under fern mountain

The wind that is coming to an end in autumn already has a bleak air-conditioning, which penetrates into people's sleeves everywhere.The renovation of Tie Tou and Li Qing'er's salon is nearing completion.At the end of the last day of work, Shi Ran took off his leather shoes and stepped on the dark textured wooden floor. When he looked at the brand-new interior, he felt a lot of throbbing in his heart.There is a row of rooms on the long corridor, and the rooms are distributed on both sides. The glass sliding doors imitate the feeling of a screen. The mezzanine is electronic, and the background can be changed at any time. With the vase carefully selected by Li Qinger, it is very Zen.

"Have you figured out what the name of this place is?" Shi Ran turned around.

Li Qing'er smiled and pushed open the backyard sliding door behind him. The emerald green belt is like a green river, separating this building from the high-rise buildings in the opposite CBD.A few small maple trees rustled in the wind. The heavy rain the day before yesterday had almost lost all their reddish leaves.

"Cicada House, you can hear cicadas singing in the backyard in summer." Li Qing'er said.

"Good name." Shi Ran smiled, "This decoration style is also very Zen-like, it doesn't feel like a salon or a club or something."

"Someone will like it."

"I just like it."

Tietou came out from the next room and put on his shoes under the steps: "If you like it, keep it! Let me tell you, the teacher and supplies are all ready, try it in the next two days, and it will officially open when the debugging is almost done. Come and listen first!"

Shi Ran came home humming a song, he seemed to be in a very good mood, the scarf he had taken off was hanging on his arm, he took off his coat and weighed it, shaking off the autumn atmosphere outside.Pei Haojie was originally busy in the room, so she came out when she heard the sound, and asked him if he was back, and asked if he was hungry.

"What good happened? I'm in a good mood!"

"The Cicada House has been completely renovated. It is very beautiful. They will start debugging in a few days. It is estimated that there will be lecturers and courses. Come with me to have a look?"

"Cicada House? It's just the iron head salon, right?" Pei Haojie looked at his phone, "What date do you want to go?"

Shi Ran said the date, Pei Haojie looked at the schedule, and said with a little regret: "I can't do it today, I have to cooperate with my partner to be online all day long!"

"Ah, it's probably a few days, it's okay to go the next day!"

"It's not very good in those few days." Pei Haojie shook his head, "Next week happens to be the busiest week, if it's okay at night."

"Then to sit down tonight?" Shi Ran was a little disappointed.

Pei Haojie glanced at her, and said with a smile, "I see that you are quite interested, why, is your heart moved?"

To say that Shi Ran didn't feel much before, but now he does have a feeling of 'seeing it rise up'.I really like it. The operation method and working atmosphere are completely his ideal.During the renovation period, Tie Tou and Li Qing'er talked to him about their future plans and prospects, which sounded very good.Having such a salon in a concrete jungle is like an oasis in the desert.

"Let me follow the lecture first!" Shi Ran approached him and said, "By the way, the last time you said you wanted to move, the contract expired at the end of the year, why don't we go and have a look?"

Pei Haojie poked around in the refrigerator, and finally found the last bottle of Coke from the box: "Okay, you want to go to the CBD?"

Shi Ran lowered his eyes: "Yes."

"The price over there is not cheap, don't worry now?" Pei Haojie grabbed the pull ring and pulled open the can.

"If there is a suitable one." Shi Ran paused, "Where do you want to go?"

"It's pretty much the same for me." Pei Haojie waved her hand and walked to the game room, "I'll have a meeting with the group later. There are braised noodles in the pot, so don't wait for me after I've eaten it!"

After all, Pei Haojie was unable to visit Cicada House, nor participated in the celebration of the opening of the store. The next week was indeed very busy as he said.There is a person in his online team who will contact him specifically in this city, and sometimes Pei Haojie will invite people to work outside.Several times when Shi Ran came home, Pei Haojie was not there.

There are always pre-made meals in the pot, but Pei Haojie sits at the table with him to eat less and less often.

He was either outside or in the game room.

Shi Ran didn't know why his workload became so heavy all of a sudden, he hesitated to speak several times, so he suddenly understood Pei Haojie's mood before.

Why did Pei Haojie always persuade him not to be too tired and to relax more... At that time, Pei Haojie must have hoped that he could sit at the dining table every day, right?

