Chapter 33
Chapter 33
Knock, knock, knock!
Knock-knock-knock-knock-knock-knock-knock!
Zhang Qiong’s hair stood on end.
She finally realized that her earlier dream hadn’t come out of nowhere. The knocking in the dream was bleeding in from reality!
That deaf-mute deliveryman, the one who had hidden his entire face behind a helmet and a mask-he really was back!
Zhang Qiong could almost see him: standing stiffly in the pitch-black hallway, a bag of food in his left hand while his right hand mechanically rapped against the door over and over again.
The hallway was empty; the streets were empty. He stood there at her door, all alone.
If she went to open it, he would lean down, slowly squeeze his face through the crack of the door, and say gloomily, “Hello, here is your delivery.”
Zhang Qiong pinched her cheek hard. It hurt. This really wasn’t a dream this time.
It was two in the morning. What on earth did he want?!
Zhang Qiong picked up her phone and dialed her husband’s number.
No answer.
He had spent the whole afternoon driving before heading back to the countryside to drink with relatives. By now, he was surely sleeping like a log.
Knock, knock, knock!
The knocking continued. However, the sound seemed muffled now, as if he were afraid of disturbing the neighbors.
Zhang Qiong sensed a hint of malice in this: he wanted to make noise, but he didn’t want to make enough noise for the neighbors to hear.
He was making a sound that only Zhang Qiong could hear.
Everyone else was asleep; only he and Zhang Qiong were awake. He wanted to suffocate her in this isolation and terror.
Zhang Qiong wanted to call Qin Song, but thinking that He Qian might be sleeping next to him, she changed her mind and sent him a message instead.
“Are you awake? Help me!”
Qin Song didn’t respond. He always went to bed by midnight.
Zhang Qiong closed her eyes in despair.
She sent another message, this time to Liang He: “Are you awake?”
Liang He’s chat window showed *’Typing…’*! He was still up!
Zhang Qiong felt a surge of excitement.
Liang He: “Still awake. I brought my son to the night market to get something to eat. This kid is like a wild horse let off its leash lately, running around having fun all day.”
Zhang Qiong suppressed the urge to call him and continued typing: “That deliveryman is back knocking on my door!”
Liang He: “When?”
Zhang Qiong: “Now! He’s knocking right now!”
Liang He: “Did you order a late-night snack?”
Zhang Qiong: “I went to bed ages ago!”
Liang He: “Is he crazy then? Why would he come back in the middle of the night?”
Zhang Qiong: “I don’t know how I offended him! I didn’t even give him a bad review!”
Liang He: “Are you sure he’s knocking on your door? Could it be the neighbor’s?”
Zhang Qiong: “I’m sure! The sound is so clear!”
Knock, knock, knock! The knocking started up again, unhurried.
The person outside the door was extremely patient. It seemed his goal wasn’t to get the owner to open the door, but rather to knock for the sake of knocking.
Liang He: “Whatever you do, don’t open the door for him.”
Zhang Qiong: “I wouldn’t dare! I’m too scared to even leave the bedroom!”
Liang He: “Is the front door locked?”
Zhang Qiong: “It’s locked!”
Liang He: “Don’t be afraid. Lock your bedroom door and windows now too.”
Zhang Qiong jumped off the bed, tiptoed to turn on the light, then shut the bedroom door and windows tight, clicking the locks into place.
Knock, knock, knock…
The sound from the front door suddenly felt much further away.
Zhang Qiong: “Locked!”
Liang He: “Do you have anything in the bedroom to defend yourself with?”
Zhang Qiong looked around helplessly. “No.”
Liang He: “It doesn’t matter. Call the police now.”
Zhang Qiong: “Okay!”
She exited the WeChat interface, opened the dial pad, and typed in the three digits: 110.
She hesitated for a moment, mentally reciting her home address.
She was nervous; she had never called the police before.
However, in that second of hesitation, the knocking stopped.
In Zhang Qiong’s imagination, the man standing in the dark hallway had suddenly caught a scent of danger. He had gently lowered his knocking hand and was now waiting silently at the door with a smile on his face.
Zhang Qiong held off on pressing the call button, straining her ears to listen to the sounds outside.
Zhang Qiong: “He seems to have stopped. There’s no sound.”
Liang He: “Did he leave?”
Zhang Qiong’s nerves relaxed slightly. “Let’s wait a bit longer.”
After two full minutes, it remained quiet outside.
Zhang Qiong breathed a sigh of relief: “He’s gone.”
