Chapter 3 Chapter 2 Fateful Encounter

Sunday, July 31, 2012 at 7:30pm. The typhoon has just passed through, and the night in the scorching heat is cool and clear for a long time, with a blue smell in the deep black. Xia Weilan dragged a large suitcase out of the subway station, swaying step by step, struggling to climb up the steps, the huge pendant on her chest dangling back and forth.As soon as she got out of the ground, she let out a "wow": the ground was in a mess outside, the billboards on the side of the road were blown down by the strong wind, the trees on the sidewalk were crooked, and the branches and leaves were scattered all over the ground, like stumps that were forcibly torn off broken arm.

Isn't City S known as one of the most prosperous cities in Asia?Why is it so embarrassing after a typhoon? She walked carefully on the sidewalk, not to let the sewage splash on her snow-white shoes and socks. She found that here, like her hometown, walking on the sidewalk in rainy days is also very dangerous: there may be a small bubble of water hidden under each loose floor tile, and if you step on it accidentally, you will win the lottery with a "poof".So, she could only drag her luggage and jump on tiptoe, judging where to step on all the way, moving forward cautiously. It really looks like Super Mario... Thinking of this, Xia Weilan couldn't help but burst out laughing.

However, although she was hit by several "landmines" in a row and some sewage was splashed on her white sneakers, she lived in the north of the Yangtze River until she was 18 years old, but she had never seen a so-called typhoon, so her heart was full of freshness Sensation—just like she is full of curiosity about this city S, which is famous for its wealth and prosperity in the world. At 7:45 in the evening, she finally arrived at the long-awaited Jiada World Trade Plaza. The square is noisy and bustling, and the crowd is bustling. On the famous street, one after another international brand stores are vying for the attention of passers-by. The lights make the dresses in the window bright and gorgeous, and there are handsome men and women trying on clothes in the store.From LV, GUCCI to HERMES, every store is so exquisite and luxurious.

Xia Weilan was wandering alone on the street where the heavy rain had just stopped, dragging a large suitcase, passing one shop window after another, her eyes sparkling.As she walked, a piece of clothing on the model in the window caught her attention: many silver maple leaves were embroidered on the black background, revealing one shoulder obliquely, and the thin tassels on the waist chain hung down at the corners of the clothes on both sides. The craftsmanship is exquisite, the style is simple and unassuming, and it is quite different from the shops next to it.The back is also marked "Custom-made Clothes" in beautiful cursive characters, advanced tailoring.Anna Sui?Or Chanel?

Xia Weilan looked up at the name of the store, SELENE, but it was a brand that she had never heard of.She couldn't help but stop, glanced at the small label under the model's feet, and immediately opened her mouth into an O shape—— This set of clothes, from head to toe, actually costs more than 50,000 yuan! It's murder... Fifty-seven thousand is enough for a down payment on a small apartment in the small city of my hometown - who would be so stupid as to wear an apartment around? Xia Weilan immediately lost interest, muttered and straightened up, dragged her luggage and prepared to continue walking.The train was already delayed, and if I didn't find that address sooner, I'd be sleeping on the streets tonight.However, the moment she got up, her gaze passed between the criss-crossed arms of the models in the window, and suddenly stopped.

The outside world is wet, but the store is dry and comfortable. The decoration is mainly white and purple, simple and elegant, dotted with a little gold, and the crystal chandeliers are falling down. There are a few plum blossoms floating in the shallow container, which has a low-key luxury atmosphere. A group of people surrounded the young people in the center: a person who looked like a supervisor, three waitresses, five young shop assistants in uniform... Not far from the door stood two serious men in black suits. , actually wearing a pair of black sunglasses at night. Such an exaggerated dress... Could it be a bodyguard?She couldn't help becoming curious, and dragged the suitcase to take a look or two.The two clerks were half-kneeling on the cashmere carpet, measuring the length of the trousers of the young man standing on a three-inch-high wooden platform, and someone beside him bent down and recorded various data.

