Lin Feng was on the brink of collapse when his mother’s call for breakfast echoed from outside: “Lin Lin, come eat! Why are you locking yourself in your room like a young lady?” His mother’s nagging voice made Lin Feng jump out of his skin. He quickly closed the wardrobe door, managed to suppress his agitation, and shouted back, “I’m coming out!” Simultaneously, he burst into a flurry of activity, dashing around the room like a headless chicken. He searched everywhere but couldn’t find a suitable bag to store the incriminating evidence. With his mother’s calls growing more insistent, Lin Feng decided to grab his school bag, dump out the books, and use it to temporarily hide the evidence, planning to find a secluded spot to destroy it. This time, he was determined to go to a more remote location with a lighter to ensure no evidence was left behind, unlike last time when he threw everything into a dry well and it was discovered.
“Lin Lin, what are you doing? Why are you taking so long? Are you sick? I’m coming in…” His mother was knocking again, and this time, she seemed to be fetching the key to enter herself. “Mom, don’t…” Lin Feng was almost frantic, one hand clutching the school bag, the other diving into the wardrobe, trying to stuff all the evidence inside in the brief moment he had. If his mother saw these inappropriate items, who knows what she would think or if she’d have a heart attack from the shock. Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up…
As Lin Feng focused all his attention on his left hand, suddenly, his movement stopped, and an extremely peculiar expression crossed his face as if he had been immobilized. At that very moment, his mother had opened the door with her key. Seeing her son’s odd behavior, she asked with concern, “Son, weren’t you changing? Why are you just standing there?” She walked closer, touched his cheek, and glanced into his wardrobe.
“Ai—” Lin Feng’s mother exclaimed in surprise. Lin Feng, nearly scared out of his wits by his mother’s “Ai”, finally snapped out of his daze. “What’s wrong, Mom?” he asked, his voice sounding odd and loud, startling his mother.
