Chapter 5 Chapter 5 Sleeping with the Shadow

After quitting the night watch job for that building, I was in a state of panic and had to find a new job as soon as possible.It’s been a week since the summer vacation, and my tuition fee for the next school year is still 3,000 yuan short, which must be earned by working part-time during the two-month summer vacation.I can earn two thousand yuan as a tutor for Xiao Ni, but I can't bear to accept this money.I don't want Xiaoni and her mother to worry about the economy. Xiaoni and I discussed part-time jobs.I said that I still guarantee her daily homework tutoring, so I want to find a night job.Xiao Ni said, if there is such a job, I will go with you, and I will also work part-time to earn money.Xiao Ni thought for a while and said, by the way, isn't today the weekend?Fang Qiang invited the two of us to dinner in the evening, and told him about it, maybe his company can hire us.

I said, Fang Qiang seems to be running a technology company, designing software or something, what can we do?Besides, there would be no evening work for him. Xiao Ni laughed, and she said that my mind is not open at all.why?She said, didn't you see that Fang Qiang liked you very much?Think about it, a person who just met on the Internet and came to accompany you after hearing about your night watch shift would never be like this if he was not obsessed.Since he likes you, it is not easy to arrange a job for you with him.It can also be arranged at night, sorting out some materials or something.

However, I always feel reluctant to do this.Xiao Ni said it's okay, you don't want to fall in love with him.This person is a little ugly, especially the scar on his face, which makes people dare not look more directly.However, he is the big boss after all, if he were to be replaced by another kind of girl, he might be able to get along with him even with his eyes closed. I said, he already has a wife and a girlfriend, what nonsense are you talking about. Xiao Ni said that we just went to work with him, who is to blame?Anyway, she said she would mention it by the way when she saw Fang Qiang at night.

I had no idea for a while, and I think she can make more decisions when I am with Xiaoni. That night, Fang Qiang arranged dinner at a very popular restaurant in the western suburbs.On the way there, Xiaoni was a little disappointed and said that this man was too stingy, and he didn't look like he had tens of millions of assets.I said that the really rich are very frugal.I have read in the book that it is the nature of rich people to get richer and richer. Xiao Ni said, boring. On weekends, the restaurant was crowded with people, and the air was full of the smell of food and wine. It was a bit of a peaceful world or the end of the world.Xiaoni and I met Fang Qiang at a dining table in the corner of the hall.He was wearing a gray and black shirt.This made the scar on the left cheek even more sombre.I really feel a little awkward eating with such a person.

Xiao Ni whispered in my ear, do you think he looks like someone from the underworld? I nudged Xiao Ni with my elbow to tell her not to talk nonsense.In fact, during several contacts, I have already felt that Fang Qiang is actually a bit weak person, and he is a bit cautious and timid when he contacts girls.For example, he wanted to keep watch with me, but when I refused he had no choice but to walk away in despair.In desperation, he had to sit far away at the entrance of the building and watch the night with me in this way, which showed his persistence.Also, if my eyes met casually when I was talking to him, he would immediately look away and appear bewildered for at least a minute.

The table was full of dishes, and Fang Qiang waved his chopsticks to invite us to eat quickly.Xiao Ni curled her lips, meaning that she thought he was too flirtatious.Xiao Ni picked up the red wine glass and said, Cheers, for our acquaintance.Everyone clinked glasses, and there was a relaxed atmosphere. At this time, my cell phone rang.Hey, I put the phone to my ear and said.No one answered.I fed it a few more times, but there was still silence on the phone.I hung up the phone, feeling a little uneasy. Neuropathy!Xiao Ni scolded on my behalf.Fang Qiang said that someone might have made a wrong call, it's a common thing, it's nothing.

