Chapter 23 ninety-third night name

What's your name?Maybe you would say it is a person's code name, but for some people it is life, and a name is life. I still remember that winter.The reason why I think of that unpleasant memory is that this city has not been so cold for a long time, and that winter was the coldest in my memory.How cold is it?On the street, no matter how many clothes you wear, as long as the wind mixed with rain blows, you will feel as if you have nothing on. Like being stuck with a nail.If you open your mouth wider, your mouth will be filled with ice foam, and your lips will be full of thin bloody slits.Stay at home, you want to sit when you stand, and you want to stand when you sit. After a while, your feet will feel numb and numb, and they will be dead heavy, as if there is a lump of iron sticking to the sole of your foot.In this case, there is nothing you can do except to curse the damn weather. The hot boiling water will be cold within a few minutes. The winter in the south is not as exaggerated as minus ten or even tens of degrees, but it is bleak and cold , like a blunt knife cutting flesh.

I was in the third year of high school that year, and I had to make up classes during the winter vacation, and even had to open a small stove at night.There is no way, I really hate making up lessons, the problem is that if people make up for you, you will naturally fall down, and the college entrance examination notice will not distinguish whether you have made up or not. My high school is an old school with a school age of nearly a hundred years. The school is located in a quiet place, and there are few passing cars, and the predecessor of the school is an old church, which is all wooden structure - whenever I step on the The above is always unsteady, and the creaking sound is like an old man coughing, and it seems that it will collapse at any time.

On the last day of winter vacation tuition, the school decided to hold a mock exam for all the graduating classes of the third and third grades of junior high school to find out their learning level and prepare for the teaching progress of the next semester. The classroom where the exam is held is in the old school building, and it is on the third floor.When the teacher announced, everyone made a surprised sound. Although it is the third floor, it is actually the attic part of the original church, which is a very small room.It used to be used as a physical and chemical laboratory, but I don’t know why, it has been locked. It is said that something happened, and there are many rumors. We usually do experiments in the new teaching building.But all the classrooms are being renovated, and other classrooms have already been occupied by other classes. There is no way. Who told us that the small number of people in our class is not a key class?The teacher was also very helpless, and only said that the classroom was small, and everyone would be warmer inside.The inside was quite dirty, the tables and chairs were messy, and there were a few missing arms and legs, so the teacher asked a few people who lived closer to the school to stay and clean up, and the other students went back to school early.I was one of four people who stayed to clean the classroom.

Although it was only half past four, it was already dark outside, and with the backlight in the classroom, we had to turn on the lights to clean.There was dust everywhere, and I didn't dare to use force, so I had to wipe it with a damp cloth first.My hands were so cold that I rubbed my hands and breathed out after working for a while. At five o'clock, two of them went back first. Only me and my deskmate Tian Jiahui were left in the classroom. She doesn't seem to be very talkative all the time, she just likes to keep her head down and do her own thing. She has been at the same table for several years, except for necessary answers or real matters, she rarely makes a sound, and even other girls don't like to be with her very much.But she has good grades and is the teacher's key training object.Since I seldom see her face, I just have a general impression, double eyelids, wide forehead, oval face, high nose bridge, and dazzlingly white skin.It is said that her ancestors have foreign blood. I can't help but sigh, no wonder she has learned foreign languages ​​so well, and dare to feel that the things that flow in her blood are different from ours.

Besides the teacher, I guess I can be regarded as the closest one in her school. "Did you know, the teacher said in this exam that some students with the best grades will be selected to go to key classes, and next semester will start to sprint, and if they go to key classes, the chances of entering university will be much higher." I set the table Said to her on the side of the chair. Tian Jiahui seemed to be rubbing the blackboard expressionlessly. I thought she didn't hear clearly, but she hummed after a long time. The footsteps heard outside the door became less and less, and the crunching of the old wooden boards was almost inaudible. All the people began to gradually leave the old teaching building that was originally a church.I don't know why, but I always feel that this building is not like other buildings. Once the people are gone, it becomes lifeless. The less people in this old building, the more alive it feels.

