Chapter 21 fifty-fifth night food

Years later, I was busy with work, and with the so-called habit of not shaving my head in the first month, I didn't expect my hair to grow like a weed that no one cares about.With more hair, naturally there will be more dandruff, and it is like snow falling on the head and shoulders.When I went out, I found that there was a new barber shop on the corner next to the newspaper office, and there were still some people around outside. It seemed that the business was very good, so I decided to go in and have a look. My hair is extremely difficult to straighten, and with a little skill, it almost looks ugly, so I changed a lot of hairdressers and it was always unsatisfactory, so this time I had to come in with the mentality of trying again.

The shop is not big, even a little narrow but not dark. On the contrary, due to the direction, the sunlight can shine in very well, and the whole room is very simple and bright. The sunlight always makes people feel very uncomfortable. If you live in the place for a long time, the owner’s psychology will be a bit dark, so when you choose a house, lighting is also a very important criterion. I remember that this place used to be a grocery store. The shop must have been rented out by the previous owner seeing that the business was not good.There are two barber chairs in the store, although they are old but not broken, they seem to be made of bamboo.The same is true for the mirror, although the inlaid frame is black without any decorative patterns, and it is a bit old, but the mirror surface is very clean and very clear.

However, the square mirror, when the guest sits on the chair, the upper body is reflected in it, giving people a very uncomfortable feeling. It's like a posthumous photo. I blinked, probably thinking too much. A few bamboo chairs were placed in the corner, and some guests were sitting there, but one of the little girls made me very curious. She is about eleven or twelve years old, with two braids, big round eyes and a small and exquisite nose matching a round face.It's just that the red lips are a bit scary, just like the mouth of a vampire in a movie, of course, that's impossible.The little girl's hair is not shiny, looking at her slightly pale translucent skin, I guess she may not be in the sun often and her health is not good, there are many such children, parents and elders are precious to death, the door is not open They don't stay out of the second door, and they are more secluded than the ancient ladies. As a result, they dare not go out as long as there is a second-level wind in the street.

The girl was wearing a very beautiful dress, a black and red plaid skirt and white leather shoes.And she was holding a doll tightly. That doll is also very beautiful, dressed almost like a girl, and has a slightly similar appearance, but it feels like a doll is a doll after all, there is no vitality in its eyes, and it does not move.But dolls made like this are rare. The boss was cutting hair for a customer, and it was obvious that his craftsmanship was good, because there were three or four people waiting in line for such a small barber shop that had just opened. The boss is about medium height, with a big and smooth head, and the facial features are tightly arranged, except for the big eagle beaked nose protruding out.The skin, like a kneaded phone book, has several deep wrinkles, and it looks very old.He still has two exaggerated mustaches, but the beards are very hard and sparse, sticking to his thin lips one by one, as if he wants to draw it with a brush from a distance.

"Okay, can you look in the mirror and see if it suits you?" The boss used a soft brush dipped in some powder to clean up the hair on the neck of the guest, and humbly half bent over and said to the guest with a smile.The guest stood up, turned his head to the mirror, rubbed it with his big hand, and then paid the money and left with satisfaction. Finally, finally, the boss waved to me, indicating that it was my turn.I sat down on the chair unceremoniously, it was very comfortable, and there was a faint coolness. Started a haircut.I also slowly chatted with the boss about homework.Journalists have an occupational disease. They like to chat with people, as if they feel uncomfortable when their mouths are idle for a while, so you will find that many reporters like to chew gum when they have nothing to do.

"I'm a foreigner, and I bought these things from the flea market. The mother passed away early, so I had to take my daughter around. Alas, fat people can't accommodate us. Fortunately, my daughter is sensible and never cries. Suffer with me." Although the boss looked very old, he only found out during the conversation that he was just forty. "Your daughter?" I think it's not too big here, could it be the little girl I saw sitting just now?Sure enough, the boss then pointed at the girl. "Look, isn't she sitting there with a doll, I made that doll myself!" I couldn't help but look back.

