After a brief examination, Yu Sheng discovered that the television had merely frozen.
This was a classic case of what happened to cheap smart devices after prolonged use—“Oops, I’ve been running for two hours straight! My CPU is overheating, my memory is malfunctioning, the power supply is too hot, or maybe I just feel like freezing up for a bit…”
He couldn’t help but nostalgically remember the durable old televisions from his childhood; those household appliances were not as fussy as today’s smart devices.
Sure, they had fewer functions, but Yu Sheng felt that the myriad of smart features now were not that great, often making the devices more like artificial stupidity than artificial intelligence.
“Just turn off the power and wait two minutes to restart it,” Yu Sheng sighed to himself, switching off the television.
He turned to Aylin and said, “The quality of this thing isn’t great. If it runs for too long, it just freezes up.”
“Are you going to get a new one then?” Aylin’s eyes lit up. “Get one with voice control! That way, I can change the channel myself. If you're not home, I can still watch television…”
“Do you really have the nerve to ask for that?” Yu Sheng chuckled in disbelief, “You’re staying at my place, and I haven’t complained yet, but now you want a new TV? Are you going to pay for it or lift a finger?”
“I...” Aylin opened her mouth, her face turning slightly red as she stammered, “I don’t have any money, but I’ve been helping you gather knowledge about the other realm! Consider me a consultant…”
“That consultant doesn’t seem to remember much, does she? You’re throwing out information you can’t even be sure about,” Yu Sheng replied, rolling his eyes. “I’d have to find another consultant for you to consult.”
Aylin’s face burned even more, but after blushing for a while, she couldn’t find a way to retort and settled into a pout.
Still, her mood was resilient; she looked back up at Yu Sheng after only three seconds. “Once you find a way to get me out, no matter what means you use, I will work to pay you back. And you’re going to be dealing with the other realm in the future, right? I can be your helper! I can fight for you, at the very least…”
Yu Sheng hadn’t actually thought about this—truth be told, he had never considered what would happen once Aylin really did come out of that painting.
He raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “You? Are you sure?”
“Hey, don’t underestimate me! I’m Aylin, the doll of Alice!” Aylin stood up with her hands on her hips, full of pride, “Living dolls are blessed! In the other realm, I can fight better than so-called investigators or spirit world detectives…”
“And yet you ended up stuck in a painting, right?”
Aylin’s eyes instantly turned red (though they were already red): “You… Just you wait until I’m out, and you’ll know! Don’t look away!”
“Okay, okay, I believe you.” Yu Sheng grinned, shaking his head in resignation.
In truth, he had never taken this doll too seriously.
After all, she was just stuck in the painting.
Even if she hung around and didn’t eat his food, taking up half a square meter of space on the floor or hanging on the wall didn’t inconvenience him at all.
Other than her watching TV, she didn’t use much of anything.
Bickering with her was merely a way to pass the time—plus, she indeed provided him with a lot of knowledge about the “other world.”
As for her claims about working off a debt or being his henchman once she got out of the painting… he figured he'd just play along.
The television screen flickered back to life, and Yu Sheng pressed a few buttons on the remote to find a mind-numbing urban drama.
Aylin was not picky at all about television programs; after all, even Teletubbies were more interesting than wallpaper.
But just then, as Yu Sheng stared at the screen, he suddenly thought of something he hadn’t noticed before.
“Aylin.” He turned back to look at the doll girl in the painting.
“Hmm?”
“I remember you saying you’ve been sealed in this painting for a long time, right?”
“Yeah, it’s been so many years that I can’t even remember when I got stuck here…”
“Then how come you know so much about modern things?” Yu Sheng asked seriously. “How do you know about voice-controlled smart TVs?”
He had found a gap in Aylin’s words.
Yet, it didn’t seem to be a huge problem.
There were many explanations that could account for this, such as her having learned about the world’s changes through observing the dreams of nearby people, or maybe she had been hung in the homes of other modern people before arriving here—Yu Sheng figured her answer would probably lean toward something like that.
However, what Aylin responded with was a bewildered “Huh?”
