Strange story player

August 12, overcast.

Qin Manjiang picked up the glasses on the bedside table and put them on. He turned to look at the time, which was seven-thirty in the morning.

Although the curtains were drawn, not a trace of morning light came in. It looked like it was a cloudy day.

Get up from bed and turn on the TV, the morning news is playing.

He picked up his phone and sent a message to the monitor.

"If you don't feel well, please continue to ask for leave."

Soon, he received a voice from the monitor who also got up early:

"Classmate Qin Manjiang, if you don't come here you will fail all the courses this semester. You still..."

The voice was very gentle, but Qin Manjiang did not continue to listen.

He doesn't like his name very much.

This name was given by my father. He was not a man of culture. He had never been out of the small village by the river in his life. He just heard that when he was born, it happened to be dusk. The old village chief was very interested in poetry. He looked at the red river and read out He saw "a setting sun spreads over the water, half of the river is rustling and half of the river is red", so Lao Qin got inspired and immediately decided that half of the river was so beautiful, so my son must at least be a full river.

At the suggestion of the old village chief, the name Qin Quanjiang was replaced by Qin Manjiang.

Qin Manjiang was also very happy. Fortunately, Lao Qin didn't have the brains to name him Qin Sesu.

However, later Lao Qin drowned in the river he had relied on all his life. After that, Qin Manjiang didn't like his name very much.

"It's okay, monitor. Please help me ask for leave as usual. I will find a solution myself if I fail the class."

Qin Manjiang replied.

Then he put down his phone.

As an ordinary riverside farm boy, Qin Manjiang had only two major events happen in his ordinary life for the past twenty years:

One thing is that he was admitted to a university, and it was Fucheng University, which was well ranked and not too far from home.

The other thing was the death of Lao Qin.

Lao Qin was a country man with a big heart. Although he lost his wife in his early years, he always lived happily and heartlessly. Qin Manjiang never believed that he would commit suicide when his son was admitted to college.

But the words that Lao Qin committed suicide were said by his sister herself. She watched helplessly as Lao Qin slowly walked into the river at the same dusk as the day Qin Manjiang was born. The river submerged his body and soon There was no trace of the man. When he was found downstream, he had turned into a floating corpse swollen by water. After identification, the corpse was indeed that of Lao Qin.

Logically speaking, if the biological sister witnessed the suicide process, there would be no need for suspicion or investigation.

But after Lao Qin committed suicide, his sister's mental state has been very strange. She is full of aggression and always looks at everything around her with vicious and fearful eyes.

After examination, the doctors concluded that Qin Yiyi suffered from a variety of mental illnesses, the most serious of which was persecutory delusion. If left unchecked, it would cause great harm to society.

Qin Manjiang did not follow the doctor's orders to send her to a mental hospital. Instead, he quit the school dormitory and rented an apartment in Fucheng to take care of her.

But even so, Qin Yiyi completely lost consciousness a month ago. She was sent to the hospital for rescue and has not regained consciousness until now.

And this is also the reason why Qin Manjiang skips class all day now.

He needed money. Although it was almost natural for students of Fucheng University to find a job with a good salary as long as they graduated normally, he couldn't wait.

The medical equipment that keeps Qin Satisfied alive costs a huge amount of money each time, and he needs a lot of money.

She couldn't die like this.

Whether as a sister or as a direct witness to Lao Qin's suicide.

Qin Manjiang picked up the remote control, slightly amplified the sound of the news on the TV, and then walked to the bathroom. Just as he squeezed the toothpaste onto his toothbrush, but before he put it into his mouth, his cell phone rang again.

This time it was not the monitor, but a phone call, and the monitor did not have his phone number.

Sure enough, after wiping the water on his hands, he went over to pick up his phone. After taking a look at the call information, Qin Manjiang's eyes brightened slightly.

Everyone has friends, and Qin Manjiang also has one. Although birds of a feather flock together, this friend of Qin Manjiang is actually a real rich second generation.

Qin Satisfied almost all of the initial treatment expenses were paid by him in advance.

