winter past

"boom!"

There was a shot.Xiaoman's fingers twitched, and she gripped the pillow tightly, and woke up instantly.

"Boom!"

Two more shots were fired in succession, followed by the sound of bullet casings jingling to the ground.Xiao Man didn't move, he lay sideways on the bed, but his eyes were wide open, he looked at the blue light reflected on the wall behind the bedside table.The blue light trembled, and a light of a similar color fell on the ceiling. From his angle, the edge of this light could not be seen at all.

The two pieces of blue light shook from time to time.

Someone was watching TV and the gunshots were coming from the TV.

"I'm the police! You're surrounded, it's best to put down your weapons now and don't act rashly!"

A man spoke in a straight voice, his voice sounded slightly broken.

A yawn sounded from Xiaoman's side.

"Da da."

Changed the channel.The blue light flickered, and a woman said hoarsely: "You know, I really loved you, but...but why did you treat me like this..."

The person next to him turned off the TV.The walls and ceiling are dark green.

Xiaoman was still lying on his side with his eyes open.Soon, the person next to him let out a steady breathing sound.Not far away, the light green tulle curtain gradually revealed blue.It was almost dawn.

At dawn, the people around Xiaoman got up.Xiaoman closed his eyes, and that person made a lot of noises—getting out of bed, walking in slippers, going to the toilet, washing, putting on clothes, buckling his belt, changing his leather shoes, walking around the room with his leather shoes on, going to the shop, etc. Marble tiles, walked to the carpet, pulled up the curtains, stroked Xiaoman's hair, opened and closed the door.

After the man left, Xiao Man took out the cell phone under the pillow to check the time.It's eleven o'clock at noon.Mobile sent a message, and his mobile phone bill was less than ten yuan.

Suddenly, there were two beeps in the room, and the door opened again.Xiaoman quickly put the phone back and closed his eyes.

Someone came in, wearing leather shoes, walking on the marble floor and on the carpet, and the footsteps of the person who had just left were very similar.The man walked to Xiao Man's bed, and put a box of something on the bedside table beside him. The sound of footsteps gradually faded away, and the man left.

This time, Xiaoman lay on the bed for more than an hour, and did not get up until he heard anyone coming in.He lit a cigarette and took two puffs. The action of smoking touched the wound at the corner of his mouth. He frowned, glanced at the bedside table, and saw a box of band-aids and a memo pad from Sixi Hotel on it.There are two lines written on the memo pad: I'm leaving first, seeing that you are sleeping soundly, I will go downstairs to help you renew the room for a day, you have my number, I will contact you when you are free.

The bandages are brand new, unopened.Xiao Man threw the sticky notes and Band-Aids into the trash can.He sat on the bedside for a while, went to lock the door with a cigarette in his mouth, checked the bathroom, wardrobe, under the bed, behind the curtains, turned on the TV, stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray, and watched from the side of the TV. He took out a bottle of miniature whiskey from the small wine cabinet, mixed half a bottle of mineral water and drank it, transferred to the movie station, and went back to bed to lie down.The police movie was playing on TV again, the volume was just right, as if someone was talking in his ear, shooting a gun in his ear, and chasing a car.When the spirit of wine came up, Xiao Man fell asleep soundly.

He slept until six o'clock in the afternoon, and went to the toilet to vomit after getting up.Feeling comfortable, he took a shower, brushed his teeth, shaved his beard, lit a cigarette, dug out the mini vodka in the bar, added iced Coke, made a large cocktail, drank half of it, and so on. After a long time, he burped. He rubbed his stomach, finished smoking the cigarette in his hand, put on the floral shirt on the sofa, floral pants, disposable slippers from the hotel, drank the remaining half of a cocktail, and walked around. Slippers, let's go.

He checked out in the lobby on the first floor and paid for the drinks.The female receptionist looked at him with a smile, and asked in a soft voice: "Just to confirm with you, I see that Mr. Lin who lives with you has left, which means that there will be no more people staying in the room? Then we will go to the room now." Arrange for cleaning staff to clean up."

"Mr. Lin?"

"Yes, here it shows..."

Xiaoman took out the cigarette case and took out a cigarette. The female receptionist leaned forward and smiled more kindly: "Sorry, smoking is not allowed indoors here."

Xiaoman said with a cigarette in his mouth, "Can you call me a car?" He asked, "Can I smoke outside?"

"Which direction are you going?" The female receptionist nodded: "Smoking is allowed outside."

"Fubei District, Yaochi Grand Ballroom."

Xiaoman went to smoke outside the hotel.From time to time the doorman by the revolving door looked him over from head to toe.Xiaoman's car arrived, he got in the car, sat in the passenger seat, the driver kept looking at his slippers.

