The unscrupulous system forced me to frantically test the small black room

Darkness, stuffiness, wheezing, dizziness, drowsiness.

Tao Zhi struggled to open his eyes, but he couldn't open them no matter how hard he tried. He could only vaguely see his mother's outline through the gap and hear her crying and saying a lot of words beside his bed.

But Tao Zhi's consciousness was too vague, and I couldn't hear what she was saying. I only knew that she was very sad and kept crying.

Tao Zhi wanted to reach out and wipe away his mother's tears, but his body couldn't move at all.

The blurry figure in front of me stood up, and the footsteps seemed to be walking towards the window.

The window door was opened, and wind blew in. Warm light from the direction of the window swayed and blurred Tao Zhi's vision. The blurred outline was wrapped in soft light because of the warm sun.

There was the noisy sound of cars outside the building, and the curtains were swaying in the wind.

"Mom loves you."

What did mom say?

Tao Zhi couldn't hear clearly, he only heard the sound of something heavy falling and hitting something.

There were screams outside the building, and someone was shouting "someone's dead" and "ambulance".

What is that sound?

Why is someone screaming?

what about mom?

Why doesn't mom talk to me anymore?

Did she leave the room?

I am so sleepy. Why am I so sleepy? I really want to have a good sleep.

When I wake up, my mother should be back, right?

Maybe she would bring herself a small snack like she used to, or a new doll that her mother had sewn for her.

What will you bring back when you return today?

Tao Zhi's consciousness became increasingly blurred, his breathing became slower and slower, and he eventually became overwhelmed by sleepiness.

When Tao Zhi woke up, he was in the hospital, but he could not see anything. His stomach was churning and he wanted to vomit. He was weak and groped helplessly in the dark until he was hugged in someone's arms.

"You woke up, you finally woke up, it's Dad who is sorry for you."

Dad was crying and shaking.

Tao Zhi was not used to his father's closeness, and the sudden hug made him a little overwhelmed.

"Dad, why don't you turn on the lights? It's so dark in front of me. Where's Mom? Hasn't she come back from work yet?" Tao Zhi asked.

Dad's body was a little stiff. He waved his hand in front of Tao Zhi in shock, but found that there was no light in Tao Zhi's eyes.

Dad got up in a panic and rushed out to call for a doctor. Then there was a commotion around Tao Zhi, and it seemed that a lot of people gathered around him.

A doctor pried open Tao Zhi's eyelids and shone a small flashlight into his pupils. Someone took notes and then got busy with the testing.

It was ultimately concluded that the blindness was caused by inhaling excessive carbon monoxide.

Carbon monoxide? How could I breathe in too much carbon monoxide?

Tao Zhi remained calm after learning that he was blind, thinking it was just another disease.

It’s just that mom and dad will have to work harder because of me.

Dad covered his head and cried beside the bed, saying sorry over and over again.

"Dad, where is Mom? I'm in the hospital, why didn't Mom come to see me?" Tao Zhi asked.

Dad’s crying stopped abruptly, and then he stood up and hugged Tao Zhi in his arms.

"Dad will take good care of you in the future and will never hit or scold you again. He will love you like mom does." Dad said in a tearful voice.

Tao Zhi felt inexplicably panicked.

"Where is my mother? I want my mother. Why doesn't she come over? Tell me where she went?" Tao Zhi said anxiously.

Dad was silent for a long time, then he spoke.

"Your mother has found a high-paying nanny job and will have to live in her employer's home. She won't be back for a while. You should take good care of yourself first. Mom will be back soon, okay?" Dad coaxed in a hoarse voice.

Although Tao Zhi felt nervous, he gradually felt relieved after getting his father's answer.

Later, Dad became the loving dad he was when I was a child, just as he promised.

He would never again get drunk and lose control of his emotions, drag himself out of the closet and beat and scold me, nor would he say hurtful words like "It's all because of you, a loser, that I've become like this today" again and again like before.

He became gentle and would find all kinds of ways to make me happy. When he came back from driving a taxi all day, he would bring me some snacks or other small gifts like a mother would.

He even stuffed a furry little animal into his arms, and from its barking, it was clear that it was a puppy.

Tao Zhi would still ask every day "Mom hasn't come back today yet", and the answer he got was always that the employer's family was too busy at work and had no time to come back.

Three months after Tao Zhi became blind, his father seized the opportunity and started a business with an old classmate.

Business was booming, and my father would share a lot of things with me every day when he came home.

He said that he had finally made it through, his family had started to have money, his life would get better and better, and his illness would be cured one day.

"That's great. Now that we have money, can mom quit her job as a nanny? Will mom be back soon?" Tao Zhi asked expectantly.

That day, Dad was silent for a long time. He touched Tao Zhi's head, then walked out and closed the door.

The expectation in Tao Zhi's eyes faded, and the smile on his mouth fell.

Tao Zhi knew that his father gave him the answer with silence.

Later, Dad became a big boss and bought a bigger house. He said he had prepared a large room for Tao Zhi, which was filled with many stuffed dolls.

But Tao Zhi was unwilling to move because he had been trapped in this room for too long and had already gotten used to it.

Besides, I can't see anything, so it's the same wherever I go.

My father became busier and busier and couldn't take care of himself, so he asked an aunt to take care of him.

Auntie is a very nice person.

She can cook many delicious dishes, treat myself like a child when I am in my twenties, and help me shave and cut my hair.

She would tell me the plots of many of her favorite TV series, take good care of me when I had a fever or was sick, and push her wheelchair to take me out to bask in the sun.

Oh, and by the way, she also helped deliver a puppy, and smiled as she told me that she had given birth to three.

Auntie is a gentle person, as gentle as a mother.

But she is not her mother.

Tao Zhi was almost like a robot, repeating the phrase "Is Mom back?" on a loop every day.

Every time, the aunt would gently coax Tao Zhi, saying "it will be there soon".

But my mother didn't come back for a long, long time.

Tao Zhi couldn't see, so he didn't know how much time had passed. He only knew that the dog had given birth many times.

Until one day, the aunt seemed a little absent-minded, and Tao Zhiru asked the same question as usual. The aunt suddenly went crazy and smashed the vase on the table to the ground.

The sound of the vase breaking scared Tao Zhi, who stared with his eyes wide open but could see nothing.

"Mom, mom, every day you ask where mom has gone. Is your mom really that good?"

"Have I not been good to you all these years? I have been like a nanny, taking care of a cripple like you for so many years. I can honestly say that I have never treated you unfairly in the slightest."

"How have I ever let you and your son down? Why do you two treat me like this?"

"Why can't you forget the woman who has been dead for so long!" Aunt screamed.

Tao Zhi was filled with fear, and he couldn't stop shaking when he heard what his aunt said.

"Auntie, what are you talking about? I don't understand you." Tao Zhi said.