"I have an exam tomorrow, so go back early." Tian Jiahui finally said something to me.I figured it out, and it was probably the longest sentence she said to me this semester. It was getting dark outside the window, and it was getting late. Although I was close to home, I wanted to go back to study. I asked Tian Jiahui if she wanted to go together, but she shook her head and said that she wanted to read a book here. I was not surprised, because I had heard that her family environment was very bad, her parents often quarreled, and her unemployed father always made mistakes, so he drank desperately and went crazy after drinking.It might be better for her to read in the classroom.

"However, are you afraid of being here alone?" I asked her suddenly when I walked to the door. I saw the soft light from the only dim light bulb cast on her smooth porcelain face, and she raised her eyelids. "It's okay, you go back first." Then, she read the book seriously again. I said oh, lowered my head and closed the door, and stuffed it tighter so that the cold wind would be less likely to enter. From the third floor to the exit of the old building, you have to go through a dark and narrow corridor. I hate this road the most, because there are old rotten boards full of holes and cracks under my feet, and oil paintings of figures are hung on both sides of the walls. , Most of them are scientists and writers.I don't like portraiture, because I always feel that the darker the place, the more the eyes of the people in the portrait are staring at you. Usually it is a little popular, but now it is quieter. I walked over quickly.

When I was almost at the exit, I suddenly felt that there seemed to be something wrong with the portraits on both sides, but I was in a hurry to go home, so I walked out without looking back. When I got downstairs, I subconsciously looked back at the third floor. Tian Jiahui seemed to be standing at the window, looking down at me, like she thought it wasn't her or maybe it was my eyesight, I waved to her, and she seemed to wave to me, although I felt extremely weird, but it didn't Think more, rest assured to go home. The next day, everyone looked very serious. After all, it was an important exam. When I came to the exam room on the third floor, I saw Tian Jiahui, but she ignored everyone as usual and just sat in her seat waiting for the exam.

The exam ended soon, and the teacher collected the papers. Everyone looked relaxed, but there were still a few exams left.Tian Jiahui hurried out after handing in the papers. Someone called her from behind, trying to get the answer right, but she left without looking back.This makes me feel very strange, although she is not very talkative, as long as you call her, she will still answer politely, but today she is like a stranger. A few exams are over soon, and the results will not be announced until the next semester begins. Naturally, I don't have much hope, but I think Tian Jiahui will definitely go to the key class, so I am bored wondering who my deskmate will be next semester.

But to my surprise, Tian Jiahui didn't pass the exam. To be precise, she didn't get a score, because she didn't fill in her name on any paper at all. The teacher asked her strangely, but she looked at a loss. I rarely saw her like this. I wanted to comfort her, but I didn't know where to start.And Tian Jiahui was the last one to leave school every time, and she didn't go with others as usual. Because of the exam, she didn't go to the key class, but she still stayed in the class like me, and she was still at the same table. Feel sorry for her. The second semester of the third year of high school became more tense, and everyone stopped paying attention to Tian Jiahui's weird behavior, as if everyone was living in their own space, thinking only about getting into college.The classmates who used to be together have become like passers-by since they entered the key class.

