Chapter 153
Chapter 153
April 7 was a Sunday, one of the rare glorious days when I could sleep until I woke up naturally.
After getting out of bed, I did a little cleaning, then happily ordered two coffees: an iced latte and an iced mocha.
A little after ten, I opened WeChat and saw that 925 had already messaged me sometime after nine.
“Good morning. What are you planning to do today?”
In the real world, I didn’t have friends who would message me first thing in the morning to ask what I was planning to do.
I lived like a solitary island, so this ordinary bit of concern from 925 warmed me. Still, I had a faint premonition: there was a good chance this guy was here to urge me to update.
Just yesterday, on April 6, he’d even gone and written me a book review, saying he was very curious about me and that I didn’t update enough.
What a lunatic.
We’d already known each other for several days. What was he still curious about? It made him look like some paid commenter I’d hired to hype up the atmosphere and leave fake good reviews.
I replied:
“Staying home, drinking stuff, cooking, petting the cat, watching a movie.”
But this time, 925 didn’t seem to be trying to push me for an update.
925: “You know how to cook?”
Me: “I did cook for a while before, but I hardly ever do it now. I just saw a few simple dishes online and wanted to learn.”
925: “Was the food you made before any good?”
I thought back carefully and said, “The person who ate it said it tasted average, but they enjoyed watching me make the food more.”
925 sent over a sticker: “Who was so lucky they got to eat your cooking?”
Me: “An ex.”
925: “Okay, okay, great. Why did I even ask? Seriously…”
Me: “Hahahaha…”
After we finished talking about cooking, 925 changed the subject. “What movie are you planning to watch today?”
I started typing: Right now I’m thinking of watching The Shallows or Never Say Die or…
I typed Unknown Death, then deleted it character by character. I was afraid that the second I mentioned Unknown Death, he’d suddenly catch me off guard and launch into another round of update – begging.
So I just sent: “Right now I’m thinking of watching The Shallows or Never Say Die.”
925: “How about I watch it with you? Once you pick one, I’ll start it at the same time as you, then we can discuss it on WeChat.”
I stared at the line he’d sent, and my heart began pounding violently.
That strange feeling came over me again.
I really felt as if he were walking the same old path as Liang He.
But this was the real world. I hadn’t offended anyone, and no one would create a virtual character just to get revenge on me.
When I didn’t reply for a long while, 925 said, “Don’t tell me you’ve never watched a movie with someone like this before… I learned this from your novel, Teacher.”
All of a sudden, I felt like I was being a little too jumpy. I quickly sent a few cat and dog stickers and said:
“Good idea. I just haven’t picked one yet. I’ll tell you once I decide.”
After a while, he sent me a photo of a little kid.
“I’m helping my brother watch his kid. Look, this is my nephew. He lied to me just now, so I smacked his butt.”
Me: “It’s normal for kids to lie.”
925: “Did you lie when you were little?”
Me: “All the time.”
925: “Huh? Who did you lie to, your teachers or your parents?”
Me: “Everyone…”
925 sent over a sticker of an ear with the words: “? Let’s hear it.”
I started telling him about my childhood.
“When I was little, my parents didn’t really give me spending money, so I would secretly take change from the drawer to buy stationery I liked. But when my mom saw my new stationery and asked where it came from, I’d lie and say a classmate gave it to me.”
“Back then, my family didn’t allow pets indoors either – they thought they were dirty. But I loved small animals, so I always lied to my classmates, telling them I had a cat, a dog, a rabbit, a chicken… I described it all so vividly that it sounded real, but it was all just my imagination. Or call it my dream.”
“Since childhood, I’ve longed for a little sister, but my mom didn’t give me a sister; she gave me a younger brother. I didn’t get along well with my brother, so I’d go around telling friends the lie that I had a sister, how pretty and well-behaved she was, and all that.”
925: “Haha, now that you mention it, I remember! When I was a kid, I lied too. My mom was picking me up from school, and we’d bought some fruit on the way, with the bag in the bike basket. Some guy on a bike passed us, and suddenly I poked my mom and said – Mom, that guy just stole our bag!”
Me: “Did that guy really steal your bag?”
925: “Of course not. I just blurted out nonsense without thinking, and my mom was so startled she nearly jumped on the spot.”
Me: “Hahahahahahaha??”
925: “I got a beating later, and that settled the matter.”
Me: “When I was a kid in tutoring class, I’d always tell the other students ghost stories about school. They all believed them, except for one boy who said – I don’t believe you. I already heard you’re really good at telling stories.”
925: “So your storytelling and lying skills are inborn?”
Me: “Can’t help it. My parents were really strict. If I’d grown up exactly the way they planned, I’d be a wreck by now. It was pure instinct – I had to master the art of doing one thing while pretending to do another, so I could live the life I wanted.”
925: “My parents didn’t really control me much, but my childhood friend’s parents were super strict, and she ended up a docile little goody-two-shoes with no mind of her own. Even in college, her mom moved in to be her chaperone, and now she’s working but still lives at home.”
Just then, the previously sunny and calm sky suddenly darkened. Outside, a fierce wind began to howl. In my hometown, we call this “the sky throwing a tantrum.”
I stood up and looked down from the window, seeing the trees all beginning to sway violently.
Since the window was open, the wind quickly gusted in. The bedroom door slammed shut into its frame with a loud bang, making me jump.
The wind was so strong that some plastic spoons and straws on the table were blown onto the floor. I awkwardly crouched down to pick them up one by one.
Right after I fought against the howling wind to shut the window tight, someone started pounding on my front door: “Bang! Bang! Bang!”
They say an author’s inspiration comes from real life, and to some extent, that’s true – the characters I write hate the sound of knocking, and that’s actually because I hate it.
I’m the type of person who gets anxious when the delivery guy arrives.
I live in a rented apartment – a resettlement flat in a remote area. The landlord had pasted a paper with the character for “blessing” over the peephole, completely blocking it. So the peephole is just for show.
Even if it weren’t, I still don’t like using it. I’m afraid that when I lean in to look, someone on the other side might press a blood-red eye right up against the door, or thrust a steel wire straight through at me.
I called out loudly toward the door: “Who’s there?”
The person outside didn’t answer, just kept pounding: “Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!”
I took a couple of steps toward the door and yelled even louder: “Who is it?! Say something!”
A weak voice came through the door: “It’s me…”
I froze for a moment, then forcefully pulled the door open.