A little of the setting sun leaked out of the window, shining on the little girl's face with a blurred mixture of red and yellow. I saw that she didn't have any expression, but just looked at me blankly, holding the doll tightly in her hands.I couldn't help but praise the boss for his exquisite craftsmanship. Indeed, some dolls sold outside are so realistic. If he did it himself, then this barber is really versatile. "She doesn't like to talk, don't be surprised. I taught her for a long time. I said that when I saw young people, I called them uncles and aunts, and when I saw older ones, they were called uncles and aunts, but she never spoke. She is more than ten years old. I don't hear her say a few words a day. One word." The boss sighed and called out to his daughter again.

"Yuanyuan, your name is Uncle." I heard my body shake, and interrupted the boss with a smile. "You can just call him uncle." I explained sweating. But the girl didn't say anything. The boss had no choice but to continue to cut my hair.I looked at the ground, indeed, there were quite a few people who had their hair cut, but the ground was very clean, and there were hardly any broken hairs. "Yuanyuan, bring me a hot towel, it's in the washbasin at the back." The boss ordered again, but this time the girl stood up and obediently walked in, and took a steaming towel after a while.

The boss wiped my face with a towel, and I suddenly felt a strange smell on the towel, and there seemed to be some sticky things on my face, but not much, so I didn't care. "Your hair is very good." The boss suddenly touched my hair with his hand.I don't know why, but I couldn't help shivering for a while, my whole body shuddered, and my neck seemed to be blown by cold wind, so I had no choice but to shrink my neck. The boss's skills are good, I looked in the mirror, and it seems that I will recognize this company in the future, and it is not far from the newspaper office.I paid the bill happily, and just about to leave, I touched my pocket and found a piece of chewing gum, so I became playful and walked to the girl named Yuanyuan.

"Here, it's delicious and sweet." I handed over the gum, but the girl just hugged the doll tightly.Looking at me blankly. I had to put the gum on the chair and walked out. When I walked out of the barbershop, I suddenly looked back, and with the little sunshine, I saw the boss stooped, put all the hair that had been swept into a pile on the floor, neatly put it in a pocket, and put it away The pocket stood in the corner, and there were two identical bags next to it. I guess it might be sold for money. It is said that there are people who specialize in buying hair.But the chewing gum next to the girl was gone.