We continued drinking and chatting.Xiaoni brought the topic to Fang Qiang's company intentionally or unintentionally, and I knew she was going to ask me to work part-time. Unexpectedly, Fang Qiang said that he was going to close the company.He said that Xiao Ke and Bei's company in the coastal area had been established, and he wanted to hand over all the business, and he wanted to do something else. What do you do when you close the company?Xiao Ni asked puzzledly. Fang Qiang took a sip of wine, his eyes sparkled with excitement.Go to Hainan Island to open a plantation.He said that for growing bananas and coffee, I have read a lot of information on Hainan Island on the Internet. The sunshine and oceanic climate there make it very suitable for planting a few hectares of land.I wanted to buy some nice horses, and a jeep, the way planters do when they go round their fields.On the edge of the plantation, watch towers had to be built every half a kilometer to keep out thieves and all.When I have nothing to do, I can take a nap in the hammock in the forest, or go to the cabin deeper in the garden to read a book.If there is a small river near the cabin, you can also go fishing.

Wow, that's cool!Xiao Ni exclaimed, she didn't expect Brother Qiang to have such a grand plan.When will your plantation be implemented? Fang Qiang said that he was working on a plan.This kind of big project will take two or three years to prepare at the earliest. My phone rang again, but no one spoke when I picked it up.I checked the caller ID, it was a landline number from the city.Who is looking for me?What does it mean to get through but not speak? Xiao Ni said don't pay attention to him, some people just play around with the phone.At the moment, her attention is all on Fang Qiang's company.I already feel that it is hopeless for me to work there.She sighed and said that Sister Jun's tuition was still three thousand yuan short.She wants to find a place to work and earn money. I wonder if Brother Qiang has any friends in the business world to recommend?

It's embarrassing for me to ask this question, it's not how I relate to people.If I can barely accept the mention of Fang Qiang's own company, then I feel that it is too much to ask Fang Qiang to help out.In addition, I should not mention how much money I lack, which may cause a misunderstanding of asking others for money.Because of this, I quarreled with Xiaoni for the first time on the way home, but we quickly reconciled, and she was also doing it for me. At that time, the embarrassment at the dinner table can be imagined.Fang Qiang said after a few times that he was withdrawn by nature and had no friends.

At this time, my mobile phone rang for the third time, which relieved the awkward atmosphere.This time someone spoke, it was a man's voice, he said his surname was Xue, and he guarded the building.He first asked me what happened, and I said nothing happened. He said that he called you twice just now, but you didn't speak, you just cried.I said no, I couldn't hear anything on the phone.He said it was strange, how could there be a woman crying on the phone? What the hell.This person surnamed Xue either made a wrong call just now, or he is making up a story again.I asked him angrily what's the matter?

