The Older Brother and the Neighbor

"Oh my, kids these days, they can even fall asleep during exams. If it were me back in the day, my heart would race with anxiety before an exam, I wouldn't dare to sleep!"

A slightly overweight middle-aged man wearing glasses stood by the window, looking at the exam room of Class 4, Grade 11 with a complicated expression. There were still ten minutes left before the exam ended. As the Dean of Students, he was patrolling these floors and had already seen a large number of students sleeping in many classes.

This subject is English, and we can hand in our papers half an hour early. A group of physical education students from Class 4 have already handed in their papers and gone to the playground to play basketball. The rest of us are probably not in a hurry. Some of us are just lying on our seats, some are drawing on a piece of scrap paper, and some, like Ye Qin, are fast asleep.

Standing next to the Dean of Students was the homeroom teacher went to the door to take a look and heard the Dean of Students quietly expressing his feelings.

She followed the Dean of Students's gaze and then chuckled, "Ye Qin? He's a top student. He must have finished his homework before going to sleep. I heard he tutors his younger sister every day after school; he's probably just too tired."

After saying that, she remembered something and joked with the Dean of Students, "Besides, that was so many years ago when you were in school. Now the educational resources are so much better than before, and many children... don't think going to school is something to be happy about, so they certainly won't be as serious as you were back then."

"Sigh, every era has its own hardships." The Dean of Students shook his head. He was known for his good temper, and the students weren't afraid of him. Every day, he would receive all sorts of greetings from the mischievous students.

He walked away slowly with his hands behind his back, and the homeroom teacher lost interest in staying any longer and headed to the office.

Today is the last day of the monthly exams, and English is also the last subject. After finishing this exam, these second-year high school students will be temporarily free and will have a day and a half of vacation.

Knowing the difficulty of the test, the homeroom teacher wore a gloating smile, thinking that when they came back after the holiday, most of the little rascals in the class would be facing a devastating blow from their grades.

After the two teachers who had been whispering by the window left, Yu Xing calmly opened her eyes.

He had been awake for several minutes, but pretended to still be asleep, having heard the two teachers' conversation clearly.

It sounds like the character he plays, Ye Qin, is a very good student who also has a younger sister... The exam questions are all related to family members, so this sister will probably play an important role as well.

He slowly propped himself up and glanced at the classroom and the exam papers filled with papers on the desk.

After falling asleep in the pitch-black classroom of Blood Pool Middle School, I woke up in a completely different place. The sky was bright but about to set, and it seemed to be nearing evening. The classroom was filled with a restless atmosphere because the holidays were approaching.

The proctor on the podium looked at the growing number of students gathering in the corridor outside and listened to the increasingly noisy commotion. He sighed and finally asked the group of idle examinees below, "Have you all finished writing?"

"The exam is over," the dozen or so students remaining in the classroom answered sparsely.

"Then let's collect the papers early. We know you're all in a hurry to leave school and your minds aren't on the exam."

After obtaining the unanimous consent of all the candidates, the invigilator asked the students in the last row to stand up and collect the exam papers. Yu Xing packed her bag and followed the group out of the classroom.

"Ye Qin, want to go out for dinner together?" A familiar classmate called out to him. Yu Xing turned around and was about to refuse when another classmate answered for him.

"Forget it. The seniors have a small test today, and Ye Qin's brother will probably be here soon to pick him up. His brother is so old-fashioned, just a bookworm. If he finds out that Ye Qin isn't going home but is going out to eat with us, he'll probably scold him again."

"Oh, I see. Never mind then."

Yu Xing could utter a single word, his classmates had already arranged everything for him, smiled, waved goodbye, and left.

It turns out Ye Qin has an older brother. Tsk, with an older brother and a younger sister, plus her parents, there are at least five people in this family.

He watched the students' backs as they walked away, standing there obediently waiting for his older brother to come and pick him up.

This deduction lacks a system, and naturally there is no character memory implantation or character data. He is currently completely unaware of Ye Qin and can only speculate little by little based on the reactions of those around him.

As he was sorting through the situation in his mind, a shadow appeared in front of him, blocking some of the sunlight shining on him.

Yu Xing looked up and saw a sweet-looking girl with short hair wearing a knee-length school uniform skirt, holding two cans of cola. She smiled at him and handed him one of the cans.

"I've been waiting for you for ages. Why did you fall asleep today? Were you really too tired?"

The girl's tone was extremely familiar, Yu Xing guessed that she must be someone Ye Qin knew, but not from the same class.

