Sugarcoated Reality (Taoris) [Completed]

First Encounter

It was a normal day and Yifan had to find a place to stay. Yifan took an excuse to break into houses. He passed out flyers and when he found a suitable house, he broke in. This is time, it was an apartment of a family gone for a vacation. He checked their answering machine, "您好！这是柳家！目前，我们花我们的假期在Australia。如果您想与我们联系，请在提示音后发送邮件。" (Nín hǎo! Zhè shì liǔjiā! Mùqián, wǒmen huā wǒmen de jiàqī zài Australia. Rúguǒ nín xiǎng yǔ wǒmen liánxì, qǐng zài tíshì yīn hòu fāsòng yóujiàn. Translation:Hello! This is the Liu family! We currently spending our vacation in Australia. If you want to contact us, kindly send your message after the beep.).

Yifan cooked lunch for himself, showered and did his laundry. The next day, he took a detailed tour of the apartment. This was the best part of his job-he could discover the darkest secrets of the owners.

Yifan went to the owners' son's bedroom. He opened a drawer and found a gun. It was obviously a normal toy gun disguised as a real pistol. He pointed the gun to a floating blue balloon near the bed. He pulled the trigger. There was a 'pop' sound followed by a burst. It was definitely a real gun.

Yifan kept the gun on the coffee table and avoided contact with it. Suddenly, he heard a car screech near the apartment building. It was time for him to leave.

The Liu family entered the apartment. There was a heated argument between Mr.and Mrs. Liu.

"It was a terrible experience! ", Mrs Liu complained.

"Oh! For God's sake! You are getting over my head! You are always dissatisfied with everything! ", Mr. Liu said.

The son, a six-year old boy, picked up the gun from the coffee table and pointed it to his mother. Well, he might have thought that it's a toy gun and so did his mother. Mrs. Liu said sarcastically, "Oh! Why don't you shoot me!" The son pulled the trigger. There was loud bursting sound followed by a Mrs. Liu's shrill cry that sent chills down the neighbours' spines.

Meanwhile, Yifan was on his quest for another house. He walked on the narrow country street passing out flyers with boredom, untill he found a large traditional Chinese villa with the nameplate saying, "黄茜, 黄闲花，黄芝涛' (Huang Qian, Huang Xian Hua, Huang Zitao)." He opened the gates and walked through the garden where he found an area to play golf. He reached for the doorknob and realised it was open. He opened the door.

Yifan took a tour of the house just to check if the owner was there. He checked they master bedroom, the living room, the kitchen.

He found a room with the nameplate saying, "黄茜的美术馆 (Huáng qiàn de yìshù huàláng)." Translation: Huang Qian's Art Gallery. In that room, was a boy with a wounded soul hiding at the corner. Yifan didn't notice. he just gave a quick glance at the room and went to do his normal chores.

The bruised boy, named Zitao (芝涛') or Tao for short, followed Yifan quietly. He looked at the stranger doing laundry, cooking lunch, and playing golf with his father's golf club. Yifan went for a shower at the bathroom. After showering, he came out with his waist wrapped in a towel. He checked his weight on a weighing machine in Tao's room. It read 100 kgs which was clearly the wrong reading. Being a fantastic engineer, Yifan fixed the weighing machine and checked his weight again. It read 70 kgs which was the correct reading. Yifan went to do his usual business. He ironed the magazine kept in Tao's bookshelf which Tao found quite odd. Suddenly, Yifan felt someone's presence in the room. He looked up and found Tao. He was surprised. Yifan had to leave! Yifan packed up his stash. Before leaving, he found Tao crying in the bath tub while bathing. He picked up Tao's dirty clothes and replaced them with new ones. After bathing, Tao sat down in the living room quietly. The telephone rang loudly. Tao picked up. His father, Huang Xian Hua, screamed "Why the hell weren't you picking up the phone, you numbskull?!"

Tao replied with a loud and frustrated scream which sent chills down Yifan's spine. Yifan sat on his silver motorbike and left the villa. He halted near a lambpost in a quiet street thinking about the mysterious bruised boy he just saw in that villa. He got frustrated and went back to the villa's back door.

A frustrated man, Huang Xian Hua, entered the front door and screamed, "Why was the door open, you wench?!" He slapped his son. Yifan got angry and broke down the gates. He went to the garden. The abusive father spotted the stranger, "Who the hell are you?"

Without saying anything, Yifan picked up a golf club kept the ball on the pitch. "What the hell are you doing?!" Yifan hit the ball which went right into the father's stomach with a great force. Xian Hua screamed with pain and agony. He held his son's feet begging him for mercy. Tao, unexpectedly, left him and joined Yifan on his bike.