The doll in the painting seemed entirely confused by his question, looking as if she had never realized this before.
After staring blankly for a long while, she slowly turned her head, “I… don’t know why?”
“You don’t know why?” Yu Sheng was astonished.
“Um, I… really have been trapped in this painting for a long time. Honestly, it might be decades, but… but I know what the world is like now! Even though I don’t know how I know,” she muttered, seeming to doubt her own recollection.
Yu Sheng focused intently on Aylin's expression, hoping to catch a hint of deception.
“Do you remember how you ended up sealed in this painting? And what happened before that?” he asked further.
“I... just remember it was a curse,” Aylin hesitated, “This painting is a kind of entity, I was supposed to come here to solve it, but instead, I got trapped inside. The specific details, though… I can’t remember. And before I was trapped… before I was trapped…”
The doll finally fell silent, as if her fragmented memories were entangling her thoughts.
Lost in confusion, she recalled something, and after what felt like an eternity, she murmured, “I’m Aylin from Alice’s house, one of Alice’s dolls…” She looked up, her expression laced with unease.
“Yu Sheng, that’s all I remember.”
Yu Sheng knitted his brows deeply.
At that moment, he had pieced together too many things in his mind.
From the bizarre to the conspiratorial to the humorous, but none of it felt reliable.
After all, he had no evidence or clues to solve the mysteries surrounding Aylin.
Aylin, meanwhile, looked particularly uneasy, clutching her stuffed bear tightly, squeezing the plush toy into an odd shape. “Am I losing my mind?”
Yu Sheng dismissed the conspiratorial ideas swirling in his mind while he glanced at Aylin, deciding to give the humorous notions a slightly higher priority.
“Don’t force yourself to remember if you can’t, at least not for now,” he sighed softly, shaking his head at Aylin, “Maybe it’s because you’ve been trapped for too long that your memories are a bit muddled.”
“Is that so?” Aylin nodded hesitantly, and she seemed to relax a little.
Yu Sheng: “…”
Wait, why was she feeling relieved after realizing her memories and logic might be problematic? Didn’t that just confirm that something was wrong with her? Did what he just say actually offer her any consolation?!
Yu Sheng was left utterly perplexed, yet he also found that Aylin’s reaction had eased many of the doubts that had just surfaced in his mind.
To be honest, if this doll from the painting had actually crafted a perfect excuse to explain her “modern knowledge,” he might have become more suspicious instead.
It was her heartfelt “Huh?” that had made Yu Sheng feel that her entire character had become clearer…
With a shake of his head, he walked toward the staircase leading to the second floor, casually remarking, “You can watch TV downstairs. I’m going up to catch some sleep.”
“Okay, go ahead,” Aylin waved him off.
Yu Sheng left the dining room and ascended the stairs, feeling the exhaustion from the night in the valley accumulating.
Yawning, he made his way towards his bedroom.
He was indeed tired and sleepy, needing a proper nap after filling his belly.
However, when he arrived at the door of his room, he couldn’t help but pause, looking down the hallway.
The door that had once been sealed by an unknown force stood silently in his sight.
The room at the end of the hallway was where he discovered Aylin.
Yu Sheng furrowed his brow, a thought stirring within him as he took steps toward it.
When he reached the door, he noticed that the position of the doorknob had changed.
The hinges and knob had been switched, aligning with the “correct position” he had found that allowed him to open the door.
After hesitating for a moment, he gingerly grasped the doorknob and turned it gently.
With a soft click, this door that had once been impossible to open now moved easily like any ordinary door.
Pushing the door wide open, the sight of the room revealed itself to Yu Sheng—
It was simply furnished; on the left side against the wall stood a single bed with a bedside table, while on the right were a wardrobe, a study desk, and a chair.
The old floorboards looked somewhat faded, and light blue wallpaper adorned the walls.
Above the desk, a window let in bright sunlight, filling the entire room with warmth and light.
And on the wall directly facing the door, where Aylin's painting had once hung, now a mirror reflected Yu Sheng's gradually astonished expression.
(End of Chapter)