Xue said that he just told me that the things mentioned in the duty log must be kept secret and cannot be told to the outside world.Because the company has seen this record, and now the building is going to be auctioned, the company is afraid that these ghostly things will affect the emotions of the buyers. However, I ask, are those strange things real or fake? Xue still did not admit that he made it up, but just sighed and said, who can tell clearly whether it is true or not?You must remember to keep it secret, otherwise the company will hold you accountable if the auction fails. I said I would not speak to the outside world. After the phone call, both Xiaoni and Fang Qiang stared at me blankly.I told them the details, and then asked Fang Qiang, did that Xie Gui of the night watch really say that his cousin named Xue made up all the things in the record? Fang Qiang definitely said so.However, he added that it does not rule out that Xue, in order to claim credit for his cousin, deliberately claimed that he won the position after you resigned. Is this your new idea?I asked. Fang Qiang said yes.When I was talking on the phone just now, Xiao Ni told him about meeting Xie Gui in the hospital.He thought that if Xue had fabricated the things on the record, Xie Gui would not be really scared to death in the building. I said that some things were hypothetical, fabricated, or even imagined in advance, and then they really happened in reality.This possibility is not ruled out. Fang Qiang said, I know you have a reason for thinking this way.Because after we went upstairs together that night and got separated, you looked a little dazed when you went downstairs. I think you must have seen something terrible. I said I really can't remember. Must have seen a horrible woman.Fang Qiang said, that silly Xie Gui keeps drawing a woman's face on the wall, you must be seeing the same thing. I said I didn't see anything. Fang Qiang said, think about it carefully, where did you go after the flashlight went out?Maybe you see a person waving to you, maybe a ball of light, maybe a figure with only eyes or a tongue.In short, this image is very tempting to you, so you follow it... Stop talking, I yelled.Because I closed my eyes during Fang Qiang’s narration, and I really saw a mysterious light in the dark. This light moved on the damp wall, and I followed it.I see a door... I opened my eyes suddenly, Fang Qiang and Xiaoni were both startled by my roar.They asked what was the matter, and I said breathlessly that I almost remembered something for a few seconds, but finally I couldn't.In fact, at that moment I was afraid to continue, and I took the initiative to interrupt the memory.When I want to think about it again, everything ends at that door, and the bottom is blank again. Fang Qiang said, don't worry, you will remember later. Xiao Ni asked me with concern, Miss Jun, are you okay?I said that there was a heartbeat just now, and it is fine now.I picked up the glass and said, let's have a drink, don't let this spoil your mood. On the way home, Xiaoni said that Fang Qiang was not a good enough friend, and when it came to finding a job for you, she pushed it away.I said he has his difficulties, so don't force it, let me figure it out myself. The bus we took passed the building near Xiaoni's school. In the city at night, it towered into the sky like a huge skeleton.Was there really a woman's spirit wandering within its black interior?And the little girl who appeared outside the door of the duty room in the middle of the night, could it be the child of this ghost? I started losing sleep over the job search.After thinking about it carefully, there are only a few jobs at night-waiters, greeters, wine salesmen, etc. in restaurants or entertainment venues.I have done these jobs successively in the three years since I was in college, but they all ended up disappointed.But other than that, what night job can I currently find?I have to pay the tuition fee as soon as the summer vacation is over, what should I do. It was midnight, and I was lying on the small bed in the study without any sleepiness.The sound of someone's footsteps going upstairs sounded outside, from bottom to top, all the way to the seventh floor.I looked at my watch, it was 1:50 in the morning, why did the painter upstairs come home so late? Originally, living in a building, it was normal for someone to come home late.However, due to insomnia, I actually heard the footsteps going up the stairs in the middle of the night for three consecutive days, and the time was between 1:00 and 1:05 in the morning.This exact repetition made me doubtful. After telling Xiaoni about it, Xiaoni said that we should go upstairs and have a look. In my impression, a painter is a person who stays at home all day.Sure enough, when Xiaoni and I went upstairs and knocked on the door, he quickly opened the door.His hands were dirty and he said he was tidying up his studio. This large studio is connected to the balcony, and the ten o'clock sunlight slanted in, reflecting different colors in the interior.Xiao Ni asked bluntly, Mr. Sha, why do you always come home in the middle of the night these days?The sound of going upstairs made Miss Jun lose sleep. The painter looked at me suspiciously and said, I am a person who goes to bed early and gets up early, and I fell asleep early in the middle of the night, so why did I come back from outside? I said it was absolutely true that there were footsteps going upstairs in the middle of the night for three days in a row. Strange.The painter said to me, since you saw a woman in my room last time, I