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Tinghai City In early autumn, it is always rainy.
During such gloomy seasons with unpredictable weather, the mood of the citizens is often affected, and they often complain about the weather and even curse.
But this year is different.
The continuous Tinghai Bombing Case pieces make every Tinghai City citizen's nerves tense.
North District once today and once in Xicheng tomorrow. No one knows whether the next explosion will happen around them.
Although the news has refuted the rumors, claiming that everything was just leaked by Biogas, these explosions are too frequent.
All kinds of abnormal behaviors have made the whole city panic and all kinds of rumors spread.
Some say it was Western Federation who came with a group of barbarian refugees, some say it was Tinghai University, a mad scientist with a brain problem, and some say it was Supernatural Person who attacked Light Wave in passion.
There are also people who swear that they have seen aliens, and that the alien army wants to enslave the Tinghai City humans. In order to make humans feel the horror of being enslaved, they will implement a terrible working system of 5 days a week and 8 hours a day.
... All in all, it seems that those people who are having heated discussions on the Internet would rather bang their keyboards to discuss all kinds of fanciful conspiracy theories than believe Authorities's refutation of rumors with all kinds of clear evidence.
Is this a kind of wisdom or a kind of stupidity?
But I don't blame them. I heard that the hotline of the House of Representatives has been blocked and cannot be reached at all.
In these stormy days, everyone is nervous. Even the students have to be escorted to and from school by many parents.
And marginalized Maiden like Fang Xiaoxia who cannot find any sense of belonging, loners who have no teachers to care about and no friends to go to and from school with, are even more anxious all day long...
That night, at 23:40, it was stormy.
On a rainy night with a bit of salty sea breeze, the buildings with flashing neon lights are continuously corroded, and the darkness swallows up the light everywhere in the city.
Under the Incandescent Lamp light, Maiden, wearing big-mouthed monkey pajamas, hugged her thin legs and curled up on a small bed filled with Doll dolls. Next to her was a half-opened Hardcover Edition <Beautiful Vasilisa>.
The book is yellowed and the corners are a little faded. It can be seen that Maiden has read this book countless times.
This is a very famous fairy tale. It tells the story of Vasilisa, a girl who was made trouble by her stepmother and sisters. With the help of the magic doll left by her mother, she entered Black Forest and opened the Fantasy Adventure that changed her destiny.
It is the same as a certain book <Boy Who Lived>. It is Fang Xiaoxia's favorite book and has been read over and over again.
"It's not over, isn't it!"
"What are you yelling at?"
"That's not what I meant..."
"..."
Arguments came from the not-so-soundproof walls, first the mother's nagging, then the father's angry roar.
Here we go again, arguing, yelling, and soon someone will be crying.
People who originally loved each other yelled and quarreled, even if it was just over a bottle of soy sauce.
This is the routine that Fang Xiaoxia is most familiar with every day.
The sound of the quarrel was like ocean waves, making Fang Xiaoxia feel uneasy.
Really upset by the noise, she walked out of the room cautiously and stood in the dark living room.
A fierce quarrel came from her parents' bedroom. She wanted to push the door open and say something, but in the end she couldn't muster the courage.
Sometimes she wants to escape from the family, but most of the time she dares not.
This is very contradictory, because sometimes she feels that she is the only mature adult in the family, and she is the one who keeps the family together from overturning.
She couldn't imagine what would happen if her parents were left out of her sight for too long.
But at the same time, she is just a child. She wants to be in a daze when she is stressed, and she wants to run away from troubles.
Seeing that the long quarrel had just begun, she quietly returned to the bedroom, took off her pajamas and put on the school uniform she would wear tomorrow.
"Squeak!"
As if his heart was about to jump out of his chest, the sneaky Maiden closed the door to his bedroom, took the key, and sneaked out of the house.
Whenever this happens, she feels that this home does not belong to her and wants to escape to a quiet place where she is alone.
Fortunately, she really has such a "Secret Base"...
That's right.
Although Fang Xiaoxia's life is quite a failure, she is a hidden "Rich Woman".
Eighteen years old, own a house!
Before going out, she took another deep look at her parents' bedroom where they were still quarreling.
It seems that as long as they close the door, they can roar any unpleasant words with peace of mind, thinking that these words will not be heard by the children.
But...
"It's okay."
Whisper to yourself, Fang Xiaoxia to cheer yourself up.
