Cicadas of the Eighth Day Chapter 0 Hold on to the doorknob.It's like holding ice in the palm of your hand.That kind of coldness seemed to declare that there was no way out. Xihezi knew that on weekdays around 8:10 in the morning, the door of this room would be unlocked for about 20 minutes.She knew that only the baby was left in the house and no one was home.Just now, Xi Hezi hid behind the vending machine and watched his wife and husband go out together.Without hesitation, Xihezi turned the cold doorknob. As soon as the door opened, burnt bread, oil, cheap foundation, emollients, nicotine, wet rags...these mixed smells rushed over, slightly relieving the chill outside.Xihezi turned around and slid into the door, and walked into the room.It's incredible that even though it's the first time I've seen everything, I can move freely as if I were in my own home.However, she was not restless.The heartbeat was so violent that it seemed to shake the body from the inside, the hands and feet trembled, and there were bursts of tingling in the depths of the head along with the heartbeat.

Xihezi stood at the entrance, and glanced at the tightly closed paper door at the back of the kitchen.She stared at the faded yellow paper door. She doesn't want to do anything.But, just to see.Just to see the man's baby.That's it.That's all.Tomorrow—no, this afternoon, she would be shopping for new furniture and looking for a job.Forget about the past days and start a new life.Xihezi told himself so repeatedly and took off his shoes.She resisted the urge to run over and pull open the paper door, but rolled her eyes to look around the kitchen.There is a small round table in the center.On the table, plates with crumbs left, bags of toast, ashtrays piled high with cigarette butts, marinara, and orange peels are all piled up in a mess.On the other side of the dressing table, there are kettles, milk powder cans and crushed beer cans.The breath of life is so vivid that Xi Hezi almost forgets to breathe.

At this time, behind the paper door, there was a crying sound as if he felt that he could almost check the situation, which made Xihezi's body stiffen suddenly.His eyes were attracted by the paper door again.Step by step, she stepped across the cool linoleum floor.She stood still in front of the paper door and opened it in one go.The suffocating heat rushed towards the face, and the baby's weak cry also emerged. The Japanese room was covered with messy mats and quilts that were not cleaned up.The cover was lifted, and the blanket twisted and bulged.On the other side of the second set of bedding, there is a crib.Bathed in sunlight filtering through the lace curtains, the crib looks gloriously white.The electric heater glowed red under the bed.Xihezi stepped on the quilt and approached the crib.The baby danced and cried.The thin whimper gradually grew louder.The baby's pacifier falls to the pillow.The tip of the nipple was wet with saliva and glistened.

A piercing metallic sound resounded in Xi Hezi's head.As soon as the baby's cry became louder, the metallic sound became louder at the same time.The two merged into one, and Xihezi felt the baby's "wa-wa-wa" cry as if it came from inside her. On weekday mornings, the wife would drive her husband to the station closest to home.She never takes babies.Xihezi guessed that it must be because the baby is sleeping and the time is short, so let the baby fall asleep and go out like this.In fact, fifteen to twenty minutes of being a wife will come back.Therefore, Xi Hezi originally planned to only look at the baby who was sleeping peacefully.She thought that with just one glance, she should be able to completely give up on everything.She also planned to tiptoe away without disturbing the baby after reading it.