Since they are at the same table, they will naturally be arranged to be on duty together. In fact, it is just a matter of coping, who is in the mood to clean up.But Tian Jiahui is still serious, and always leaves at the latest.Once I went back, but found that I didn't bring a problem set, so I went back to the classroom. The bustling school was almost empty. When I ran to the door of the classroom, I saw Tian Jiahui lying on the desk. The black hair almost covered her head, the classroom was very quiet, I heard a grinding sound clearly, she seemed to be writing something on the desk with a pen. I walked over quietly. "What are you doing? You haven't come home yet?" I asked.But she still ignored me and concentrated on painting. When I was only one meter away from her, Tian Jiahui suddenly jumped up, grabbed the pen in her hand and stabbed at my eyes. I was startled, but fortunately I dodged past, but she fell to the ground by herself. Still in shock, I subconsciously looked at the desk. It was a bust of a woman, a very strange woman, with short hair reaching the ears, a small round face, and big eyes.But I feel like I've seen it somewhere. On the other side, Tian Jiahui seemed to have recovered and looked at me strangely.I looked down at myself again. "What's the matter with you, it's like a different person." I helped her up.I suddenly discovered that her hair seemed to be a little longer than before, reaching beyond her shoulders, but it is normal for girls to have long hair. "You might scare me. I'm drawing." She smiled shyly. She rarely saw her smile, but this time she smiled very bitterly. "Why don't I take you back, maybe you've been under too much pressure recently, you should take a good rest." I helped her pack her things. On the way, she actually said a lot, saying that her recent memory has always been declining, and she can't even remember her own name, and she will soon forget what she just did.I asked her who the woman in the painting was, but she shook her head and couldn't tell. The next day, there was a rumor in the school that the classroom on the third floor of the old teaching building we used for the exam, I don’t know why the door opened by itself, and I remember that the door was locked after the exam. If it was a thief, there is nothing valuable in the classroom .So everyone said that a female student who had died there before had returned. This story has been circulating in the school for a long time. Before there was a new teaching building, the classroom was a physical and chemical laboratory. It is said that a girl who just came to the school committed suicide in it for some reason, and dipped her face in sulfuric acid. Who I don't know why she chose this way of suicide.Of course, some people said that she may have failed the college entrance examination, which caused too much pressure, or encountered relationship problems.In short, the students doing experiments after that were always injured, electric shock, and burnt by strong acid and alkali, so the school had to close it. The spread of rumors is like a sponge that absorbs water, making everyone's hearts heavy and wet.In the afternoon, some school leaders came to the class.Headed by our vice-principal. The vice principal, surnamed Luo, is a very kind middle-aged woman. She has no airs and speaks softly to all the students.This time she came to each class and emphasized that everyone should study hard and not believe in rumors, and she will deal with everything. Vice Principal Luo was wearing a gray dress and gold-rimmed glasses, and told everyone one by one. When she walked to Jiahui's table, she seemed to be interested in the portraits on the table. "Student, it's a good thing to like to draw, but now it's the sprint stage. Firstly, it's not good to be distracted, and secondly, it's not good to damage the desks and chairs. The students will also use them in the future. You can wait until the college entrance examination is over before learning how to draw." Vice Principal Luo patted Jiahui's head, but the latter still didn't respond much. Vice-principal Luo had no choice but to shake his head and go out. I found that Jiahui was still drawing with a pen on the desk. It seems that she has changed since she was left alone in the classroom on the third floor. Is it true that there are ghosts?I don't want to believe it, but the fear is real. People are always like this. The more you are afraid, the more you will run away from it. I decided to find out if that legend was true, because curiosity is the greatest desire of man. So I tried to find a way to find the school's previous archives. Fortunately, my mother is a teacher of this school and is also very familiar with the person in charge of the archives.I made an excuse that I wanted to know the history of the school, and one weekend, my mother finally took me to the archives. I was surprised to find that there was indeed a sensational suicide case at school more than 20 years ago. The murdered girl put