Text: Episode 7

1.

August 1, 12:11, Army Day.

"Recently, I went on a business trip to Shanghai with the director of the company, and I was busy day and night." Li Ling's voice on the phone sounded tired.

"Just the two of you?" Cao Chengrui stood on the balcony and blew the wind through the hall.

A few days ago, Tao Qiwu suddenly said that he wanted to go back to his hometown, and now there is only Cao Chengrui alone in the room.

Li Ling snorted lightly and said, "Do you say you're interesting?" Don't believe me? ”

"Nothing! I have a hundred and twenty hearts for you! Cao Chengrui held the windowsill with one hand and looked downstairs, and suddenly remembered that the last time he threw garbage upstairs and almost hit himself, he hurriedly retracted his head.

"You wrote Untitled?" Li Ling asked.

"Look at it, I'll just say that we have a heart! Hundreds or thousands of kilometers away, you can feel my breath at once. ”

"Don't be poor."

"Chirp, if you don't let me talk nonsense, I won't talk nonsense."

"I look at it and it's not bad, the idea is novel, you really think about it with your good buddy."

"What's the matter, I'm with you, and I'm full of inspiration about to overflow."

"I haven't contacted you for so long, you won't be angry with me, will you?" Li Ling asked tentatively.

Cao Chengrui replied after a little thought: "Don't be angry at all, I know you're busy." He thought for a moment and then calmly continued: "I remember everything you said, you said that two people should leave space for each other when they are together, and I will not interfere." ”

"That's not what you think in your heart."

"It doesn't matter what I think in my heart, what matters is what you think." Cao Chengrui said lightly.

Li Ling laughed, Yingying Yanyan.

"If you write a novel that has been read more than 30,000 times, I will go to Songbai to find you."

After Cao Chengrui heard Li Ling's words, he didn't know whether he was happy or unhappy, he said "um", "It's simple, it's settled." ”

"You probably can't be opportunistic." Li Ling thought for a while and said, "This is for your own good." ”

"I understand."

"Don't lie to me, don't look for a 'gunman' if you write it yourself! Don't plagiarize! ”

"Don't worry, you can't lie to me." Cao Chengrui couldn't tell what it was like, probably because of the weather, he felt very bored.

"Haha, okay! Wait for me, you have to come on. Li Ling said with a smile.

"You're mine."

Li Ling stopped laughing and said, "I only belong to myself, and everyone is an independent individual. She heard that Cao Chengrui did not answer, and then said: "Come on!" Strive to meet soon! ”

"You have requested to leave your job?" Cao Chengrui asked.

"There's still some work to be done." Li Ling replied.

"Leader's business?"

Li Ling didn't answer immediately, and thought for a few seconds before speaking, "Don't worry." ”

"Okay."

Cao Chengrui hoped that this time Li Ling did not perfunctory him.

2.

"Lao Tao, I have something I want to tell you, are you busy now?" Cao Chengrui sat in front of the computer.

"Busy." Tao Qiwu said one word.

"And when are you coming back?"

"I can't say."

"What are you doing back home?" Cao Chengrui was a little angry, and his voice raised a lot.

"At a friend's house."

"Okay, call me back when you're done."

"Okay."

Cao Chengrui hung up the phone, frowning and staring at the computer screen, his heart was inexplicably angry, he thought that he had worked hard to stay at home, and you Tao Qiwu was at ease.

"I can't control you in reality, I can't cure you in fiction? I'm going to have to make you suffer. Cao Chengrui pointed at the computer screen with his hand, pointed at Tao Qiwu's name, and said to himself.

3.

In front of Tao Qiwu sat four old ladies playing cards.

He hung up the phone and asked, "Auntie, excuse me." ”

An old lady with gray hair and a floral vest raised her eyelids and glanced at Tao Qiwu.

"Is there a family surnamed Zhao upstairs?" Tao Qiwu asked with a friendly smile. In the past few days since he returned to his hometown, he has traveled to more than a dozen residential communities, large and small.

"Yes, what's wrong?" The old lady looked at Tao Qiwu suspiciously.

"That's right, I'm looking for a junior sister from my university, her name is Zhao Shutong, do you know each other?" Tao Qiwu accompanied the smiling face.

The old lady put down the playing cards in her hand and looked at Tao Qiwu in surprise: "Zhao Shutong? ”

"Yes, Zhao Shutong." Tao Qiwu nodded.

"It's called Zhao ...... There is a person surnamed Zhao, and her daughter is gone......" said another old man with a sigh.

"Where are you going?" Tao Qiwu asked.

The old lady in the floral vest shook her head and frowned, and another old man raised his hand and pointed to the sky.