It's not a big deal, she should have gotten used to it by now.
Mom always gets out of control, dad always refutes loudly, and Fang Xiaoxia has almost no presence at home... But this is their family's lifestyle.
After a few hours, you can hear someone apologizing, "I'm sorry, forgive me", and love and affection will be rekindled in their eyes, just as they have been extinguished and rekindled countless times in the past.
Early the next morning, they would laugh and talk about interesting things that happened to their colleagues in the neighborhood, as if nothing had happened.
It seems that everything has been forgotten by them, nothing happened, only Fang Xiaoxia, who is always woken up, remembers every sensitive and fragile midnight.
But Fang Xiaoxia won't mind, because she knows that any problem can be solved as long as the family faces it together.
Quarrel is to solve problems, there will be no problems that cannot be solved.
Because of love.
All this is for love, mom and dad often say don't worry, because they love Fang Xiaoxia, so this family is indestructible.
And Fang Xiaoxia, of course, also loves her parents.
So, "It's okay."
Fang Xiaoxia said this, clenching his little fists as if to cheer himself up.
When I come back, everything will be fine again.
Then there was a "click" sound, Maiden, like a little mouse, quietly closed the door.
"Da da da..."
Holding a small green umbrella with Leek Girl printed on it, the drizzle was beating on the umbrella surface, Maiden was walking alone Night Road at one o'clock in the morning.
The sound of dripping rain echoed over the long Long Night. In the distance there were flickering neon lights. Nearby, there was the flash of light refracted by the rain on the ground. But not far away, there was deep darkness.
The brightest and darkest things grow wantonly in the long Long Night at the same time, making people fearful and imaginative.
"Pap, tap..."
Maiden stepped on the water in boredom, not caring even if his trouser legs got wet.
She seems to have never grown up, and no one has ever taught her what it means to grow up.
Every day after school, her classmates were either picked up by their parents or in small groups, and she was the only one who waddled home.
The only fun she could find for herself was kicking pebbles on sunny days and stepping in puddles on rainy days. Her classmates all envied her free and easy back view and felt that she could go wherever she wanted while kicking pebbles.
But in fact, this kind of freedom is the greatest lack of freedom. When people are bored, they can't go anywhere and don't want to go anywhere.
Just like other people's essays mentioning rainy nights, they always say, "My mother carried me to the hospital with a high fever."
Fang Xiaoxia's composition is very chic. On rainy nights, she only steps in puddles and throws stones, and walks in the rain with a small umbrella. She does not look like a student, but like a second-rate person riding a will-o'-the-wisp on the road...
Then all the essays failed.
Everyone says, "I really envy Fang Xiaoxia, the family doesn't care about her", but in fact Fang Xiaoxia should be envious of them.
It's not that her parents don't care about her, on the contrary, they always seem to have an extraordinary desire to control Fang Xiaoxia.
But they would neither take Fang Xiaoxia to or from school, nor check her homework, nor would they take her out to watch movies on weekends, just like other students.
Lunch and dinner are all taken care of at school, and breakfast is given to her Pocket Money so that she can go out and buy it by herself, but her parents say this is to give her freedom.
A free "life" is not the same thing as "life".
No matter whether she is going to school, moving or anything else, her parents will always make decisions for her at critical moments without explanation. Occasionally, they will ask about Fang Xiaoxia's grades when they think of it, and then they will nagged for a long time before leaving.
It seems that after doing this, they have fulfilled their obligations as parents. From now on, whatever Fang Xiaoxia develops into is her own fault.
Interfering in life in the name of love, ignoring life in the name of freedom, parents are like superheroes who are always busy saving the world, so they neglect to take care of Fang Xiaoxia.
But they must love themselves, Fang Xiaoxia is sure of this.
After all, parents always talk about this, and they are almost reluctant to say Fang Xiaoxia even a harsh word.
How lazy and absent Fang Xiaoxia is at school, the more mature he appears at home, whether it's the chores of washing dishes or obeying his parents.
So Fang Xiaoxia doesn't have many opinions about her family or her parents. She has long been accustomed to the way she has been for more than ten years. The adolescent Maiden is just...
I just have a lot of gripes to share.
Just like now, Fang Xiaoxia needs a friend to show up, accept her and listen to her heart-to-heart talk.
Even if there is only one friend, Fang Xiaoxia is willing to hold the piggy bank with both hands for this purpose and give "Friend Lord" all the money Pocket Money has lived frugally since childhood.
