It was slightly different from what I imagined. Guailong seemed unable to stay here for a long time. He could only stay with Luolei for six hours a day from 10 am to 4 pm. But I still hated him very much, because I could only spend a few hours with Luolei in a day.
This year's Chinese New Year was really late. I was constantly harassed by Li Duo since last night. She called me every ten minutes to ask about Ji Yan's situation. I also patiently explained to her that her brother Ji had been called away. Of course, I was definitely not a fool and would not tell her that it was a beautiful girl who called Ji Yan away.
"Okay, okay, how many times do you want me to say this?" I finally got a little angry. The boss didn't give me the materials until the afternoon, so I had to work overtime at night, and the manuscripts on hand had not been processed yet. There was a sudden silence on the other end of the phone. I realized that I had gone too far, and just as I was about to apologize to her, Li Duo suddenly said.
"I don't mean to bother you, I just suddenly feel lonely and scared, my classmates have all gone home for the New Year, and I'm the only one in the dormitory." After saying that, the phone was hung up. The beeping sound made me a little dazed. I really didn't expect that the crazy girl would be like this. Maybe I really didn't consider her feelings. To me, Ji Yan is just a good friend, but to her, Ji Yan is everything.
I was no longer busy answering the phone and worked faster. I was busy all night and finally finished the special article. When I started to do the special feature just now, I remembered that it was Valentine's Day. There was no atmosphere in the newspaper office because most people were busy as hell. The idle people were all leaders, and they were all serious. Few said they would buy gifts for their wives. It seemed that Valentine's Day was a thing for young people. Unlike the operating system, when the lover was upgraded to a wife, most of the software and hardware were not updated as frequently as before. Of course, you can also choose to use pirated copies, which is cheap and convenient.
Of course I won't miss such a good opportunity. I'll go and make a date with Luo Lei when I get up tomorrow morning.
I remember that the weather seems to be especially good on Valentine's Day every year, and this year is no exception. I just walked downstairs and found that foreign festivals are much more popular than local ones these days. Even the old man selling buns at the door has kept up with the times, claiming that he only sells even-numbered buns today, calling them couple buns. Although it is morning, many couples holding hands and touching heads can be seen on the street, with satisfaction and happiness on their faces. It seems that they are afraid that others don't know that they are a couple, just like on Lei Feng Day, they are afraid that others don't know that they are a living Lei Feng. Of course, occasionally you can see some things that spoil the view, such as a pair of two old men holding hands in black jackets with the words "Go Die" printed on the back, who just passed by me.
"Here is an obituary. Find a place to post it on page six." Xiao Liu, who is in charge of advertising, threw me a piece of thin paper. I thought to myself, he slept for such a long time, but he died on Valentine's Day.
This face looks so familiar.
Although it is a black and white photo, you can still tell that he is a handsome man. Generally, we say that girls are beautiful, but it seems inappropriate to describe men as handsome. However, the man in front of us is very suitable, with a thin but not long face, a wide but not broad forehead, long and thin eyebrows, and eyes that are not very clear because they are blocked by a pair of rimless glasses. His dead expression , but this also reveals a scholarly air, and his tightly closed thin lips make people feel that although he is thin, he is very stubborn.
But how should I put it, this kind of person is the type that girls can feel close to but they can't fall in love with him.
"Huo Siyuan." I read out the name softly, feeling more and more familiar with it, but memory is like that, like a naughty child, the more you want to find it, the more it plays hide-and-seek with you. I simply stopped thinking about it out of spite, but the man's appearance kept lingering in front of my eyes.
I found a place to put his photo on page six.
"Only 22 years old, so young." I sighed. Huo Siyuan was the kind of person who looked very sad. He even frowned when taking pictures.
Obituaries generally do not include photos, but Xiao Liu said that the person there specifically asked him to include a photo. Xiao Liu reminded him that the price would be higher, but the person did not care at all.
The cause of Huo Siyuan's death was written as suicide by cutting his wrists, but there was very little other information, only a few words.
