After midnight

At 3:30 in the afternoon, Liujiu woke up in the dark. He cursed and turned over to sleep again. There was only darkness here, and the air was thin and oppressive. He could do nothing except force himself to fall asleep.

At five o'clock in the afternoon, Liujiu woke up again. This time he held his forehead and sat up. The long sleep made him dizzy. He sat up and rubbed his temples for a long time before getting up and turning on the light switch.

The white oblong lamp hanging overhead was the only light in the house. It could only emit a faint, pale light, which made the room with only a bed and a table even more empty and desolate. Liujiu didn't like this room, and he didn't like this lamp either.

He pushed open the door, and the corridor outside was filled with dim light day and night. Liujiu walked towards the room next to him in two steps under the dim light, where Saner was staying.

Six-Nine closed the door, and the door without a lock creaked and made a slight sound.

"Three, two." Liujiu came over and called in a low voice.

San'er heard the noise, got out of bed and turned on the light. The light was as pale as the one in Liujiu's room.

"Let's play cards."

"Okay." San Er opened the first drawer near the bed and took out a deck of cards.

A deck of poker requires at least three people to play, but Liujiu and Saner were very skilled at playing cards in each other's shadows. After playing three rounds, Liujiu suddenly threw the cards. He looked at the undecorated room and walls, with a look of resistance and resistance on his face, and he was extremely impatient.

"I can't stand it anymore!" he shouted at Saner.

"Keep your voice down!" San Er said immediately. Under San Er's warning look, Liu Jiu had no choice but to control his temper.

"It's almost time for dinner, let's go eat."

Saner threw down the cards and walked out the door, and Liujiu followed him in silence and annoyance.

The dining area was also in a small room, which was also unlocked. Liujiu followed Saner through the gloomy corridor to the dining room. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the dining room would be delivered by someone. They only needed to eat on time and leave on time.

At half past five, the two of them arrived at the restaurant. San Er pushed open the door and saw Ling Yi already sitting there. There were four lunch boxes neatly placed on the long table in front of Ling Yi. The one in front of Ling Yi was still untouched, and it seemed that he had just arrived.

"Zero One." Three Two greeted him as usual.

Lingyi seemed not to see or hear anything. He picked up the chopsticks and opened today's lunch box.

Cabbage, cauliflower and a few pieces of fish.

San Er was deliberately ignored by Ling Yi, but he didn't bother. He walked over, sat at his seat, and began to concentrate on enjoying his dinner. The dinner lasted half an hour, and there was no other sound in the small room that served as a temporary restaurant except for the chewing sound, which was so depressing that it made people crazy.

At six o'clock, after Lingyi left, Liujiu also stood up with Saner, and the two walked back to Saner's room together.

"I didn't see the master tonight." San Er said as soon as the door was closed.

"I saw it."

"Did he go out? Where did he go?"

"how could I know."

"Fuck, if this continues, I'm going to go crazy."

"You've been here for more than a decade, and I've never seen you go crazy."

"Haven't we already been out? Saner, ask yourself, can the situation be the same now?" Liujiu was unhappy, very unhappy.

"Yeah." San'er sighed and sat on his bed.

"I said, Song Yu wouldn't really go out, right?"

"Probably."

After San Er answered, he thought to himself, three meals a day, Song Yu always only had dinner with them. Since Qi Qi's death, this was the first time that Song Yu did not show up since they came back here again.

In this dark place where people's bodies and souls are imprisoned, no matter how hard you rack your brains, you can't figure out the reason. After thinking this through, San Er stopped thinking about it. Maybe Song Yu went out, but they are still here.

"How long will we stay here?" Liujiu suddenly asked.

Yes, how long will they stay here? Returning to this place again, I still feel strange and scared, and even these dark days are unbearable.

Liujiu looked at Saner's dazed face and couldn't help but get annoyed again. He was most afraid that this person would fall into his own world and ignore him, so he pushed Saner's shoulder and sat down.

"Hey, shall we play something else?"

"It's boring, go back to sleep."

"I just woke up!"

"Then go back to sleep."

"You!" Liujiu held back. He didn't want to yell and get scolded by Saner again.

Liujiu turned and walked to her room. At worst, she could come back to see him later. A real man can bend and stretch.

After Liujiu left, Saner fell back on the bed. He wrapped himself tightly in the quilt and closed his eyes. He was still conscious, and the light bulb of defeat above his head was still continuously and steadily lit.