her head into a pool filled with sulfuric acid. The head was bald, and the burnt skin was all over the place.What scares me even more is that this girl is named Tian Jiahui. The exact same name, I couldn't help shivering.From the yellowed photos on the file, it is almost impossible to see what the murdered female student looked like, but she should be a very handsome girl. It is said that she committed suicide because she failed the college entrance examination and her family was poor.There is also her address on the file. Her parents were still alive at the time and collected the body for their daughter. I secretly copied down the address and decided to visit her house.But Jiahui's condition is getting worse and worse, she is drawing every day, not just the table, but all the papers, including her own arm, are painted with that woman.I think the good person she drew is not like the girl who was killed in the photo.Moreover, Jiahui's hair is longer. Fortunately, with the guidance of passers-by, I quickly found another evidence of Jiahui - her parents moved, but luckily the neighbors told me the new address, which is a beautiful residential building.When I came to the door, I didn't know whether to knock, but I saw Vice President Luo. She recognized me and asked strangely.I hesitated a bit, so I lied that I was looking for relatives, and that I might have gone wrong.Vice Principal Luo smiled meaningfully. "Ouyang, you are very smart, but you still need to spend more time on your studies. Originally, it was easy for you to take the key classes, so you should be more considerate of your parents. What's the use if you can't pass the university entrance exam in today's society? How can you talk about your future? ?Also, don’t worry about caring about your female classmates.” After she finished speaking, she patted me on the shoulder, and I had no choice but to nod desperately, and ran out like I was running away. The days passed slowly, and my investigation did not make much progress. In addition, the family lived with Vice President Luo, so I hardly had the opportunity to get close to them and inquire about what happened 20 years ago. Willing to talk about your grief. Jiahui's appearance is still deteriorating, and the teacher already hates her very much, as if giving up on herself.Her father came once and said nothing except to slap her in the face in public.Her long hair was draped over her shoulders, as if covered with a long black cloth. When everyone saw her, they avoided her as if they had seen a monster. She just kept drawing that woman's head, each of which was the same, but slightly different.It seems to be eyes, and it seems to be hair and mouth. Every time she finishes drawing, she carefully folds the drawing paper into a thick stack, puts it in her schoolbag like a book, and binds it. She is no longer Look at any reference books.I really feel very guilty, maybe I was not in a hurry to leave the classroom on the third floor that day, she might not be like this. Finally, the school reported that the old teaching building would be demolished. It was said that the number of enrollments would increase sharply next year. The old teaching building was afraid that there would be too many people and it would be unsafe, so it decided to build a new one. The final news was confirmed by Vice President Luo.That day Jiahui looked very strange, and she was the last one to leave after school.I pretended to go back and told my mother that I had something to do at a classmate's house, but I borrowed a flashlight and waited in the corner outside the old teaching building. Sure enough, when the crowd gradually dispersed, Jiahui walked towards the old teaching building.She didn't notice me, and with her long hair hanging down her sides, she walked slowly toward the building. I followed her, careful with my steps, because they were all old wooden boards, which creaked easily.It gets darker as you go in, but Jiahui walked steadily. She was wearing a long white shirt and walked towards the innermost stairs. The long corridor is full of portraits. When I saw her go up the stairs, I followed her. I finally knew what was wrong that time. The portraits on both sides originally corresponded to one side, but what I saw that day was a separate one, because I was running too fast and didn't pay attention. Today, that portrait came out again.I turned on the flashlight and shone it on the portrait. I thought it would be the portrait of a woman that Jiahui painted every day, but to my surprise, it was another young woman in a school uniform. I looked carefully, but it was so familiar. When I saw the student ID card on the chest of the woman in the portrait, I realized that it was actually the appearance of Vice President Luo when she was a student. Before I had time to think about it, I ran towards the stairs, and Jiahui probably already went to that classroom.Sure enough, she walked to the locked door, and the lock fell off by itself. I stood outside the door