Dim light seeped through the crack in the door, and the woman hummed to the tune of a soft melody. In the dim and aging hallway, the scent of gardenias and white orchids seemed to permeate the murky air, making one’s head spin.
A caregiver stood behind Xu Yintang, and the shadows in the corridor cast a dark veil over him, obscuring his facial features further. The stench of decay became even more pronounced.
“Mom—” Xu Yintang spoke, his gaze fixed on the light coming through the door, his voice as delicate as a spider’s thread, as if afraid of disturbing something.
“Does Mom have a new child?”
The caregiver did not answer his question, but Xu Yintang didn’t need an answer. He affirmed his own question, “Yes… After all, I’m already this big, and Mom should have a new child by now.”
It seemed like the person inside the room sensed Xu Yintang’s arrival. The humming stopped abruptly, and after a two-second pause, the woman’s voice echoed, “Tangtang?”
Her tone, as she called Xu Yintang by his nickname, was as sweet as honey, intimate and gentle, like soothing a babbling infant.
“It’s me.” Xu Yintang handed the rabbit doll he had in his arms to the caregiver and, with a smile, gently pushed the half-open door.
“I’ve come to see you, Mom.”
Behind the door was a room that contrasted sharply with his empty and bleak hospital room. Beige cushions adorned the walls, and a thick, comfortable carpet covered the floor. Cute and brightly colored toys were scattered around – plush dolls, toy cars, building blocks, rocking horses – like a children’s paradise.
The woman sitting in the center of the room was beautiful and elegant, with long black hair and fair skin. Even in the same patient’s gown as everyone else, with disheveled hair and lack of makeup, she appeared as beautiful as a classical painting.
Especially when she cradled the child in her arms, the loving and compassionate expression on her face made her appear exceptionally holy, like Mary cradling the holy child in a myth.
“I thought you weren’t coming today,” the woman said, with a slightly reproachful tone in her voice, but it was not off-putting. It rather revealed a touch of girlish charm.
“Sorry, I saw some beautiful flowers on the way and picked a few.” Xu Yintang placed the flowers he had picked on the windowsill, replacing the withered ones in the vase. He asked with a smile, “Does it look much better like this?”
“You say that every time,” the woman pouted and mumbled. But as she looked at the bouquet of flowers in the vase, her pale cheeks flushed slightly, and she waved at Xu Yintang.
“Come over here,” she said, “I haven’t seen you in a long time.”
“I had no choice, we have to listen to the doctor,” Xu Yintang replied as he walked over and sat at her feet. He raised his eyes to look at the child in her arms.
“Is this Mom’s new child?”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
The child was about four or five years old, innocent and cute, even though his eyes were so swollen that they could barely open, and he looked tired and listless. He appeared both pitiable and endearing.
We Tlcajcu rlutfv rlifcais. Lf tjv yffc mbcolcfv obg j ofk vjsr obg agfjawfca, jcv tf mbeivc’a ojatbw tbk tlr wbatfg tjv jmdelgfv j cfk mtliv bea bo cbktfgf.
Ktf ybs rtlnfgfv ecvfg We Tlcajcu’r ujhf, jcv atf kbwjc ufcais ragbxfv tlr tjlg. Vtf atfc qblcafv ja We Tlcajcu’r cbrf klat j abemt bo tfiqifrrcfrr. “Ktlr lr jirb Kjcuajcu. Tbe’gf ybat Kjcuajcu, sbe xcbk… Zbw ibnfr Kjcuajcu atf wbra…”
“Tangtang is a big boy now, you have to be obedient… Listen to Mom’s words…”
As the woman spoke, she became distant, lost in her thoughts. Her fingers grasped the child’s hair tightly, causing the child to cry out in pain. He bit his lip and tears welled up in his eyes.
Before Xu Yintang arrived, the boy had cried for what seemed like an eternity, his throat hoarse, his eyes dry and swollen, and his head aching as if he had fallen into a horrifying story far more terrifying than any nightmare he had ever experienced.
He would never argue with Mom again, never run around recklessly…
He would be a good boy and listen…
Please let him go home… He longed for his Mom… He missed his own Mom so much…
However, he dared not speak. He dared not say anything, not even a cry. He was terrified, covering his mouth, trembling with fear. He thought about his mother, imagining that she would come to rescue him, but no matter how hard he tried to think, all he could recall was the face of the woman holding him.
No! This is not right!