I didn't pay much attention to it after I took it to proofread, and the morning passed quickly. When it was almost time to get off work, the boss asked me to go to the data room, because it was close to the end of the year, so the data there needed to be moved. I rolled up my sleeves and started to rummage through the old newspapers. They were well preserved and not moldy, but they were inevitably covered in dust.
Suddenly I found a newspaper, a newspaper from February 14th last year.
I finally understood why I felt vaguely familiar with Huo Siyuan's appearance. In last year's newspaper, there was also a photo of him, or rather an obituary. I quickly looked it up, and sure enough, it was indeed him, and the cause of death was indeed poison, and he was also 22 years old.
Didn’t someone say that we only have one life? Can someone keep dying?
It was a prank, but this guy was boring enough, and he probably hated this guy called Huo Siyuan. I threw the newspaper away, and suddenly an idea flashed through my mind.
There is only one way to prove whether it is a prank or not.
I discussed with my colleague who was organizing the information and tricked him out by offering to organize it myself. Then I took out all the newspapers that could be found here, the earliest of which was from twelve years ago.
Twelve newspapers were placed in front of me. I covered my mouth and even forgot to take a picture of the dust on my clothes. These were newspapers from February 14th every year. The same obituary was published on them. Looking at the black and white photos, my mind was buzzing. Except for the different causes of death each time, there was no difference in these obituaries. In the past twelve years, this man named Huo Siyuan actually used twelve ways to commit suicide, jumping off a building, taking poison, cutting his wrists, hanging himself, swallowing a gun, etc. After I came to my senses, I rolled up all the twelve newspapers.
"If it's a prank, it's a bit too much." I looked at the information, but I had the urge to investigate it thoroughly. The driving force of curiosity is amazing.
I seem to have been infected with Ji Yan's problem. It seems that I must first find the person who came here to post the obituary. However, I learned from Xiao Liu that the person wrapped himself like a Jiaxing meat dumpling and wore sunglasses and a mask. How can I recognize him? I thought to myself, then I have to wait until next Valentine's Day.
There must be some clues, I thought to myself. I originally wanted to ask Luo Lei to go to the pedestrian street in the evening. It seems that I still have plenty of time, so I might as well go and check what is going on.
I checked all the major hospitals or funeral services, and also looked for some acquaintances who had done some research, but I found that there was no one named Huo Siyuan among the people who had died recently, including those in the past few years. Was it really a joke? But a high school classmate of mine who was a police officer suddenly remembered something after listening to the story on the phone, but he said it was difficult to talk on the phone, so I had to go to his area.
"Before I came here, I heard that there was a weird guy in our area." He tapped the yellow wooden table with his index finger. Most people had gone out, but he lived relatively close, so he was left on duty. This kid often pretended to be a grandson in high school, but he didn't expect that he would start pretending once he put on the big hat. After a few laughs, he started to speak formally.
"At that time, I was just a silly little pol.ice, following those old-timers like a grandson. They taught me that the merchant was a big one, that store had a strong background, and that I could shout at those people loudly, and that I had to respond to those people in a nice way." He lit a cigarette proudly, and I saw that it was a hard Zhonghua. He couldn't afford it with his salary, and it was probably given to him by someone else. This area was a prosperous area in the city, and of course their wealth had risen. I endured it and reminded him to speak quickly. My classmate glanced at me unhappily, cleared his throat, and spat out a mouthful of thick phlegm.
"But after listening to so many teachings, the one who surprised me the most was the guy named Huo Siyuan." His voice was a little trembling. The ash in his hand fell on the clean and shiny brand-name leather shoes.
"Oh? So he hasn't died?" I asked curiously. My classmate looked at me in surprise. He realized he had said something out of turn and didn't say anything more. Fortunately, this guy was a bit thick-skinned and didn't think much about it.
"Almost all the police pointed at the portrait of a guy named Huo Siyuan and said not to provoke him or talk to him, although he would not talk to people most of the time. In addition, his home is also very peculiar, a very small and simple house, and it is said that it is quite old. He has lived here for a long time, and he always wraps himself up tightly, even in summer he wears a hat and sunglasses, making himself like a celebrity. In fact, all the old police here know that Huo Siyuan claims to be a writer, a writer, a writer, but in fact he is just a stay-at-home writer, writing all day long, but he has never appeared in newspapers or magazines, let alone published a book. But it is said that he committed suicide more than ten years ago, and he became a different person after being rescued. Writers like to think about things and fantasize about beautiful love, but no matter how beautiful the love is, girls still have to eat. They are not as good as me, my buddy, who is so happy now." I saw that he was getting excited, so I quickly stopped him.
