The well

Mrs. Murong's husband is a soldier.

His station is on the grassland. The place is very far away, seems to be called Hongger. He doesn't have enough rank yet and can't bring his family with him, so the couple has to live apart.

He visits home once a year.

After Tiantian was born, she only saw her father once.

When Tiantian was born, she weighed only 3 pounds and had been in poor health ever since. She had no appetite and often fell ill. Mrs. Murong took her to the hospital many times but there was no substantial illness; she just had a weak constitution.

The whole family treated Tiantian as their precious little gem and spoiled her especially much - giving her whatever she wanted - including grandparents from both sides of the family.

On this day, Mrs. Murong brought back a baby boy from somewhere unknown. Unexpectedly, when Tiantian saw that baby boy, she burst into tears and hid behind her mother while looking extremely frightened.

She could already speak some words at that time; crying loudly while pointing at the baby boy in horror saying: "Mommy mommy hit him! Hit him!"

"What are you afraid of?" asked Mrs.Murong puzzledly.

"Hit him! Hit him!" cried Tiantian even louder...

That day,Tiantian kept avoiding that baby boy all along,crying non-stop,no matter how hard they tried to comfort her.

Mrs.Murong became very anxious.She couldn't understand why Tiantian seemed so scared after seeing that baby boy?

A few days later,Tiantain seemed better,she stopped crying,but still refused to play with that baby boy.

A few more days passed,and reluctantly,Taintain played with that baby boy.However,she still didn't like him,and wouldn't let him touch any toys or anything else for that matter.

Once they even fought over a doll.Mrs. Murong hurriedly came over and took the baby boy aside.

The doll eventually ended up in the hands of the baby boy.

Tiantian cried loudly again,pointing at him and saying: "Mommy mommy hit him! Hit him!" Mrs. Murong gave Tiantian another toy tiger to play with instead,but she cried even louder while pointing at that baby boy:"Hit him! Hit him!" Mrs. Murong had no choice but to come over and say to the baby boy:"Little sister is crying,you give her this doll,be good." The baby boy didn't speak,and threw the doll on the ground.Mrs. Murong picked it up,dusted it off,and gave it back to Tiantian.

Feeling wronged,Tiantain took her new toy by herself and went away alone.

Mrs. Murong placed the baby boy on the sofa, turned on the TV and found an animated cartoon to watch, saying: "Let's watch TV and cartoons together, it's so fun."Tiantian walked unsteadily over and "snap" turned off the TV. Then, she looked at the baby boy with hostility. She had just learned how to turn on and off the TV in these past few days.

The baby boy pointed at Tiantian and said something to Mrs. Murong in a whining tone, as if he was complaining.

Mrs. Murong turned on the TV again and said to Tiantian: "It's not right for you to do that, Tiantian." But Tiantian stubbornly turned off the TV again.

Mrs. Murong sighed and carried Tiantain forcibly into her bedroom. When she came back to turn on the TV for the baby boy, she heard Tiantian crying loudly from afar.

Helplessly Mrs. Murong said: "Okay, Cha,let's stop watching then." The baby boy sat obediently on the sofa...

At night, Mrs. Murong put Tiantain on her left side and put Baby Boy on her right side.

Tiantain was still breastfeeding while sucking one of Mrs.Murong's nipples after pulling down her mother's bra.

Baby Boy watched quietly from his side.

Mrs.Murong felt a little sad in her heart so asked: "Do you want some milk too?" Baby Boy was still looking but moved his throat slightly indicating yes.

Mrs.Murong used one arm to hold up his head allowing him access to another nipple.

Tiantian cried loudly while pushing Baby Boy away forcefully; when that didn't work Tiantian scratched him hard leaving nail marks all over his face which scared Mrs.Murong who quickly pushed him away.

Baby Boy remained calm throughout this ordeal staring blankly at Tiantian.

Mrs.Murong scolded Tiantain saying: "How could you bully others? You're a bad kid!" Tiantian cried even more pitifully and kicked her legs.

Mrs.Murong had to hug her: "Okay, stop crying. Mommy won't say anything anymore, okay?" But Tiantian continued to cry.

Mrs.Murong said: "What do you want? Mommy will give it to you." After thinking for a while, Tiantian stopped crying and said incoherently: "Candy!" Despite spoiling her all the time Mrs. Murong never gave candy to Tiantain because she was born with poor lungs which made her cough often.

Mrs.Murong sternly shook her head: "No candy, your teeth will turn black." Then Tiantain started crying again.

Mrs.Murong said: "Alright little one, I'll get it for you." She got out of bed and brought back a piece of candy which she peeled open before handing it over to Tiantain.

Tiantian ate some candy and seemed satisfied. She felt content for a while, but then she saw a baby boy and immediately became unhappy. She made hitting gestures with her hand and said, 'No! No!' 'Okay, we won't take him,' Mrs. Murong said as she turned off the light. 'The little boy is gone.' Tiantian didn't suspect anything and happily hugged her mother.