After a clerk stepped aside, Xia Weilan finally saw the person's appearance clearly—— The young man who was admired by the stars was not a few years older than himself, but he was in his early twenties, with pale complexion, stern eyebrows and eyes, perfect facial features like a sculpture, strangely dyed flaxen hair, and about 1.8 meters tall Zero's height, standing there, at first glance, is almost no different from the models in suits next to him. "Wow!" She couldn't help but exclaimed, revealing her nympho nature, she couldn't walk anymore. Everyone around him was serving respectfully, but the young nobleman was impatient, coughing slightly, standing there opening and closing a golden pocket watch in his hand boredly.

"Master, what kind of fabric do you want to use this time?" The supervisor asked attentively, "A new batch of Raymond's 11.6μm (micron) fabric has entered the store, which is made of the finest wool in the world. It retains its luxurious and delicate feel, and is so thin that it can be worn through a ring. However, Picchi’s gray traditional Prince of Wales is also very recommended.” "Whatever." The young man said calmly, his eyes fixed on the wall. There is a huge widescreen TV mounted on the wall of the store, which is broadcasting the news that a strong earthquake of magnitude 8 or above occurred in Sumatra in the Indian Ocean on July 25 and triggered a tsunami. In the camera, the huge flood instantly swallowed the entire island. It seemed as if a bottomless hole suddenly appeared in the cave, the seawater was sucked in, and rolled into a huge vortex, with dark red in the center of the vortex, it seemed that the lava was surging, and it seemed that the gate of hell was slowly opening. It looked hideous and terrifying in the aerial camera. "There are so many natural and man-made disasters recently, so there really is 2012?" The supervisor followed his gaze and sighed, "I heard that there was an earthquake in the Philippines a few days ago, and there was a tsunami in the Indian Ocean here." "Yes. ," the young man remained indifferent, "Maybe it will be S city's turn next." "This..." The supervisor didn't know what to say, and sweated—this young man has always been so withdrawn, he seems to be out of this world. Outside the world, he doesn't care about anything and has no mercy, unlike his father, a financial tycoon who is famous for his charity.Although, his father's past seems to be a bit unbearable.Tailoring continues, as does broadcasting on TV.The scene after the disaster was also shocking, with houses collapsing into pieces and trees broken down in the middle everywhere.What is even more shocking is that a luxury cruise ship was swept up by huge waves, thrown ashore, and got stuck between two boulders on the cliff, precariously. "It is said that there are still more than a hundred survivors trapped in this cruise ship. The rescue operation has reached a stalemate: the position where the ship is stuck is very dangerous. As long as it moves slightly and the center of gravity tilts, the cruise ship is likely to be lost immediately. Turning up and down the cliff." The reporter reported solemnly, "The expert team has tried various methods, but there is still nothing they can do about it. Some injured people in the cabin have died because they could not receive medical treatment, and the remains of more victims are said to be in the cabin. The cabin started to rot..." "They should be given a gun with enough ammunition." Looking at the desperate faces on the screen, the young man said coldly, "People are going to die after all, early death and early rebirth. "

"..." The supervisor didn't know how to answer, so he could only smile apologetically.I heard that when this young man was 13 years old, a major accident happened in his family. His mother was burned alive, and he was seriously injured and almost died.He was sent abroad by his father for secret treatment, and he did not appear in public until he was 18—perhaps because of that tragic experience, the personality of the child who survived the catastrophe has undergone extreme changes, no matter how attentive others are to treat him , His pupils are always that kind of empty gray, without heat.After the supervisor shut up, the young man didn't speak anymore, his eyes glanced around casually, and suddenly settled on the window.After the rain, in the square when the lights came on, there was a girl standing there, clean and bright, with a long ponytail, a large round jade pendant hanging on her chest, and sewage on her white sneakers.She was lying on the outside of the floor-to-ceiling glass window and looked inside curiously. She was so absorbed in watching that her whole face was pressed against the glass—the tip of her small nose was squashed, and she looked like a little pig eating. .He was slightly taken aback, but couldn't help laughing.He was born in a wealthy family, and he grew up surrounded by the envious and jealous eyes of others. Every time he saw such eyes, he felt like a pain in his back.However, at this moment, although the eyes of the girl who was lying on the window looking in also had longing and envy, they were still clear and innocent.That kind of look is like a little match girl looking at the guests having a Christmas dinner through the glass. Although there is desire and longing in the eyes, it makes the people who are looked at feel guilty.

