickly turned on the lights but discovered something else that shocked her—Shen Qingyi was standing barefoot in her pajamas in the cold wind.

“Yiyi?” The nanny saw that she was completely soaked. She quickly pulled her from the balcony to the bathroom. While wiping the rain off her body, she wondered, “It’s past one in the morning. Why aren’t you sleeping? Don’t you have to go to school tomorrow?”

Shen Qingyi, with her wide eyes, watched the nanny wipe her hair and said, “Auntie, my mom is outside.”

The nanny’s hand, which was wiping Shen Qingyi’s hair, paused.

“Yiyi, what are you saying?” The nanny had been taking care of Shen Qingyi since she was little. She knew her mom had passed away and her dad didn’t come home often. There were only the two of them in this house. How could there be a mom?

The nanny looked at Shen Qingyi and pretended to be upset. “You, not sleeping in the middle of the night and standing on the balcony in the rain. If you get sick, your dad will definitely blame me for not taking good care of you.”

Shen Qingyi looked out at the balcony and said with certainty, “She’s right downstairs. Should we let her come up?”

“Don’t talk nonsense.” The nanny was also frightened. She rubbed Shen Qingyi’s cheek and said, “Your mom isn’t downstairs. Don’t let your imagination run wild. Did you take your medicine today?”

“Yes, I did,” Shen Qingyi turned her head and looked at the nanny. “I take the medicine Dr. Zhou prescribed every day.”

The nanny frowned slightly. She couldn’t say anything harsh to the teenage child. She could only coax her. “Yiyi, go take a bath. I’ll clean up the living room. How about you sleep with me tonight?”

She was afraid something else might happen to Shen Qingyi.

Shen Qingyi nodded and obediently went to take a bath. When she came out, she asked the nanny again, “Auntie, mom said the attic is also leaking. She wants you to go up and check.”

The nanny’s face was ashen. She thought this was just Shen Qingyi’s nonsense, but when she got to the attic, she found that it was indeed leaking. If Shen Qingyi hadn’t reminded her, the attic might have been soaked the next day.

Later, Dr. Zhou would meet with Shen Qingyi every week in her most relaxed and familiar environment.

“Yiyi, I heard from Auntie that your mom came again?” Dr. Zhou Shu, wearing black-rimmed glasses, sat cross-legged on the carpet, looking up at Shen Qingyi, who was sitting on the bed. She asked in a conversational tone, “Does your mom only come to you every time? Has she ever looked for anyone else?”

“No,” a young Shen Qingyi said seriously. “Mom doesn’t come every day. She only comes occasionally and tells me not to tell anyone else.”

“Then why did you tell the nanny this time?”

Shen Qingyi didn’t say anything. She seemed to be thinking about something. After a long time, she asked Zhou Shu, “That’s not my mom, right?”

Zhou Shu pushed up her glasses, looked at Shen Qingyi, and said, “Yiyi, your mom has been gone for a long time.”

Shen Qingyi lowered her head. Zhou Shu didn’t answer directly, but she had already answered.

“Yiyi,” Zhou Shu looked at the child in front of her, gently rubbed her long black hair, and said softly, “Maybe your mom has passed away, but she will always remain in your memory. She will never disappear. But…”

Zhou Shu said to her seriously, “If you see your mom again next time, promise Dr. Zhou you won’t go with her.”

Whether it’s her in the rain at night or her in the water, don’t go with her.

Zhou Shu coaxed the child in front of her, repeating, “Remember, you and your mom are different. You are a normal person. You can’t go with her.”

…

Shen Qingyi looked at the neon lights outside the car window, and for some reason, she remembered something from a long time ago.

Shen Qingyi was young back then, and her consciousness was not yet fully developed. Sometimes she couldn’t tell what was real and what was imaginary, so her memories would often be inaccurate.

For example, Shen Qingyi always thought there was a roasted chestnut stall at the entrance of her neighborhood, but she found out when she grew up that there was no such stall there at all.

At that time, Shen Qingyi always thought she had a bad memory. She remembered places clearly, but she could never find them.

Later, after taking medicine, Shen Qingyi understood that these were all things she had imagined and that they didn’t really exist.

This kind of thing happened many times when she was little, but it got much better as she grew up. With the help of medicine, this phenomenon never appeared again until she graduated from college. She thought she was all better.

So, has it happened again?

Shen Qingyi drove with one hand and rested the other on the car window, waiting for the traffic light. It had been a long time since she had an episode. Why would she suddenly imagine something that didn’t exist?

Jiang Yi only came to her house to clean once a week, and she left one meal. Why would Shen Qingyi think she came every day and left her delicious meals?

So what have I been eating all this time?

What about the clean house I’ve been seeing every day?

Shen Qingyi suddenly felt her head was in a mess. She was afraid that once she realized these were all illusions, she would go home to a completely different scene.