In the middle of the night when there was wind blowing outside causing windows to rattle loudly,Tiantian seemed frightened by something in her sleep so began crying loudly again. Mrs. Murong woke up from this noise and picked up Tiantian gently humming lullabies but still kept on crying while mumbling unclear words like "Mommy mommy hit him!"

The house was pitch-black dark which scared Mrs.Murong too.

Recently,Mrs.Murong always worried about what would happen if Tiantain remained so domineering when growing up?

Actually,she needn't have worried because after about half a month,Tiantian played with Baby Boy together.

Mrs.Murong was knitting a sweater for her husband who was stationed at the border. She looked up and saw Tiantian chasing after a green balloon with Baby Boy. They were both wearing red clothes, creating a vivid picture of children playing happily.

Tiantian giggled while Baby Boy also laughed along. The sky was blue...

Mrs.Murong felt that life was beautiful.

But when she looked up again, she suddenly turned pale with fright - the two children had chased the green balloon to the edge of the well outside!

The well was a public water source for 17th Row House.

Tiantian stood only one foot away from it; if she turned around carelessly, she would fall in. And that baby boy lay on his stomach looking inside curiously.

Mrs.Murong wanted to shout but didn't dare to scare them. She walked towards them quietly, trembling as she took each step forward.

She came over silently and suddenly picked up Baby Boy then used another arm to hold Tiantian tightly too.

Back in their room,Mrs.Murong scolded both kids severely.

Tiantian cried loudly. The baby boy was so scared that he shrank into the corner of the room and obediently watched Mrs. Murong...

Since then, Tiantian and the baby boy have never dared to play by the well again.

Mrs. Murong's house doesn't have a computer. Very few households in the small town have computers.

Zhang Gu finally thought he could figure out who the forever baby was.

He called Feng Jing and asked, "Has that forever baby been meeting you online recently?" Feng Jing replied, "No." Zhang Gu said, "That's right." Feng Jing asked, "Why? She said she has an exam coming up." Zhang Gu said, "She lied to you - the forever baby has been at Mrs. Murong's house lately and they don't have a computer!" Feng Jing exclaimed, "That's scary!" Zhang Gu added, "Just wait and see - your girl won't have any news soon." However, after a few days passed by, Feng Jing called Zhang Gu again and laughed as he said: "Don't be so suspicious. We talked for half of last night." This made Zhang Gu doubt himself: Did he really make a mistake?

If the forever baby is indeed that male infant then there is only one possibility: He sneaked into Mrs. Bian's home on Tuesday night when both Mrs. Murong and Mrs.Bian were playing mahjong; entered that alternative world where 3-1 equals what – it was common for people in this peaceful small town to leave their doors unlocked at night.

Zhang Gu's imagination: In this bustling world with sunshine, the dark, damp and cold male infant is very lonely.

In this world, equal people have the right to speak. Everyone is talking 'guajiguaji', some are speaking kind words, while others are speaking nonsense. Only he cannot speak, not a single word can be said. He only has ears and listens to others 'guajiguaji' every day.

Only online, in that invisible virtual world, he dares to tear off the skin of a baby and speak.

Recently the male infant didn't have access to a computer for a long time and he was as pale as a vampire who hadn't had blood for a while. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore and sneaked into Mrs. Bian's house when she wasn't there.

Zhang Gu thought that if this speculation were true, then it would mean that the male infant had also snuck into his own home before; the strange laughter of the baby in his Walkman was evidence.

Zhang Gu walked outside and took a deep breath of sunshine.

The warm sun made him feel at ease again. At this moment, Zhang Gu doubted all his ominous premonitions.

So far, nothing bad had happened in this small town - no one died inexplicably, there were no earthquakes or epidemics or anyone going crazy... It was just some strange sounds coming from his Walkman - what kind of problem could that be? Who knows if Feng Jing is playing tricks on him? Didn't this guy scare him with "3-1 equals what" math problem before?

Mrs. Murong walked over with the baby boy in her arms.

The sky was blue, the clouds were white, and the wind was gentle. On such a beautiful day, even enemies would love each other.

She greeted Zhang Gu: "Not working today?" Zhang Gu smiled and said: "On vacation." She stopped in front of Zhang Gu and put down the baby boy.

Several chicks were searching for food on the ground. The baby boy wore open-crotch pants and excitedly waved his small hands while making sounds. However, he stood still and dared not take a step closer to those chicks. He only made threatening gestures towards those little creatures.

Mrs. Murong looked at him happily and said: "This child is very smart. When he first came here, he couldn't play with building blocks at all, but now he can stack them very high." Then she couldn't help but tell some of his interesting stories full of childishness that she found amusing; as she spoke more about it, she laughed herself silly.

Zhang Gu didn't find it particularly funny though; at this moment he felt like the Cha really was just an infant.