"Ah, sorry, thank you, thank you." Tao Qiwu nodded goodbye, and several old men chatted in a low voice, and sighed from time to time.

4.

I looked at the sky, my clothes soaked with sweat and stuck to my body.

That's right, Zhao Shutong is the girl who jumped off the building as Cao Chengrui said. I don't know why, I can always dream of Zhao Shutong. In the dream, her face was clearer than Ma Ting's.

August 1, 12:27, Army Day.

I don't have insomnia anymore, but I dream every night, all kinds of dreams.

Take Ma Ting's hand to the playground, eat delicious food together, go to Sophia Church together, go to the Forbidden City together, and choose furniture at IKEA together.

But in the end, Ma Ting in the dream will become Zhao Shutong.

The Mona Lisa hairdresser at the corner of the street was playing "Thinking You Want to Go Crazy": "I think you think you want to think you want to go crazy...... I think you think you think you're dying......"

I was going crazy.

I took out my mobile phone and opened the address book, and the first place in line was Ma Ting's phone, and I dialed it without hesitation.

"Doo" rang for a long time, and finally connected.

"Hey." It's a man's voice.

"You? You are? "My heart was racing and my brain was blank.

"I'm Ma Ting's boyfriend, who are you? She's cooking in the kitchen, tell me something, or I'll ask her to come back to you later? ”

"Sorry, I made a mistake." I hung up in a hurry, and it seemed that my name was no longer in her address book.

I sighed and looked up to see a woman coming out of the barbershop, it was a familiar figure.

The woman was less than 1.6 meters tall, small and exquisite, with delicate facial features, towering breasts, and light blue short sleeves that couldn't even cover a pair of breasts, looking like she was about to come out.

That's Yang Ying's sister.

"Hey! I'm talking about you! I didn't even think about opening my mouth, shouting and running after her.

Yang Ying's sister obviously saw me too, and after a slight hesitation, she should have recognized me, turned around and ran.

"Don't run!" I screamed again, ran a few steps to catch up and grabbed her wrist.

"What are you doing!" She looked at me in horror and trembled.

"Don't shout, I'm not malicious, I'm not working in the hospital anymore." I couldn't wait to explain that I wouldn't be able to do it if she yelled on the road.

"I don't understand what you're saying!" She tried hard to shake my hand off.

"Yang Ying! Isn't Yang Ying your brother? I remember your name ......" I quickly searched for her name in my mind and said, "Your name is Yang Ying, isn't it?" ”

Yang Ying still looked at me in horror.

5.

12:44, window seat at Golden Gate fast food restaurant.

Yang Ying held a glass of Coke on the rocks.

"What would you like to eat?" I looked at my watch and said, "It's time for lunch." ”

Yang Ying shook her head.

"I really left the hospital, and it was because of your brother."

"He's not my brother." Yang Ying straightened the hair on her forehead and said, "I was adopted by their family, and I have no blood relationship with him. ”

"Oh?" This was not what I expected.

"Their family is mentally ill, I think I used it to improve genes by their family, right?" Yang Ying took a sip of Coke.

I looked at her in surprise, "What do you mean by that?" Could it be? ”

Yang Ying raised her eyes to look at me, I looked at her, and after a while, she said, "Yes, that's what you think." Yang Ying lowered her head and continued to drink Coke.

The air conditioning in the fast food restaurant was sufficient and comfortable.

"I didn't expect you to tell me this." I'm a little out of my head.

"It's okay, I just don't want you to think I have anything to do with him." Yang Ying put down the cup and hugged her shoulders, and her proud chest stood out again: "What's more, I didn't tell you anything." ”

She has a lot of scars on her wrists that look like they were cut.

Yang Ying found me looking at her wrist and shrugged her shoulders and said, "When I was young, I couldn't think about it, and I wanted to die many times, but now I won't." ”

"Yang Ying's family lives here? I didn't expect to be a fellow countryman. I said with an awkward grin, trying to divert the subject.

"He doesn't live here, their family is from Songbai City, and I moved out after the accident, and I don't want to live with a family of neurotics anymore." After she finished speaking, she looked out of the floor-to-ceiling window, the sun was just right at noon, and the street was flooded with heat.

"Then why didn't you leave them sooner?" I asked curiously.

"Not for anything." Yang Ying shook the ice cubes in the Coke cup a little impatiently and said, "What are you looking for me?" If you're looking for their family and making them lose money, you go for it! I've already said I don't have a penny to do with them! ”

I waved my hand: "Why, I'm just curious, I want to treat you to dinner." ”

"Invite me to dinner? All right! I'm going to eat the whole family bucket, spicy chicken leg burger! ”

For the next hour, Yang Ying didn't say a word, just ate with her head bored.

She shouldn't know about the relationship between me and Yang Ying, I thought to myself.

