C3 (1/2)
”Last night you were like this again right? Do you really have a brain?”
Ever since Du Mei had left for work, she kept arguing with her, getting angrier and angrier each time. The reason was because Du Mei had secretly brought a man back while Zhang Ting was on the night shift.
Zhang Ting and Du Mei grew up together, and were neighbors in the village. More than a year ago, the two of them left their hometown together to work in a big city. They worked in a factory. At first they lived in the staff quarters, which was a bit rough, but then they were given money at home, so they rented out. Unfortunately, not long after, Du Mei felt that the factory was working too hard and quit work.
Originally, she had given up on her work and could still look for more. Unexpectedly, Du Mei became addicted to mahjong and bakery, and didn't even want to go to work anymore. Therefore, she played mahjong during the day, and stayed in a bar at night. Her lifestyle was a mess, and when she ran out of money, she even asked Zhang Ting to borrow money. In the end, Zhang Ting didn't have any money to borrow, so she relied on the men at the bar to borrow money. From that time onwards, Du Mei had repeatedly brought back men during Zhang Ting's night shift. After being noticed by Zhang Ting, the two of them finally started an endless stream of arguments, and their relationship rapidly worsened.
”None of your business.” Du Mei coldly replied as she applied sunscreen.
For the first time in three days, they spoke to each other.
”Xiaomei, is this interesting? We came out to work, did you forget what you told me? Make a good profit and buy a house at home. And the result? Have you been to one day's work these past few months? I still help you pay back the money that you owe me with your credit card every month.
”Did I ask you to help me pay back my credit card? I'll give it to you later. ” Du Mei was excited too.
”Heh …” You want to calculate money with me, do you? Since we got here, which month's rent have I not paid? Which month's meal was not my decision? When you are so poor that you can't even afford underwear and socks, who gave you money to spend it? Du Mei, you need to touch your conscience! ”
”Sure you can. Now you want to settle old scores with me, right? ”Alright, since I have a husband outside, I'll return the money to you. I won't owe anyone anything!”
”Can you not talk about your husbands?” Zhang Ting looked like she didn't know whether to laugh or cry, ”What do you think they think they think you are? Frankly speaking, in their eyes, you are only worth the same as a nightclub miss!”
”Aiyo, don't be jealous. No one wants your ugly appearance, and you're jealous of me, right?”
”Du Mei!” Zhang Ting was so angry that she jumped up, ”If you want to continue like this, then scram, scram!”
”If you want to leave, then leave. If I leave you, Zhang Ting, I won't starve to death. Get out of my way!” Du Mei also stood up, she immediately rushed into her room to clean up her clothes, took out her phone and made a call, only saying one thing: Come pick me up from my house downstairs.
This time, both of their anger reached its peak, and Zhang Ting could not help but cry, but she kept facing away from Du Mei, so she did not notice.
Very quickly, Du Mei prepared to leave with the case in her hands. Zhang Ting felt unresigned in her heart, but she roared: ”If you have the ability, don't come back!”
”Don't worry, if I ever come back to find you, Zhang Ting, I'll cut my head off!” After she finished speaking, Du Mei closed the door heavily.
When Du Mei went downstairs, Zhang Ting went to the window, wanting to see who picked him up. That day was scorching hot, the sunlight was intense, and in front of the door, there was a white van, with a man wearing green camouflage pants standing beside the van. It was too bad that he could not see his face, Zhang Ting guessed that this man was one of the men that Du Mei knew. Sure enough, Du Mei directly got on the white van.
After that, the two of them did not contact each other anymore. Zhang Ting wanted to call Du Mei's parents several times, but she held herself back. Because she had always thought that the two would definitely come back when Du Mei calmed down due to their anger.
Unfortunately, even after an entire week had passed, Du Mei still had not made the slightest of movements. Zhang Ting's heart gradually softened, she was afraid that Du Mei would starve or be bullied, so she took the initiative to call Du Mei on her own.
”Sorry, the number you have dialed is turned off …”
From that day onwards, Zhang Ting frequently had a dream. In her dreams, Du Mei was either in the water or on a slope, and then, with the help of the dim light, he moved further and further away from her. She softly said, Tingting, I want to come back, I really want to come back!
Zhang Ting was getting more and more worried.
