The noise in the room grew louder and louder, and the volume kept increasing.
Then, with a loud "sizzle," silence returned.
Wen Jiu propped herself up on the table with one hand, the chaotic cursing and screams echoing in her ears, gradually merging into the rapid, ambiguous breathing in the video.
How could this happen? How could this happen!
Why can't I make a sound?!
The pain in my heart grew more and more intense, as if I were being dragged into hell by countless hands.
Just then, a slight sound came from outside the door as it opened, and Meng Xiao's tentative voice rang out. " Xiaojiu?"
Wen Jiu pressed the switch to play music again, wiped away the cold sweat with a towel, and went to open the door.
"I'm here." Wen Jiu took the thermos from her and placed it on the dining table. "Has Sister Meng eaten?"
"I've already eaten." Meng Xiao glanced at the karaoke room, where music was still playing.
" Xiaojiu, are you practicing singing?"
"Well, I don't have much to do anyway," Wen Jiu said with a smile. "I can't be of much help, so I was thinking of preparing for the next stage performance."
"Don't overwork yourself, take a good rest these few days, okay?"
Meng Xiao said this, but inwardly she breathed a sigh of relief.
"Yes, I know." Wen Jiu her to the door and said, " Sister Meng, you can actually buy groceries next time; I can cook by myself."
"Okay, you can't stay idle anyway." Meng Xiao waved her hand. "I'll come see you again tonight."
Wen Jiu smiled and nodded, "Okay."
Just as Meng Xiao finished delivering the food, Qu Feng called.
She glanced at the door, and as she walked, she said to Qu Feng, "It's okay, I'm in pretty good shape... Oh, I was just practicing singing, saying I need to prepare for the stage performance later..."
Wen Jiu, separated by a door, quietly leaned against the doorway and listened until Meng Xiao's voice gradually faded away, the elevator doors closed, and the space returned to silence.
The boy's back was slightly hunched as he curled up on the ground, a low moan of pain escaping his throat.
what to do?
It seems he has no next stage to perform on.
Wen Jiu suddenly got up, rushed into the room, changed the music to " Against the Against the Light," and tried it over and over again.
He simply refused to believe it!
They've already performed on so many stages!
If you can't remember the lyrics, just search for them on your phone and sing them to the screen.
When a voice comes to mind, turn the volume up to the maximum.
It must be because of this song, Wen Jiu thought almost obsessively. As long as she continued singing it, everything would be fine.
Just finish singing this song!
Warm tears welled up in his eyes, and the boy's voice trembled, gradually losing its tone.
I don't want difficulties to break us apart.
I blame myself for being so cowardly.
It's a pity I didn't make it.
I'm still afraid even after hugging her.
I pushed you away, but I still stayed...
"Ahhh--Stop talking! Stop talking!!"
The manuscript papers on the table were knocked over, the stereo was turned off, and the images in my mind completely took over.
Wen Jiu frantically pounded his head with his hands, and after the breakdown, all that remained was painful despair.
"I won't sing anymore, okay? I won't sing anymore... I'll never sing again..."
I can't sing anymore.
She slumped onto the bed, grabbed her teddy bear, and, unable to hold back any Wen Jiu, curled herself into a tight ball.
A person cried until they were hoarse.
Mom, can I stop singing?
I feel so awful, I can hardly breathe.
"Mom," Wen Jiu said helplessly, her voice hoarse, "I never want to sing again..."
The boy ultimately remained at the starting point of his defeat.
That burning, passionate heart had long since frozen on the cold stage.
When Meng Xiao delivered the vegetables on time in the evening, she didn't hear a response for a while. She assumed Wen Jiu was in the room and hadn't heard her because the music was too loud, so she simply unlocked the door with her fingerprint.
There was a thermos on the square table in the living room. Meng Xiao had noticed it before; it seemed to Wen Jiu had placed it at noon.
Meng Xiao's heart skipped a beat. She hurriedly put down the bag and went over to look. She opened it and found that the lunch was still warm, but she hadn't touched it.
"Xiao... Xiaojiu?" Meng Xiao trembled as she pulled out her phone, calling Qu Feng as she walked inside. " Xiaojiu, are you there?"
The call connected quickly, "What's wrong?"
"Qu... Brother Qu..." Meng Xiao looked at the mess in the karaoke room, covered her mouth, and her voice was already trembling with tears, " Xiaojiu isn't... not in the apartment."
If he wasn't at the apartment, where could he have gone?