Probably, she picked it up and ate it immediately when she saw that I was gone. Hehe, I smiled, but suddenly I vaguely saw the corner of the doll in the girl’s hand seemed to move. I rubbed my eyes, but the doll remained the same. Maybe I read it wrong. Recently, I have been revising manuscripts all the time. I am too tired. Let’s go back and make a cup of chrysanthemum tea. I comforted myself and walked home.When I walked out, I saw a middle-aged woman with a kind face, carrying a bag of things into the barber room, with a happy smile on her face. I'm also here for a haircut. It seems that the business here is really good, I thought to myself. It was already dark outside, touching my slightly cool head, I hurried home and started to take a shower, otherwise the broken hair would be very irritating.When I was taking a shower, I vaguely heard the windows of the living room rattling non-stop. I thought it might be because the wind outside was too strong, but when I walked out of the bathroom after wiping my hair, the sound disappeared again.But I found that there seemed to be something on the window. It's a handprint. Because I'm lazy, the window is full of dust, so the handprint is very clear. It's not an adult's. The handprint is very small, like a child's, and it seems to be taken from outside. But I live on the sixth floor. I was just about to turn back to the rag to wipe it down, but I heard another slap from the window.Looking back, it turned out to be a little girl hanging upside down outside the window, with her hair hanging upside down.He stared at me blankly, his fair face reflected the fluorescent lights in the living room, making it look a little green.And the two hands just pressed on the handprint just now. She opened her small mouth wide, as if shouting something.And I stared at her blankly with a bath towel like a fool.Then, she seemed to be a little impatient, and beat the window with her fist so loudly that the glass was about to shatter.I was stunned to see her pointing to the coffee table next to the sofa, and then opened her mouth wide.I looked back and there was only an open pack of chewing gum on the sofa. Turns out she was talking about sugar. I tremblingly picked up the candy, opened the window a crack, and handed out the chewing gum. Her face was very close to me. I couldn't believe that such tender skin didn't change color at all in the cold and humid wind. Under the light, there is a strange crystal feeling, like a jade in the dark, with a fat luster.At this time, the girl snatched the chewing gum in satisfaction, without even tearing the wrapping paper, directly put it into her mouth and swallowed it, then gave me a cute smile, and then climbed down. I opened the window and stretched my head out to look, and found that she was like a gecko sucking her limbs on the wall of the sixth floor, crawling down quickly, and crawled to the middle, and suddenly looked back at me, so scared that I immediately retracted my head for a long time , When I stretched out my head tremblingly again, the girl's body had already disappeared into the night. Trembling, I poured a glass of cold water, and after drinking it, I felt a little more awake. The girl was so familiar. Finally, I remembered that this was the daughter of the owner of the barber shop. But a normal little girl would climb up to the sixth floor and ask someone for candy?Obviously not. The next day, I came to the barber shop full of doubts, but when I reached the door, I hesitated to go in.There were not many people in the morning, and the small shop in a remote area seemed even more depressed.Today is cloudy, I looked at the ground, and my own shadow was thin and faint. I am hesitating whether to go in, although I have been with my friend for a long time, but I am not him after all.My blood does not have the ability to exorcise evil spirits.I'm afraid that on the contrary, maybe something will come up. The boss suddenly came out from inside.Seeing that I was a little surprised, I squinted my eyes and scanned up and down, and then let out an oh. "Aren't you yesterday's guest? Why, is it because my workmanship is not good and you are a little dissatisfied? I'm really sorry, how about I fix it for you? I hope you don't take offense." The boss bent over and folded his hands together In his chest, he half bowed his head and apologized in fear.I was deeply disturbed and quickly helped him up.Tell him that I don't mind the quality of the hairstyle, on the contrary, I am very satisfied with his skills. The boss looked at me suspiciously, very strange, and wanted to continue asking, as if he was afraid of my displeasure.I had to stand at the door, not knowing what to do for a while.Realizing that I might have disrupted his work schedule for the day, I nodded to him and said I was just here to sit and see the boss. This excuse seems a little far-fetched, so far-fetched that I find it funny.The boss naturally didn't believe it.So he immediately said that he was very interested in his haircutting skills and wanted to come and watch and learn by the way. This is the boss who smiled honestly, his back straightened up, and there was a little smug smile on his face, and he started Talk to me about the tricks of a haircut. It's a pity that I didn't want to listen to his narration at all, I just coped with it, and peeked into the small shop. I didn't see the girl. Could it be that I was hallucinating yesterday? But there was an illusion that was so real and lasted so long. "I haven't opened yet, and I just want to go out to do some shopping. Why don't you help me take care of the store and my daughter? If there are any customers, let him wait for a while." The boss suddenly asked me to come, which surprised me , but it's also exactly what I want. "Aren't you afraid that I'm a bad guy? Stealing your things?" I couldn't help joking at him.The boss's face, which had been full of smiles all of a sudden, suddenly became serious. I have to admit that a person who had been laughing for a long time suddenly stopped smiling. That expression can really