It all started that morning. Yes, that morning. My girlfriend and I went to see a movie that was a big hit. Titanic. At the ticket gate, I showed my movie ticket, but the old lady who opened the door stopped us. Can't you go in at the same time? The old lady said. Why? My girlfriend and I were stunned. Not why? The Titanic has sunk, do you still have the heart to go out and out? You see, who is not single?

We looked around, very carefully. Sure enough, the people who came to watch the movie today, regardless of men, women, and children, all acted alone. Fish swim lonely into that ticket gate, swim into that big fish basket. I don't know what awaits us in the fish basket. What to do? My girlfriend asked me. I'm going to spread my hands, and I can't help it, or I don't look at it, or we're separated. Girlfriend is silent. I knew she wanted to see and didn't want to be separated. We're in love.

The old lady who guarded the door saw that we were hesitant, so she interjected, I have a way, and there is only this way. You, the man, leave the shadow!

I looked at my shadow in the sun. He has been with me for as many years as I lived. Can this be separated? I can't imagine.

While I was wondering, the old lady had already pulled two fruit knives out of her pocket. She said, stand still. She walked up to me and crouched down. She used a knife to plunge between my shadow and the ground. With another knife, I made a few hard strokes at the place where the shadow was connected to my feet, and then made a circle around the shadow, and I was very skillfully separated from the shadow. The old lady picked up the shadow, put it on a chair, and waved at me, all right, you can go in. When you come out, take the shadow away. I tentatively moved my steps, and felt that the body without a shadow was very relaxed, and it seemed that the old lady was inseparable. I pointed to my girlfriend and asked the old lady, where is her shadow, will you leave it too? The old lady pouted, a woman is a shadow of a man, how can she have a shadow? I don't believe it. Just pull your girlfriend out into the sun. Odd! She really doesn't have a shadow.

We went into the theater and into the fish basket. The black-pressed fish rose and fell with the rise and fall of the Titanic. When the ship finally sank, my girlfriend collapsed in my arms. I felt her body twitching.

The movie ends. I hugged my girlfriend and took my shadow to the old lady at the door, tying him to the back seat of the motorcycle. I started my motorcycle and took my girlfriend to a hotel near the theater. Just as we were putting the car and about to enter the hotel, the shadow tied to the back seat of the motorcycle spoke, can you loosen it for me? The shadow's voice was faint and hoarse, how uncomfortable was I? Hurt.

I looked at my poor shadow, at his dark, thin, short, and vague face, and let him loosen. I asked, you won't leave me, will you! How so? Unless you don't need me anymore, Shadow said. How could it not? You now have another shadow, the shadow said.

The buffet hot pot at noon was warm and comfortable. Thirty yuan a person, enough for beer and drinks. I drank a few more glasses. Yes, a few more drinks. My girlfriend said that her stomach was her own wine, and she drank too much, didn't she? My girlfriend said, "Look at your heels, we're not going to ride a motorcycle, right?"

It's okay, I'll send you home, I said with my tongue open. The shadow walked over faithfully, carefully helped her to sit down, and then crouched behind her. I started the car, and as soon as I put the gas pedal, the bike drove down the street. The afternoon sun scorched the asphalt road, and from a distance, the road surface seemed to melt, sticking to the sound of the wheels. My girlfriend hugged my waist and pressed her breasts against my back. Those two soft things rubbed against me. I drove the car as fast as I could.

Slow down! Girlfriend said. Slow down, Shadow said.

No problem, I said. I ran through a red light. Another red light was crossed. Girlfriend screamed. Screamed again. It's time to turn around. Not good! In front of her, a schoolgirl is crossing the road on her bicycle. I slammed on the brakes, and there was a terrible grinding sound. Didn't brake. I still knocked over the bike. My car skewed a few times, made a 360-degree turn, and it didn't fall. I've woken up most of the time. In a daze, I felt that something had been left on the road. Touching the back, the girlfriend is still there. She must have fainted.

I steadied myself and looked at the schoolgirl lying on the ground. Blood had oozed from her dress, and the bike was lying crooked to the side. What to do? My mind was spinning. It's a remote street. It was a hot noon. Pedestrians are scarce. What to do? Thirty-six plans, go ahead, or it will be a big trouble. The car that made a 360-degree turn turned again, and I put the gas pedal on again. After a puff of smoke, the motorcycle took my girlfriend and me to our home safely. When I got home, I realized that the shadow sitting in the back had been lost to me.

That's where it ended. Later, I heard that a black man who couldn't see his face clearly had taken the schoolgirl to the hospital. Later, my girlfriend and I broke off our relationship. From then on, I became a man without a shadow.