6.

At 14:04, walk out of the fast food restaurant.

"Leave a call?" I stopped Yang Ying, who was leaving.

Yang Ying looked back at me and said, "I just worked in the hair salon just now, young man, if you want to wash your hair and massage, I will give you a 5% discount." ”

"Okay." I didn't know how to answer for a moment, but I knew that my expression must be very unnatural. She turned and waved her hand, and disappeared leisurely around the corner. In the same way, I turned around and walked home with a heavy heart. Yang Ying, who I accidentally met, turned out to be not Yang Ying's own sister. After talking to her, I thought she was a woman with a tragic fate, though she probably didn't think so.

Ma Ting's new boyfriends are most likely rich people or children of official eunuchs introduced by the family. If I am not a good mixer, what right do I have to stop others from pursuing happiness?

I can now be sure that Zhao Shutong is indeed the girl who jumped off the building and died after being insulted. I think the same as Cao Chengrui, her death has nothing to do with us.

The afternoon sun was so hot that I had to choose to walk in the shadows.

It's hot, the sun is harsh.

7.

14:03。

The electric fan is lazily swinging its head from side to side.

Cao Chengrui drank a cold beer and stared at the screen in a daze.

He's conceiving the plot.

Tao Qiwu in the novel is about to fall into a terrifying nightmare.

8.

Twenty minutes later, Tao Qiwu returned home and rushed into the bathroom to turn on the faucet.

The warm water poured over the head cooled down a lot.

If his mother was at home, she would definitely tell him, "You can't do this when you're sweating!" It's easy to catch a cold when stirred up by cold water! ”

Tao Qiwu thought about wiping the sweat on his body with a wet towel, turned on the electric fan and lay on the rattan chair.

He suddenly remembered winter.

9.

After a few days of snowfall, the snow was covered with a layer of black, confirming the turbidity of the air.

The weather is dry and cold, which is different from the cold in the south.

January 10, 16:34.

As the sun went on, it got dark.

He cocked the collar of his down jacket and hung his hands in his pockets around his neck.

In addition to keeping out the cold, it also gives him a sense of security. He has been like this since he was a child, hiding in clothes, mostly under his hat, hiding under the quilt, it will make him feel very safe.

In recent days he has always felt that someone is following him. But when I looked back, there was no one.

The road he took home was secluded.

Occasionally, there are three or two lines of people passing by, all of whom are in a hurry.

"It's cold!" He muttered.

One by one, the street lights came on, and orange lights reflected the ground.

Two or three steps further up, he could see the door of his unit.

But his eyes were drawn to the corner of his own building.

The store on the first floor was originally vacant. Now it's neon, and I don't know when a small bookstore will open.

The first floor is good, and you can do business by removing the windows and replacing them with a door.

As he walked, he thought: if he opened a supermarket or mahjong parlor here.

Since it's open downstairs at home, you should go to the cheers.

He made up his mind to go to the bookstore.

Pushing open the door, there was a warm aroma, and the welcome bell on the door "jingled".

"Welcome!" A young girl in the store greeted with a gentle voice.

"I'll just take a look." He didn't look at the furnishings of the store, but he couldn't help but look the young girl up and down for a long time.

The girl pursed her lips and smiled, her fair face flushed with a blush, fox-like eyes, a cute nose, small lips, and short shoulder-length hair.

Her smooth neck naturally guided his gaze to her seductive collarbone.

The girl wore a playful blue and white plaid shirt with the buttons at the neckline open, the cuffs pulled up to the elbows, and the lotus-like arms were exposed.

I'm really glad that there is such a beautiful woman downstairs in his house, and he has a feeling of hating to see each other late.

"What type of books do you want to read? I can recommend it to you! By the way, I still have a lot of journals here. The girl's words interrupted Tao Qiwu's thoughts.

Thinking about it, most of the girls were also stared at by Tao Qiwu, and their hearts were furious.

Tao Qiwu was about to stare into the flesh.

"My house is upstairs." Tao Qiwu smiled awkwardly, and such a sentence came out of nowhere.

At this moment, a thick bell interrupted the conversation between the two men.

That's the sound that only an old-fashioned pendulum clock makes.

He followed the prestige, and at the top of the bookshelf on the east side was an old-fashioned pendulum clock that did not fit well with the little shop, with a black bell body, a golden pendulum, and two wind-up keyholes staring at him like two eyes.

"The shelves over there are full of novels, and there are many kinds of them." The girl introduced Tao Qiwu.

"That's right." Tao Qiwu nodded, withdrew his gaze from the uncomfortable black clock, and looked at the bookshelf under the clock.

The shelves are neatly stacked with novels of all kinds, filling an entire shelf.