"Come on, look at what you have accomplished. You are just content with a wife, kids and a warm bed. Look at how proud you are. I won't argue with you anymore. Tell me the address of that man quickly." My classmate quickly copied Huo Siyuan's address to me, but still said something before leaving.
"You'd better not go. My grandfather used to be a feng shui master. I know a thing or two. That guy is weird every February. I can smell the death from him from a distance." After saying that, he mysteriously flashed into the house. I was stunned for a moment, and cursed in my heart, since he is a living person, why should he be afraid of him?
According to the address, I found Huo Siyuan's house. It was indeed very dilapidated. The whole house looked full of holes from the outside. It was strange that people could still live there.
Maybe it's not people living there?
I suddenly shuddered, wondering why such an idea came to my mind. But soon I didn't think much about it, I just walked forward, knocked on the door, and shouted Huo Siyuan's name loudly, but strangely, the door opened by itself, and no one answered.
I walked in. The room was full of strange smells, but it was familiar because my college dormitory smelled the same for four years. It was much bigger than this room. The room was not small, but there were too many things and it was so crowded that there was no place to stand. I carefully avoided the clothes and beer cans. It seemed that the owner of this place really liked to drink. I opened the doors and windows, and the air circulated, which made me feel much more comfortable.
There is a desk in front of me, which is probably the only thing I like. The desk is not big, about one meter long, and is placed close to the wall. There are a bunch of books neatly stacked on it, all novels, from ancient times to modern times, from China and abroad. Of course, there are some that I like, such as "The Call of the Wild" and "A Tale of Two Cities", and there are also many ghost stories. It seems that this guy has a wide range of hunting. There is also a pile of manuscripts on the desk, but he has not started writing. Although the desk lamp next to it is wiped very clean, the blackened bulb and the almost broken orange lampshade show that it has been working for some years.
"Nothing special." I looked around. It was a typical bachelor's residence. There was a kitchen and toilet inside. The door was not locked when no one was there. But then I thought, there was nothing to steal here, except for the 21-inch TV and VCR that were almost outdated and covered with dust. In addition, the security of the community here was well-known, so it was possible that he left the door unlocked at night.
But I found something.
In the corner of the single bed, the other person was wearing a black coat, sunglasses, a hat, and a complete set of underwear and shoes. Could it be that the person who went to the newspaper to publish the obituary just now was him?
How could someone publish his own obituary? It was absurd, but this seemingly absurd thing was later confirmed. I found a certificate from our newspaper in my coat pocket.
But I soon realized that my behavior had violated the law. In a moment of desperation, I actually rummaged through other people's personal belongings. Just as I was about to leave the room, I found some videotapes under the TV. I took one out of curiosity.
There were line labels on the side of the tape, and I read them aloud.
"February 14, 1999" I was shocked and quickly took the other tapes to look. Sure enough, all the tapes were numbered with dates, from February 14 twelve years ago to today!
Let's take a look. My hand holding the videotape involuntarily reached for the machine.
The picture was very dark, but I wondered how he filmed it. I took the tape from today. In the camera, I finally saw Huo Siyuan.
He was much thinner and darker than in the photo, with short, sparse hair that looked like grass nibbled by sheep. He should be a young man, but he looked very old, with dark circles around his eyes, and half-closed eyes staring blankly at the camera.
"It's Valentine's Day again, and this year is the thirteenth. What do you want me to do to forgive me?" He spoke, revealing a row of neat but yellowish teeth. The background seemed to be his home, and he seemed to be sitting in front of the camera with his upper body naked. Huo Siyuan's voice was hoarse, and it seemed that he had cried, with tear marks on his cheeks. He held a blade in his hand and cut his artery, and blood gushed out. Then, he stopped talking, closed his lips, his face gradually turned pale, and then he lay down. I carefully looked at the time on the videotape.
