Chen Zhongmin is a person who is too lazy to even watch the fun.
Indeed, laziness is a common feature of people like him who work as a powerless civil servant in a powerless institution. With no worries about three meals a day and no hope for the future, he spends his days with a cup of tea and a newspaper. The youthful enthusiasm he once had is gone. Being worn out by reality bit by bit, nothing can make a ripple in their hearts except for a pay raise.
But today is a bit of an exception.
Today, Chen Zhongmin encountered a "jumping show".
As the year draws to a close, people jumping off buildings are a common occurrence. Chen Zhongmin has long been numb to this – most of these people who jump off buildings are indeed being cheated by unscrupulous bosses because of unpaid wages, but how many of them can really Using such extreme behavior to demand the labor remuneration you deserve? You should resist! Didn’t we always say “where there is oppression, there is resistance”? Are the barefoot afraid of those wearing shoes? Chen Zhongmin saw When such news was reported, there was indeed a feeling of "grieving for their misfortune and being angry at their lack of resistance". However, as the years went by, the incidents of people jumping off buildings to demand their wages continued to recur, especially the few incidents of people jumping off buildings purely for show that were widely reported by the media. After the exposure, Chen Zhongmin no longer cared about such incidents.
But today is different.
Today's "jumping show" did not happen in newspapers or on TV, but was witnessed by Chen Zhongmin himself – and it happened in the community where he lives.
Because it was time to get off work, there were a lot of people. Almost everyone in the community came out. Hundreds of eyes were staring at the 12th floor rooftop facing the street. There was a man with a blurry face, his feet on the outer edge of the rooftop, his body tense. A spectator holding a telescope shouted excitedly: "His legs are shaking!" Downstairs, there were police cars, ambulances, and fire trucks. Several policemen were discussing something with the community security guards. The police looked calm and worried. According to Chen Zhongmin's experience, the police had called out the police and the psychologist had come. However, the man who jumped from the building refused to come down because the boss who owed him wages did not show up. The place where he was standing was too dangerous. If he was startled, he might slip and fall, so no one dared to go up.
Sure enough, Chen Zhongmin heard someone in the crowd say that the man had been standing there for almost two hours.
Two hours, in Guangzhou's "jumping show", "wet and broken" (no big deal). So someone said disdainfully: "I heard that the contractor owed him only more than 5,000 yuan, is it worth it? ? It must be another show. "
It's boring. This kind of show is so boring that even if you watch it until your neck breaks, there won't be any exciting scenes.
Chen Zhongmin was ready to withdraw his troops and return to camp – he still had to hurry to watch "The Hidden". Unfortunately, the D building where the jumper stood was too far from the A building where Chen Zhongmin lived. Otherwise, he would have watched "The Hidden" on the sofa at home on the 9th floor. Maybe you can even see clearly what that person looks like.
Damn it, I am a graduate student working in a government agency, and I have never been noticed by more than ten people at the same time for even a second. You have attracted so much attention, and even made it to the newspapers and TV. If you are lucky, you will also receive cordial greetings from leaders at or above the department level – what kind of world is this! It seems like you have made me proud!
However, just when Chen Zhongmin lowered his head, he saw a person – this person made him give up the idea of going home.
What Chen Zhongmin saw was a woman. To be more precise, it was his unknown beautiful neighbor – more importantly, it was the object of his long-time "secret love". Like many civil servants, Chen Zhongmin would also I hid in the study room and read the pornographic novels on the Internet. After reading too much, my heart naturally became wild. A considerable part of those pornographic novels described how to have an affair with the neighbor and eat grass in the yard. Those seemingly practical methods This technique often made Chen Zhongmin eager to do something on many depressing spring nights, especially during the time when his wife went back to her hometown to wait for the birth of her baby. Chen Zhongmin even dared to look at the "grass by the nest" more often during the day. Although her husband is rarely at home just as described in the novel, "she" doesn't buy Chen Zhongmin's tricks and doesn't even look at him.
Now, she was standing only one step away from Chen Zhongmin, but she clenched her hands in front of her chest, staring at the man who jumped from the 12th floor, her eyes were red! "The neck was mostly exposed to Chen Zhongmin's sight. The neck was white and porcelain-like. Chen Zhongmin swallowed his saliva and started from her neck, licking her chin along the curve and kissing her lips. , crawling over the nose to the eyes – then, naturally, Chen Zhongmin followed her line of sight and once again saw the shaky guy on the 12th floor –
A nameless jealousy rose up. Suddenly, Chen Zhongmin shouted in a shrill voice that even he himself was unfamiliar with:
"You're so brave! Jump!"