have been wondering whether you are delusional or something strange is really happening in my room. Xiao Ni said with a smile, Teacher Sha, you don't have to hide it if you really have a woman. This is normal for single men, isn't it? The painter anxiously stated that there was indeed no woman in his room, and no woman would come to him in the middle of the night.He showed us his bedroom and bathroom, which really didn't have any women's clothing or things.It stands to reason that if a woman has stayed here, there will always be clues. I'm in my forties, the painter said, and I don't have to hide anything if I meet a woman.But no. Have you heard anyone coming upstairs these days and nights?I asked, or heard someone push the door, or felt something moving in the room? The painter was a little intimidated by my barrage of questions.The reason why I ask this is that I am already X confident. The painter said, I was in a deep sleep and heard nothing. I pointed to the portrait of a woman with a bare back on the wall and said that she was the one who came upstairs in the middle of the night. Xiao Ni screamed, then looked at me and said, Sister Jun, how do you know?There can be no such thing. I said that I smelled a smell here, which is the smell of people after death. The woman in this painting must have passed away. The painter smiled. He said that Xiao Ni told you that you were studying philosophy and psychology. These studies are not so mysterious. How could it be possible to smell the death of a person from a painting? Who is the woman in this painting?Xiao Ni asked anxiously, is it your ex-girlfriend? The painter said, everything is not as mysterious and romantic as you think.The woman in this painting is just a professional model named Qingqing, in her twenties.She mainly works as a model in the Academy of Fine Arts, and occasionally cooperates with painters.Look at this painting, professional models are different, this posture, this line, even the back can express a feeling, an emotion, this is the perfection of the creator... But what I saw was cold.I interrupted the painter to say that there was still a little melancholy. The painter stared at me wide-eyed, and said after a while, you are not simple, this model named Qingqing has this kind of temperament, cold and melancholy, but you can only know it by looking at her face and eyes, how do you Can you see it from her back? I said I didn't know why, but I saw it anyway. Xiao Ni curiously said to the painter, someday invite this model here and let us all have a look.The painter said it was perfectly fine. I thought to myself, he can't get this model anymore because she's dead.But I didn't say how I felt again. The painter lit a cigarette, and the smoke floated in front of him.He said the painting would soon be bought.The buyer was a young man, who wanted to buy it a year ago, but kept haggling over the price, and finally settled on 50,000 yuan.The young man said he would have to work for a year to afford it.I think he really likes it, so I bought it for him at such a low price.He called a few days ago and said that he had collected all the money, and he came to pick up the painting in the last few days. Xiao Ni was very surprised at the price of 50,000 yuan.The painter said sadly that he was not well-known, and if he was a famous painter, it would not be high if the painting sold for millions of dollars.Xiao Ni stuck out her tongue. People who buy paintings want to add value, right?I asked. The painter said he didn't see the lad as a professional collector.First of all, he has no money, but he wants to buy this painting, which makes people feel a bit obsessed.However, the artist added that he did not lose money by buying the painting. That night, before going to bed, I told Xiaoni that the sound of footsteps in the middle of the night and the woman you saw on the stairs will soon disappear.As long as the painting upstairs is bought, everything will be peaceful. Xiao Ni was skeptical, she said, sister Jun, you are too mysterious. I know I shouldn't talk about how I feel, but sometimes I just can't help it.Professor Feng said that everything is my fantasy, but if the fantasy becomes reality in life, how do you explain it? I went to bed, thinking for a while about how to find a job, and occasionally listening to the sound of the stairs outside.His eyelids were a little astringent, but he quickly fell asleep.When I woke up, there was silence all around, and I looked at the time, it was already four o'clock in the morning, and I missed midnight.Regardless of the footsteps, I rolled over and continued to sleep. I heard the sound of someone pushing the door, turned on the light and got out of bed, and I opened the door gently.I should have asked who it was, but at this moment, as if driven by something, I just felt that I should open the door.It was very dark outside, and a woman was standing at the door of my room. Her eyes were sad and her face was pale. She said she was leaving and came to say goodbye to me.I was very scared, so I said do we know each other?She said that only you know me here, you used to only see my back, now I let you take a good look at my face.I thought of that painting, staring blankly at her in front of me. Her face was slowly sinking, her muscles disappeared, and she turned into a pile of skeletons in a blink of an eye.I screamed and woke up from the nightmare. It was dawn.I heard the sound of an early bus passing by on the street not far away.The city is waking up, and the ghosts will leave before dawn, which is the plot of the ghost stories I heard when I was a