13:40.
I looked at my watch. It was 2:30 in the afternoon, which meant that he committed suicide here almost an hour ago. I looked at the floor and there seemed to be traces of wiping. In the toilet, I also found a mop with blood stains.
If he committed suicide, who was the one who cleaned up his things? And if he filmed it himself, I didn't find a camera. Just as I thought of this, the video tape suddenly ended, followed by a burst of snow. I wanted to take out another one to watch, but it was stuck.
All the windows and doors that were open were closed. I tried to open them, but to no avail. It seemed that I was locked in here.
The videotape made a creaking sound, and then a picture appeared on the screen that was originally covered with snow. The background was still Huo Siyuan's home, but it was different from before.
I saw a person standing by the door. That person was very familiar to me because it was me.
Whether shaking his hands or jumping, the people in the picture were doing the same movements, and I saw that the time on the videotape was exactly the current time – 2:40.
But I didn't see the camera.
Pinhole? Or miniature? I saw that the lens line seemed to be on the right. I walked towards it, and I became bigger and bigger in the picture. Sure enough, the lens was on the right.
On the right was a pile of clothes, a pile of clothes that Huo Siyuan had changed out of. I shook out the clothes, but there was nothing inside, and at the same time the picture on the TV changed again.
I started to spin, no, it was more like the so-called lens that started to spin. I was in the picture with a look of confusion and fear, and I could see my own astonishment and fear from it.
I was the only one in the room, and the sound of the squeaking tape from the VCR.
Finally, the picture stopped, and I could see clearly. The camera was facing me, and it was so close that I could even see the pores on my face. Because it was so close, my head was distorted, as if I was looking at a funhouse mirror, but I didn't feel like laughing. There was only air in front of me, and I couldn't see anything. I tried to touch it with my hands, but it was in vain.
"What the hell are you?" I shouted, but the only response I got was my own voice. The picture on the TV started to move again, as if it was a pair of eyes I couldn't see. It circled behind me, and no matter how I turned, it was as if it was stuck, and the picture on the TV was focusing on my neck and shoulders.
It suddenly stopped moving, and I stood still too. A few minutes passed, but it felt like hours.
The speaker on the TV emitted a heavy sigh of a man. I have heard that sound before, it is the kind of sound that people who smoke for a long time will have when their throats become hoarse.
I stared at the TV, and in the picture, I saw something on my shoulder.
It's a nail.
It was indeed a nail. I thought I was seeing things and actually moved closer to the TV, but what I saw was more than just a nail.
Now it's a finger, a middle finger to be exact.
I looked back and saw that there was really half a middle finger on my shoulder.
Then, it was as if a person slowly emerged from the water. Or it was like a painter holding a brush and painting in the air at an extremely fast speed.
Now I could see a complete arm, and judging by the muscles, I determined that it was a male arm.
Then the shoulders, neck, chest muscles, abdomen, thighs, and finally the whole body.
It was so amazing, almost every part was like fast forward, showing the white bone marrow, then the gray skeleton, then the nerves, blood, fat, skin, just like a production process, just like a blink of an eye, a living person appeared out of thin air in front of me. But I didn't blink, and even forgot the fear, what could be more surprising and exciting than seeing the Creator create human beings?
The man had his left hand on my shoulder, his head lowered, and he was breathing heavily. He was not wearing any clothes, but I saw an obvious scar on his left wrist above my shoulder.
I helped him sit up on the bed. Sure enough, this person was Huo Siyuan. But he was very weak, and it seemed that he had difficulty even breathing. I filled a glass of water for him from behind. He didn't even look at me, but picked up the cup and drank it all. After drinking, he threw the cup on the bed and lay down again. I continued to pour water for him. After he drank four cups, he finally spoke.
"I saw you when you first came in." He raised his eyelids and stared at me. "It's just that I just died, so you can't see me."
"Dead?" I asked him in surprise. Huo Siyuan was still very weak and gasped for breath when he spoke quickly. He casually put on a coat. After all, it was not a noble thing to talk to people naked, and we were not poets.
