This is a small city in China at 38 degrees north latitude. Looking down from the heights, the buildings of different colors cling to each other, like an unwashed canvas. Slender telephone poles hold wires one by one, distributed in every corner of the city, like a giant spider's web. People always like to hold an umbrella and hide under the eaves to walk, like ants foraging for food. The old black street lamps flickered regularly, as if they were breathing.

In the dimly lit and damp room sat an unwashed canvas, covered with cobwebs and ants, moving in two points and one line on the canvas. No matter how you look at it, this painting is like an orphan abandoned by God, who only deserves to live in a dark and damp corner, quietly waiting for time to pass.

It's been a long, long time, and it's hard to describe in words.

By the time I came to my senses, it was February 2008, and the rainy season had arrived. It's the rainy season that everyone can't wait for. Because all the people of Liantang don't like the sun that is high above their heads, radiating light and heat. And as for the rain, it began to rain unexpectedly,

It rained for a long time, from the gray early morning to the gloomy evening, and the chimneys of the factories in the city constantly emitted gray exhaust fumes into the sky. The gray exhaust fumes dispersed in all directions, merging with the dark clouds in the sky, and the rain, which had begun to wane, began to increase continuously. People walked out of the dark paths, took an umbrella in their habit, opened it, and walked straight forward with their heads down.

The rain was foggy, and the roads were potholed, rugged, and waterlogged. And the day, as always, was gray. The top of the towering chimney, with its scorching sparks, resembles a small lighthouse on a vast sea full of mist. But people never knew what the dangers lie ahead.

Cars with high beams driving back and forth on the streets, delivering fresh exhaust to every corner of the city. One of the cars slowed down, then turned off the lights, and then two men got out of the car, but seeing that the two men were sharing an umbrella, they walked side by side into a common coffee shop called Robert.

I don't know why, today's store is deserted, there is no bustle in the past, the two men walked to a relatively empty double table, and one of the slightly fat middle-aged men spoke: "Boss, how is that batch of goods?" How long is that race going to start? I'm a little in short supply here" "There's nothing to worry about, time and rules are the same, since Principal Zhou is not very relieved, how about we inspect the goods?" After the tall and thin man finished speaking, he pointed to the door with his thumb, "The goods you want are all over there." ”

Although one of these two people is the boss and the other is the principal, they are dressed very plainly, and I don't know why these two people who can't beat each other are together?

And the principal in the mouth of this thin and tall man, judging from his tone, is obviously doing what people call black and white, and although Principal Zhou is the first time to do this kind of black and white thing, he also knows the three-point rules on this road, if you go, but you will not give this boss face, not only will the business not be able to do it at that time, but also accompanied by a discredited infamy, and he is the biggest black boss in the whole city who does business.

And these words really scared Principal Zhou, I saw his right hand swaying back and forth, and smiled and apologized, "Boss, how dare I not trust you?" I just came here to dare to ask, the boss still has any spare goods, specially invited to buy a little more, my Lao Zhou himself also knows that this goods are tight now, things are not easy to divide, so this more goods, I can add a little more Grandpa Mao! ”

The boss smiled and pushed a piece of cake in front of him in front of Principal Zhou. "Since Principal Zhou has spoken like this, it is difficult for me to refuse. Let's eat and talk, this is our local signature, the Deadly Chocolate! ”

Principal Zhou took the chocolate cake in the boss's hand, took a small spoon, scooped a spoonful and put it in his mouth, and said while eating, "Then I will be the same as Lao Yang said, I will pay the money in the bureau the day after tomorrow!" ”

The boss smiled, like a considerate gentleman. The atmosphere changed from a little cautious embarrassment at the beginning to a happy cooperation at the back. The boss took care of the details of the conversation in detail, and even made the principal of the week a little secretly admired, the chocolate cake on the principal's plate was less one by one, and when the cake was about to be strong, it was time for leisure conversation after tea and dinner.

"That's a pleasure for us to work with, Principal Zhou, my dea

f

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d。 The boss stretched out his right hand forward, and Principal Zhou took it and shook it gently: "Happy cooperation, if the boss has anything to use, someone from last week will definitely help." ”

The boss smiled again, stretched out his palm, and looked at the tray in front of Principal Zhou, "That Principal Zhou, while you are still free, let's evaluate, how about this deadly chocolate?" ”

"The taste is naturally not much to say, the fragrant dark chocolate, the exquisite typography, and the unique name, say, boss, why do you want to give your own store, chocolate cake, called deadly chocolate?"

