Xie Xuanming wandered the street for a while, and then slowly returned to the rental house.
He didn't want to leave his home, and died on a beam with his mother. Even if it was a feudal superstition, Xie Xuanming didn't want to be unable to get rid of the woman who suffocated him after death.
The place of death was carefully selected, a hotel was not a good choice, no one would like to stay in a hotel where someone died, and it was not Xie Xuanming's original intention to harm others and fail to do business in order to save himself.
After consideration, Xie Xuanming chose a rental house in a slum in the lower city. Probably because there are people in the building who take drugs, prostitute, gamble and do things that harm others and themselves. The rent of this house is unexpectedly cheap, and the landlord doesn’t bother to manage it. Where rental revelations are most visible.
Xie Xuanming is very sure that he is not the first person to die in this unfinished building, and there is a high probability that he will not be the last.
The choice of death method is also a difficult problem. Xie Xuanming does not want to take revenge on the society, nor does he intend to disturb the normal life of the living. But death is like throwing a stone into a calm pool, no matter how lightly it is, it will cause waves.
Jumping off a building will undoubtedly cause crowds to watch; burning charcoal, there is the possibility of implicating innocent people; cutting wrists, the choice of address becomes a problem, and Xie Xuanming himself is not happy to die wet and bloody, that is too embarrassing.
Xie Xuanming finally decided to take an overdose of sleeping pills and leave peacefully. However, the medicines are not as easy to get as in the novels and movies. Almost every store he was questioned felt like an enemy and refused to sell the medicines unwillingly.
In desperation, Xie Xuanming could only change his mind.
Going around, he finally chose the same way of death as his mother.
The rusty keyhole was very insensitive, and Xie Xuanming struggled to turn it for a long time before he opened the door.
God knows why this house needs a security door, thieves in the whole district probably live in this building.
Xie Xuanming entered the room, drank the half bottle of mineral water left on the table, and went into the toilet with a plastic bag.
The toilet is very narrow, and the stench from the sewer mouth lingers, making people frown when they go in, but it has the only pipe in the whole house that can be used for hanging.
Xie Xuanming gestured and found that he hadn't grown to the height where he could arrange the hemp rope upright.
So he moved a chair from the living room, stepped on the chair, stood up, and threw the rope onto the beam with his teeth creaking.
The sound insulation of the rental house is very poor, especially the bathroom, and you can often hear the ambiguous noises of the neighbors.
Xie Xuanming has been unwilling to live at home since his mother passed away. After a month of turnover in various hotels, he moved to a rented house, and he has only stayed in it for a week.
But in less than a week, Xie Xuanming had vaguely known the occupation of the neighbor he had never met.
"You're too fast...slow down..."
"Have you come in..."
"Well... so tired... I can't do it... let me rest..."
An ambiguous and suppressed male voice came through the wall, Xie Xuanming stopped arranging the rope and rubbed his ears.
Although it is not restrained on weekdays, today it is too much.
Xie Xuanming really wanted to knock on the wall to make them quiet and not disturb himself to die.
But he was not sure if doing so would interfere with people's business, so he finally gave up.
While tying the knot, he thought sarcastically, if the next door knew that when he was "happy", someone hanged to death across the wall, maybe he would be scared out of psychological barriers in the future.
Thinking wildly, Xie Xuanming finally arranged the rope.
Holding the rough hemp rope loop, his heartbeat accelerated uncontrollably.
Now just stick your head in the circle and kick off the chair...
ten minutes later
Xie Xuanming stood silently on the chair, and did not move when the ambiguous noises from next door stopped.
Choosing to die is much harder than you think.
It wasn't until Xie Xuanming felt his calf numb and his chair shaking that he took a deep breath and made up his mind—
Just as Xie Xuanming was about to put his head in a trap, the doorbell rang suddenly.
Xie Xuanming paused, trying to ignore the sound.
Ding dong, ding dong, ding dong.
Boom, boom, boom.
The urging doorbell failed, and it was replaced by a hasty knock on the door.
The noise was really annoying, Xie Xuanming got off the chair in a hurry, closed the toilet door, walked to the door, and opened it.
The anti-theft door opened, and an unexpected person appeared.
The big boy with disheveled hair stood at the door, his face was flushed unnaturally, and his body was full of heat after the intense action.
Xie Xuanming glanced at his open neckline, then at the half-closed door next door, and judged the identity of the visitor without much effort.
My neighbor who is a special worker who has never met.
To Xie Xuanming's surprise, he had seen this person.
At the bar this afternoon.
The boy was short of breath, as if he hadn't recovered from the "exercise", Xie Xuanming broke the silence:
"Are you... next door?"
"You are...the one in the afternoon..." The boy's voice was slightly hoarse, similar to the voice Xie Xuanming heard through the wall.
Recalling the fierce noises that he heard frequently every night, Xie Xuanming was silent for a while, and said: "... I will give you that watch, it can be sold at a good price, and you can take a break at work..."
"Did I disturb you, I'm sorry." The boy blushed again, and his moist thin lips parted, "You still have to rely on yourself."
"..."
Xie Xuanming said sincerely: "Sometimes you don't have to be so independent."
The boy was silent for a while, then suddenly said, "My name is Ji Sheng, and I live next door to you."
Xie Xuanming didn't know why the neighbor suddenly wanted to introduce himself, he was sure that he would not take care of this "business"...