"Yes, although I will be back in this world soon, from the first time I committed suicide to now, I can say that I have died thirteen times." His expression was very relaxed, as if he was talking to me about the number of birthdays. Seeing that I was still confused, Huo Siyuan suddenly laughed at himself.
"You are a reporter, right?" he suddenly asked, and I nodded.
"I've read your articles. You must be a believer in ghosts and gods, right? So, you should be interested in my story." Since he was willing to tell me, I was more than happy to hear it. I pulled over a stool and sat down facing him.
“People only have one life. This is what most people, or even the vast majority of people, think. Fourteen years ago, I also thought so.
As a penniless writer, I can only rely on the remaining savings of my family to make a living and maintain my dream which seems illusory to others.
But I didn't expect that I would meet a girl whose name I don't want to mention. The beginning days were certainly very pleasant. There was a beautiful girl by your side to encourage you. What greater support could there be than this?
But her parents strongly opposed it, and no wonder, there is no parent in the world who would want their daughter to marry a loser like me, saying that they want to make her happy, but this is just self-deception. " Huo Siyuan grinned and shook his head when he said this.
"We went through a long period of torture, and we even eloped together. Don't laugh when I tell you this, it was just like the plot of those cheesy third-rate movies, but it was all in vain.
The girl looks weak but has a very strong or even a little extreme character.
"Let's commit suicide and die together, just like the couple in the story. I believe that people still have souls after death!" She hugged me the night before Valentine's Day. I was shocked by her words. I looked at her face carefully and found that she was not joking.
I am not a strong man. Years of frustration and other people's contemptuous eyes have crushed my only self-esteem. But since she has made up her mind, what else can I say? So we agreed to commit suicide by jumping off the building at 1:40 pm on Valentine's Day. At that time, we studied many ways, but she insisted on jumping off the building, saying that death would be quick and painless, and the death process would be beautiful and gorgeous.
I agree.
We did not choose a building, but went to a remote abandoned factory. The two of us climbed up the towering chimney.
But when I really stood on it, I was scared. For the first time in my life, I felt the fear of death.
"Dance." She adjusted her collar, looking pretty as usual, but now I felt uncomfortable looking at her.
"Why don't we think of other ways? We don't necessarily have to commit suicide." I held it in for a long time, but finally said it. She remained expressionless after listening to it, and finally smiled.
"You will regret this." She said and jumped down from in front of me. A few seconds later, I heard a dull thud. It disappeared in the empty factory. My legs unconsciously sat down and I cried for the whole afternoon until it got dark. Huo Siyuan's eyes were red again. I felt sorry for him. It really takes a lot of courage to commit suicide, and he must be in pain to betray the person he loves the most at this time.
Huo Siyuan's tone suddenly changed, becoming high-pitched and hoarse, his face began to become red, and his eye sockets were full of bloodshot.
"But when I got down the chimney, there was no body underneath. Yes, there was only a pool of blood, but no body!" I was stunned. Could someone survive a fall from a height of dozens of meters? Even if they survived, would they still have the strength to leave?
Huo Siyuan went on to say that he had nightmares every day since that incident. In his dreams, his ex-girlfriend just looked at him without saying anything, and looked at him with a mocking smile. His girlfriend's family never came to look for her again, but outsiders were saying that she was missing, but only Huo Siyuan knew the real situation.
Finally, a year later, Huo Siyuan could no longer endure this torture and chose to commit suicide, but he did so by taking poison.
"I poured a packet of rat poison into my mouth." Huo Siyuan said jokingly.
"Within a few minutes, my stomach started to twist, then I started rolling, and I felt like vomiting very violently. Then I started convulsing, violently convulsing, and I knew the poison was taking effect, but I didn't call her because I really wanted to die, maybe I could see her and say sorry. Then I lost consciousness and fell on the bed.
But when I woke up I was still at home and there were several videotapes on the table. I didn't know where they came from, so I put them on and watched them.
You guessed it, it was the video of my suicide. I didn't even know who filmed it. But I knew I was dead. I rushed to the mirror and saw it.
I only have half of my body, and the other half is recovering at a high speed, as if I was invisible before."
I'm afraid that's exactly what I saw a few minutes ago, Huo Siyuan continued.