to see what she wanted to do. Jiahui walked to the abandoned sink with no expression, and turned on the faucet, but I clearly remembered that the faucet was rusted and useless long ago. But the fact is that a dark yellow liquid flowed out from the mouth of the pool, oily and very thick, and it didn't take long for the whole pool to be full of that kind of thing. Jia Hui slowly put her head into the pool, her long hair curled up immediately after sticking to the liquid, and gave off a smell like burning. The image of the girl with half of her head stuffed into the pool of sulfuric acid flashed before my eyes, I hurriedly shouted "No" and rushed towards Jiahui. But I found that I couldn't move my feet. Looking down, a lot of hair came out from the gaps in the old wooden boards, and my legs were entwined. I could only watch Jiahui put her head into the sulfuric acid pool, my hands tightened, and I remembered that I still had a flashlight, so I unscrewed the flashlight and shot at her eyes. Sure enough, Jiahui seemed to have been touched, raised her head, and looked at me ecstatically, but before she came over, she stretched out a pair of hands that were almost completely detached from the pool. The hand stretched out very fast, and firmly grasped Jiahui's hair, and dragged it into the sulfuric acid pool. Jiahui seemed to wake up, crying "No", she and the hands in the pool pulled each other and became deadlocked . I took the opportunity to get rid of the hair on my ankle, and pulled Jiahui and her body to walk out, but the strength of that hand was very strong, and I couldn't find anything to cut off my hair. A familiar voice came from the side. "Let go, or both of you will die." I raised my head and saw Vice Principal Luo standing in front of me. Her face was ugly. Yes, even in such a dim place, I could still see her distorted face, which was completely different from her usual gentleness and kindness. Vice Principal Luo looked at the hands in the pool and sneered. "I took everything from you, why are you so unwilling? After graduation, I volunteered to be assigned to this school. What can you do with me?" Vice President Luo laughed loudly. "Principal, what are you talking about? Help me save Jiahui." I begged. "Ouyang, I warned you not to worry about this matter, but you didn't listen, and went to the archives to find information, and even went to my house. Don't you want to know what happened to the girl who was burned to death by sulfuric acid? I can tell you that she is my classmate or neighbor, but she is better than me in everything since she was a child, she is beautiful, smart, and has a rich family. Everyone thinks we are good friends, but in fact I hope she will sooner To die, yes, except that I wished I could live longer than her, there was nothing I could do better than her. After the college entrance examination, I failed, but she was admitted to a prestigious university and pretended to ask me to come to school to say goodbye. At that time, I crossed a thought, it would be great if I became her." Vice President Luo said excitedly, and the hands in the pool seemed to be listening, relaxed a little, but still firmly grasping Jiahui's hand head. "So I proposed to go to the physical and chemical laboratory on the third floor, because it was the highest place in the school at that time. I didn't know what I was doing. When I walked through the corridor full of portraits, I found one more. The person in the portrait seems to be telling me that as long as I kill her, I can replace her." Vice-principal Luo continued, and walked towards me, I knew what she wanted to do - push me and Jiahui into sulfuric acid pool. "But even if you killed that girl, you look different from her." I said puzzled. "You will soon know the magical place of this pool." Vice President Luo smiled triumphantly, and suddenly grabbed Jia Hui's head and pressed it into the pool. However, the corroded arms that grabbed Jiahui's head turned to grab Vice Principal Luo. Vice Principal Luo barely made a sound, and his entire upper body was stuffed into the sulfuric acid pool. The pool started to smoke, and Vice Principal Luo let out a painful and inarticulate scream in the pool. The sound cut across the silence of the school and echoed in the old teaching building. After a while, she stopped moving. And I also know what the so-called magic of the pool she mentioned is—her hair was all corroded, but only the face was preserved intact, and it floated from the bottom of the pool like a piece of drawing paper Come out and float on top. A lifelike face, almost unchanged from when he was alive, still as kind as the usual vice principal Luo. Jiahui has fully recovered, but she is a little weak. But I still don't understand, is it the end of the fraudulent deceit?It seems that the surname of the girl who was killed twenty years ago was Luo, and the name of the vice-principal was Tian Jiahui. For so many years, she had been secretly helping her biological parents as a good