Xiaoman lowered the window of the car, put his hands on the window and smoked, and said, "Fubei Old Street, Yaochi Grand Ballroom."

The driver asked: "Young man, are you here for a tour? Go to Fubei Old Street?"

The driver added: "At this time, there is nothing to do in the old street, and the shops are almost closed."

The driver asked him: "Would you like to go to the bar street next to the Foreigner's Wharf in the open area? It's a busy time right now."

The driver said: "You know the Pearl Sea Bar? It's very famous, do you want to go and see it?"

With a cigarette in his mouth, Xiaoman reached out to touch the driver's taxi license on the car, and said with a smile: "Jiahe's car, won't you take me to the Royal Garden opened by the prince?"

The driver laughed dryly twice and was speechless.When we got near Fubei Old Street, the driver spoke again and asked Xiaoman, "Is it near the pedestrian street or the overpass?"

"Near the pedestrian street." Xiao Man pointed to the front, "It's the building over the Baccarat Hotel."

The driver stopped at the entrance of the Baccarat Hotel and took a look outside: "Oh, this Yaochi Ballroom, is it on the third floor or the second floor? I've been driving for more than [-] years, and this is the first time I've heard of it."

Xiao Man said, "The second floor." He took out a stack of colored tickets from his trouser pocket, and handed it to the driver: "360 is open all day, five days a day, from 88:[-] am to [-]:[-] pm, ten yuan an hour, professional band, live Accompanist, this is a coupon, if five people come together, they will get a fruit plate worth [-], come and play when you are free."

He glanced behind him: "Can you put these in your car for me to promote?"

"Did you drive?"

"That's right." Xiaoman smiled, and paid the car fare with WeChat. There was not enough money in the WeChat wallet, and he used Alipay, but the balance was not enough. He fumbled in the left and right trouser pockets for a long time, and finally made up enough money. After paying the fare, he gave the driver the coupons and banknotes.The driver looked at his feet, looked at the coupon in his hand, frowned but didn't say a word.Xiaoman got out of the car, the driver drove away, and a lot of colorful tickets flew out of the car.

Xiaoman ran after the taxi for a while, picked up the tickets that fell on the ground, folded them one by one, and stuffed them back into his trouser pockets.

He entered the building through a small door next to the Baccarat Restaurant, facing a staircase that can accommodate only one person, the ceiling lights are red, and there are signs with red letters on a white background on the glass walls on both sides: Yaochi Grand Welcome to Ballroom!

A red arrow under the scarlet letter points directly to the second floor.

A middle-aged woman came down from the corner of the second floor, carrying a small leather bag on one shoulder, and a vegetable basket full of fruits and vegetables in the other. When she saw Xiao Man, she began to complain: "You are going to die, you ran there again ? The sun is going to set before coming back!”

As soon as she finished speaking, a group of beautifully dressed women rushed out from behind her, and they complained about Xiao Man: "Let Yang Yang watch the store again, the police are here and carefully arrest you and put you in jail!"

"Illegal child labor!"

"Where did you fight again?"

"Sixi Hotel? Where did you get the money?"

"Wang Gao just drank half a dozen beers, and he hasn't paid yet!"

The women walked downstairs one by one, brushing Xiaoman's shoulders and passing by him.Xiaoman arched her hands and went upstairs, smiling and said: "Thank you for taking care of the business, sister Xu, see you tomorrow, why did Sister Li leave like this today? Sister Fangfang, did you change the color of your hair? Younger than before."

"As long as 88, I applied for a membership card, and it was newly opened at the gate of our community."

"Do you want to recharge in advance?"

"Just that fruit shop, the one I took you to last time."

The women left in a row, Xiaoman went up to the second floor and opened a glass door.Behind the door was also a dark red, green smoke floating, the smell of oil, alcohol, and smoke came together, a yellow light swept over, and then a green light hit his face.Xiao Man could hardly keep his eyes open, and the soothing English song echoed in the dance hall.Xiao Man walked a few steps in, and nodded to the female singer and the band in the corner of the ballroom.Holding the microphone in one hand, the female singer also nodded, swaying her body along with the music.A musician played a saxophone solo.

People on the dance floor cuddle up and dance slowly.

"You can change Yangyang's desk lamp, if this continues, he will be blind before he even finished college!"

A woman danced to Xiaoman's side, and he couldn't see her face clearly. He stretched out his hand, took the woman's hand from the woman's male dance partner, wrapped her arms around her waist, and danced a slow dance with her, saying yes Said: "I will change it tomorrow."