"I realized that I should be dead, but I was revived by some force. And every time I died, the body would slowly disappear, but there was a period of time before I regained my body. And after I regained my body, I would be as weak as a newborn baby. You saw it just now, it's like that.
The video tape suddenly ended, and then my girlfriend's face appeared on it, very white and beautiful. But I couldn't say anything.
"Are you happy? It feels good to be reborn, but you will get tired of it in the future. I will not forgive you. Although I am very happy now, you are a complete liar in my heart. Remember, you will die again every Valentine's Day and then come back to life again. You will always be 22 years old. You can only live on the day when you and I decided to commit suicide. I want you to live in pain." After saying that, she disappeared. "Huo Siyuan breathed a sigh of relief and stopped talking.
It was a long time before he spoke again.
"Now, you know everything. I was the one who wiped the blood on the floor. I saw you walk into the house, but I couldn't call you. I saved the videotapes of every year's suicide. Because I found that my eyes had a strange connection with the video recorder, so I didn't need to film, I just had to sit in front of the mirror. So before Valentine's Day every year, I went to the newspaper to publish my own obituary. It was really funny." He pointed to a mirror on the wall. Sure enough, if you look closely, it is a mirror that was wiped very brightly, about the height of a person.
"Why do you publish an obituary in the newspaper every year?"
"It's simple. She might, and is obviously still in this world. She is by my side every Valentine's Day, playing with me like a mouse in a cage. So I published the obituary to beg for her forgiveness."
"Forgive what?" I asked. Huo Siyuan stood up suddenly, walked to the window, turned around, and pointed at his chest.
"Please forgive my betrayal and let me truly die, because this torture is too painful. Every death experience is real. Dying once is enough, but I have died thirteen times and still have to endure endless self-blame and guilt, so I beg her to let me die." Huo Siyuan said it very easily, as if he was talking about someone else's life and death. It was the first time I saw someone wanting to die so much.
"Is there no way to solve it? For example, if this is just a spell, I know a friend who may be able to help you." I also stood up and gave him an idea. Huo Siyuan refused and stretched out his palm.
"Do you think I didn't try to find a solution? I've tried everything from ancient times to the present, and there's no solution. Later, a Taoist priest said that it was a curse of the soul. There are many people like my girlfriend who committed suicide with dissatisfaction and resentment before they died, but she was the only one who didn't die. I don't know what she is. Anyway, she hated me to the core after she committed suicide. What could be more powerful than cursing someone at the cost of her own soul? Unless she is willing to forgive me, there is no way. Year after year, I will commit suicide in various ways, die, and then return to this world like a baby again. Isn't it interesting?" Huo Siyuan laughed. At first he tried to hold it back, but later he actually laughed out loud, but in the end he knelt on the ground and cried bitterly . I didn't know how to comfort him. The two sat in the room for a few minutes. He seemed to relax a little. He told me to leave and that he needed to be quiet. I had to walk out of the room.
When I walked into the corridor, I saw the girl. She was tall and thin, but her hair was very long and beautiful. There was a big scar on her forehead, but it was covered by her hair, so it was not a big deal.
She saw me, looked at me and smiled, and that smile made me feel creepy.
"Are you from him?" the girl suddenly asked without thinking, and I couldn't help but hum.
"Today is Valentine's Day. Have you prepared chocolate for your girlfriend?" the girl asked with a smile. I shook my head. She took something out of her pocket.
"Here, give this to her. The girl will be unhappy without a gift." I took it and it was a piece of hazelnut chocolate. I was about to say thank you, but when I looked up, the girl disappeared.
I returned to the newspaper office and happened to meet Luo Lei.
"Here." I gave her the chocolate. Luo Lei was surprised and accepted it happily. She looked at the chocolate.
"Oh? It's hazelnut chocolate." I asked her if there was anything wrong, she smiled and didn't answer, just ate the chocolate and ran away.
I was also curious and went to check, it turns out that hazelnut chocolate represents loyalty.
Loyalty? I looked up and suddenly thought of Huo Siyuan. I wonder if he will come to the newspaper to publish his obituary on Valentine's Day next year.