In addition, Pei Haojie's schedule also changed, with a tendency to turn day and night upside down.Although he used to work a little more at night, but he almost finished it after ten o'clock. In the morning, he was refreshed and refreshed earlier than Shi Ran, so he had enough time to make breakfast for him.Now, first it was eleven o'clock, then it was twelve o'clock, and then it was very common to stay in the room until one or two o'clock in the morning.At first, Shi Ran would wait for him to go to bed together and urge him to sleep, but then Pei Haojie started to let him go to bed first, and then gently went to bed in the middle of the night.He couldn't get up in the morning, usually when he was making dinner, he even made breakfast for the next day. Shi Ran only needed to put it in the microwave to heat it up before eating.

Except for being busier, life seems to be the same as before.

But there is a difference.

One weekend, Shi Ran thought that both of them had time, so he just drove outside to get some fresh air. They haven't been to the suburbs for a long time.When he told Pei Haojie about this, he was still reading the comments at the computer desk, so he agreed without any objection.

That night, Shi Ran began to prepare things vigorously.He prepared picnic mats, awnings, mosquito repellents.Not to mention all kinds of food, I made a few egg salads and pork bacon sandwiches, boiled sweet porridge, poured it into a thermos cup and put it in the refrigerator in advance, various snacks and fruits, chocolate scones, and a bottle of good vintage red wine .After getting the main things ready, he started picking up the odds and ends again.What peppermint oil, bouncing balls, pillows... When it was almost time, he knocked on the door of the game room.

"I have everything ready, can you see if there is anything else to bring?"

"What?" Pei Haojie took off the earphones, her expression was blank for a second, "Oh, wait for me, I'll be right there."

Shi Ran curled up on the sofa and searched the map while waiting.He knew that after walking south into the valley, he had a wide view. After driving for an hour on the winding mountain road, he suddenly realized that there was a flat grassy slope on the high ground, facing west, with no visual obstruction, and he could see the fiery red sunset—— This was the place he discovered during the company's team building last year, and he always wanted to take Pei Haojie there alone.

Shi Ran searched the surrounding area for places to drop by, his eyelids drooped as he searched.

Shi Ran woke up from the cold.There was a gap in the window, and the night wind blew in, making the skin cool.

Glancing sleepily at the virtual clock on the wall, it was almost twelve o'clock, Shi Ran sat up cleverly, and rubbed his face sleepily.

The luggage and the food he had just prepared were still on the dining table, untouched, and there was no time to put them in the box.

Pei Haojie was still in the game room.

Shi Ran sat on the sofa for a while, and found that the phone was out of battery. His chest was full of suffocation. He pulled on his slippers and walked to the door of the game room, and knocked heavily on the door.

"I've been waiting for you for three hours." Shi Ran pushed the door open and entered.

To his surprise, Pei Haojie did not sit at the computer desk, but leaned against the bay window.He has one leg bent, his hands resting on his knees, in a relaxed posture, and he wears a mesh "hat" on his head.He closed his eyes and looked as if he was asleep.

Shi Ran recognized at a glance that the mesh "hat" was the equipment in the "Messiah" set box he gave him not long ago.The metal sheets at the intersecting points of the nets are attached to Pei Haojie's scalp, refracting the faint light like small mirrors. A silver cable hangs from the back of Pei Haojie's head, winding and connecting to the buzzing people not far away. ringing host.

The computer was not turned off, and there was a layer of holographic light and shadow floating on the screen, which was the standby screen of a dark blue whale swimming.The room is very quiet, there is no sound of mouse and keyboard, only the cold sound of the host humming.

Shi Ran suddenly felt that this scene had a strange feeling, and there was an inexplicable resistance in his heart.

He called Pei Haojie twice, and approached him slowly, but Pei Haojie didn't respond.As soon as his fingers touched the "hat" on top of his head, he was scalded and retracted for a moment.

The small mesh-shaped iron pieces looked like dead objects, but they were hot to the touch.

Brain wave spectrum reader - he remembered what Pei Haojie said at the time.Those mirror-like metal discs were working hot against his scalp—are they working now?Are you continuously inputting the information and images from those games into Pei Haojie's brain?How is all this possible?

Shi Ran pushed and called Pei Haojie, but there was no response after calling several times.His heart tightened, his sense of uneasiness grew stronger, he suddenly grabbed that "hat" and threw it aside!

The moment they were pulled apart, Shi Ran felt those metal patches being torn off like suction cups... They seemed to be alive, and they were attached to the surface of Pei Haojie's scalp!

He squatted down nervously to check, and found that the "hat" that had been thrown on the ground had lost its temperature just now, and became just like a cold appliance.Those metal pieces feel unremarkable, nothing more than an ordinary metal substance.

Pei Haojie on the window sill moved and groaned uncomfortably.

Shi Ran immediately got up to support him, then shook him and called him, Pei Haojie held the back of his head and opened his eyes... He looked like he had just woken up.