Tiantian's rejection towards the baby boy had never been eradicated completely.

She often scratched him until bleeding when fighting over an electric car or switching off TV channels with him.

However, the baby boy never fought back against Tiantian despite being slightly taller than her and stronger than her too probably; whenever Tiantian scratched him, he would just shrink backwards instead of retaliating against her actions.

Everyone praises the baby boy for being sensible.

Tiantian's shock has not subsided, and she continued to cry endlessly at night, shouting in her mouth: "Mom, hit him! Hit him!" Mrs. Murong told everyone about Tiantian's rejection of the baby boy as a joke. No one cared too much about the child.

Only one person felt very frightened after hearing about it, and that was Zhang Gu.

A terrible assumption suddenly burst into his mind: there wasn't just one baby boy in the town but two; one was visible while the other was hidden. Or maybe there was one outside and another inside! Tiantian must have seen the one hiding behind the baby boy or she must have seen what's concealed within him...

He shuddered at this thought.

Last time, Mrs. Murong went to the city with Mrs. Li and bought a piece of fabric - onion green, fresh and tender-looking - which she wanted to use to sew a dress for herself since her husband would be coming home soon and she needed to look pretty for him.

After feeding her two children, Mrs. Murong placed a pile of toys on the bed for them to play with. Then she took out that piece of cloth and went out to Lianlei's clothing store.

Just a hundred meters away, she sent the fabric over and measured her body size in less than 10 minutes.

Lian Lei had divided her home into two rooms and opened a clothing store outside. Through one door is Lian Lei's living space.

Mrs. Murong entered the clothing store, calling out "Lian Lei!" but no one answered. She called again, still with no response. She eventually left, but before she reached the door she called out once more: "Lian Lei, are you there?" This time she heard Lian Lei speaking from inside: "Is that Mrs. Murong? Just wait a moment." Mrs. Murong waited and after about five minutes Lian Lei came out of the store. Mrs. Murong felt like there was someone else inside and wondered what Lian Lei was doing.

Mrs. Murong said to Lian Lei: "I want to make a dress." Lian Lei tried to hide her unease and said: "This fabric is really beautiful, it must be expensive?" Mrs. Murong replied: "Actually it's quite cheap." Lian Lei searched for a measuring tape while seeming distracted and repeatedly looking in one spot.

Finally finding it, she began taking measurements for Mrs.Murong's dress who reminded her not to make it too tight...

Then, Mrs. Murong went home.

Her yard is very peaceful, as usual. There were no signs of tragedy.

She walked into the room and saw the baby boy still playing with toys on the bed. He was pulling hard on one of the toy rabbit's ears, as if he wanted to pull it off.

Tiantian is missing.

Mrs.Murong felt a little nervous.

She hurriedly checked every room, but found nothing! Not in the cellar, under the bed, behind the curtains or in the wardrobe. She was dumbfounded: "Tiantian - Tiantian -" No response.

She ran into the yard, which was empty. 'Tiantian - Tiantian -'

Her eyes immediately saw the well. She almost concluded at that moment that her beloved daughter was inside.

Her legs trembled violently, and it took a lot of effort for her to take a step.

Arriving at the well, she looked inside and immediately saw the red clothing. It was her daughter. She seemed to have fallen headfirst into the well.

Mrs. Murong collapsed to the ground with a single cry for help: 'Help!!!' Li Ma was the first one to run over.

The neighbors quickly ran over.

Li Ma tied a rope around his waist and quickly went down to the bottom of the well, then brought up the poor little Tiantian.

Tiantian's stomach wasn't big, she didn't drink much water. She was choked to death and a few drops of black blood oozed from her nostrils. There was more blood on her forehead, which came from hitting it when falling down.

She has already died. Mrs. Murong fainted on the spot.

Everyone quickly pinched her among the crowd, after a busy half day, she finally woke up and hugged Tiantian while crying loudly, then passed out again...

Tiantian's grandparents and great-grandparents all came. They were heartbroken and cried together, creating an extremely tragic scene.

Later, Tiantian's body was placed on her own small bed.

The neighbors stood silently, and all the women cried.

The baby boy seemed to be experiencing this kind of situation for the first time. He shrank in the corner, timidly watching everything that was happening.

Zhang Gu was also present. He thought painfully: What is the total number of male infants?

Something happened, Mrs. Murong didn't have the energy to take care of the baby boy, so he was sent early to Mrs. Li's house.

Tiantian's father received a telegram and quickly flew back.

This poor man had only seen his daughter once before. He felt heartbroken but did not say a word as he silently handled things after her death.

Tiantian's ashes were scattered in that well.

The residents of Block 17 worked together to fill up the well; it became Tiantian's grave.

No one could drink water from that well again where she drowned.

Another well was dug out.

Tiantian's father stayed at home for a few more days than usual to accompany his wife during this difficult time when she cried from morning till night.