These words actually produced a miraculous effect: the people around suddenly became quiet and looked towards Chen Zhongmin.
"Who is shouting!" The police outside heard this and shouted. But at this time they could not figure out who shouted first, because many people just froze for a moment, and soon shouted as if possessed by ghosts: "Jump! Jump! Don't waste our time!"
The man who jumped from the building seemed to glance in the direction of Chen Zhongmin. Then, he made a move.
The crowd became agitated, and many people quickly moved aside, clearing a few meters of space around the inflatable mat.
The man turned around, hooked his hands on the inside of the wall, and flipped over.
Back to the rooftop.
He stopped jumping!
There was booing from downstairs.
To Chen Zhongmin's disappointment, the "grass beside the kennel" still didn't even look at him, but just lowered his head and muttered to himself, as if praying for something.
Chen Zhongmin wanted to turn around and go home, but then the crowd became agitated again – it turned out that the person who had jumped from the building was brought out by the police.
When the policeman was holding the man and walked past Chen Zhongmin, the man suddenly turned around and looked at Chen Zhongmin. At the same time, his mouth didn't seem to move much, but a whispered word pierced Chen Zhongmin's ears: "If I die, you Are you happy? "
There was no expression in those eyes, as if the pupils had dilated.
Chen Zhongmin shuddered. He suddenly realized that he must have seen this man in his forties somewhere before! Could he be someone I know? Impossible… Where have I seen him before? He wanted to go over and see him again. I took a look, but at this time the crowd had surrounded the man, and the police were still driving the crowd away so that they could take the man to the police car smoothly.
who is he?
Back at his home in Room 909, Building A, Chen Zhongmin took off his coat, washed his hands, and went into the kitchen. Ever since his wife went back to her parents' home to wait for the birth of her baby, he had been living a life of starvation. Yes, he ate a lot, so he just made do with dinner at home. Now he wanted to make himself a bowl of instant noodles to fill his stomach so that he could have something else to eat after watching three consecutive episodes of "Insidious".
The water hasn't been turned on yet, and Chen Zhongmin pulled the sliding door of the utility room connected to the kitchen. Damn, it's getting harder and harder to open. It looks like it will be completely rusted in a short time. This is all… Because of that unscrupulous home decorator…
Oh, that’s right, it’s him!
In an instant, Chen Zhongmin remembered who the person who jumped off the building was: it turned out to be the cunning home decorator who installed the sliding door for him last year!
Speaking of this utility room, it was originally just a small balcony of less than three square meters. The developer of the community where Chen Zhongmin lives is the headquarters of his agency. The two-bedroom, one-living room apartment assigned to him by the unit has a very strange layout: less than The house is 80 square meters in size, but has two balconies, one facing south and one facing west, and connected to the kitchen. At first, the small balcony was just right for the washing machine. But after living there for less than a year, my wife felt that the small balcony was too small to accommodate the washing machine. It's too wasteful. It's better to move the washing machine to the large balcony, which is convenient for hanging clothes after washing. As long as a door is added between the small balcony and the kitchen, the small balcony can be turned into a storage room to store sundries and make full use of the space. Chen Zhongmin had to admire his wife's careful budgeting. He immediately picked the one with the lowest quote from the individual home improvement workers gathered on the road outside the community, and after bargaining, he gave him a 15% discount and invited him to come to his house. Come and tailor-make your sliding door.
After the sliding door was installed, Chen Zhongmin and his wife immediately moved some unnecessary household items into the "storage room". Looking at the two main rooms that were immediately spacious and clean, the couple was really happy for a few days.
But not long after, Chen Zhongmin's wife found that the sliding door was becoming more and more difficult to push and pull. After a careful inspection, the alloy door frame began to rust in several places and was a little deformed! Chen Zhongmin called the installer again and brought the new door back to the original place. The rusted and deformed parts were pointed out to him. He became angrier and angrier, and finally he cursed the decorator for being unscrupulous. The decorator said helplessly: "Boss, when you bargained for the price, I told you that I would not give you a penny. You get what you pay for. I can listen to your price, but I can't guarantee the quality. Besides, this is your kitchen, with heavy moisture and oil smoke, so the door frame will naturally rust easily. Even a god can't do anything about it!"