It could also be a crush... He had seen the girl a while ago; she was waiting in the hallway when the exam papers were about to be collected. However, at that time, Yu Xing wasn't sure who she was waiting for, so he didn't pay much attention.

He took the Coke; although it wasn't iced, it still cooled him down a bit in the sweltering heat.

Yu Xing's tone was indifferent, choosing an explanation that could be made in any way. "Yes, I've been a bit tired these past few days, but I only went to sleep after the exams."

"Oh, right, were you staring at those people when you were spacing out?" The girl pointed in the direction where the classmates who had invited Yu Xing to dinner had left. "Don't mind them. Your brother is fine. They don't know your family situation, they're just talking nonsense. Don't worry about it."

Yu Xing's heart skipped a beat. He didn't ask anything that might arouse suspicion. Ye Qin's family seemed a bit complicated. He would wait until he got home to look for clues there. As the place where he lived every night, the clues at home would definitely be more diverse.

Most of the students in the corridor waited for the people they were waiting for, and then left in twos and threes, leaving only a few students who seemed lost in thought.

The girl showed no sign of leaving, and stayed by Yu Xing's side, chatting with him. The topic shifted from interesting things at school to the Chinese exam he had just finished a couple of days ago.

"Sigh, you might not believe it, but I happened to be sitting in the last row. When they were collecting the exam papers, I glanced at the essay topic written by the person in front of me. Do you know how outrageous it was?"

The girl remembered something happy and patted the wall next to her without caring about her image. At this point, Yu Xing was basically certain that this girl was not his girlfriend, but someone like a best friend. Otherwise, putting aside whether it was really common for a girl to be so bold in front of her boyfriend, any girlfriend would find it unbearable if her boyfriend only gave a cold "hmm" or "oh" response after she had said a lot.

This reflects that his response was not problematic. Ye Qin is probably a rather introverted person who is quite thoughtful, quick-witted, but doesn't talk much.

The girl in front of him was in high spirits, clearly unconcerned about Yu Xing's attitude. "Weren't we practicing argumentative essays recently? The guy in front of us wrote an essay, which is fine, but his title is very deliberately argumentative, titled 'On the Feasibility of Teachers Working as Gardeners, Lighthouses, and Candles,' it's so interesting, hahaha..."

"..." Yu Xing pondered for a moment, "Judging from your smile, this matter... is quite interesting?"

"Hey, don't you think it's funny?" The girl's eyes widened slightly, then she rolled her eyes helplessly. "Maybe. It might not sound that funny, but when I saw it, the first thing I thought of was the teacher's reaction, and I thought it was hilarious. If you ask me, you're more of a nerd than your brother."

"When can you try to be a little more cheerful? I'm obsessed with ghost stories, watching horror Yugi streams, and I like playing Ouija boards and all sorts of superstitious things. I'm not as gloomy as you." The girl unabashedly pinched Yu Xing's cheek. "If only you could be a little more interesting."

"So, you like interesting people?" Yu Xing asked.

He paused slightly after asking the question, because it wasn't what he intended to say. Rather, some unseen force compelled him to ask it before he could even process it.

The girl readily admitted, "Who doesn't like interesting people? Oh, your brother's here."

The senior year exams ended a little later than the junior year exams. They chatted in the corridor for a while before Ye Qin's older brother finally arrived.

Yu Xing looked up at the sound and saw a tall, thin boy walking towards them from the other end of the corridor, also wearing a school uniform and carrying a backpack.

As the boy approached, the other person's friend said goodbye, "Ye Ming, I'm off now, see you tomorrow!"

Ye Ming nodded slightly to his friend, his attitude indifferent, much like the Ye Qin that Yu Xing was currently portraying.

"Let's go home." Ye Ming approached Yu Xing, as if he had just noticed the girl. "Yu Wan is here too, shall we go home together?"

"Great! If I can hitch a ride with you, I'm too lazy to take the bus home," the girl laughed.

Yu Xing smiled.

Oh, I see. The girl's name is Yu Wan, and she's my... neighbor.

They're probably the kind of neighbors who grew up together as childhood sweethearts.

Because on the exam paper, Ye Qin's house is two and a half stories high and old. Generally, such houses have existed for a long time. They are located in remote areas and are surrounded by similar detached houses. People who buy these houses are unlikely to move around. It is most likely that they will live in the same place for decades and face the same neighbors.

Yu Xing followed them downstairs.

He wasn't quite used to this body, which was so much like an ordinary person's. For him, it had been a long time since he had felt the soreness in his shoulders from lying down for too long, or the complete blockage of his senses.