chill people's hearts. "You won't. When I first came here, I knew that you worked for a nearby newspaper. I've seen you go in a few times, and your appearance is definitely not the kind of person who steals. Let's talk about my broken shop Is there anything worth stealing?" What he said made sense, and I nodded my head, agreeing to his request.Only then did the boss walk towards the street with satisfaction, but before he could take a few steps, I suddenly shouted again. "What if I want to abduct your daughter?" I don't know why I asked this, maybe I want to test it. The boss stopped suddenly, and after a while, he slowly turned his head, with an exaggerated smile hanging under his slit-like eyes. "Whoever kidnaps my daughter will be the most unlucky person in the world." After finishing speaking, he left without looking back.Although I said it with a smile, I think this sentence is more deterrent than saying it with a straight face.Especially to someone like me who went through that weird thing last night. There are some furniture in the small shop, the floor is really clean, and there is no peculiar smell at all.The room is quiet as if no one has lived in it for a long time, a little dead. There is another room inside, but the door is closed.The black painted wooden door was slightly open.Neither a fully closed door nor a fully open door is as attractive as a door with only a slit open.This is probably the reason why he is still holding the pipa and half covering his face. I figured the girl must be in the room, but I was hesitant to go in.A person who climbs a tall building with bare hands at night and asks for candy is certainly not an ordinary person. But I still walked over, because I heard a swallowing sound, and I seemed to be very anxious, as if I had been hungry for a long time.I raised my feet high and walked over as silently as possible. The closer you got to the door, the louder the sound became.I looked through the crack of the door, and there was an electric light in the room.The girl sat on the bed with her back to me, next to the doll she was holding last time. The doll was still beautiful, but I couldn't see it clearly in the dim light, it just felt like a living person. No matter how realistic the doll is, it is a doll, because it cannot move at all.Even if a machine is installed inside, the movements it makes are stiff and rigid, and cannot be compared with human movements at all. But to my surprise, the doll beside the pillow blinked.Yes, I'm sure I read it right, it did blink. Then, what was even weirder was that the doll turned its neck in a dumb, very mechanical way, and looked at me with wide-open eyes, as if it had discovered me.I unconsciously took a step back in horror, only to find that my feet seemed to knock something down. is a bag.I took a closer look and found that it was full of hair, but only half of it.I looked into the room again, only to find that the girl sitting on the bed had disappeared, but the doll on the pillow was still there, still staring at me with big round eyes.There was also a bag on the bed, and a large pile of black hair was scattered from it. At this time, there was a sound of metal scraping the floor at the bottom of the door, and at the same time, I felt something beside my legs. I looked down and found that the girl was already lying under my feet, looking up at me. Her mouth was squirming, and her bulging cheeks moved.I saw a few long strands of hair at the corners of the mouth.Big, white eyes stared at me bulging. From her eyes, I can't read the emotions that humans should have, or the soul or something like that.As if I had violated her territory, the girl sprang at me on her stomach until I staggered back into the barber room where she stared at me for a few seconds before turning her head and crawling back into the room again.Like a crocodile in a tropical lake.The speed of crawling really makes me smack my tongue. I was still sitting on the ground panting, but suddenly I was hit on the shoulder, which was not serious, but people's nerves are often very fragile after being frightened, so this time I was really scared again.Looking back, it turned out to be the boss, with a smile on his face, and a few playful glances leaked from his slit eyes. "Are you okay, I just asked you to take care of the store, why are you sitting on the floor? It's still cold, get up quickly." He said, he helped me up and sat on the stool next to me.Then get busy on your own. He yelled to the room inside again, "Get up." The girl came out again with the doll in her arms, but this time she looked very docile and beautiful, not at all like what I saw just now, as if what happened just now had never happened. The barber sighed and sat down in a chair. "You probably saw it just now. In fact, I didn't intend to hide it from you. The reason why I let you stay is to let you see it for yourself, so that you won't believe me after I explain it." Sure enough, the boss concealed something. "Actually, my job is not to cut hair." His voice suddenly changed, and the previous humility and philistine tone of a small businessman disappeared, replaced by a kind of self-confidence and pride, and the whole person seemed to be much taller, he Standing up from the chair, pacing around, hands behind his back. "I'm actually a puppeteer." His eyes were wide open in an awe-inspiring light. But I don't understand what this has to do with his daughter's weird movements.But the barber went up to the girl holding the doll and stroked the back of her head.The girl let go of her hand in an instant, limp like a machine that lost power, and her head tilted to one side.The barber gently picked up the doll. "Actually, this is my daughter." He lovingly touched the face that I thought was a puppet.It turned out that I misunderstood his casual finger that day.If you look closely, the girl still looks a bit like her father. Sometimes it’s like this. People always pretend to be smart and take the fake as real, but the real is fake. I can’t help but smile at my stupidity. . "I know you misunderstood, but