Lost Land (GL)

Chapter 29

Warm sunlight, mixed with the scent of dust, flooded in as she pushed open the door. Her apartment faced the sun. Her mom didn't like to close the windows. She always said that the house needed to be bright to have life. So, on sunny days, the apartment was always bathed in light.

The blinding sunlight revealed the living room, a space she could navigate with her eyes closed. The shoes were neatly arranged on the shoe rack. Her slippers were still on the mat by the door, where she had left them when she left.

Mo Ran gently touched the decorative cabinet next to it. The faint texture of dust made her fingertips tremble. She retracted her hand and, with practiced ease, changed into her slippers.

Usually, when the door closed, her mom would be the first to come out and check. Seeing her, she would greet her with, "Back from school?"

Her nose felt a little sour. She looked at the furniture, which was still arranged the same way as before the apocalypse. It felt surreal, as if it had been ages since anyone had been here. Why did the house feel like it hadn't been lived in for so long?

Her peripheral vision caught a familiar figure. The kitchen was next to the living room. There was a dining table just outside the kitchen, with several plates of cold food on it.

Standing with her back to her, at the table, was a woman in a pink housecoat and an apron.

The woman looked small from behind, her spine slightly bent. Her long hair, now partially gray, was pulled back and held in place with a colorful hair clip.

She stood there silently, her head bowed, as if pondering how to arrange the dishes on the table in the most orderly way.

Looking at that stooped figure, Mo Ran's eyes welled up. She slowly took two steps forward and spoke in a trembling voice, "Mom..."

The woman, as if awakened by the call, shuddered abruptly. She turned her head, her cloudy, white eyes devoid of any light.

She looked at Mo Ran, stared for two seconds, then let out a roar and rushed towards her.

Tears welled up in Mo Ran's eyes at that moment, her body frozen, unable to move. She stared intently at the familiar yet strange face, momentarily forgetting her surroundings.

She didn't have many memories of her father.

In her memory, when she was very young, her father suddenly fell ill and passed away. Her mother, pregnant, was fired from her company. At that time, they had no money left after paying for her father's treatment.

To support her, this originally gentle girl worked three part-time jobs from dawn till dusk.

When Mo Ran was young and didn't understand, her younger brother was just born and needed care, so she had less time to look after her, causing Mo Ran to often get into trouble outside.

The girl bent over to beg for her sake, her once straight spine becoming stooped during that time.

When Mo Ran grew up, her younger brother also became ambitious and got into a high school with free tuition, the girl became an old woman.

Mo Ran was rebellious during her adolescence. In her second year of high school, she got into a fight and almost got expelled. This old woman didn't scold her or beat her, she just sat in front of her father's portrait and cried all night.

After that, Mo Ran never did anything bad again. She repeated a year and started learning again, barely making it into the key class as a tailender.

She had planned to go to a university with low tuition fees after graduation, start working early to support her brother's studies, and relieve the burden on the family. This old woman should have enjoyed her life, it should have been like this.