"Master?" The supervisor involuntarily followed his gaze and turned his head to look over, and immediately frowned—before he could say anything, at the same moment, two bodyguards in black suits and sunglasses walked over quickly, He reached out and opened the door.When that person saw her, Xia Weilan bounced off the glass like an electric shock as if she had been caught as a thief, grabbed the suitcase and ran away in a hurry. "Pfft", a landmine was stepped on, and the sewage splashed onto her shoes. She didn't care, and ran all the way, only feeling aggrieved in her heart: It turns out that this kind of person is consuming such outrageously expensive clothes!Looking so young, he is probably a second-generation ancestor. He doesn't care about childbirth, he just squanders the money his parents earn, rides in a car worth a few million dollars, and wears a suit worth tens of thousands of dollars.

After rushing across an intersection in one breath, she suddenly stopped and sighed. Well, I have to admit, at that moment, she was a bit jealous.That man seemed to have everything, standing there shining - wealth, status, looks, and the best youth, just like a prince in a fairy tale.She hated the feeling of looking up at others through the glass.But...Speaking of which, her baby is not bad, he is also considered handsome and from a good family background.Thinking of this, Xia Weilan couldn't help but a sweet smile appeared on the corner of her mouth. She looked at the phone in her hand. The wallpaper on the screen was a young boy with a golden pineapple head, who was looking at her affectionately. smiling.She couldn't help smiling, and glanced at the QQ icon in the upper right corner—her QQ nickname is "Love to Eat Meat", and she doesn't have many friends on QQ, only a dozen or so, most of whom she met in school classmates.She hung up on QQ on her mobile phone all day today, but did not receive a single message.Xia Weilan opened the QQ interface and took a look, the profile picture of "Baby" was dark.She couldn't help but sighed: What's going on?In the past two months, no matter how late it was, he would definitely come up to hang out for a while and chat with her.And she, even during the most stressful few days of the mathematics winter camp selection competition, tried to wait for him online every day, even if she could only say a word, she could go offline and fall asleep full of joy—but it happened when she was traveling thousands of miles away. When he arrived in his city, he was not online.Today is just the day before his birthday, so I wanted to give him a surprise!Xia Weilan asked suspiciously, dragging her suitcase, standing in the bustling crowd in the square, staring at her phone in a daze, letting the traffic lights around her turn on and off, turn off and turn on again.I really want to tell him that I have come to S city...do I want to call his cell phone?They seldom talk directly to each other, would it be presumptuous to just call him like this?How about sending a text message?Yes, just send a text message.But... what to say? "Hi, guess where I am now?" - Seems a little silly, doesn't it?It is clear that there is no silver three hundred taels here, and she can guess the answer at a glance, which seems a bit mentally handicapped for her with an IQ of 150.Or, just be more direct? "Hi, happy birthday! Do you want to send you a surprise?" Well... that's it, at least there is a little bit of suspense.However, as soon as she finished typing, her face suddenly turned red: Uh, this... sounds a bit ambiguous. Could it be that she is going to send herself to him as a birthday gift? Speaking of which, the baby had never seen her, not even a picture of her.I deliberately avoided showing up like this, at first it was because of the girl's reserve, but later, I wanted to wait for the opportunity to surprise the other party.She can't be said to be stunning, but she is also fresh and bright. She is tall and slim at 1.67 meters. When she runs in the morning in high school, there will always be people chasing after her and whistling. When we meet, there should be a little surprise for him, right? Thinking of this, Xia Weilan blushed and quickly deleted that line, holding her phone and worrying - oh, what's going on, it's just a text message to say hello, why is it harder than winning an Olympiad gold medal?Is this the legendary "feeling timid near the countryside"?The two people who have been chatting online for almost half a year, when they really want to meet, are still a little bit tied.God knows, with a Sagittarius rising sign, she is notoriously blunt and reckless on weekdays! After much deliberation, in the end she only sent him a short message on QQ—— "Hi, where did you go tonight?" 