"Why... my head hurts." Pei Haojie pressed her fingers from the back of her head to her temples.

"I can't wake you up!" Shi Ran replaced his hand, inserted his five fingers into his black hair, and stroked his scalp... His fingertips were still cold "What happened to you just now? Did you fall asleep or what? gone?"

"You just tore it off?" Pei Haojie saw the EEG reader thrown on the ground, "I said why it hurts so much... This thing can't be picked off like this! It's connected to my leather watch when it's working, so pull it forcibly Coming down is like forcibly pulling the plug out."

"Do you know how scary it was just now? I almost thought something happened to you!" Shi Ran's face was not very good.

"It's okay...it just hurts." Pei Haojie still hummed.

"Were you playing a game just now? "Messiah"?"

"Because the sensory reality is enhanced, the senses in reality will be temporarily blocked during the game in order to have a better sense of immersion." Pei Haojie suddenly became excited, pulled Shi Ran's hand to stand up, and looked straight at him, " This game experience is so damn good! I really didn’t expect Jinchuan to be able to do this! It’s not that I haven’t played sensory-enhanced games before, but the sense of immersion is not so good. Vision, hearing, smell, taste, The sense of touch...the five senses all need a perfect balance, and the equipment needs to follow the brains of different people to adjust the frequency and intensity of the electric waves in real time, otherwise there will only be a feeling of nausea and vomiting. But "Messiah" does not, at least my first one I didn’t play it for the first time, and it’s almost very close to the real feeling!”

Shi Ran was clutched by him, feeling his sweaty palm.

He just felt creepy.

"If I can't pick like this... how can I get you out of the game?"

"Look here." Pei Haojie picked up the music reader. On the silver cable connected to the host, there is an inconspicuous switch that glows a green light faintly. "Press and hold here, the game will exit, and the light will turn off." .”

"Then if you want to quit by yourself, what should you do?" Shi Ran lowered his eyes, his eyes flickering.

"Just log out of the game on your own!"

Seeing Pei Haojie carefully picking up the "hat" and putting it in the drawer, Shi Ran felt complicated: "You were just playing with this all the time? It shouldn't be part of your job, right?"

"I was too busy before, and I haven't had time to play since you gave it to me. Just now, I went offline and said a few words to my friend. He just mentioned this game, and I remembered it."

Shi Ran took a deep breath, and his chest became heavier: "You don't know that I've been waiting for you outside? It's twelve o'clock now."

Pei Haojie looked at the time in surprise, and it was indeed a few minutes past morning.

"I didn't pay attention...my problem, my problem, I wanted to go in and feel the game, but it turned out to be a little bit high...I will collect all the things later!"

"It's over." Shi Ran felt the breath in his chest getting heavier and heavier, almost nailing him to the ground.

He didn't know what was wrong with him.Pei Haojie probably didn't do it on purpose, he really didn't notice, but he couldn't swallow that turbid breath in his chest.It seemed that the dissatisfaction that had been hesitant to speak for so many days came to my head, and my tone began to become choked unconsciously.

"We went out to play tomorrow, and you also nodded. I prepared for an hour outside, but you still didn't come out to take a look. After everything was packed, I asked you to come and see what you want to bring... You know that I Waiting for you outside, unable to come out after work, and playing the new game until twelve o'clock, what do you mean, Pei Haojie?"

Pei Haojie remained silent and did not speak. The two stood facing each other, and the only sound in the room was the humming of the main unit.

"I don't mean anything, I just accidentally forgot the time." Pei Haojie lowered her voice significantly when she spoke again, "I apologize too, can you give me a step down? Do you have to be so aggressive?"

"I'm aggressive?" Shi Ran laughed, "I've waited for you until now, and I said you are aggressive?"

"Then what do you want now!" Pei Haojie leaned hard on the computer desk, the corner of the desk was pushed and made a harsh friction sound.

"What's your attitude now?"

"I don't have any attitude." Pei Haojie's eyes turned cold, "I said it wasn't intentional, and I also said it was my problem. My attitude is not good enough? Have you ever made such a mistake? I just signed a contract with a new platform last time. , With so much pressure from online public opinion, I still cook a table of food and wait for you to go home? What about you? You completely forgot to drink with others!"

"Don't you want to go through old accounts with me?"

"Why can't you turn over?" Pei Haojie straightened up, and put a club in front of Shi Ran, "You have also made the mistakes I made, can't you just compare your heart?"

Shi Ran took a deep breath: "Okay, okay, compare your heart with your heart. You have fun, and I won't disturb you."

After saying this, he turned and went out the door.