child. Either way, everything will be normal after dawn.That painting was about to be bought by someone, and I suddenly really missed the woman in that painting, and felt a little bit reluctant to part.I told myself that I had to get rid of these feelings, that the reality was harsh, that I had to earn enough money to pay my tuition by the end of the summer.Thinking of this, I got up.I want to help Xiaoni with homework in the morning and go back to school in the afternoon.Every summer vacation, there will be some part-time job information posted on the campus, and I have to look for opportunities. This morning, Aunt He made an exception and did not go to work.When Xiaoni and I had breakfast, Xiaoni wondered why her mother hadn't woken up yet.I went to check in my mother's room. Her mother said she had a headache, so she had to call the company to ask for leave.Xiao Ni wanted to accompany her to the hospital, but she said no, just sleep a little longer. After lunch, I accompanied Xiao Ni to review her homework in the study.It was about ten o'clock in the morning, and Xiaoni and I both heard faint crying.We hurried to Xiaoni's mother's room and saw Xiaoni's mother sitting on the bed wiping tears. Xiao Ni was so anxious that she kept asking her mother what's wrong.Aunt He shook her head and said nothing.Xiao Ni said that you must tell me what happened, otherwise I will cry too. Aunt He stroked Xiao Ni's head and said, nineteen years ago today, your sister fell to her death from upstairs.Thinking of this day, I didn't fall asleep all night, and I kept hearing the child calling my mother.Oh, what a good child, if he was alive, he would be as old as your sister Jun. Mother.Xiao Ni hugged her mother and cried. I said, Aunt He, don't be sad, isn't it nice to have Xiaoni now. That's right, Aunt He said, after I had Xiao Ni, I watched her grow up day by day.She stroked Xiao Ni's head and continued, "My child, you must work hard. You have to pass the college entrance examination no matter what." Xiao Ni cried and said, Mom, I will work hard. Looking at the scene in front of me, I also felt uncomfortable.Wanting to comfort Aunt He again, her lips moved but she couldn't find the right words for a while. Xiao Ni raised her head from her mother, and she suddenly asked, was my sister really thrown from the balcony by my father? I don't think he would do that.Aunt He murmured that he didn't go to work that afternoon and picked up the child from the kindergarten at noon.Because the child has a cold, I want to take it back to take medicine early.Around four o'clock in the afternoon, he was looking at engineering drawings in the living room, and the child climbed up to the balcony on a stool. There were flowers on the balcony, and the child wanted to pick them, but somehow fell down the stairs. Xiao Ni asked puzzledly, why do some neighbors always say that it was Dad who threw my sister downstairs? Aunt He said in a little panic, I said when I quarreled with your father that he killed the child.Alas, I think he doesn't have such a cruel heart, he won't do this, he won't... Aunt He's words were a bit like talking to herself, a bit like talking in sleep, and I felt chills on my back.I feel that it is not impossible for Xiaoni's father to abandon the child. I don't understand why I feel this way. There are some accidental things in the world, which are scary when you think about them carefully.On my way back to school this afternoon, I almost fell outside a store. When I lost my balance, I immediately reached out to support a billboard next to me, and my palm suddenly felt a tingling pain. My hand was scratched by the sharp corners of the billboard. Bloody mouth.Fortunately, there was a pharmacy not far away, and I immediately bought a band-aid to cover the wound. This is purely accidental and not worth mentioning.However, when I walked into the dormitory of the school, Weiwei who was packing things in the room saw me and the first thing she said was-what day is it today, why does it smell like blood? Her sense of smell was too keen and her words too serious.What day is today?The day when Xiaoni's sister fell from upstairs and was bloody and bloody.I was taken aback by this quick association, recalling that in recent years, this was the first time I had been traumatized and saw blood. Seeing me standing there in a daze, Weiwei smiled and said, I saw the injury on your hand when you entered the door, what's the matter? I said that I was scratched by the billboard, a small injury, not a problem. Weiwei was packing her luggage, as if she was about to go on a long trip.Counting that the summer vacation has just passed for more than a week, of course there is still enough time to travel.I asked where she was going. Vivi's answer surprised me.Bali.She said that she wanted to go to that place even in her dreams. The small island in the Pacific Ocean is so beautiful.Xiao Mi and Xiao Xiong kept asking me to go with them, and I said to wait for me for a week, and leave as soon as I got the money.Ah, now it's finally time to go. What is needed to go to Bali is not a small sum of money, and I am mysterious that Vivi can earn so much money all at once. Weiwei and I are good friends who talk about everything, so she didn't shy away from it this time.It turned out that she posted a post on the Internet, saying that she wanted to travel to Bali, but she had no money, and she was sincerely looking for someone who could help her.Unexpectedly, such a person really appeared, a man in his forties.Weiwei and him stayed overnight in a hotel room.In this way, Weiwei said that everything is