1 minute passed, and there was no answer; 3 minutes passed, and the phone was still silent, with no reply or short message.And his QQ has always been bound to his mobile phone, even if he is not online, he can still receive text messages. What happened?She looked down for a while sullenly, and sighed.Forget it, it's getting late, let's find a place to live first - fortunately, she found a rented house on the Internet before she came, so at least she has a place to stay. By the way, that address is... Xia Weilan dug out a text message from the inbox of her mobile phone, matched it with the map in her hand, and found that the place she was going to was in the southwest corner of the city, in the outer suburbs near the sea. How to do it?There is no subway there yet. An empty taxi passed by, and the chauffeur honked at her.Xia Weilan didn't move, she compared the distances on the map with her fingers, and calculated silently - it was about 15 to 16 kilometers away from Jiada World Trade Plaza, the starting price of a taxi in S City was 10 yuan, and the fuel cost was 2 yuan The surcharge is 2 yuan per kilometer starting from 3 kilometers. In this way, it will cost about 38 yuan to get there. 38 yuan, it’s fine in my hometown... Taurus, she has always been frugal, and she couldn’t help but convert all the prices she saw in S city into the consumption in the small town of her hometown, and the more she thought about it, the more she couldn’t bear it.When I looked up, I found that there was a bus stop not far away, and the K155 bus was slowly driving into the platform.She lowered her head and looked at the map again, and found that the terminal of this bus was near where she was going, and the bus ticket was only two yuan! That's it!After thinking for only 3 seconds, she picked up 3 packages by herself, rushed over at an alarming speed, and squeezed into the car with a yell. On weekend nights, the bus is packed.Xia Weilan was dragging large and small bags, and was squeezed near the door, unable to move, like sardines in a can.Although the air conditioner was turned on, the car still smelled of sweat. "Hello!" The car drove halfway, she suddenly exclaimed, raised her hand and slapped it, "What are you doing?" The hand withdrew from her chest in an instant.Xia Weilan turned her head back, and saw behind her a small, wretched man with his head lowered, silently pushing towards the back door.She just felt sick for a while, couldn't help glaring, and muttered: "Crazy!" Someone nearby snickered: "Hey, maybe they used the circle on your chest as the handle of the ring." "Ah?" She lowered her head dumbfounded, and saw the pendant on her chest shaking with the bus, "Really." She muttered, picked up the pendant and put it in the collar of her denim jacket to hide it. The car drove and stopped all the way, and every time she braked, she had to hold her luggage to remind the passengers around her to be careful, and she received a lot of stares, but fortunately, she never encountered that kind of scumbag again.When the crowd density was a little smaller, she managed to free her hands and sent a text message to that number: "Sorry, I'm Xia Weilan. I'll be there tonight. Is it convenient to check in at your place now?" In less than two minutes, the screen lit up, and a text message came in with a beep: "Come on." It's really crisp.She breathed a long sigh of relief, she finally had a place to stay, so she wouldn't end up wandering the streets in a strange place in the middle of the night pitifully... It seems that the MM who rented together has a really good temper, and it's worthwhile for me to give her from my hometown. I brought a lot of special products to win over the feelings. Since she won the gold medal in the Olympiad, she has many choices as a top student, but she finally came to the mysterious Eco Academy in S City—not for a full scholarship, nor for two years to go directly to the University of California, Berkeley The only reason for the promise of the branch school is: it was my father's last wish back then to come to S city to study in university.Of course, she still has a little selfishness, that is... the baby is also in this city.Before she set off, she knew that the prices in this city were astonishingly high, so she went online to search for cheap houses at the beginning of the summer vacation.After her father died, her mother, who did not remarry, supplemented the family income by teaching piano lessons.My hometown is a small city, and there are not many people who learn piano. Although my mother's piano skills are outstanding, there are only more than 3,000 yuan in teaching fees per month.In addition to her, there are four other elderly people in the family to support.Therefore, since she was a child, she has cultivated the