This means that even if the ghost is right next to him, he may be completely unaware of it. Even if the peaceful scene before him is an illusion created by the vengeful ghost, Yu Xing cannot use his spiritual power to sense it as usual. Instead, he can only follow this illusion forward until the ghost reveals its true nature.

For example, right now.

He felt something was off. Everything around him seemed normal: a few scattered students in the corridor, the occasional teacher hurrying by, the excited laughter of some boys coming from the open space downstairs, the soft squeak of his brother Ye Ming's shoes on the ground, and Yu Wan chattering away, asking Ye Ming how his exam went.

But the more he walked, the more unreal the place felt, as if the pristine white walls and tiles beside him should be seeping blood.

The actions of others seemed so pale, like silhouettes drowning in time. Yu Xing felt suffocated, as if covered by paper. He could vaguely sense that something was wrong around him, but he couldn't find it.

The most direct manifestation of this was that as he walked, goosebumps rose all over his body, and his heart began to beat uncomfortably.

Even after passing the school gate and getting into a small white car, this feeling didn't dissipate. Yu Xing sat in the passenger seat, Yu Wan consciously sat in the back seat, and Ye Ming also took out the car key and inserted it into the ignition.

She's in her final year of high school, and if she's heavily pregnant, she's definitely old enough to take a driving test. Yu Xing couldn't recognize what kind of vehicle it was, but she could tell from that that Ye Qin's family was indeed quite well-off.

He leaned back in the leather seat, intending to look at the scenery outside the window to relieve the feeling of unease he was experiencing.

The vehicle slowly started and sped along the road outside the school. While observing the architectural styles along the road, Yu Xing thought to himself that this was probably how others felt when they first became deducers. People without special talents were terrified by the ghosts and the threat of death that could appear at any time; while those with some talent who could sense ghosts were tormented by the ever-present fear.

He is now experiencing what others have already experienced.

Along both sides of the road, the buildings within sight were all in a gray and white hue, and the various shops still used roller shutters. The shops sold all sorts of things, making it very messy.

Outside the shops, there were mobile vendors who had set up a cloth and started selling things. They had all sorts of trinkets that appealed to students. Many students in school uniforms gathered around the stalls, picking and choosing, while others dragged their friends to eat noodles at a small noodle shop.

Further away, some residential buildings, all in the same color scheme, had been built, probably part of a residential complex. The buildings were all low, only three or four stories high. This scene, no matter how you looked at it, was somewhat similar to what happened decades ago.

Yu Xing happened to have lived through that era, so the sense of déjà vu was very strong.

Hmm... is the timeline being projected to be the very first few years of the 21st century?

He blinked, then thought it wasn't so absolute, because in the classroom, whether it was the chalk drawings of old cartoons on the blackboard at the back, the indoor loudspeaker that could broadcast to the whole school, or even the whispered sighs of the two teachers by his window, none of them could have existed at the beginning of the century.

Of course, if it's just a difference in worldview, then it's fine; just consider it a pointless judgment.

Yu Xing's fingers tapped unconsciously on his leg. After a while, he suddenly realized that when he wasn't paying attention, both Ye Ming and Yu Wan were unusually quiet.

It was as if he was the only person in the entire car.

His eyes gradually focused from a dazed state, and he silently looked behind him through the transparent glass. From his angle, he could see Ye Ming in the driver's seat and also catch a glimpse of Yu Wan.

And so, he met Ye Ming's gaze through the car window.

Ye Ming's hands were on the steering wheel, but his head was turned to face him, as if Ye Ming had been looking at him for as long as Ye Ming had been looking at the scenery.

Good heavens, not watching where you're going, dangerous driving!

Yu Xing instinctively wanted to turn his head to tell Ye Ming to watch the road and drive properly, but the next second, he forcefully stopped himself from doing so.

He is Ye Qin now, not Yu Xing, and no longer has the power to make him court death.

Ye Ming, the older brother, is indeed acting strangely. But Yu Wan?

Yu Xing didn't know if his gaze towards Yu Wan at this moment would cause his brother to react, since his brother could see his expression reflected in the car window if he turned his head.

Suddenly, a hand reached out from his shoulder.

A slender, soft hand hovered above his shoulder, then suddenly slapped it. "Ye Qin, do you have any tissues? Lend me one."

Yu Xing was still hurt by the girl's strong slap. He turned his head and found Yu Wan leaning forward slightly. When he looked over, the expression on her sweet face was a little unnatural. She tried hard to wink at him.

"... I have some, how many do you want?" Yu Xing asked.

Perhaps he was observing too closely and was therefore a little sensitive, Yu Wan seemed to glance at the glass window before answering, "One will do."