Chen Zhongmin insisted that he return to work, and threatened that he had an acquaintance in the Public Security Bureau. The decorator smiled bitterly and said, "Boss, in our line of work, we travel all over the country to earn so little money. It's useless even if you take me to court. I still have the purchase order that I showed you at that time. It is really unacceptable to accuse me of fraud. Is this business of a few hundred dollars really a ghost meal? You have lowered the price so much, can I not use lower-quality materials? ”
In the end, the decorator just straightened the deformed door frame and left with a sentence, "Go ahead and sue me if you want." Chen Zhongmin was so angry that he cursed his mother, but there was nothing he could do. His wife comforted him and said, "It's fine." Why bother with such a person? Besides, after the things piled up in the utility room, they rarely moved them. It would be a waste and unnecessary to tear them down and replace them with new ones. In addition, he was lazy and just lived a day-to-day life. The matter was left unresolved.
Unexpectedly, less than two months later, the contractor actually jumped off the building because he was owed several thousand yuan by the contractor! What a retribution, what a retribution! Chen Zhongmin thought maliciously. What can he do after the show? How? I heard that the contractor is in deep trouble, what can we do to him? Is he going to show off again? Ridiculous. It's just a waste of public resources. Society is messed up by these unruly people!
Chen Zhongmin thought with some indignation.
Ten days later, one night, Chen Zhongmin was surfing the Internet when suddenly a phone call started him.
As soon as I answered the phone, my sister-in-law was so excited that she stuttered a little: "Sister, brother-in-law, my sister gave birth to a big fat boy!"
"Really? That's great! I'll take a day off tomorrow and go over there!"
I'm a father! And it's a boy! Chen Zhongmin was ecstatic. Then he remembered that he hadn't drunk for a long time, and there was no beer at home. So he put on a pair of slippers, rushed downstairs without waiting for the elevator, and went to the community. He bought four bottles of beer and a pack of sausages at a store in the city. Along the way, he happily shouted to everyone he met: "My wife gave birth to a son for me!" He didn't care whether the other person knew him or not. Few people are puzzled.
After buying beer, Chen Zhongmin was shocked again: he was so overwhelmed by ecstasy that he went downstairs without locking the door.
When I got home, everything seemed normal.
As soon as the door was closed, he started drinking beer, and soon all four bottles were empty.
That night, he even went to sleep with a smile on his face.
The birth of his son brought ripples of happiness to Chen Zhongmin's stagnant life. He took eight days off as required and returned to his parents-in-law's home to fulfill his responsibilities as a husband and father.
The novelty of being a father for the first time had not yet worn off when his vacation ended. He wanted to call his boss to apply for an extension of his vacation, but his understanding wife dissuaded him. His wife said that the personnel in the government were changing rapidly, and as long as he was willing to work hard, there would still be opportunities. Although you have no real power, as long as you fight for a position with real power, the possibility of being transferred to a powerful unit in the future will increase. Therefore, you should never give up hope.
The birth of his son finally gave Chen Zhongmin a sense of sacred responsibility as a father – even if there was really no hope for his own life, he would start to fight for his son's life. He reluctantly left his wife and children and returned to work. .
The congratulations from his superiors and colleagues made Chen Zhongmin feel a little flattered. Perhaps this son could really bring me a career in government.
He began to change his old habits, working overtime and doing nothing. When he got home, he began to learn cooking skills attentively – he knew his wife would be back soon, and he wanted to give his wife a brand new image and raise her well. If his wife had adequate nutrition, his son would grow stronger. He even wanted to make a cradle for his son himself, but then he found that all the tools needed were stored in the utility room connected to the kitchen. The sliding door has completely rusted. Forget it, I'll just buy a cradle first. I'll let the door rust for now. It's better this way. When my son can crawl and walk, he can't just go in casually – the air inside must be bad. When my son grows up a little, I will renovate the whole house.
But by then, maybe I can live in a big house, Chen Zhongmin thought happily.
Perhaps it was because he was in high spirits when something good happened. Strangely enough, Chen Zhongmin had changed his previous unkempt and sloppy image. The beautiful neighbor who had never even looked at him before actually began to pay attention to him intentionally or unintentionally.