His surname is Li, and his given name is Xijiu. Li Xi also has a brother named Wang Dongcheng. One of the two brothers takes his father's surname Wang, and the other takes his mother's surname Li. This is probably why he has been following Jiang since he was a child. The reason why the border boy Qin Manjiang got together.

The eldest brother who inherited his father's surname is responsible for taking care of the family business and other matters. He is mainly responsible for living and spending money.

Only contented people deserve happiness, and Li Xi is very content.

However, Li Xi stopped studying.

It's not that he couldn't get into college, he even got into Fucheng University like Qin Manjiang.

But he was expelled shortly after entering the school in his freshman year.

The reason was that one night when he was running on the playground, he saw a group of people fighting outside the wall. On a whim, he climbed up the wall and sat on it to eat melon.

He was looking at it happily, but he didn't know who pushed him, or his butt slipped, and he fell from the wall, just in the middle of two groups of people, who were pushing hard. , when they saw that they didn’t recognize this man, they all thought he was the person called from the opposite side, so they beat him together.

How can a rich second generation who has done everything but study since childhood be willing to suffer such a disadvantage?

He said he would fight back and he fought back.

When the police finally arrived to examine the injuries, the two groups of people were almost always pushing and shoving, and they did not injure each other at all.

On the contrary, it was Li Xi who came down from the sky and greeted them with bruises all over his body and face.

This matter was later caught. Li Xi said that his brother could have solved the problem, but he himself was not willing to study, so he simply left Fucheng University.

In short, this guy is tall, handsome, and rich. He has almost no shortcomings except for his bad brain.

Maybe not having a good brain is an advantage, but that's not necessarily the case.

But no matter how much you miss me, isn't it too much to call me in the morning?

Qin Manjiang pressed answer:

"how?"

He asked doubtfully with toothpaste foam in his mouth.

"Brother Qin, I'm watching a movie!"

Li Xijiu's voice was quite excited.

Qin Manjiang turned his head and glanced at the time on the TV. Watching a movie so early?

"Oh, so what?"

Qin Manjiang asked casually while brushing his teeth.

"This movie is so interesting. Everyone is so immersed in it. The girl next to me was so scared that she cried, but her face didn't take off her makeup? It was obviously painted so white."

Li Xi muttered.

"The world is such a big place, and some people are so white that they reflect the light. It's normal."

Qin Manjiang held the phone between his right shoulder and the side of his face, and with difficulty he freed his hand to squeeze out the shampoo.

Speaking of this, Qin Manjiang was stunned. The cinema was already open at 7:30 in the morning, and judging from Li Xi's words "everyone", there were actually quite a lot of spectators.

"It makes sense," Li Xi seemed to be convinced by Qin Manjiang, but soon exclaimed, "Wow! Brother Qin! There was an old man who was sitting in the second row just now. Just sit down while I have a word with you. It’s so fast to get to the row in front of me!”

"The world is such a big place, it's normal for some people to move fast, and your own movements are not slow either."

Qin Manjiang squeezed the shampoo on his head and replied while rubbing it.

"Yes..." Li Xijiu's voice seemed to be quieter. After a while, he asked with some doubts: "Brother Qin, the old man in the front row suddenly turned his head and looked at me. Did I speak too much? He heard the loud noise... He turned his head and turned around without even moving his body. It's really amazing..."

"The world is such a big place, and it's normal for there to be a few people with strange bones."

Qin Manjiang still didn't take it seriously.

"You didn't call me early in the morning just to tell me you were watching a movie, right?"

"Ah?" Li Xijiu's voice was full of surprise, "What's so early in the morning? Isn't it past ten o'clock in the evening? I thought you should get off work from whatever part-time job you have, so I planned to watch a movie waiting for you, and then we went to eat Ordering some late night snacks.”

Qin Manjiang stopped washing his hair and his body stiffened for a moment. At this time, a clear broadcast came from the TV:

"In the early hours of last night, a fire broke out in a cinema at No. 36 Tiannan Road in our city. No survivors have been found yet. The specific casualties are still under investigation..."