He responded awkwardly: "Xie Xuanming."
"Oh." Ji Sheng nodded, and said dryly, "Good name."
"… thanks."
Ji Sheng touched his head, as if he couldn't stand the awkward chat, and said his purpose: "I came to bother you because I wanted to borrow something."
"… what?"
"Hemp rope." Ji Sheng's words are correct, "It's better to be thicker and stronger, and the kind that won't easily loosen things when tied."
"..."
Xie Xuanming was shocked by Ji Sheng's words again. The effect of hemp rope flashed through his mind, hanging himself, tug-of-war...
Xie Xuanming's complexion changed, and he couldn't help thinking of a hidden possibility.
So his complexion became more complicated, and he emphasized: "That watch... can really sell for a good price."
Ji Sheng was also very serious: "I can return the watch to you, but if you have a rope, can you please lend me it first, I'm in a hurry to use it."
Xie Xuanming really wanted to complain about how normal people would have hemp ropes in their homes, but then he thought about the fact that he still had one hanging in his fucking toilet, but he didn’t know that if the person in front of him knew the original purpose of the hemp ropes, he would still use it. Can't let go...
The two faced each other awkwardly, and a sound suddenly broke in, breaking the calm.
"Hey! What are you doing, go to borrow something and chat with someone, can you hurry up!"
The irritable voice caught Xie Xuanming's attention. The half-hidden door next door opened wide, and the man in the white vest leaned out and yelled towards this side.
Xie Xuanming could probably guess the identity of this person, he silently sighed that everyone has difficulties, money is really hard to earn.
"Give me some more time!" Ji Sheng yelled back, turned his head back and said sincerely, "You saw it too, please."
Just as Xie Xuanming was about to speak, he heard another strange male voice from inside the door: "Don't be so anxious, this thing is not easy to borrow."
Three people? Xie Xuanming's complexion completely changed.
Is even the special service industry involved in this way now
"Please." Ji Sheng clasped his hands together and begged, "If you have any rope, please let me know. If it doesn't work, I can ask someone else to borrow it. Our band will perform tomorrow, and the song has not been finished yet, so I am really in a hurry. "
Xie Xuanming was stunned: "Band?"
"That's right, didn't you see me perform at the bar today? I'm the drummer..." Ji Sheng paused, "Would you like to watch the rehearsal of the band?"
"The one who yelled just now was our guitarist Li Tan, the one standing next to him was the bassist Sheng Kongzhi, and the one who looked pretty like a girl was the keyboardist Su Jing."
"Your mother Ji Sheng!" Su Jing threw something in his hand and cursed, "You don't hurt me a few times a day, don't you feel uncomfortable?"
Xie Xuanming followed behind Ji Sheng, watching the scene in front of him delicately.
It is indeed a band in front of me, but the guitar is not plugged in, the bass player is empty-handed, the keyboard just fell off a "cloth keyboard", and the drummer's drum...
The drummer's drum was a pile of pillows and quilts hanging askew by the bed, and the binding ropes were broken on the ground.
One word that this band highlights is poor, and two words are poor.
Xie Xuanming was shocked by how poor the band was, and couldn't help questioning: "This can... rehearse."
"Yes." Ji Sheng said, "Play the recorded music on the phone, and just follow along... But the drum is broken, so I have to tie it back as soon as possible."
Xie Xuanming was silent.
He finally understood that the sound he heard every night was not the "sport" but the yelling of the band rehearsal, and he also understood why the yelling of the musicians was louder than the instruments.
This band is too poor, there is no sounding instrument at hand, and the rehearsals are all based on imagination.
Xie Xuanming was silent for a moment, then turned around: "I happen to have a rope here, let me borrow it from you for rehearsal first."
"Really?! Thanks!" Ji Sheng's eyes lit up, "By the way, your voice is very nice, maybe you can sing? Are you interested in joining a band?"
"That still doesn't work... I'll get the rope."
Xie Xuanming declined, turned and went back to the room, Su Jing's yelling came from behind his ears.
"Hey, don't abduct children casually, you are not satisfied with trapping me in alone, aren't you..."
Xie Xuanming removed the rope from the toilet pipe, took a long time to untie the knot, and took it out. As soon as the door was pushed open, the person squatting by the door almost flew away.
Xie Xuanming was frightened for the first time tonight, he could barely stop his strength, he bowed his head in palpitations: "You are not rehearsing, why are you squatting here?"
"Wait for you." Ji Sheng jumped up from the ground with a smile, "Are you free tomorrow night?"
Xie Xuanming couldn't figure out what this drummer, who was following his own logical blind spot in every step, wanted to do.
But the brain automatically thinks about Ji Sheng's problem. The rope has been borrowed, so it is definitely impossible to hang it...
"Maybe... not necessarily."
"That's great." Ji Sheng's eyes lit up, he took out a bracelet like magic, and slapped it on Xie Xuanming's wrist without any doubt.
"Tomorrow there will be a band festival at the Magic Flute Bar. We have a performance. This is the ticket."
He took the hemp rope from Xie Xuanming, waved his hand before returning to the house and emphasized: "Come on!"
The door is closed.
Xie Xuanming bowed his head, and used a highlighter to draw two arcs on the gel bracelet on his wrist, forming the shape of two mountains.
In the dim light, the simple green hills emit a faint green light, and the crooked writing on the side is eye-catching.
Green out.