Chapter 5 Chapter 4 The Lost Days

This sentence seemed to be aimed at me. I stopped for a while and turned my head to look. I saw the American turned his head to look at me. He waved his hand to me and said, "Hi!" I was really too lazy to agree to him, so I just nodded, but he came to me: "I heard that you occupy a double room by yourself?" This guy is annoying from the moment he speaks, so what if I occupy a double room by myself?Even if I own a room for eight people, as long as I pay the rent, what the hell does it matter to you? So, I just stared at him and ignored him. He took a stride and came to my side. Only then did I notice a camera hanging on his shoulder.

That kind of camera, when you look at the casing, you can tell that it is a very special kind. This person may be a professional photographer. He came to my side: "You can't sleep in two beds by yourself, let me have one bed, and I will pay 50% of the rent, how about it?" I gave him a bed, and he paid 50% of the rent, which was a matter of course.But at this moment, to him, it was as if he was supporting me! I answered him coldly: "I'm sorry, I have a habit of sleeping in one bed in the first half of the night and another bed in the second half of the night, so you should keep the 50% of your rent in Put it in your pocket!"

The American looked at me in amazement, and the elevator arrived. I ignored him and stepped in, but he didn't follow.However, when I went up to the third floor and walked towards the door, the American ran up the stairs angrily. He went straight to me and said with a smile: "I heard that the Japanese are the most hospitable, so you—" Before he finished speaking, I shook my hand and said, "You are wrong again, sir, I am Chinese." The guy showed a very depressed expression: "Oh, I have been to this small town seven times, and even the time I saw the moon turned red, I never found a place to live!"

As he spoke, he turned away, and what he said was obviously talking to himself, not for me. However, his words also attracted my great attention. I said, "Hey, what are you talking about? You have seen the moon turn red." He turned around, nodded and said: "Yes, I'm here again just for this, I'm going to write an article and publish it in the "Search" magazine, oh, I forgot to introduce myself, I'm Paul, Searching for magazine photojournalists." This guy named Paul has seen the red moon! I also heard from Batu that there was a foreigner who happened to be in Tikalong Town at that time, so it must be him.

I stretched out my hand and shook hands with him: "Then, we have the same purpose, and I came here for this, but I have never seen the red moon." "Then, I can provide you with information, but I can only be responsible for 20% of the rent." For a while, I didn't know how to answer this shrewd American.He and I looked at each other for a minute, there was no way, I gave in, because I came for the "Red Moon".I urgently need first-hand information about "Red Moon". Because of that, don't say that this American is only willing to pay 20% of the rent, even if he wants to live for nothing, I can't help it.

I held out my hand: "OK, a deal!" As soon as he shook hands with me, I opened the door and entered the room: "It's the first day I arrived. I originally had a companion, but he didn't know where he went." Of course, I don't need to report my itinerary to this guy, I just want to use this to open up the topic. Unexpectedly, as soon as I said it, Paul corrected it: "No, you have been here for two days. You went out all day yesterday and didn't come back until now. Where have you been?" I stared at him and said, "I've only been here for a day."

He shouted: "Two days!" I waved my fist at him, signaling him not to fight with me any longer, if we continue to fight, we must fight.In my heart, I was actually very angry, because I didn't know how many times I had been here, and I needed him to correct it? Clenching my fists, I said, "I just arrived today." He pointed at me: "You have a newspaper in your hand, you can look at the date on the newspaper, what day is it?" I bought the newspaper at the entrance of the hotel. Of course, it was the newspaper of the day. I didn't want to read it at first, but after hearing what he said with such certainty, I also lowered my head to read it.

But when I saw it, I couldn't help being stunned. I can see clearly that the date printed on the newspaper is the thirteenth. This is how the same thing? If it is the thirteenth day, then it should be two days since I came to this town, but I have only spent one day, when will I come for one more night? I was stunned and could not make a sound, but Paul was proud. He patted my shoulder: "Why, I made a mistake, didn't I?" I didn't answer him, I took a few steps forward, sat down on the sofa, my heart was very confused, because I didn't understand what was going on, after I came, I went out and checked in the cave. One more time, had a beer and came back.

