Book 20: Chapter 5
Standing at the door to the room, I took in a deep breath. I know Sister Ning had locked herself in her room with her blanket tightly wrapped around her and was trembling. After all, there were two strangers in the dining room merrily drinking beer that belonged to her. Anybody would be scared if they were in her shoes. Moreover, her cell phone was with Nier, though Nier didn’t know the phone call already ended. Nier waited for my voice, but she no longer needed to hear it after getting drunk.
I needed to calm down my Sister Ning. Otherwise, she would think of how to report them to the police once she calmed down. Once the police knocked, the complexity of the situation would escalate. The four of them didn’t have foreigner identification papers; they came here illegally. If they were discovered, they might even be deported… The question was which country do the four of them belong to? Therefore, it was best to avoid letting anyone discover them. The two elves might do something if they were discovered.
I needed to convince Sister Ning to accept the four of them. How was I meant to introduce them, though? Nier and Mommy Elizabeth weren’t as troublesome to introduce since they were humans. in addition, their eye colours weren’t much different to ours. Hence, I could write them off as foreigners. What about Vyvyan and Lucia, though? The two of them didn’t have human appearances. Mommy Vyvyan’s ears particularly stood out.
I needed to carefully contemplate how to explain Vyvyan and Lucia. And, how was I supposed to explain the situation? Vyvyan and Elizabeth were my mothers in the other world, but I was Zhu Liangzhe in this world and had a biological mother, in other words, Zhu Liangzhe’s biological mother. I didn’t know who I identified as. Was I Zhu Liangzhe or Troy? I lived here, so I should be Zhu Liangzhe? The four of them recognised me, nevertheless. So, should I be Troy?
I touched my face. Honestly, I couldn’t tell the difference between my own face and Troy’s by touch because they were both my face. I couldn’t feel any difference. I went to the bathroom next to Sister Ning’s room and turned on the light. I checked my face in the mirror, but I shouldn’t have been able to see anything…
There was an image on the mirror. I could see a face on it. It was supposed to be my face, but there was something strange. I couldn’t understand why. Rather, I couldn’t tell whose it was. There was a man’s face, but I couldn’t tell if it was Zhu Liangzhe’s or Troy’s. Their faces should’ve been different, but there were no unique traits on this face. I remember a saying: when you’ve worn a mask for too long, the mask will be stuck to your face. I guess that meant the two faces had fused.
Mommy Elizabeth and the three don’t know how Zhu Liangzhe originally looked, which was why they saw Troy. As for Sister Ning, she didn’t know how Troy looks. Accordingly, she saw Zhu Liangzhe.
My identity wasn’t important in the current dilemma. I didn’t want to think about whether I was Troy or Zhu Liangzhe anymore. I sighed then knocked on the door: “Sister Ning? Sister Ning? It’s fine now. It’s fine now. It’s me. Don’t be scared. It’s fine now.”
“… Liangzhe? Liangzhe, you’re back?!” Sister Ning tightly hugged me as soon as she opened the door. She sobbed as she exclaimed, “Liangzhe, Liangzhe, I was scared to death. Liangzhe, a crazy woman barged in, choked me and snatched my phone. I was so scared. I couldn’t understand what she said. Then, she rummaged through our house. I was so scared, so, so scared. Liangzhe, let’s report this to the police. Let’s report this!”