After dancing twice, the woman danced away from him, and he took another woman's hand and danced the waltz.The woman's long hair smelled of rose essence. She asked Xiaoman, "I heard that Yangyang's mother is coming out?"

Xiao Man said, "Hurry up."

"Is there any quick song?"

"Legend of the Phoenix?"

"No, no, it's that..." The woman cleared her throat and sang, "I want to cross this desert and find my true self!"

Xiao Manwu arrived near the bar, let go of the woman, and gestured to her: "Arrange immediately!"

He walked to the bar and looked inside. A boy in school uniform was lying on his back doing homework by the sink.A few lily-of-the-valley-shaped lamps hung on the bar, emitting a dim yellow light.A man was lying on the bar with many beer bottles in his hand.The man appears to be sobbing.

Xiaoman asked the boy: "Do you know what song that is? Talk to Louise and the others, and sing to liven up the atmosphere."

Xiao Man also said: "You do your homework and go upstairs, it's a dirty place."

He lay half on the bar counter, stretched his arms, took a wine glass from the sink, and grabbed a bottle of vodka.

The boy looked up at him, Xiaoman smiled, put down the glass and bottle on the bar, and was about to pour wine, when a homework book blocked his glass.Xiaoman raised his eyes, the boy stood up, and pointed to the rest area beside the dance floor with a few booths with a cold face.A few indistinct figures sat there, very close to each other, like an inseparable shadow.

"I've been waiting for you for two hours." The boy pointed to a girl sitting alone with her shoulders hunched, holding a big canvas bag.The girl was looking down and swiping her phone.

"Looking for a cat?" Xiaoman said, the boy put down a box of chewing gum on the bar without saying a word.Xiaoman smiled, took one and stuffed it into his mouth, chewed it twice, breathed out twice into the palm of his hand, and the boy put down another scrunchie on the bar.Xiaoman smiled again, picked up the scrunchie, and used his hands to comb the shoulder-length hair.The man lying on the bar counter burst into tears.While tying her hair, Xiaoman walked towards the booth where the girl was sitting.When he reached the booth, he sat down opposite the girl.The girl didn't even look at him and said, "I'm really not here to dance with you." Her tone was really helpless.

"Are you a teacher at Qingda University?" Xiao Man asked, "Can Lu Yang's grades be recommended to Qingda University?"

The girl raised her head: "How do you know that I am the teacher of Qingda University?" She looked at Xiaoman in surprise, and then she was a little puzzled: "Who is Lu Yang?"

Xiao Man pouted at the canvas bag she was holding.The girl looked down and touched the "Qingshi University" printed on it, she couldn't help laughing, then her eyes froze and she said, "Why do I look like a university teacher?"

Xiao Man shrugged: "A feeling."

"What else do you feel?"

"You have been studying in Qingshi since you were a child." Xiao Man glanced at the ring on the girl's left ring finger, "Husband is also in Qingshi, a local, a civil servant?"

The girl lowered her gaze slightly, covered the ring with her right hand, and said softly, "I'm not married yet...it's my fiancé..."

Her voice brightened again immediately, she raised her gaze, stared straight at Xiao Man, and said, "You are really capable, I want to find someone." She looked around, "We can find a quieter place Can I come to your office?"

Xiao Man said, "Here it is."

"office?"

"That's right." Xiaoman lit a cigarette, "Who are you looking for? What's your name?" He said with a smile, "You're not looking for your fiancé, are you?"

"My surname is Yin, Yin Miaozai." Yin Miaozai tapped the phone twice, plugged in the earphone cable, handed the phone to Xiaoman, motioned him to look at the screen, and said, "I want to find the person who took this video."

Xiaoman put on the earphones.Click on the video.The video is shot from the perspective of No.1. It shows a person walking in a forest. This person is wearing hiking shoes and khaki pants. He looks like a man. His right hand wearing a black glove sometimes appears out of the camera.This person seems to be walking in the mountains, sometimes picking up a branch that fell on the ground, sometimes picking up a stone, sometimes picking some mushrooms, pulling some weeds, poking the dead sparrow with a branch, picking up a stone and throwing a stone. A twitching tricolor feral cat.

At the 4th minute of the video, the man pulled away the stomach of the three-color wild cat whose limbs were convulsed, and took out the heart of the wild cat and rubbed it in his hands.At 20 minutes and [-] seconds, the man grabbed two bloody kittens from the feral cat's stomach and showed them to the camera.

The video is four minutes and 30 seconds long.

Xiaoman asked Yin Miaozai: "These videos are spliced ​​together, are you a volunteer for an animal protection organization? You have been active around Montenegro?"