So how did I lose a day?What did I do in that lost day?I tried my best to think, I tried to remember, but I couldn't remember anything, all I could remember was: I was here for only one day - literally, only a few hours! I stayed for a while, then raised my head: "Could it be that the date of this newspaper is wrongly printed?" Paul shrugged and said, "You can go down and ask everyone if you arrived today or yesterday." I held my head up, and I really didn't know what to think about. One day, I lost a day. This is really unimaginable to me. I don't remember anything that happened in the past day. Pass!

Isn't this too mysterious? And this mysterious "time disappearance" also made me feel very depressed, but Paul was very happy because he found a place to live. He whistled, entered the bathroom, came in and out, and was very busy. I sat there for a long time, until I was sure that I was completely unable to remember what I had experienced during my "lost day", then I stood up and asked Paul: "I must be too tired to remember wrongly." It's so ridiculous that I've been here for a while." Paul patted me on the shoulder twice in sympathy.I immediately said again: "Let's talk about what happened when you saw the red moon?"

Paul looked at me for a while, and then said: "First, there must be a gentleman's agreement." I said: "Okay, what agreement." Paul said: "What I said is all first-hand information, you can't publish everything I said." I sighed: "It seems very difficult to get along with you." "There's no way, in our country, everyone wants to make money, there's no way not to." I couldn't help laughing at his honesty, I took out a stack of US dollar traveler's checks from my body, and flipped them over in front of him: "Look, I'm very rich, far beyond your imagination." Now, if you tell me the first-hand information in detail, not only will you not publish it, but you will also pay you a considerable amount of money!" Paul exclaimed: "That's great!" He sat down opposite me with great interest, and thought for a while: "The situation that night was so strange, I was staying in this hotel, and my mission in this town was to photograph Spanish girls by the sea I completed the task. That night, I was drinking alone when suddenly someone outside screamed—" Paul looked at me, and I motioned for him to continue. Paul said: "My Spanish is not very good, but I can hear outside the hotel, all the Spaniards are running around telling each other, shouting like crazy: 'The end is here, the moon has turned red. !' "I poked my head out to look, and even I was stunned, the moon was red, and I stayed at the window for five minutes! "At this time, the situation on the street became extremely chaotic, and suddenly turned into a red moon, which obviously made everyone out of order. A few drunks sang loudly, and people began to drink bottle after bottle of wine. , tossed from the grocery store. "Soon, there were more and more drunk people on the street, and the normally reserved girls began to be dissolute. Many of them tore off their long skirts, leaving only their obscene clothes, and danced in the street. On weekdays, the girls in the town Authoritative figures, those sanctimonious scholars, like the pompous children, rushed up and squeezed, trying to reach out to touch the dancing girls, but those girls, like hens being chased by someone, let out a "clack crap" Dodged laughter. "All the changes came so fast. Really, I felt at that time that the end of the world was coming, didn't we? When we were young, we saw people. The moon, which had always been silver and white, turned red, such a bright red. , this is really insane!" When Paul talked about this, he involuntarily took a breath, and then said: "I think, I can be regarded as a person who can control himself, because after I stayed for five minutes, I wanted to rush to the street after I got over it." After the impulse, I remembered, I have color film, I have a camera, I can shoot the red moon! "I hurriedly searched for the color film. My god, where is the color film? If I can't find it, I'm afraid I can't buy it in this small town. Besides, under the current situation, who would do business? I searched for several minutes, and finally found it. I faced the moon, took a few pictures, and then ran to the street to finish shooting a roll of film. "The next day, I went back to China, and as soon as I got back, I developed the film." Paul stopped suddenly, looked at me, sighed, and shook his head. I hurriedly asked: "How is it?" He sighed and said, "When I saw the photo, I went to a nursing home to recuperate, and at the same time, I visited a psychiatrist." I wondered: "Why?" He opened an envelope, took out a stack of photos and gave it to me, saying: "Look, the moon I saw at that time was clearly red, bright red, but look at the moon in the photo!" I don't know what he meant by saying that, I just feel that I'm about to see the