It's a pity that she doesn't even have such a friend.
In fact, there may have been one, and it was a cute and pitiful Black Cat. When he saw the injured Black Cat hiding alone behind the trash can, Fang Xiaoxia felt like he saw himself hiding in the trash can.
However, she lost Black Cat.
Maybe she shouldn't have slept that night, let alone slept with the window closed... An injured kitten will always feel uneasy when it first arrives in a new environment. How could she forget this?
It's all your own fault!
Thinking of this, Fang Xiaoxia is still a little depressed to this day.
If the kitten is still there, she doesn't have to go out, she just needs to hold the kitten and hide under the quilt and whisper.
But... what can I say?
It was obviously something she was used to, so why was she always feeling uneasy for no reason lately.
It's like walking in the middle of the ice in early winter, hearing the subtle sounds from the ice under your feet from time to time, wanting to leave but not knowing the direction, and can only wait for the ice to collapse.
Or maybe a house built on a fragile hill will collapse after the land absorbs rainwater, and the house will eventually slide into the deep abyss.
Where does this inexplicable fear and uneasiness come from?
Is it because of family quarrels or the uneasy atmosphere surrounding the entire city due to unknown Bombing Case?
Just like the afternoon a few days ago, Fang Xiaoxia was attending her last class at school. She suddenly felt a sense of loss, as if she had lost a loved one. Her empty heart made her run home as fast as she could in her life.
In the end Maiden attributed everything to the random thoughts of adolescence.
Just like she often imagines that the Black Cat she picked up can be like Boy Who Lived's pet owl, bringing her Magic Academy's Admission Invitation, telling her that you are actually the destined Savior.
She also fantasizes that her big-mouthed monkey Doll can suddenly speak, and like Vasilisa or Dorothy, she can be led to Fantasy World that boring adults cannot understand, and start a magical adventure that changes her life.
Everyone has this kind of fantasy, right? Fang Xiaoxia even built all kinds of details for these fantasies.
She imagined that one day a group of Black Clad Warrior would suddenly come to capture her, but at the critical moment Superman fell from the sky and said that the world was about to end. Then she followed her boy on an adventure to save the world.
There must be an audience to see this, and then she will put on the belt in front of people and transform into light. Using Plasma Spark, Magical Girl will complete the transformation and save the world in a panic-stricken school!
Guess whether the eyes of those students who usually don't talk to her will pop out?
... But she knew better that the reality was that Doll couldn't speak, and the Black Cat she picked up wouldn't be able to invite Magic Academy, and there was no masked Magic Prince to take her into Fantasy World.
Blue Star There has never been such a world. There is no superman, no magic, and no adventure. Everyone is just fighting life from nine to nine Ordinary Mortal.
Even if there are those, it has nothing to do with her. Wake up, you are never Protagonist. Even as a supporting character in the background, you are not worthy of having a name.
"..."
Sighing, he put away his small umbrella and shook off the raindrops on the ground.
Fang Xiaoxia entered the corridor and started going upstairs.
Fifth Floor is the house Grandparents of Fang Xiaoxia left to her instead of her parents, which later became Secret Base of Fang Xiaoxia.
Although there was no TV or computer, and there were only a few pieces of furniture, it was her only refuge from the hustle and bustle.
God knows how much effort Fang Xiaoxia put in to keep this house from renting it out. It was the only time in her life that she mustered up the courage to rebel.
Whenever Fang Xiaoxia is breathless from the worries of school and trivial matters at home, she will hide here.
Here, all her emotions can be released. She can lie on the floor in a daze without restraint, twist wildly to the music on the stereo, cry or laugh as she pleases, without caring about anyone else's opinions.
Mom and Dad said that the outside world is full of dangers, and people's hearts outside are even more complicated, so okay, Fang Xiaoxia is best at "closing the door".
As long as you close the Secret Base door, you can block out all the noise outside, just like you can sleep peacefully by covering your ears in school.
--Until she was called upon by Math Teacher and stood up while covering herself with a Chinese book, she began to recite <Chu Shi Biao> to the text in a daze...
"Click!"
With thoughts on his mind, Fang Xiaoxia unlocked the door.
Raising his hand to turn on the light, a familiar scene in the room came into view.