friend. No wonder she lived opposite the old man. Jiahui cheered up again and devoted herself to reviewing.She smiled and told me that even if she failed the exam this year, she would continue to repeat it next year.I encouraged her to be successful, but I was a little confused about her new haircut. Although she said she couldn't remember what she did during this period, her hair was the same as the woman she drew in those days. I brought her notebook full of portraits, and she told me that it was useless, so she gave it to me as a souvenir.The school also began to prepare to tear down the old building and rebuild it.Of course, as a landmark building of a century-old school, it is still necessary to introduce its history.The school had a half-day vacation and let us go back to adjust our status and prepare for mock exams. I was a little curious about the history of the school, so I went to the archives to look through it as usual. These old archives are already gathering dust and ready to be burned, but luckily I came one step earlier.It said that this school, which was originally a church, was donated by a priest to build it, and during the Anti-Japanese War, it was used as a garrison for the Japanese invaders. I continued to look through it, but found something unexpected.It is clearly recorded in the files that a young and beautiful female teacher who graduated from a university and came to teach in the school was used as a comfort woman by the Japanese army and locked up in the attic of the old school building. In the end, the girl did not want to be tortured anymore and hanged herself in the attic in front of the window.And this girl is called Tian Jiahui, who is from Shanghai. At this time, I suddenly realized that when I left that winter evening, I was so surprised to see Jiahui saying goodbye to me at the window.Because at her height, standing by the classroom window on the third floor, she couldn't see her face at all, but that day I clearly saw her bowing her head and waving at me. My hand touched the painting album next to it, and suddenly a gust of wind blew it away. As the pages of the book were flipped, I saw the delicate woman in the painting album opening and closing her mouth as if alive.So I took it over immediately and quickly flipped through the pages. With the change of mouth shape, the woman in the portrait seems to be talking. I read it several times before I can barely guess it. "On the fifth day of April, Allah came to see Nong." I hurriedly looked at the date, and sure enough, that day was the fifth day of the fourth month of the lunar calendar, and it was also the day that the female teacher hanged herself.So I ran to the classroom, only to find that Jia Hui had already left. I hurried to the third floor, the door of the classroom was open, and sure enough, Jiahui was standing on the desk, with a black rope-like thing hanging from the beam above her head. I carried Jiahui down, but the "rope" on the beam was still flying towards her neck. Only then did I see clearly that it was not a rope, but a long black braid. But then, a woman hanging upside down gradually emerged from the beam, first the head, then the shoulders, and then the whole body, with black braids wrapped around her neck, and white pupilless eyes staring at Jia. Hui. "We are all Jiahui, come on, come on." There was a cooing sound in her throat, as if the water pipe was not shut off, the braids still crawled towards Jiahui's neck.A woman with her bare feet came up to us on the roof. "My name is not Jiahui!" Jiahui suddenly shouted loudly, and the braid stopped when it touched Jiahui's neck. "Yes, her name is not Jiahui, you are looking for the wrong person!" I also shouted loudly while hugging Jiahui.The woman hanging upside down seemed suspicious, but slowly retreated towards the roof.As her face was gradually submerged in the roof of the house, she then murmured to herself again: "I'll go to Jiahui, I'll go to Jiahui." Then, she disappeared completely. Both Jiahui and I were terrified, and it took a long time to recover. The file clearly stated that the poor female teacher committed suicide because she couldn't find a rope, so she cut off her long braid and hung it with a rope. dead himself.So the last photo she left was Qi Er's short hair. The college entrance examination is over, and I passed it unexpectedly, while Jiahui still needs to work hard for another year.She still has short hair, and she told me that she really didn't want to use her name anymore. As for the new name, she said she would tell me when she had thought about it. The cold of winter pierced into my skin and thoughts like an awl. The old building of the school had been pulled down long ago, and a larger and newer teaching building was built. There were no bad rumors or rumors anymore. I just listened to it. Some schoolmates mentioned that every summer night, they always saw a barefoot woman with black braids stop a girl who came back late and asked: "Is your name Jiahui?"