red moon, so I'm very nervous in my heart. However, when I saw the photos, I couldn't help being stunned. The first one in the stack of photos was a big moon, but that moon was silver-white. I looked at each photo one by one, and there was a moon on top of each photo, and in some of them, there were blurred figures in the foreground, which were a group of people who were screaming and calling. However, on every photo, the moon is all white. I raised my head and said, "Paul, what does this mean?" "That's it. At that time, I saw a red moon. It was red. When I saw the moon was red, I used color to shoot. You said, what should be the normal result?" "Of course the moon in the photo is also red." "But it's not red." I stayed for a while, thinking quickly, and then said: "You mean to say that when you saw the moon was red, it was just your illusion?" "Yes." He nodded. "All the more than 3,000 people are all illusions?" "Although it sounds impossible, it is the only explanation!" After Paul said this, he added: "We all know that the structure of the camera is the same as that of the human eye, and there are other red things on the photo, which means that it is not the red photosensitive part on the film that is bad. Now, the only difference between the camera and the human eye is that it has no life, so it has no illusion, and always reflects the truth as it is!" I stayed for a while, and then said: "Then what you mean, to be precise, is that the moon at that time was actually still white, no different from before, it's just that everyone had the same illusion ?” "yes." "Is this possible?" "This is the only explanation. The reason why I came here again is entirely to find out the reason." Paul waved his hand and spoke with emphasis. I looked at him, and I began to think that he wasn't so annoying anymore, that he was right, the moon didn't change color, but everyone in Tikaron town asked at the same time, an illusion happened. Why did the illusion happen at that moment?Moreover, no one in this small town can avoid it. I can offer several explanations at once, but they are all untenable if one goes deeper. The first explanation is: there is a kind of sick wheat, because the wheat contains a kind of bacteria that can make people hallucinate, even after it is baked into bread and eaten, it still makes people have many horrible hallucinations .However, it is impossible for all the people in Tikalong Town to swallow this poisonous wheat at the same time, that is impossible! The second possibility is that at that time, there was a stream of red particles—but this possibility was denied by myself before I finished thinking about it, because if there is a stream of red mist covering the moon, then, The moon in the photo should also be red. That could only be an illusion of human eyes: what factors caused the people in this small town to have this illusion?I also came for this reason, and Batu also came for this reason, but where is Batu?I...why would I suddenly lose another day? A series of questions made my mind extremely confused. I sat on the sofa, resting my head on my hands. Paul still looked very relaxed. He took out a radio and turned to the music program. It was loud jazz music, and I couldn't help it. He said loudly, "Why are you so relaxed? Do you have a clue?" I was going to make fun of him.However, beyond my expectation, he nodded and said, "Yes." I was stunned: "What is your clue?" He shook his head and said, "You have asked too many questions." I raised my hand and said, "Okay, your purpose is just to get a manuscript fee after investigating the matter clearly, isn't it? I am now, on behalf of an organization, temporarily hiring you with a high salary." "What institution? What conditions?" "Have you heard of the Alien Intelligence Processing Bureau? It is directly under the highest military department and specializes in handling special cases like Red Moon. I think you can get a weekly salary of five hundred dollars a week." Paul let out a "hush" and whistled: "Okay, I accept, are you my superior?" "No, I'm your colleague. Our boss is a Mongolian and Chinese mixed race. His name is Batu. He came five days ago... no, six days ago. He left one day after he arrived. Haven't come back yet." "Oh, it must have been an accident," cried Pavel. I shook my head and said, "No, I don't believe he will be in an accident, because he is a person who can deal with almost any accident." Paul frowned suddenly: "What does he look like? I mean, what are his features?" I looked at Paul, not knowing what he meant when he asked me this, but I answered truthfully: "He is a tall and thin man with a dark complexion and naturally curly hair. at-" I only mentioned here, Paul waved his hand, tapped his thumb and middle finger, said "de", and immediately said: "near the corner of the forehead, there is a crescent-shaped scar, it may be a burn, it is red. ,Yes or no?" I was shocked, and