Tao Qiwu tilted his head and looked at the first book one by one, and the title of each book was in full view.

There are a lot of online novels, cultivating immortals, crossing over, and in addition, there are naturally some works by famous writers.

He looked at the titles one by one, and he didn't know what he wanted to read or what he wanted to read.

And so it was until his gaze fell on a book with a black cover and a red title.

The book is called Untitled.

Tao Qiwu frowned, and unconsciously looked up at the dark bell on the bookshelf.

And the bell seemed to be looking at him, too.

With a vibration of "hum", Tao Qiwu stabilized his mind, took out his mobile phone and looked at the caller ID, which was the phone number of his girlfriend Ma Ting.

"Hello? What's wrong? Tao Qiwu picked up the phone.

"What time will you be back, I have something to tell you." Ma Ting said lukewarmly on the phone.

10.

Tao Qiwu felt a wall in his heart, Ma Ting seemed to be wrong these days.

He himself vaguely knew that something had to happen, and since last month, Tao Qiwu went to Ma Ting's unit to pick her up, and saw her get into a man's car across the road.

"Okay, I'll go back right away."

Tao Qiwu picked up his mobile phone and reached out to take down the book called "Untitled" from the bookshelf, and said to the young woman, "I want this one." ”

"Okay! When a new store opens, give you a discount, and you will be charged 28 yuan. The young woman took the "Untitled" in Tao Qiwu's hand, scanned the barcode, handed it to Tao Qiwu and asked, "Do you need to wrap it up?" ”

"No, thank you, I'll just put it in my bag."

After paying, the girl said to him, "Come here next time you need anything." ”

He nodded, turned and pushed the door open.

Instantly the cool air hit the whole body.

The voice-activated lights in the corridor are not working again.

If no one pays the property fee, the property will not be repaired, and more people will not pay the property fee if the service is poor, and the vicious circle is vicious.

Tao Qiwu thought and walked to the door.

I opened the door with the key, I didn't feel warm, it was still cold.

Tao Qiwu took off his down jacket, and there were no headlights in the room, only the floor lamp next to the sofa was on. Ma Ting sat on the sofa with her head down, and did not rush over to hug herself with joy as before.

He put on his slippers, hung up his clothes, and sat down next to Ma Ting.

"Fifth brother, I want to get married." She raised her head and looked: "The family has arranged a blind date for me again." ”

Tao Qiwu didn't speak, what he saw that day should be Ma Ting's blind date.

Ma Ting said a lot more, Tao Qiwu seemed to have gone to another time and space, almost didn't hear anything, and finally got into his ears with only one sentence: "Everything will be fine." ”

"Hmm." Tao Qiwu nodded, and the others didn't know what to say.

Ma Ting said, "I'll go back first", and with the sound of the door closing, the room returned to quiet.

It was snowing again outside.

The snow rustles with the wind.

Tao Qiwu sat on the sofa and was stunned for a while.

He remembered the little shop downstairs and the book he had just bought.

Open your bag, find the book of Untitled and slowly open it.

The first page is black, and the second and third pages are also black.

Turning to the fourth page is red, and in the center is a table clock that is completely black. Tao Qiwu felt familiar, and after thinking about it, it seemed to be the one on the bookshelf of the bookstore downstairs.

On the fifth page is the text: "In the evening, the sky was raining with snowflakes. The road was quiet, and the trees on both sides of the street had not yet grown new branches, and their bare shadows were distorted in the light of the street lamps. The man walked towards his girlfriend's work unit with an umbrella. It's been a long time since I've picked up my girlfriend, the man thought.

It was a kindergarten, and my girlfriend was a kindergarten teacher.

This very high-end provincial kindergarten is a place where many rich and powerful people leave their children. His girlfriend is very beautiful, and earlier she joked with him: 'Are you afraid that I will run away with that divorced big man?' ’

'Don't be afraid. The man smiled.

The man walked, and after a little more than a street, he was able to see his girlfriend's unit.

From a distance, he saw the familiar figure sitting in a black car, driven by a sturdy middle-aged man.

The man was stunned, took out his mobile phone and dialed his girlfriend's number.

'I'm going out to dinner with my female colleagues, don't wait for me to have dinner, good!' The girlfriend hurriedly finished talking on the phone and hung up.

The man was stunned for a moment, picked up his mobile phone and held an umbrella, and just stood motionless on the side of the road.

The man's mind recalls all the days with his girlfriend from college to now.

The man shook his head and turned to walk across the street.

Then there are street lamps that reflect the snow-soaked ground.

Then there was a sedan rushing past the yellow light.

This was followed by a sharp sound of brakes. ”

Tao Qiwu stopped reading, frowned and thought: What the hell is this writing.

Text: Episode 7 -End-