The Ghost Infant in the Dream (2)

"You're saying she handed the child over to you and left immediately?"

"She didn't hand him to me, she shoved him at me! She looked like she was fleeing for her life! I almost dropped the kid on the spot! I... I held on... The child didn't cry or fuss. Honestly, he was very cute, chubby-cheeked, with big eyes and fair, plump skin. But... but I felt terrified... He just kept staring at me... I put him on the bed, and he just kept watching me... I called my husband. At that moment, I really... I wondered if I'd gone crazy, if my husband had a woman on the side, and they were plotting against me with their child. I thought of all those dramatic soap opera plots! I was almost crying when I called my husband. He was surprised when he answered. He rushed back and saw the child, but didn't say a word. The child was also strange, not crying or fussing for hours, just staring at me. I couldn't take it, I yelled at him, argued with him, but he wouldn't speak. In a fit of anger, I ran back to my parents' house. Phew..."

"Ms. Tang, you should drink some water and rest."

"No need. I... What I thought about most at the time was the child. I felt then that the nightmares I'd been having before might have been a premonition, foreshadowing this... I didn't dare tell my parents that they'd foisted an illegitimate child onto me... I stayed at my parents' for two days. On the third day, when I got off work, he came to my workplace to pick me up. He told me the child was my mother-in-law's, that she was getting senile and had gone crazy wanting a grandchild, which led