In the middle of the living room, there is a second-hand Lazy Sofa that she bought from the Internet placed crookedly. There are a few tape photos on the wall, all of which she arranged by herself.
If you open the bedroom, you can still see an old guitar, half a box of old comics that are reluctant to throw away, and Draft Paper with messy lines... Those are the dreams she once discarded.
Writing novels, drawing comics, forming a band, playing guitar, and traveling around the world... all the dreams that would be laughed at by others were stored here by her.
There was still a faint smell of decay unique to the old house in the air, which made her feel like Grandparents was still here. Her grandfather in loose pajamas came out with his waist hunched over and asked her why she came here so late. Did she feel wronged?
Then grandma brought out a bowl of steaming Sweet Water from the kitchen, and said gently, child, you can speak slowly, or you don't have to speak.
Here she is neither the daughter of her parents nor a student at school. She does not need to rack her brains to make friends or worry about maintaining a family...
Here, she is just Fang Xiaoxia, shedding everything, shrinking back, and being her pure self.
Although escaping is shameful, it is really useful...
"Wait, Wait?"
Thinking like this, Fang Xiaoxia, who was looking at the room, suddenly froze on the spot.
Xiao Lu's eyes suddenly widened. She raised her hand and pointed at the only strange uninvited guest in the familiar bedroom, the mysterious man who seemed to be wearing Naked Apron. She stammered and could not speak.
Who is this?
"What are you doing in my house!"
Thief? Robber? It's over, it's over, it's over!
But then, she immediately felt that the other person looked familiar.
Isn't this the mysterious killer-like Trench Coat Man she had an awkward encounter with in the men's room of the restaurant?
After a brief period of shock, Fang Xiaoxia seemed to come to his senses, his eyes becoming even more frightened.
Is he actually a stalker? Real or fake? Will someone like me be targeted? So what does it mean that he is waiting for me dressed like this?
A flash of thought flashed through my mind, Maiden turned around, and was about to run away through the door while trembling.
But the other party raised the broom and sternly questioned him first:
"This is obviously my home! I have to ask you the same thing, what is your intention of breaking into my home in the middle of the night?"
What!
Was it someone else's house?
The righteous shouting made Fang Xiaoxia, who had always been unconfident, tremble all over and subconsciously doubted himself.
It seems right. How can I do housework if I'm not at home? I obviously went to the wrong door!
It's over, it's over, it's over!
Maiden covered his face and collapsed, blushing like a prawn, and quickly bent down to apologize:
"I'm sorry! I went to the wrong door and opened your door with the key without authorization..."
Opened your door with a key without authorization...
Huh?
Is something not quite right?
Maiden I feel like my head is being short-circuited and I need to think carefully.
--No, how can I open your door?
Fang Xiaoxia immediately raised his head with wide eyes and looked at the environment in the room.
No matter how you look at it, these decorations are all from her home! Who are you?
Sure enough, you are a bad guy in disguise!
"Uh, this, that..."
I complained loudly in my heart, but Fang Xiaoxia didn't dare to say anything at all, and kept shrinking and stammering.
I was sweating profusely.
Her feet were squirming, trying to escape before the other party was prepared.
At this time, the young man in an apron pretended to listen attentively, frowning in thought.
It was as if something non-existent was talking to him in the air on the sofa nearby.
Damn, this guy seems to be schizophrenic...
Fang Xiaoxia murmured in his heart.
Even more scared.
At this time, escaping from the corridor seemed to have no chance of winning. The opponent had scars all over her body and looked like she was very athletic, but she was a loser in terms of individual abilities.
What to do, what to do, what to do, how to stabilize the other party? Just follow the other person's topic...
Maiden was thinking crazily in his mind, turning around in thousands of ways, but in fact he couldn't even say a word, and his face was red from holding back.
"Hahaha!"
Then, she saw the young man move his head in embarrassment and suddenly realized, and laughed:
"Well, I'm sorry, I made a mistake, I made a mistake!"
"So you are... the landlord here, right?"
Speaking of the word "landlord", the young man seemed a little uncomfortable, as if he had come across this word for the first time in his life.
He even nodded in awe at Fang Xiaoxia:
"You are really young and promising. You have become a landlord at such a young age."
Fang Xiaoxia:"?"
Do you have any misunderstanding about me and the concept of "landlord"?
It sounds like there is no problem, but I can't understand what the other person is saying.
At that time, outside French Cuisine Hall, he seemed to have some problems in this regard.