it's normal. My daughter suffers from a natural disease, and her mind often falls into unconsciousness. Naturally, she looks like a doll." The barber said it easily, but I believe no matter what It was difficult for that father to accept this fact. The reason why he can still say this at will proves that he has slowly endured it, but the pain behind it is probably beyond my imagination. part 5 He looked again at the doll that I thought was the barber's daughter. "This is my painstaking effort. In fact, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is my daughter." The barber paused, then reached out and shook the girl's head.As a result, the puppet suddenly returned to its previous appearance, just looking at the girl in the hands of the barber, and remained silent. "My wife couldn't stand me as a puppeteer and left me. In fact, even I felt that I was not a normal person. No one would like to spend a lifetime with a guy who doesn't talk all day and plays with some human limbs. So I didn't dissuade her when she proposed to leave, because I always thought it was a matter of course. She didn't take her daughter, and that's what I'm grateful for.Although I know that she actually knows that her daughter is suffering from a disease, and she is afraid of becoming her burden. I take care of my daughter by myself, which is very difficult for a man without a stable income. Although I can make portraits and dolls for some collectors, it is not a long-term way of making a living.And because my profession is often feared and hated by the people around me, I was interrogated by the police more than once. The reason is that I frightened my neighbors when I discarded the discarded doll parts, so I will learn to behave in the future. , all parts are destroyed in a remote place, and often moved. I want to live and take care of my daughter, and suddenly I had another idea, whether it is possible to create a puppet that has never existed before, and even give it the perception and movements that humans only have. This idea is actually the dream of all puppeteers. Creating real people, not puppets, is a cursed profession in itself.Because we have threatened the status of God, only God can create man. But I started doing it anyway. But the difficulties we faced can be imagined. I read a lot of classics and consulted famous people in the industry, but all I got in return was the frustration of failure.The room was filled with failed productions. But by chance, I discovered that human hair is a good material for making.With the human essence in the hair, I had an idea.Is it possible to create a puppet controlled by human consciousness, a kind of puppet similar to a robot. Soon it was made and I combined it with my daughter's ideas.I can't explain to you how this is done, I can only say that it is a secret technique, a method similar to diverting thoughts.Soon, the figure was completely accepted by my daughter.The daughter who never showed any expression actually smiled at the doll. I've always worried that growing up without female relatives like sisters and mothers would affect my daughter, but I'm relieved now.Although this doll can't speak, it can already do many things for my daughter instead of me. Just one thing, it must eat a lot of human hair, just like a car that consumes gasoline, the hair is the energy for it to continue to move.Therefore, I had no choice but to learn the art of haircutting by hand, but unfortunately, sooner or later, I would be misunderstood by the locals wherever I went, so I have been living a life of wandering, and now people who are willing to come to a small shop like mine to get a haircut Fewer and fewer. "The barber put his daughter back into the arms of the doll, and the doll carried his daughter back to the room. "My daughter is much better than before. Maybe God has a little mercy on me. Although she can't speak yet, she has begun to grow slowly. Because of the problems in her brain, she has hardly developed, and her body has always remained a child. and can't speak, and can only be expressed by the shape of the doll's mouth. I know that she sent the doll to your house because she wanted candy that day, which may have scared you. I'm very sorry. Just please , don’t tell what you know, at least let me prepare a little before I can move to the next city.” He said very bitterly, his eyes kept staring at his toes, as if pleading, the previous pride suddenly burst Gone, what I saw was not an excellent puppeteer, but an ordinary father.At this time, I suddenly understood why gypsies always seem to like singing and dancing to outsiders, always smiling, and always make people feel unrestrained.Because they don't have a home, which is the greatest sadness. When people reach the greatest sadness, they will laugh and be happy instead.Because they can no longer be sad, the homeless are the saddest people. I naturally agreed to his request, but I just hope he pays attention, after all, not everyone can bear that kind of thing, it would be bad if it caused a commotion.The barber nodded, suddenly excited, his dissatisfied face suddenly flushed, like a young man who just received the praise of his sweetheart. "I know a woman, a very kind woman. She is also a famous puppeteer. There are very few people in our industry, and we don't know each other well. She is always wary of other people, but she still sees my embarrassment. And maybe we will get married soon." This surprised me very much, and I was very happy, I saw his joy from the heart, and I also wished him from the bottom of my heart. "Originally, I wanted to make a puppet for you, but I was afraid that you would not like it." The puppet master lowered his head and rubbed his hands, smiling honestly. I politely declined because I was really terrified of this. Maybe I wouldn't be terrified of a creepy mannequin, but I definitely wouldn't keep a human-like dummy at home. The scariest thing in this world is neither ghosts nor humans, but things that resemble humans but are not humans.Dolls are, and so are those who have lost their humanity.