This woman, who would throw him against the wall, hit him, choke him, and scream at him to die, was not his mother!
No! No! No!
The boy began to cry again, and he felt nauseous as he cried. When he saw Xu Yintang reach out towards him, he instinctively recoiled, waving his hands to protect himself from this accomplice of the wicked woman.
The boy’s resistance made the woman’s expression turn slightly cold. Seeing the boy dry heave and cry with a wretched appearance, she became even more displeased. Her eyebrows furrowed with a few wrinkles.
Xu Yintang was familiar with this expression, which often led to what he knew best: the countdown of three, two, one. If things didn’t go her way, the stormy days that followed would keep him bedridden for several days, just like when he was a child.
So, why did there have to be a new child? Wasn’t having one child enough for a mother like her?
Xu Yintang felt a hint of malice rising in his heart, but it was quickly buried under the obedient and gentle demeanor expected of a good child.
“It’s okay, come over to me.” He gently held the boy’s wrist, adjusting his sitting position to be less painful. He soothed the boy with a gentle voice. The boy shook his head while sobbing, but he also followed Xu Yintang’s gentle pull to crawl out from the woman’s arms, collapsing weakly on the carpet.
His whole body hurt, and his ankle was swollen like a bun. Any movement sent sharp pain through him.
He couldn’t help but long to go home, to his mother, who would gently tend to his wounds and pat his head, the gentlest and kindest mother in the world.
“Are you called Tangtang?” Xu Yintang skillfully adjusted the boy to a more comfortable sitting position, gently massaging his swollen cheeks. He comforted the frightened boy in a soothing tone, “I’m Tangtang too… Good children are all called Tangtang, right?”
“Don’t be afraid, I won’t hurt you.”
Meanwhile, Second Treasure, who was busily eating, received a remote summons from his mother. He reluctantly extended his ghostly paws to help soothe the overwrought human cub. Restoring 1 to 3 points of sanity to the fragile human cub played a significant role, and soon, the boy appeared much calmer.
He sobbed while grabbing onto Xu Yintang’s shirt, burying his face in Xu Yintang’s chest, seemingly finding a sense of security in doing so.
“Be a good boy, nothing will happen to you,” Xu Yintang said reassuringly, not forgetting the mother who had stolen the boy’s goodwill. The woman was looking at him with a tender, loving gaze, filled with affection, but it was hard to tell how much madness and cruelty lay hidden beneath.
“Mom is so unreasonable,” Xu Yintang began, his tone carrying a hint of jealousy that could please her. “Didn’t we agree that Mom wouldn’t have any more new children?”
He naturally rested his head against the woman’s knee, as a child would when seeking comfort from their mother.
“We agreed.”
Mom would hug him, kiss him, and call him the best child, a gift from heaven. But she would also curse him, beat him, and even attempt to strangle him in the middle of the night. Xu Yintang knew better than anyone how terrifying his mother could be, and how he feared her presence. That’s why he loved her more than anyone else.
He was more willing than anyone to believe that everything his mother did came from love. It’s just that… his mother was sick.
That’s why she kept searching for her “Tangtang,” the one who perfectly matched all her fantasies, who was obedient, and who would never grow up.
Xu Yintang’s sudden question left the woman with a panicked expression on her face, mixed with a hint of anger. It was as if she were a man caught cheating, stumbling to explain herself as if she had made a mistake that all men in the world would make.
“He came on his own, and I didn’t go out… You know I wouldn’t go out. It was Tangtang who came in on his own,” she argued, trying to make sense out of an unreasonable situation.
She was the mother, and there was no reason for a child to dictate what she should or shouldn’t do. Besides, Tangtang couldn’t be like other children. Her Tangtang was connected to her like no other, and that’s why he walked into this hospital and came to her on his own.
Yes, her Tangtang had come to her on his own. He had said he wanted to be her child, so… so…
“I didn’t…” The woman muttered in confusion, her words increasingly reflecting her delusions. “He wanted to call me ‘mom’ on his own… He’s Tangtang, my Tangtang!”
As she spoke, she was on the verge of screaming and suddenly broke down, trying to push Xu Yintang away to get her child back. At this moment, her eyes only saw the cute, little child, her one and only Tangtang. She had carried him for ten months, and he had been so obedient and lovely, and he would never defy her or betray her. Her Tangtang.
“Get away! Give my Tangtang back to me! Give my child back to me!!!”