Qin Manjiang held his breath subconsciously. He knew that Li Xi was not a joking person.

"Where are you watching movies?"

"Tiannan Road!"

"What's the date today?"

"Ah?" Li Xijiu's voice seemed very baffling.

"Answer me seriously, what day do you think today is?"

Qin Manjiang's attitude made Li Xi stunned, but soon he answered honestly: "It's August 11th, Brother Qin, what's wrong with you?"

This sentence seemed to turn on some kind of switch.

The whole world seemed to be soaked in water at this moment, everything around him began to twist strangely, and a not strong but real sense of suffocation suddenly appeared.

"Qin...Brother Qin, everyone in the cinema suddenly turned to look at me..."

Li Xi's stammering voice came from the phone. This was the first time Qin Manjiang felt the emotion of cowardice from that boy.

Qin Manjiang took a deep breath. He didn't even realize that the more unspeakable and strange the situation, the faster he calmed down.

"Don't be afraid, they are just weird people. Don't act rashly. Answer me first. Is the cinema you are at No. 36 Tiannan Road? What time is it now?"

Qin Manjiang's description was just like a bunch of crazy talk. Most people wouldn't believe it, but Li Xi believed it.

"It's... No. 36 Tiannan Road, Critical Cinema. It's 10:31 pm on August 11th."

"I'm asking you, is this a joke?"

"Ah? What a joke, isn't today just..."

"..."

"Keep in touch and I'll figure it out."

"No... no, brother, I have to die. I can't stay here anymore..."

Before he finished speaking, the phone was hung up.

A blind tone came from the phone, and the morning news was still reporting about the fire at the Critical Cinema.

The fire has been extinguished and firefighters are searching for possible survivors.

But judging from the extent of the fire shown in the news footage, everyone in the cinema last night must have been in an accident.

After drying his hair, Qin Manjiang's hand reaching for his glasses stopped in mid-air.

Brain activity and time seemed to stand still for a moment.

That pair of glasses was given to me by Li Xi before the college entrance examination.

Frankly speaking, he and Li Xi were completely different in terms of family background, personality, hobbies, and behavior.

Li Xi is an extremely blindly optimistic fool. The only time Qin Manjiang got drunk was when Lao Qin passed away. He was afraid that the drunk Qin Manjiang would catch cold, so he drunkenly took off the table board and covered Qin Manjiang. The two of them almost died. Got a beating from the restaurant owner.

"The Critical Cinema was severely burned, and the chance of survival of the trapped people was extremely slim. We can see that several charred corpses have been transported out of the scene..."

Rationally speaking, Li Xi is already dead.

The scene had been burned to such a degree that no one could survive, and it was even difficult to extract DNA for identification.

But... I received a call from him.

He is still alive at 10:30 pm on August 11th, and can call himself on August 12th!

Qin Manjiang took a deep breath.

At this moment, Li Xijiu is like Schrödinger's cat, in a superposition of life and death.

This made Qin Manjiang hesitate. If something is not done, it may have two results, but once it is done, there can only be one final result. Human participation directly interferes with the result.

Li Xi is still living last night, but once he gets involved and destroys some delicate balance, or discovers him among the dead who are carried out, all the unknown will collapse into one result-his death. .

Qin Manjiang rubbed his already long hair fiercely.

He couldn't explain this unusual and bizarre incident that he couldn't even call the police to deal with.

But, just leave it alone?

At this time, the phone screen suddenly lit up. It was a text message. The sender was Li Xijiu. The message was very small but very clear. There were only two words:

"help me!"

Qin Manjiang let out a long breath, and all the entanglements and doubts disappeared, because he clearly saw the other party's request.

After washing his face with cold water, he did not rush out to go to the fire scene immediately. Instead, he read the relevant reports about the fire and some true or false information on the Internet.

He remained silent and sent a message back to Li Xi:

"Hide and stay alive."

"I'll take you back."

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