penny-pinching nature that is exclusive to Taurus MMs. She wants to save the scholarship to subsidize her family, and refuses to live in a college dormitory that is expensive and claims to be comparable to a four-star hotel.It took a summer vacation to look for housing on the Internet, but the result was frustrating.After a round of searching, she found that even a small house of more than 30 square meters with one bedroom and one living room costs more than 3,000 a month in rent, which is simply staggering.One day when the baby went online, seeing her anxious, she made a winking expression: "Why don't you live with me? My parents have gone abroad, and the house is all empty. I don't charge you rent, as long as you...hehe." She curled her lips. , brat, think well.When she was almost about to give up, she suddenly saw a message of seeking a shared lease - the house was near the university town, with two floors, and one of the bedrooms was going to be rented out. It was fully equipped with water, electricity, and air-conditioning, and she could move in with her bags.The monthly rent is only 600, special requirements: single women are best for sharing. This is simply tailor-made for yourself! The other party only left an email address, and she ecstatically sent a message to Yi Meier, briefly describing her situation, and strongly expressing her willingness to share the apartment.It took a long time to hear back, and the other party welcomed her application, but didn't say much. Now that the house has been found, plus the baby sweetly asks her to come here early every day.So, one month before leaving school, she dragged her luggage to this southern coastal city of S.When she came, she only had 1,000 yuan with her.She has her own plan: come a month early, just in time to find a summer job, so that she can earn living expenses for the next month. Xia Weilan thought about it, clutching the handrail tightly, swaying with the bus. After 30 minutes, the car drove out of the city center, and the number of people on the car gradually decreased.Xia Weilan finally found a place to sit down, piled her luggage by her feet, and breathed a sigh of relief. After 50 minutes, she was alone in the car. Stopping and driving, along the way, seeing the surroundings getting more and more deserted, there are no open shops or pedestrians on the street, it is pitch black.She was sitting alone on the empty bus, looking at the fat driver, she plucked up her courage, and walked forward: "Excuse me, which stop is the intersection of Zhongxiao Road and Guanxing Road? stand." "The intersection of Zhongxiao Road and Guanxing Road?" The bus driver looked at her in surprise and paused before saying, "Get off at the terminal station and walk for another 5 minutes." "Oh..." Xia Weilan nodded. 5 minutes, fortunately, just gritted your teeth with luggage and arrived. "Why do you go there in the middle of the night?" The driver looked at her suspiciously and muttered, "No one lives there, and there are construction sites everywhere." "Ah? How could there be no one living here?" Xia Weilan didn't believe it, she raised her phone, "No. 144, Samsara Lane, a small white two-story building—there are photos on the rent-seeking website, look!" She was about to dig out the photos saved in the phone, but saw the driver's expression suddenly changed. "What's wrong?" Xia Weilan was a little startled, "Is there no such building?" "No, no... Yes, there is." The driver slowed down the speed, squinted at the picture on her phone, his face turned pale, "That building is very famous, and it even made the headlines of the newspapers in the city. have no idea?" "Huh?" Xia Weilan's eyes widened, "Was it on the headlines?" "There used to be a girl living there, about your age. One night three years ago, she went out to celebrate her birthday with her friends and disappeared when she came back." The driver obviously still remembered the report, "Her friend Wan watched her get out of the car and walk into the alley at the intersection. There was no fork in the alley, but she never came home. Her mother was guarding the living room and even heard her open the door, but when she went out to look, there was only one key in it. On the door." "Missing?" Xia Weilan was surprised. "Yes, I can't find it anymore." The driver sighed, "It's between that alley and the door of my house, it suddenly seems like the world has evaporated... I can't find it anymore!" Xia Weilan muttered: " Could it be that she ran out to play by herself, or was kidnapped?" The driver shook his head: "No, I haven't received any blackmail information—her mother insisted that it was done by the Jiada International Consortium. At that time, only Their family refused to be demolished, and they had been threatened