As dusk settled, Wen Jiu rose from beside the tombstone and gently stroked the name on it.
"Mom, I'm sorry."
"I can't go on down this path anymore."
With tears welling in her eyes, Wen Jiu complained sadly, "I feel a little lonely, a little tired, and I miss my mom a little."
"I said I never wanted to sing again, but if I really left the stage, I don't know where I would go."
Wen Jiu stood up straight, his thin back standing alone among the tombstones. In the vast sky and earth, the young man's figure was so thin.
He paused for a moment, then asked calmly, "So, if I said I wanted to be with my mother, would you agree?"
The evening breeze gently caressed his hair; it was a little chilly.
The boy turned and walked away from the cemetery step by step. "If you don't say anything, I'll take that as your agreement."
Wen Jiu hailed a taxi without a phone, so she simply took out the prepared banknotes, exactly 100 yuan.
"No need for change, just go to the East Sea."
The driver glanced at him through the rearview mirror, reached out and took it, then stuffed it into his pocket.
Wen Jiu sat in the back seat by the window, his empty eyes gazing at the neon lights flashing by outside. As dusk fell, the city gradually came to life.
Wen Jiu frowned, then suddenly asked, "Didn't your driving instructor tell you that you can't make or receive phone calls while driving?"
The driver withdrew his finger from the Bluetooth headset, his eyes instantly turning sharp.
Wen Jiu was not afraid of him at all. "I know you have someone backing you. I was able to get out so smoothly for so long without being discovered, and that was thanks to his help."
"If I'm not mistaken, you probably want to take me to him, right?"
The driver didn't answer, but the person on the other end said something, and he turned off Bluetooth and immediately put it on speakerphone.
Wen Jiu pretended not to see. "I paid, I'm going to the East Sea."
The voice from the other end, coming through the microphone, slithered up your spine like a cold, venomous snake, sending a chill down your spine:
But I want to see you, I really want to.
With her hands clenched in front of her, Wen Jiu suppressed the instinctive trembling in her body and turned to look out the window.
He said slowly but firmly, "No, if you want to see me, you have to come here yourself."
After a brief silence—perhaps a few minutes, or maybe only a few seconds— Wen Jiu, who didn't have her phone with her, had no way of knowing.
The person finally spoke, and his voice seemed to chuckle as he said indulgently, "I just can't do anything with you."
Wen Jiu instantly got goosebumps all over her body.
"No time wasters."
The man was in high spirits and showed no anger at such impolite words; instead, he reminded the driver to drive carefully.
Then she said to Wen Jiu, "You are the most interesting person I have ever met. You are like a rose that has been pampered in a greenhouse, receiving sunshine, rain, and the best nutrients. But I am different from him. I think your beauty is not reflected in careful nurturing."
Wen Jiu felt nauseous upon hearing this.
Receiving no response, the other person remained unperturbed, continuing, "I've always believed that the most beautiful things are the broken and incomplete; that sense of near-death fragmentation is the most beautiful art in the world."
Therefore, he enjoys the thrill of killing.
"To be honest, the first time I saw you, I wanted to destroy you," Pei Xu said. "But I couldn't bear to see you stained with blood; after all, you're too perfect."
Judging from the voice, the other person seemed to have already gotten into the car. Wen Jiu was still a little scared, but then she thought that she was a dying man and had nothing to worry about.
So he said, "Come on, you can see for yourself whether you've ruined me."
The man became even more excited, his tone more agitated than before, and his morbid laughter sent a chill Wen Jiu's spine, making him almost unable to sit still.
"Okay." Pei Xu started the car, slammed on the gas, and whispered to Wen Jiu, "Perhaps I guessed wrong."
Wen Jiu closed her eyes, refusing to acknowledge him.
"I thought destroying your will would be easy, after all, your weakness is so obvious."
"But it seems the thorns on your body haven't been removed yet."
"I'm liking you more and more," Pei Xu said. "You're even more resilient than I imagined."
Wen Jiu turned his head away, his muscles tensing up unconsciously. In the darkness, his expression was not visible.
Before the other person could say anything more, Wen Jiu, unable to bear it any longer, snatched the phone from the front seat, hung up, and turned it off in one swift motion.
Then, amidst the driver's slightly surprised gaze, she casually exhaled and said, "It's nothing, Dad has a bit of a temper, just bear with it."
"..."
"Also, drive faster, I don't want to see your perverted boss."
"..."