Yu Xing took a napkin out of her bag and gave it to her. When she looked out the window again, Ye Ming's face had returned to normal, and he was concentrating on driving.

He then turned his head openly and gave Ye Ming a once-over.

"What's wrong?" Ye Ming turned his head slightly towards him, but his eyes remained focused on the road, which is how one should be when driving.

"It's nothing, I just feel like you've lost weight recently." Yu Xing made conversation, because Ye Ming was indeed the very thin type; his wrists were thinner than a girl's, and he probably didn't have much flesh under his school uniform.

"I'm a senior in high school this year, and my studies are too demanding, so it's normal to be thin," Ye Ming. "If you don't want me to continue losing weight, then put more meat in your cooking tonight."

"I understand." Yu Xing replied calmly, and no one could tell that he had just learned a moment ago that he was the one who had cooked dinner for the family.

It's strange. The older brother is a senior in high school with heavy studies, and the younger sister is either in her first year of high school, middle school, or elementary school. How come the task of cooking dinner has fallen on Ye Qin, a second-year high school student? Where are Mom and Dad?

Since it concerned the exam questions, Yu Xing very alert. The beginning of the reading comprehension question on the exam paper mentioned that Ye Qin walked home from school, and after seeing her house, she thought that her father hadn't renovated the house. So, at that time, her father was still living a normal life, and her brother might not have bought a car yet.

Is everything on the exam paper a reflection of his current timeline?

That's not right either. If, as he guessed before, this family really did have a good standard of living, then even if the older brother didn't buy a car, the parents should have bought one and would have picked up and dropped off Ye Qin, who was younger at the time, from school. If they didn't have time, they would have had a nanny.

The road was quite long, and now there were no students in sight at all. The commercial atmosphere along the roadside was fading, as if they had entered a more secluded area. After more than ten minutes, Ye Ming finally brought the car to a slow stop.

Yu Xing arrived at a location that could be considered the outskirts of the city. Looking around, all the houses were detached, far apart from each other, occupying a large area. Their exteriors did not look very nice, and the old atmosphere was very obvious.

Ye Ming stopped the car so Yu Wan Yu Wan out. Yu Xing's expression shifted, and she asked, "Would you like to come to my house for dinner tonight?"

Judging from the Yu Wan and Ye Ming Yu Wan, Yu Wan must be someone who often eats at their house. This was the conclusion Yu Xing drew after observing the details, so the invitation was not abrupt.

On the way, he realized that Ye Ming was acting strangely. His brother's character was definitely related to ghosts. Perhaps Ye Ming was one of those ghosts who was forced by some kind of curse's internal rules to act against him now. If he accidentally stepped into a trap, he would immediately reveal his evil side.

If Yu Wan is the same way, then he most likely wouldn't refuse the invitation, because gathering together would make it easier for him to create a weakness and make his move.

"Um..." Yu Wan hearing this, then glanced at Ye Ming, "Is today convenient?"

"It's fine with me. Is there anything inconvenient about you coming to my house?" Ye Ming said, indicating that it didn't matter.

Yu Wan said, "Okay, then I'll eat at your place. After I finish eating, I can also ask Ye Qin, the top student, how to do his homework."

She did not refuse.

On the surface, Yu Xing showed no signs of distress, but in his heart, he raised the level of danger Yu Wan a higher level.

Ye Ming started driving again and passed Yu Wan's house. Actually, their house was very close to Yu Wan's house, on the same road, separated by only a flower bed of about ten meters.

Yu Xing observed his "home" getting closer and closer. Just like the title of his house, it was indeed very pale. Some of the plaster on the walls had peeled off due to poor maintenance, revealing the red bricks underneath, and a few weeds were growing in the cracks between the bricks.

The bottom two floors are quite large, and the top half floor seems to be an attic with only one closed window. The attic has a triangular roof with neatly arranged bricks and tiles, which appear to be covered with some moss.

A tall utility pole stood next to the house, with cables hanging from it and extending to other houses, stretching quite a distance.

The hottest hours had passed, the weather had turned cool, and the sound of cicadas could be heard in the fields between the houses, muffled by layers of grass and leaves.

After stopping in front of the house, Ye Ming was about to park the car in the garage when Yu Xing and Yu Wan got out of the car first.

He was just about to take out his keys from his bag to open the door when he heard Yu Wan say quietly, "Ye Qin, you need to be careful lately."

Yu Xing looked surprised. "What's wrong?"

Yu Wan lowered her voice, as if worried about being overheard. "You saw it in the car, right? Your brother..."

"I saw it even more clearly. Your brother was clearly driving at that time, but in the reflection, his face was facing you!"