before, but later the police discovered that the surveillance video at the street entrance had been tampered with, and someone had erased the section between 11:00 and 12:00." "That's possible!" Xia Weilan said angrily, "Those real estate developers can do anything!" "The news was a sensation at the time, and many newspapers made headlines, implying that Huo Tianlin had something to do with it." The driver sighed, "He was not clean at all, so it's not unusual for him to do such a thing." "Not clean?" Xia Weilan was curious. "That's right...the president of Jiada International, the well-known Mr. Huo," the bus driver pointed to the back of the bus seat, on which was a real estate promotion poster, and lowered his voice, "I used to be the boss of all over the world. Biggest gang." "Wow!" Xia Weilan blurted out, "They must have done it!" "But after more than half a year of investigation, there is no evidence at all." The driver stepped on the accelerator, and the bus shook, as if it had run over a hurdle, "If it wasn't for the delay of a year, and the sudden collapse of this intersection There is a tiankeng, and the buildings here are probably built and sold long ago.” "Tiankeng?" Xia Weilan was stunned. "Yes! It's just under the intersection that we passed just now—" After turning a big bend, the driver started to slow down and was about to enter the stop. "I don't know how deep it is. Its opening has been sealed, but every time I drive by it I am still terrified, fearing that it will suddenly fall." "Oh..." Xia Weilan murmured, suddenly feeling a chill. The driver was still babbling: "The poor thing is her mother... Since that day, that woman has heard the sound of someone turning the key to open the door almost every night. She always said that her daughter hadn't left yet, and she was always outside the door, but she never left. Can't get in." "Is she crazy?" This story was a bit scary, Xia Weilan couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat, and looked at the desolate and dark streets around - the one who posted online to find a roommate, couldn't it be this crazy mother? If yes, that's too... "Yes, she was forcibly sent to the Qingshan Psychiatric Hospital in the north of the city in January this year." The bus driver's voice was full of sympathy, "The case has not been closed, and the woman did not sign the demolition agreement, Jiada International has no choice but to let that house stay alone. Because the surrounding area is surrounded by construction sites, the water and electricity there have been cut off, so no one has lived there." "What?!" Hearing this, Xia Weilan's head exploded.Has anyone lived there?Who was the landlord who contacted her? The bus driver looked at her sympathetically: "Girl, someone must have played a prank on the Internet and tricked you." "No way..." Xia Weilan murmured, "The person who posted the post said that she lives alone in this house, and her name is..." She paused, flipped through the saved webpage, and read it out, "Mai Meitong." "Squeak!" A piercing sound sounded, and the bus driver suddenly stepped on the brakes.Xia Weilan didn't pay attention, and bumped her head against the back of the front seat, and the luggage around her rolled all over the floor. "What's the matter?" She rubbed her sore forehead and asked in surprise, "Is it the end?" The driver was pale, staring straight ahead, unable to speak a word. The former convenience is the terminus.There are construction sites all around, and there is no one in the middle of the night.At the intersection of Zhongxiao Road and Guanxing Road, under the dim streetlights, there stood a woman in a long white dress, with long hair and shawls, and she couldn't see her face clearly. Ghosts of the night. She didn't speak, just stood in the middle of the road and waved to the bus. "Don't open the door!" Xia Weilan screamed subconsciously. However, the driver seemed to be hypnotized, with trembling hands, he pressed the switch uncontrollably, the bus door opened slowly, and the wind blew in all of a sudden——Xia Weilan shivered, took a few steps back, and sat down. In the last row position. "Is it Xia Weilan?" The woman in white was smiling outside the car, her face was hidden in the shadow, only the corners of her mouth were slightly raised.Before the voice fell, she had already got into the car, and her movements were incredibly fast and creepy. "You... who are you?" Xia Weilan huddled on the bus seat, tightly holding the iron railing on the bus, as if afraid that the other party would suddenly float in and grab her, her voice trembling, "Mai... ...Mai Meitong?" The other party smiled slightly and stretched out his hand: "I'm here to pick you up." Ten fingers are slender, painted with strange silver nail polish.