Ten days had passed since Du Mei left for work. Zhang Ting was still working absent-mindedly. One day, she went downstairs to buy a midnight snack and had just gotten into the elevator when she felt a little strange.
It turned out that above the back of her head, there was a slight gust of cold air blowing straight towards her neck.
The elevator wasn't air-conditioned, she knew that. Moreover, the continuous high temperature these days was really unfathomable.
She looked up and saw that there was nothing unusual about the top of the elevator. There was a lampshade, a white light, and two vents on either side of the lampshade.
The air should have come out of the vent.
She thought about it for a moment. It didn't seem to have anything to do with her, and she didn't bother to tell anyone about it.
Therefore, when she stepped into the house, she had almost forgotten about it.
At night, she still had the strange dream of Du Mei calling her, and her voice became louder and louder.
”Tingting, I want to come back, I really want to come back!”
Zhang Ting suddenly felt that her body was extremely cold, to the point that she shivered.
She woke with a start to find herself standing in a dark, empty place, still in her underwear and boxer shorts.
This sudden change caught her completely off guard.
She was sure that she was not dreaming, but what had really happened.
Sleepwalking!
She had never thought that she would actually be able to sleepwalk. It felt very absurd.
After calming down, she began to look around. Using the distant street lamps, she saw steel bars, cement, yellow sand, and other materials nearby. In front of them was a three-story flat roof. It was obviously a construction site.
She believed that the construction site was close to where she was renting a house, because she immediately turned around and saw her own apartment building. They were just one street apart.
She hadn't brought her watch, but she vaguely remembered that the construction site had been busy until about twelve o'clock every night, that is to say, after twelve o'clock.
The thought of him coming here alone in the middle of the night sent a shiver down her spine.
Just as she was about to leave, she suddenly saw a person standing at the door of the house in front of her.
Zhang Ting almost cried out in shock, because the man's body was almost exactly the same as Du Mei's.
”Xiaomei, is that you?” Zhang Ting trembled as she asked. She walked slowly forward, trying to get a better look.
The man turned into the house and ran up the stairs.
Zhang Ting did not hesitate and followed him into the house.
When she reached the stairs, she realized that the interior of the house was different from the outside. It was frighteningly dark, and hot and damp at the same time. If it wasn't to look for Du Mei, she wouldn't have imagined that she would be so daring.
Even so, as she walked up to the third floor in the dark, her heart began to pound, because she could no longer hear anything. She even suspected that she had been mistaken.
Or perhaps, that person was not Du Mei at all!
He gingerly made his way up to the third floor, and as expected, there was no trace of him. The third floor was very small, and was very rough, so unless the person jumped down from the third floor, there was no reason for him to disappear.
Zhang Ting panicked, and did not dare to call Du Mei by name anymore.
She also felt that something was watching behind her, so she walked around the room and carefully checked every corner.
She noticed that, due to the rain of the previous days, the third floor was filled with water, especially the big puddle in front of her. Under the moonlight, it looked like a mirror.
Besides, there was a pile of stuff in one corner, which she guessed must have been put there by construction workers.
Just as she was about to leave, she heard a light sound behind her, as if someone was approaching her step by step.
The sound was getting closer.
Zhang Ting's body stiffened, she didn't dare turn her head back.
She felt that if it was a person, they would already be standing behind her.
Then, she subconsciously glanced at the puddle of water in front of her. Through the reflection of the water, she suddenly saw a headless figure standing behind her without moving at all.
Her legs went limp with fright, as if she had stepped into a swamp.
In a few moments, with some unknown source of courage, Zhang Ting didn't even turn around as she swiftly rushed down to the third floor.
She was breathing heavily, as if someone had choked her.
As she fled the construction site, she was panic-stricken. From time to time, she would look behind her to see if there were any shadows chasing after her.
When she got home, she was very glad that the door was not closed. Otherwise, she would be locked out for the night. Then she turned on all the lights quickly and drank water so hard that she choked and spat on the ground.
She racked her brains, but still couldn't figure out what had happened to the headless figure. She could only feel her mind going into chaos.
However, what she wished for the most right now was for the sun to rise.
In the next two days, Zhang Ting still had some lingering fear, and regardless of whether Du Mei was at the construction site or not, she had a faint feeling that something had happened to Du Mei that night.
Everything was as Zhang Ting had expected. As expected, bad news came on the third day.