"Do you remember the name of me, the coffee shop?" The boss asked rhetorically.

"Robert's Cafe, what's the problem?" Principal Zhou had a puzzled expression on his face, but after a while, the confusion on his face vanished, "Isn't that the name of that famous killer?" I'll just say, no wonder it's called deadly chocolate! But boss, why did you use the name of a serial killer to make the store's sign? ”

The boss who heard this sentence smiled, "Does anyone like someone inexplicably!" ”

"Oh, what piqued the boss's interest was this part of Robert?" The boss seemed to have piqued Principal Zhou's interest, but he didn't seem to notice that the question had crossed the line, and if you had to get to the bottom of it on this road, most of the results would be no good results.

The boss smiled as always, smiling so that people couldn't notice his other expressions, which was paralyzing, "This is going to start a long time ago, when I first heard about him, it was just a black humor joke"

"One day Robert was suffering from depression, and his friends went for a walk with him, hoping that he would get better.

A friend asked him, why are you always unhappy lately? You have to talk about the unhappy things, we are friends, what is busy, I will help you.

Hearing this, Robert replied, the doctor said that I have too many things to hide, and I don't have any friends around, and the economy has been relatively depressed recently, in short, there are many reasons, my friend.

When my friend heard this, he was puzzled and asked, didn't you make a new friend last week, and you had a good chat? How so? Don't have any friends around?

Robert said he was dead, killed by his friend, and he's still in the hospital freezer, my f

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d.

My friend was shocked to hear Robert say this, and asked, "How?" Did the police catch it?

Robert's face was depressed, my friend, because I had recently learned a secret that no one else had known. Just because I was killed because of this, if I open my heart to you now, will you help me keep this secret? My friend.

The friend nodded, his face becoming very solemn

Robert then took his friend to the hospital morgue where his other friend was kept.

What are you bringing me here for? Robert?

Robert smiled, but suddenly for a moment, his friend thought that Robert was smiling very hideously, his instinct told him that it was dangerous here, and his friend wanted to leave as soon as possible, but it was not good to lose face.

At that moment, Robert pulled his friend to the refrigerator containing the corpse, and then opened the lid of the refrigerator with one hand.

What do you think of this? My friend, Robert asked him.

It's not good at all, it's cramped, it's small, it's cold, there's no yang in the place where the dead stay, I don't like it.

Well, Robert doesn't seem to want to say anything.

My friend tapped him on the shoulder, what the hell is wrong? We are friends, and if you need my help in any difficulty, you should tell me without reservation, so that I can help you.

Then you must be yo, my friend.

Certain.

Then I'll tell you, in fact, he was killed by me, it's incredible, I can't believe it. Robert turned his head to his friend, and there was a cold glint in his eyes, which seemed to be smiling rather than smiling, and it was creepy.

That, that, why? How can there be no reason? His friend seemed to have understood something, but it seemed to be too late

Because I also told him a secret about me, the man in the morgue next to him, halfway through speaking, he suddenly leaned into his friend's ear and whispered, that one was also killed by me, hehehehe, he also knows my secret! But he doesn't want to keep my secrets, it's the most basic principle between friends, isn't it? My f

ie

d.

A few days later, Robert was waiting for a friend at home with a depressed face, and the doctor told him that he was depressed. ”

The boss ended the story with Robert's weird smile on his face, but Principal Zhou didn't notice the abnormality on the boss's face, and still chatted seriously.

What came to his mind later?

"Boss, everyone on the road calls you boss, dare to ask what your real name is?" Principal Zhou asked him curiously.

"Then you have to help me keep it a secret, our name is very important in this business, friend."

"That's sure, this kind of little help, needless to say."

"My name is, Robert. Hee-hee"

The rain washed the city, and the city was washed by him.

The towering chimneys, bursts of sparks and smoke, the smoke spread out and merged with the dark clouds, the bronze statues in the square were rotted by the acid rain, the peeling skin was burned by the fire, the dark clouds covered the sky, and the edge of it could not be seen, the alleys were filled with children's cries, the houses that had been corroded by the acid rain were next to each other, people walked under the eaves with umbrellas, and next to them were flashing old street lamps, dazzling high beams and foul smelling car exhaust fumes passed by them, Eventually, people walked through the potholed pavement towards the flaming chimneys.