Song Yu left Xishan early in the morning and hurried to Jiudu, returning to the Song family's ancestral home where he swore he would never go back again, because Song Nan wrote to tell him that Song Xin was back.

Stepping into the threshold of the Song family's ancestral home, Song Yu went to Song Xin's room first without any hesitation.

He walked through the flowerbed in front of Song Xin's room. The flowers in the flowerbed had all withered and decayed, lifeless. Song Yu walked hurriedly, anxiously, and walked all the way back, feeling hot all over, with the soles of his feet and the palms of his hands emitting amazing heat.

He was surprised to see Song Xin's door unlocked from a distance. But he immediately remembered that Song Xin was like this when she left. When she left, the door was open and she took nothing with her. Song Yu's face darkened again.

"Song Xin!" Song Yu pushed the door open directly. There was no one inside and nothing had changed.

Song Yu stood at the door of the room for two seconds, then turned to look for Song Nan. He was trembling all over, and he realized that he was a clown. The wide-open door was like a hole in his heart, which could not be closed and leaked air. The cold winter wind kept blowing in.

Today's weather is dark, gloomy, windy, and bitingly cold. But the weather forecast shows that this kind of weather will continue for some time in the future.

Song Yu kicked open the door of Song Nan's office, pulled Song Nan up from his seat, and angrily pulled the collar of his black cotton coat. "You lied to me!"

"Yes, I lied to you. Because I can't think of a more effective way to make you come to me!" Song Nan roared. Song Yu immediately punched Song Nan. The punch was so heavy that Song Nan fell to the ground.

Song Nan stood up after spitting blood. He thought he would be hit by Song Yu again. But Song Yu looked up with his hands hanging down, and he had regained his composure and self-control.

"Tell me, what's the matter?"

"I want to go with you." Song Nan covered his face and added dryly, "I will manage the Song Corporation well."

Song Yu looked at Song Nan's swollen cheekbones and turned away. "Whatever you want, I'm tired and need to take a rest."

"Brother, let's have dinner at home?" Song Nan chased after him excitedly.

Song Yu didn't nod or say yes or no, he just walked forward as if he was familiar with the way, all the way back to his bedroom. Just as he imagined, his bedroom was much cleaner. Song Yu took off his coat which was a little thin in winter, lifted the quilt and covered his head to sleep.

After An Yan's birthday, the weather suddenly turned cold, with strong winds and haze continuing.

Wu Si wraps himself tightly in his down jacket and goes out at ten o'clock in the morning, no matter whether it is sunny or cloudy.

During the day, when Xu Xing and Bai Ming were not around, Wu Si gradually developed a habit, which was to go for a walk. Parks, rivers, and all walkable streets. He could stand the cold and silence better than most people. He would walk until he was hot and even sweaty, and then he would walk back home alone. After returning home, he would do nothing but take a good bath and then have a good sleep. After waking up, he would do housework at home or go out to see a movie. Usually, after killing an hour or two, it was time for him to go to work.

Because it was winter, the bar basically closed at 12 o'clock. After the bar closed, Wu Si finished his work and then walked back with Bai Ming or Xu Xing. Most of the time, he was with Bai Ming. In winter, Xu Xing seemed to become lazy and rarely came at night. But when they returned home at 12 o'clock, Xu Xing would definitely be at home and not asleep, so they would go out for a meal together or make a midnight snack at home.

Wu Si likes this kind of life very much.

That day, Wu Si walked until he was sweating all over before turning around and heading home. He went home to take a shower, sleep, watch a movie, eat dinner, and then go to work.

"Xiaowu, good evening." Bai Mingcai appeared in the bar at 7:30 in the evening.

"Good evening, Ming." Xiao Wu responded. Bai Ming came a little late again today.

"Xiao Wu, today is Monday, there won't be many people here at night, let's pack up and go back early."

"Um, okay."

They said they would go back early, but the shop still closed at 11 o'clock in the evening, after everyone had left. Wu Si locked the door and walked back with Bai Ming.

In the dark sky, there were several strip-like ripples slowly spreading out. Wu Si looked carefully and felt that these ripples were even deeper and heavier than the dark sky. Perhaps, this was the dark cloud hanging over everyone's head.

Wu Si took a breath of cold air and ignored the little tail that suddenly appeared behind him in the past few days.