said: "Do you have the habit of observing a person in such detail?" Paul said: "No, I paid attention to this man only because his scar is shaped like a moon, and it is red. You know, my mind is full of the image of a red moon, so I can't help but feel a little bit of love for him. After a few more glances, I will remember.” I asked again, "So, where did you meet him?" "When I came, he was walking into this town, and the carriage I took passed by him, and the old man who drove asked him if he needed a ride—" I asked impatiently, "Then why doesn't he come with you? Wouldn't he rather walk than take a ride?" Paul also shook his head and said, "I don't know why, but he has a very confused look on his face, he seems to be in great trouble, he just stands blankly by the side of the road, looking at that The old man in the carriage didn’t react at all, I thought this person was strange, so after the carriage drove away, I saw him still walking forward slowly.” I hurriedly said, "If he came to town, then now—" I just got here when there was a "click" on the door.Because until now, I at least knew that things were extremely unusual, so when I heard a sound from the door, I immediately became nervous, and said in a deep voice, "I'm going to hide behind the sofa." There was a sound of "card", and the person who came seemed to have a key. I froze for a moment, and the door was pushed open. The one standing at the door was none other than Batu. When I saw him, as Paul said, Batu's expression was very haggard and bewildered, as if he had something important on his mind, so I hurriedly called out, "Batu!" If I hadn't called out, would he have noticed that I was in the room? I'm afraid it would still be a problem.And after I yelled, of course he saw me.As soon as he saw me, he showed joy on his face: "Ah, you came so soon." Paul also stood up, and Batu's spirit had obviously recovered. He pointed to Paul, "Hi, who is this friend?" I said: "This is my new friend. His name is Paul. I have hired him as a temporary employee of the Alien Intelligence Processing Bureau on your behalf. The weekly salary is 500 US dollars. Because he has seen the red moon." Batu said excitedly: "Yes, you are the American who once saw the red moon." Paul walked forward and shook hands with Batu. Batu smiled at me and said, "You came so soon, your wife must scold me." My face turned red, I thought Batu was mocking me, because in fact, I was delayed for seven days.I hurriedly said, "It's not too late, I've been delayed for several days." Batu was stunned: "What did you say?" I said: "I'm seven days behind you, I think, during these seven days, you must have gained a lot?" Batu opened his eyes wide: "You must be crazy. I arrived this morning, and now you are here too. You are only ten hours late!" I was also stunned. As soon as I heard Batu speak the Fa like this, I already understood what was going on.I lost one day, but Batu, in his memory, lost seven days! He thought he arrived "today". In fact, it was the eighth day since he arrived here, but after arriving, he lost seven days. Of course, I can know that his situation is the same as mine. In the past seven days, he has no idea what he has done, he only thinks that he is here today! Although I understand this point, it is not easy to explain this point to Batu. I didn't make a sound, but Batu asked, "What do you mean? You said you came seven days later than me. What do you mean?" I sighed and said, "Batu, we have all encountered extremely incredible things. After I got here, I lost one day; but you are even more unfortunate than me, you lost seven days!" Then, I told the story of my "lost day" and Paul's argument. When I was only halfway through the talk, Batu grabbed the newspaper and looked at the date on it. His face became extremely pale. After he saw the date, he naturally understood what was going on. He was pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back, and the three of us were all silent for a while. It took a full five minutes before Batu murmured: "No wonder I was wondering why the clump of sunflowers on the side of the road grew so much in one day. Seven days!" I don't understand: "What sunflowers on the side of the road?" Batu said: "As soon as I arrived, I left this small town to investigate everything. When I left, I noticed a clump of sunflowers by the side of the road, but when I came back, the sunflowers in the same position were gone. I've grown up quite a bit, and I've been thinking about this a lot, so—" Paul went on to say: "So, you are so confused that you can't even hear someone calling you for a ride!" Batu said: "Yes, this is really a miracle, but compared to the fact that I lost seven days for no reason..." Batu smiled wryly. I said: "Then, tell us what happened and what you can remember. After you finish, I will tell you what I remember." Batu nodded and stayed for a while before telling what he could remember.