Chen Zhongmin didn't notice it at first, and later thought it was his own illusion. But one evening, when Chen Zhongmin happened to be going upstairs with her in the elevator, she suddenly said, "I heard that your lover gave birth to a son? ”
Chen Zhongmin was caught off guard and quickly replied: "Oh yes, it's almost a full month, thank you thank you."
The female neighbor smiled and said nothing more. After exiting the elevator, the two opened their doors with their backs to each other. When Chen Zhongmin entered the room and closed the door, he suddenly saw her standing in his door, looking at him thoughtfully. He! Seeing Chen Zhongmin discover her, a blush appeared on her face, she turned away and gently closed the door.
Chen Zhongmin was stunned for a moment. No way? Could it be… How could it be possible? But then Chen Zhongmin remembered that he hadn't seen her husband for two months. It seemed that this was a "second wife" who was hidden in a golden house. "The golden bird is undoubtedly a golden bird. Such a woman is the loneliest and most likely to cheat on her husband – everything is just like what is written in those novels on the Internet. But why did she not come earlier or later, but at this time? Such a woman , if you get involved, will it be difficult to get out?
Random thoughts, random thoughts. Maybe it's just my misunderstanding.
But this "random thought" aroused his instinctive desire that was diluted by joy. It was then that he suddenly realized that he hadn't solved it for more than a month…
That night, Chen Zhongmin finally fell asleep. Half asleep and half awake, he suddenly heard a burst of intermittent sobbing, echoing in the room! He opened his eyes and listened carefully. Yes, it was a woman's cry! Who is crying? It's so ugly.
At this moment, he suddenly remembered: Could it be her?
I walked into the living room and listened attentively. Sure enough, the crying sound came from the opposite side. Is she sick? Or what? Should I go over to check on her? But what if there is someone else at her home… It's impossible for the ghost to cry for dinner. Is there a real reason ? How could the second person make her cry for so long?
Having made up his mind, Chen Zhongmin opened his own door, walked to the door opposite, and knocked gently: "Miss, are you okay?"
The crying stopped, but after a few seconds, it started again.
Chen Zhongmin was anxious and patted again: "Miss, are you feeling unwell? Do you want me to get a doctor for you?"
The crying stopped again.
The door opened.
The neighbor in pajamas, with a curvy figure, appeared in front of Chen Zhongmin. Chen Zhongmin was stunned for a moment, and was just thinking about how to proceed "step by step", when the body was like a water lotus that could not withstand the cool breeze, not shy at all. Stick to Chen Zhongmin…
Everything that followed was just like those porn novels Chen Zhongmin had read. The woman was indeed the mistress of a Hong Kong businessman, who had kept her for three years in the hope that she could give him a child. Over the years, his planting had always yielded nothing. The Hong Kong businessman suspected that she had infertility. The two went to the hospital for a checkup and found that the problem was indeed with the woman, and it was an incurable disease. The Hong Kong businessmen gradually distanced themselves from her. Although they still sent her living expenses every month, they never came again.
As a single man and a single woman, Chen Zhongmin finally had a double happiness and his dream came true. A beauty who could not have children and had an economic source was the safest. All she wanted was for him to fill her emptiness. And she said, When the rent here expires in three months, she will go back to her hometown and find an honest man to marry.
What Chen Zhongmin could not have imagined was that before the woman married the Hong Kong businessman, she was actually an acrobat in a city in the mainland and was good at judo. Under her guidance, Chen Zhongmin folded and curled her body into various incredible postures. The two people's bodies combined into various incredible shapes. Chen Zhongmin finally got the opportunity to practice the skills he had learned through "hard study" on the Internet in the past three years – it turned out that when he was with his wife, he had the desire but not the desire. He was afraid that his wife would say he was vulgar. Now, Chen Zhongmin finally experienced what it means to be "in ecstasy". Sometimes Chen Zhongmin couldn't help but sigh that the first thirty years of his life were almost wasted. The married life of such “old cadres” is simply a boring extension of their office work in bed.
Once, at Chen Zhongmin's house, after a storm, Chen Zhongmin remembered something and couldn't help asking her, "Do you remember the incident where someone jumped off a building?"
She leaned over his chest and nodded.
Chen Zhongmin asked again: "I was beside you at the time and saw that you were very worried about that person. I thought he was someone to you!"
"No," she finally said, "Do you want to hear the truth?"
"think."