“Tangtang! I’m your mom! Look at Mom! Come to Mom!”
It wasn’t some other child. It was her Tangtang! She had carried him for ten months, and he would never betray her, no matter what.
Xu Yintang suddenly stood up and pressed the woman down onto the chair, grabbing her shoulders and forcing her to look into his eyes. He emphasized each word, “I am Mom’s child.”
“Only I am.”
He was no longer the powerless child from the past. He was tall, with strong arms that could easily catch the woman’s slaps. She was stunned, unable to move, and stared directly at Xu Yintang. Her eyes showed a complex mix of obscure and conflicting emotions, as if she loved him uncontrollably at times, yet hated him intensely every moment.
“… We agreed, right?” Xu Yintang softened his tone appropriately, repeating the words “Mom’s child is only me” like a hypnotic mantra in her ear.
“Only me.”
“Only I will always stand by Mom’s side, and I will never betray you.”
— I will never betray.
The woman was drawn to this statement, clutching at it like a lifeline and asking, “Is it true?”
“Of course it’s true. I’ve never lied to you.” Xu Yintang changed his hold on her arm to gently stroke her hair. Just as his mother used to comfort him, he comforted her. “I will always, always be with you, and only I will be.”
He lowered his head and gently kissed the woman’s cheek, telling her for the umpteenth time about his loyalty and companionship, explaining that he had nowhere else to go if he left this place. He told her how much he loved her, to the point where he couldn’t tolerate a new child taking his mother away.
His sweet words were so enchanting that the woman gazed at him, as if through him she could see the illusion that only she could see.
“Shall we send him away?” Xu Yintang let her lean against his chest, listening to his heartbeat, one thump after another, without pretense. “Mom has me, and that’s enough.”
There was no need for other children here, and no need for a second Tangtang to replay the story of what happened to him.
The woman appeared dazed, revealing a sweet smile to him. She raised her head, and reached out to touch Xu Yintang’s cheek, and her eyes were filled with a radiant blush. “Whatever you say, I’ll listen to you.”
My only question is how that poor kid got into this haha
Yes… where did that kid come from? Why is the staff not doing anything about a madwoman kidnapping and hurting a random kid? (Though the staff probably doesn’t care for anything that happens there)
+1
SI ITS NOT JUST ME?!?! first how he get into the hospital? Is he a visitor for another patient? Did she leave the hospital and come back with him? Did a nurse bring him?
Oh wow, this is a bigger can of worms than I thought. Absolutely fascinating
She stole kid((((
Thank you for your translation 🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃
Wow this book is going to f me up I can just tell😂
Male mom Xu Yintang came from an abusive mother😭 n o wonder his perception of pain and pleasure are different than usual
Is this mental hospital an illegal one? The staff are not even professionals and are allowing their patient to steal a child
Wow, Mom is worse than I thought.
How’d she get the kid? Sweet bat crazy wtf. Thanks for the update 😳❤️❤️❤️
It is so traumatic for the MC. so depressing. I guess this child is in the imagination of the MC as well as his mom…It is his terrible childhood that is getting replayed here- I thinkI don’t think there is a real child here(to the above comments)…
Huh? I thought becoming a mom would be just gimmick by the author to give the MC a golden finger. Turned out it also has something to do with his deeper characterization, especially regarding his complex about his mother…
Wow… no wonder he has issues. I would too if my momma was that mentally ill
I really am starting to think he is also an NPC in a nightmare scenario. The nurse was described as having a burn across her face. The one ‘uncle’ was described as skeletal thin. The smell of death and rot in the hallways. The fire remnants of the garden. It would all add up. Though, it would be pretty fun if one horror game is stealing NPCs from another game!
I just genuinely hope our mc and all the other patients (if possible) can get out of this horrible situation and place.
Maybe later with the game or someone else learns about him. We still don’t know much about the environment or place at all.
But I don’t want him to be in this state forever, he needs to get better and the interdependency with his mom is so fucked up but makes just so much sense.
I love the author, they have created such a unique and interesting plot.
+1
it’s very interesting! but it is really bad and i hope that they all get better
i feel bad… i’ll give them a hug, donate to this place for them QAQ
… The red flag is like, the size of Texas at this moment but it is only chapter 14…
Wow, I already suspected that the protagonist’s mental situation came from various physical abuses from his family or even his lover… but wow, it’s worse than I imagined… my God… and where did this child come from?