very simple. Here's a deal.Vivi said yes, a deal, but nothing bad.He gets what he wants, and he says he's obsessed with female college students.As for me, my wish to go to Bali finally became a reality. I am speechless.The rude word sell X comes to mind.Of course, I've heard girls say this word frankly, sell it, what can't be sold, it's better than those corrupt officials selling their conscience.However, I would like to say that when the beautiful body God gave me was insulted by money, my personality and dignity would make the heart of the insulted cry endlessly. After many years, only I heard it. I took two books I wanted to read in the dormitory, and then bid farewell to Weiwei, wishing her a pleasant journey.Vivi is my good friend, she is innocent and kind, and I feel sorry for not being able to help her. This time I returned to school and found no valuable part-time job information.I am short of 3,000 yuan in tuition fees, but I am helpless.The world is a Rubik's cube, and it takes the devil's finger to turn it.And I'm just human, I don't want to play the devil's game. It's summer vacation, and the campus is very deserted.Outside the library I met Professor Feng.He knew that I spent every holiday working part-time, so he asked me where I was working when we met.I said to be a tutor for middle school students, but that wasn't enough, I wanted to find another job on night shift.Professor Feng frowned and said, this is difficult.But don't worry, the school may be able to reduce part of your tuition for the next school year. I have reported this to the school leaders many times.I said I would try my best to pay for it myself.Maybe I want a certain dignity too much, but I can't change myself. Back at Xiaoni's home, Xiaoni asked eagerly, did you find a job?I shook my head helplessly.Xiao Ni said, why not just be a model for the painter.I still shake my head.Why not, I don't know why, I just feel that the obstacle is huge.This obstacle is not due to being naked in front of the painter. I can fully understand the real art.I just think that after a person freezes on a painting, her fate will have something beyond her control.I thought of the bare-backed woman on the painter's wall, her soul came down from upstairs, she was cold, and knocked on the door to ask me for clothes.Professor Feng said that this is also my hallucination, but I can't get rid of these feelings.No one can prove this to be true except me. Xiao Ni found the wound on my hand.I said I was unlucky today and hurt my hand.Xiao Ni said it was nothing, stay at home when you are unlucky, and you will be fine after today.She said that her mother's mood stabilized after noon, and she went to work in the company in the afternoon. She also said that she would work overtime at night and told us not to wait for her for dinner. I understand Aunt He's mood today, and I said to Xiaoni, your mother is so strong.Xiao Ni said, you don't know, my mother is very sad on this day every year, is it because that dead little ghost has stalked her? I said, Xiao Ni, where did you get this superstition? Mothers care about their children all their lives. This night, after I went to bed, I didn't bother to listen to the footsteps on the stairs.Anyway, I'm sure things will be all right once that painting is bought.Before going to bed, I found a valuable recruitment information on the Internet, which is a civil investigation company.I don't know much about its work, but one thing that attracts me is that it has unlimited working hours, that is to say, the work assigned to you can be completed in your own time, which is very suitable for my current situation.I wrote down the contact number of this company, and I felt very peaceful after going to bed. Waking up in the middle of the night as a routine has almost become a habit for me.Looking at the watch, at two o'clock in the morning, the sound of footsteps going upstairs had obviously passed.I turned over and prepared to continue sleeping, but there was a strange sound coming from outside the door.He listened carefully, and it seemed to be the sound from the kitchen. I got up, opened the door softly and went out.I didn't turn on the light, so as not to disturb Aunt He and Xiaoni who were sleeping soundly.I walked through the dark living room and turned a corner into the kitchen. There was a faint light from the sky coming in through the kitchen window, so it was half-dark.My eyes moved slowly from the cabinets and the stove.Suddenly, I saw a small figure beside the stove.At this moment, the figure with its back to me turned around. It was a little girl about three years old.She was holding an empty bowl in her hand, and she didn't run away when she saw me. I heard a voice come out of her mouth, and she said, I'm hungry. I quickly turned around and closed the kitchen door, so as not to disturb Aunt He and Xiaoni by her voice.Then I knelt down and looked at her.The little girl was pale, but well-behaved, like a cartoon doll.I already understood most of it in my heart, and I knew she would come home today. I'm hungry.The little girl said again.I noticed that her lips did not move at all when she spoke. Seeing the empty bowl she was holding made my nose a little sore.Poor boy, when he fell downstairs at four o'clock in the afternoon, he was hungry before supper. I opened the refrigerator, found some food, put it in the microwave and served it to her. The little girl ate voraciously, bleeding from the corner of her mouth as she ate.I wiped the corners of her mouth with a tissue, and I thought this was exactly what she looked like after she fell down the stairs.