"I thought at the time that it would be a shame for a man with such a great figure to jump. Well, I wonder what happened to him later? Have you heard about it?"
"No." Chen Zhongmin shook his head and asked jealously, "If you met him now, would you still have such thoughts?"
"Of course. Do you think you men are the only ones who are lustful? Humph." The woman deliberately made him angry.
The confinement period is over, and when it's time to come back, my wife hasn't come back yet. My father-in-law and mother-in-law always say: "Rest for a few more days, the fish and meat here are safe to eat, and your milk supply is sufficient." , he renewed the contract for her at her workplace.
Anyway, he has "grass near home" to eat, so he is not in a hurry to get his wife back. The best case scenario is that when her rent is over, she will go back to her hometown to get married, and then his wife will come back. Then life will be…tsk tsk.
Things were going in the direction he expected. The former acrobat transplanted all her moves on stage to the bed, and the "stage" kept changing between the two houses, over and over again. Chen Zhongmin found that his body flexibility had improved. At the same time, something called "aesthetic fatigue" was growing in Chen Zhongmin's body as the date for his wife to return home approached.
That night, on Chen Zhongmin's bed, the two had just taken off their clothes when suddenly, the doorbell rang.
The woman screamed subconsciously and hugged him.
Who? A security guard? Or, or her "husband"?
The doorbell kept ringing. "To Alice" was performed again and again. At the same time, someone called out from outside the door: "Zhongmin, are you not home? Open the door quickly, I'm back."
It was his wife! He never expected that she should have been notified before she came back!
The two were terrified. But Chen Zhongmin remained calm and pretended to be sleepy and asked, "Who is it? I'm sleeping! Can't we do it tomorrow?"
"It's me, Zhongmin. My brother and sister sent me back. I wanted to give you a surprise, but there was a traffic jam on the road, so we're only here now. Please open the door!"
"Oh, okay, okay, wait a minute, I'll be there once I'm dressed!"
Chen Zhongmin, who was quick-witted, dragged the woman and her clothes to the kitchen, pointed to the utility room, and whispered to her: "Hide in there first, and then find a chance to get out. Don't worry, no one will come in here."
"But this door won't open!" the woman cried anxiously.
"Oh, right." Then Chen Zhongmin remembered that the sliding door of the utility room had been rusted for a long time! In a hurry, he pulled out a knife from the knife rack, inserted it into the gap between the door and the wall, and slid it hard. The door finally opened with a sharp sound! Chen Zhongmin pushed her in, turned off the kitchen light, ran to the living room, and quickly opened the door.
Standing outside the door were his wife with an angry face and holding a baby, as well as his brother-in-law and sister-in-law.
"What's wrong with you? You took so long to open the door, and you're still dressed like this! It's so cold, and you made us stand outside the door for so long!" The wife walked in and shouted in dissatisfaction. If I wasn't afraid of waking up the baby in the cradle, , her voice will definitely be louder.
Chen Zhongmin quickly smiled and said, "You know I like to sleep naked when I'm alone. You guys came too suddenly, and I got nervous and couldn't find my clothes, so… Baby, are you okay on the way? First… This is the first time I've traveled so far, and I've had such a long car ride, haha. Big brother, second sister, please take a seat, I'll cook some midnight snack."
"We are not in a hurry. Please settle them down quickly. We will stay at our friend's house for a while and come back tomorrow to visit."
…
"ah–"
At this moment, an inhuman scream almost tore the eardrums of everyone in the building. The scream came from the utility room connected to the kitchen. Before others could react, Chen Zhongmin's brother-in-law rushed forward. Rushing to the sliding door, he pulled it hard with his hand, and the door opened—
A nearly naked woman was curled up in a corner of the wall. In another corner of the room, there was a dead male body leaning against the wall.
The police investigation report revealed the truth of this mystery: the deceased, Liu Zhaofu, was a man from Hubei. He had been preparing to jump off a building because the contractor owed him wages, but he failed to do so because he was laughed at by onlookers. (Wage dispute) The police mediated Ineffective, he was advised to seek legal solutions, but for some reason he was determined to die. He bought a pack of rat poison in advance, took advantage of the negligence of the homeowner Chen Zhongmin, sneaked into his home, and committed suicide by taking poison in the utility room. The door of the storage room had not been opened for a long time, so it had not been discovered. A note was found next to the body, which read:
"Don't you want to see me die? I'll come to your house and let you watch me die!"