"Mm, I know."
Pei Liang winked at the girl. "Your big brother grabbed you too hard."
"Does your hand still hurt?"
"Let me see."
"It doesn't hurt anymore."
The girl obediently held out her hand, looking a little sheepish. "I was just... lying to you."
The last few words were barely audible.
"Good. As long as it doesn't hurt."
Pei Liang pretended not to hear the last few words. He checked the girl's wrist and said with relief,
The girl pulled her hand back and pursed her lips.
"Big brother, I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to worry."
"At first, I thought I was imagining it."
"Then I kept hearing it, and I started to think something was wrong."
"I wondered if I had some kind of mental illness, but I also thought that couldn't be right."
"I didn't want to make a big deal out of it or worry you for no reason."
"I looked up a lot of information online."
"But the more I read, the more confused and worried I got."
"I grew more and more anxious and... scared."
"What if I really do have a mental illness?"
"But when I think about it carefully, apart from sometimes hearing strange voices, I'm perfectly normal."
"Actually, at first, I really did keep quiet because I didn't want you to worry."
"But later, I found it hard to talk about."
"I just felt that if anyone found out—even if that person was my own brother—that I might have a mental illness, it would be so embarrassing."
"I couldn't bring myself to say it."
"If I could, I'd keep it hidden forever."
"But because of the hallucinations, I've been getting more and more irritable."
"Even though I keep telling myself that they're hallucinations, that they're not