Beep—

The green light came on. The cars behind her honked in unison, urging Shen Qingyi to move. She finally came back to her senses and continued driving home.

At the entrance of the community, Shen Qingyi suddenly realized something. She turned to look at the card reader at the gate.

If those were all her imaginations, there shouldn’t be any card swipe records at the gate. How could her imagination be tied to other evidence?

With this thought, Shen Qingyi rolled down her car window and said to the security guard uncle in the booth, “Hello, I’m a resident here. I’d like to ask if I can check the card swipe records at the gate?”

The security guard uncle was also stunned because very few people checked this.

After getting permission, Shen Qingyi parked her car to the side and followed the security guard to the property management’s surveillance office, where she had someone help her retrieve the card swipe records.

“This can only show simple card swipe records,” the person in charge said, pulling up the records on the computer. “The card swipe records are only kept for half a month. Anything older than that is gone.”

“Half a month is enough,” Shen Qingyi said, looking at the screen full of data. “Can I just see the card swipe records of my electronic card?”

“Of course. I’ll do that for you.”

The security system of a high-end community was very complete. In less than ten seconds, the entry and exit records of Shen Qingyi’s electronic card were retrieved.

8:47 a.m., one entry/exit. That should be Shen Qingyi’s record for going to work.

10:09 a.m., one entry/exit.

10:22 a.m., one entry/exit.

…

8:39 a.m. yesterday, one entry/exit.

2:11 p.m. yesterday, one entry/exit.

2:53 p.m. yesterday, one entry/exit.

6:17 p.m. yesterday, one entry/exit.

…

Shen Qingyi looked at the records for ten o’clock this morning and two o’clock yesterday afternoon, and her brows furrowed tightly.

“Can I see the surveillance footage from this time period?” Shen Qingyi pointed to the record at 10:09 a.m. today and said to the person in charge.

“Yes, you can.” The person quickly pulled up the surveillance footage for that time and suddenly said, “Huh.”

Shen Qingyi followed his gaze to the screen. She only saw the gate open and then close again, but no one was captured entering or exiting.

The person was also confused. He said to Shen Qingyi, “Maybe the machine is malfunctioning?”

Shen Qingyi pursed her lips and said, “Pull up the one from 2 p.m. yesterday, too.”

Besides today and yesterday, the person also retrieved the records from the previous two days. They all showed the machine working, but no one was seen, which was very puzzling.

Shen Qingyi’s expression was also strange. She didn’t ask the staff to continue. She just took a picture of the entry and exit records and went back.

When she got home, as soon as Shen Qingyi opened the door, she saw a white and chubby figure flying toward her. She subconsciously raised her hand, and a cute little chubby bird landed on her hand.

Welcome home~

Shan Ling “cheeped” happily, tilting her head to look at her: Did you work overtime again today? Why are you back so late?

Shen Qingyi looked at the little chubby bird in her hand, her eyes slightly darkening. She looked at Shan Ling and didn’t say anything.

Cheep?

What’s wrong?

Shan Ling looked at her in confusion. Why was Shen Qingyi looking at her with that expression?

Shen Qingyi didn’t say anything. After closing the door, she asked Shan Ling, “I came back late today because of some things. Have you eaten?”

Shan Ling “cheeped” happily, then flew onto Shen Qingyi’s shoulder, nuzzling against her affectionately.

Shen Qingyi took Shan Ling to the kitchen. When she opened the fridge, she saw it was full of fruits and vegetables.

There was a large bowl of braised chicken, covered with plastic wrap, which looked very good. Next to it was a small stir-fry of oyster mushrooms. If Shen Qingyi hadn’t gone to the villa today, this would have been her dinner.

Besides dinner, there was also a cup of freshly squeezed pear juice. It had probably been in the fridge for a while, as it was still cold to the touch when Shen Qingyi touched it.

As for the other fruits and vegetables, they all looked very fresh.

Are these all illusions, too?

Shen Qingyi frowned slightly. She thought of the figure that couldn’t be seen on the surveillance footage, and she felt that the atmosphere in her house had suddenly become eerie.

Holding the cup of freshly squeezed pear juice, Shen Qingyi closed the fridge door and took out her phone.

“Jiang Yi,” Shen Qingyi said to her phone. “My colleague and I are going out to eat tomorrow, so you don’t have to leave any food for me.”

In fact, Shen Qingyi didn’t even open her phone’s screen. She just pretended to say this, wanting to see if there would still be food at home tomorrow.

But when Shen Qingyi came back the next day, she saw that the fridge was exactly as she had anticipated the day before. There were only fruits and breakfast pastries, and no food had been left for her.

Shen Qingyi’s eyes lowered. She closed the fridge door without a change in expression.

Something is definitely wrong with this house.

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