Liang He: “It’s good that he’s gone. But for safety’s sake, I still suggest you report it to the police-what if he comes back?”
Zhang Qiong: “He should be gone by now. If I hear the knocking again, I’ll call the police immediately.”
Liang He: “Good.”
Zhang Qiong: “Why do you think he came to knock on my door in the middle of the night?”
Liang He: “He delivered food to you during the day, so he probably knows you’re a woman living alone and decided to try something. Honestly, it’s hard to analyze the motive. Years ago, someone knocked on my grandparents’ door in the middle of the night. My grandmother was too terrified to open it. When she finally opened the door the next morning, guess what she saw? A bloody handprint on the door.”
Zhang Qiong: “Stop it, you’re scaring me.”
Liang He: “Let’s talk about something happy then. I’ll show you some snacks from Hainan.” He sent a photo of a dessert.
“This is a Hainan specialty called Qingbuliang. I’ll take you to try it if we get the chance in the future.”
Zhang Qiong: “When can we see each other again?”
Liang He: “In another month or two, my son will be heading off to university… assuming he gets in. I’ll have plenty of time then. I could even see you every day if you wanted.”
Once her tense nerves finally relaxed, drowsiness hit her with sudden force.
Zhang Qiong: “I think I’m starting to feel sleepy.”
Liang He: “Go to sleep. I’ll stay up. Contact me anytime if anything happens.”
Zhang Qiong: “I’m going to file a complaint on the delivery app tomorrow.”
Liang He: “Right, we’ll deal with it tomorrow. Full steam ahead-we’ll report him until his career is over!”
Zhang Qiong managed a small smile. She stood up, opened the bedroom door, and went to check the locks on the front door. Then she climbed back into bed and kept her phone right by her side.
Her fear had begun to turn into a cold, indignant rage. She had made up her mind: the front door was locked tight, but she would leave the bedroom door open. If she heard that knocking again-even if it was faint, even if it was just once-she would spring up, grab her phone, and call the police. She would see this villain dragged to the station and spit on him herself.
As the drowsiness grew heavier, Zhang Qiong felt herself sinking slowly into a whirlpool of sleep.
Her remaining consciousness continued to drift through random thoughts.
Tonight’s knocking… it sounded a bit different from the knocking during the day…
How was it different?
The front door was metal… knocking on it produced a dull thud…
The knocking just now… the sound was somewhat crisp…
Why was it different?
Oh… because the material of the door was different… the front door is a metal door…
So, he wasn’t knocking on the front door?
It didn’t seem like it…
It sounded like he was knocking on a glass door…
Where is there a glass door…
No, I’m just too tired…
Zhang Qiong thought she heard a rustling sound, like fabric rubbing against the floor. But she finally lost her battle with exhaustion and fell into a deep sleep.
The bathroom door was a glass door.
She hadn’t been able to make the connection in time.
Ten minutes after Zhang Qiong fell asleep, her phone lit up. She had received a WeChat message.
But she was already fast asleep, and the notification chime wasn’t enough to wake her.
What message did she receive?
She’s asleep, so she can’t see it, but I’m the storyteller-I can.
Do you want to see?
Come, I’ll show you.
Liang He: Are you asleep?
Zhang Qiong couldn’t respond. Her brow was slightly furrowed as she slept soundly.
Liang He: Are you asleep?
Still no response from Zhang Qiong.
Liang He: Are you sure there was someone outside the front door?
[Message retracted]
Liang He: Why not think about it from a different perspective?
[Message retracted]
Liang He: Could the person knocking actually be inside your house?
[Message retracted]
Liang He: Could he have been knocking on the bathroom door?
[Message retracted]
Liang He: You’re so timid. If you had just walked out of the bedroom and looked around, maybe you would have found a surprise.
[Message retracted]
Liang He: Since you wanted to see me so badly, why didn’t you come to the bathroom to see me?
[Message retracted]
Liang He: I stood in there knocking for so long that my hand hurts.
[Message retracted]
Liang He: You’re so silly. Why did you open the bedroom door again? Didn’t I tell you to lock it?
[Message retracted]
Liang He: You don’t want to see me, but I want to see you now. We’ll sleep together tonight.
[Message retracted]
Liang He: You sleep on the bed. Like I said, I’ll stay with you. I’m under your bed.
[Message retracted]
Liang He: You really need to mop your floors. I just crawled over, and my pants are covered in dust.
[Message retracted]