And is it now a problem between the landlord and the tenant? It's you who is breaking into the house illegally and plotting evil!
But Fang Xiaoxia soon ran out of time to continue complaining in his heart.
Because the other party had an "I understand what you mean" expression and suddenly took out...
A long string of Big Gold Chain, 24k pure gold, the shining light is almost blinding Fang Xiaoxia's eyes.
Then there are two gold bricks.
There are also about a dozen... watches in a row, all with the Patek Philippe logo printed on the dial?
"?"
What is this guy doing?
Fang Xiaoxia's pupils were dilated, his breath was held, and he stared blankly at Bai Zhou who was "displaying arms", as if he were seeing an ogre from a primitive tribe showing off his necklace of human heads strung together.
No, where did you get these things from?
How can you hide so many things in your arms? Are you Doraemon?
And those brand-name watches... why are they still stained with dried blood? Is it blood? Is it blood?
Isn't this really "dirty"? Brother, are you really not a killer?
Then, Maiden, who was about to cry, saw this Mysterious Killer Youth, wearing an apron, placing these Dazzling Array yellow Gold Beads treasures on the ground with a serious look:
"You have to pay rent when renting a house, right?"
"If I want to live here longer, or just buy it..."
Bai Zhou looked at Fang Xiaoxia sincerely, thinking of Fang Xiaoyan's entrustment to him.
If you have "money", maybe Fang Xiaoxia can become confident and change your life, right?
Kill two birds with one stone, mutual benefit.
With such a simple idea, Bai Zhou laid out a small and insignificant part of the stolen goods collected from past corpse searches, and asked Fang Xiaoxia seriously:
"Look, are these enough?"
"?"
Fang Xiaoxia's brain is completely blank.
What's enough?
Is it enough to buy my life?
At this moment, Bai Zhou's serious and low words fell into Fang Xiaoxia's ears, and the taste had completely changed.
With Fang Xiaoxia's ice and snow intelligence, she can completely understand what the other party means.
He definitely wasn't talking about whether the rent was enough.
But...
"Are these enough to seal the seal?"
"--If you don't know how to praise, you will be silenced!"
Sure enough... he must be a "killer", right?
Because he is a killer, he is very mysterious. Because he is a killer, he was injured, and then he hid here quietly.
Fang Xiaoxia's heart was beating violently, as if it was about to jump out of his chest.
There is fear, but... there is also excitement and curiosity.
This feeling is hard to describe. The blood flowed faster in Maiden's body, making her face become hot.
Fang Xiaoxia has become accustomed to a life of failure where he achieves nothing and has no sense of existence. The mediocre Maiden will drift through the second half of his life with an end in sight.
Just like a small dark cloud traveling around the world with the ocean currents, until one day the tears turn into rain and are evaporated by the world, Sky Light will never shine into her world.
She originally thought that was the case.
But people always have fantasies, thinking that someone will burst into your world one day, break your mediocre life, and take you to see magnificent scenery that is completely different from the past.
Then the dark clouds were broken by lightning, and the hazy night sky also opened at this strange moment Sky Light.
On this rainy night where people are panicking, Maiden, who is melancholy and like a loser in life, encounters a completely unexpected mysterious boy who makes a brilliant appearance.
He stood there in a menacing manner, waving the broom as if he had been wielding a sharp knife all year round, and his body was covered in scars and his clothes were in a mess, all showing his special experience that was completely contrary to his age.
Who is he? What happened to him?
This figure surrounded by mist gradually seemed to match the vague figure that Maiden had dreamed about many times, falling from the sky to take Maiden away.
But--
Maiden looked at Bai Zhou like a ghost, swallowing his saliva and looking at the Golden Wristwatch Golden Wristwatch that Dazzling Array placed all over the floor like a cheap stall.
But this person can't be Gold Robber, Wristwatch Thief?!
Super Dangerous Element! There is also suspicion of schizophrenia!
Maiden's expression looked like he was about to cry out of fear, his legs were weak and trembling helplessly, pitiful.
How come other people's Sky Light holes are filled with handsome guys and beauties with superpowers...
The exciting moment in her life was when the mentally ill Gold Robber, wearing Naked Apron and carrying Big Gold Chain, broke into her house illegally and brazenly broke into her house. He carried the stolen goods and solemnly said that he wanted to rent her house!
This way of opening...
Isn't it too weird?