Chapter 4 Prologue 2 Lost Love

Mengli held the handlebars of the motorcycle with both hands, and galloped along the road.The mountain road that went back and forth countless times seems to have become some kind of repeated mark, hanging on the stave of memory. The heat in Taipei at the beginning of July is very hot, even on Yangmingshan. Sometimes when she goes up the mountain, she doesn't even wear a thin coat, and she just accelerates to let the strong wind blow away the transpirational heat; , cool and dry mixed with heat and smooth on the skin. The wind beats the hard hat, and the sense of separation is also numb. Life is easy to fall into an unchanging rhythm, but the stable unchanging is what many people hope for; The proportion is probably the most important.

It's a bit hard now, but she doesn't seem to have the capital to make her life better, so who can blame her? There was a sharp bend in the mountain road, Mengli manipulated the motorcycle skillfully, and slid through the curve almost without stagnation, proud of her riding skills, but immediately felt empty again in the next moment, 27 years of time, with her eyes closed The smoothest thing I did was to ride a motorcycle on a mountain road. It is not entirely correct to say that, her hairdressing skills can be done well even with her eyes closed. Every day I work from 3:00 pm to 10:00 pm, and it is almost 11:00 when I ride back to my apartment on Yangmingshan, and there is almost no so-called "family life" to speak of...

Today she has a terrible headache, which flares up whenever she is sleep deprived or overworked.Because the pain was so unbearable, she asked for leave and left work early; her health was getting worse and worse, and as she grew older, the deteriorating body function was like a curse that held her tightly, worrying and afraid. She and her boyfriend Zhaopeng share an apartment and have lived together for almost three years.Zhaopeng has been taking pictures since college, and it has been more than ten years now. After graduation, he opened a photo studio with his friends; he is a crazy photography fan, and he likes to travel and collect images, especially the "type" "Photo……

stop!Mengli shivered, slowed down, passed the only Dinghao supermarket on the mountain, and bus No. 260 whizzed by.There are many businesses nearby, which is a place for students of the Cultural University to satisfy their cravings at night.The salted crispy chicken stalls on the side of the road were crowded with people, and men and women surrounded the small stalls like a city wall. Knowing that there are many people in this salted crispy chicken shop, she ordered a chicken chop at another salted crispy chicken stall before going up the mountain. The busy proprietress saw her and nodded with a smile.Because of her abnormal diet, she would often buy midnight snacks there, and even the proprietress knew her.Eating chicken chops often is not good for your health, but anyway, your health is already poor, so let it rot.As the locomotive passed through the downtown area, blank thoughts filled up again.

Zhaopeng's interest is something she can't accept, and there is still a section of mountain road to ride at night, so she must not think about those things again... Sigh, is the person who is so interested in that kind of thing mentally ill? She caught a glimpse of couples waiting in front of the booth. They should be students of Wenzhou University, right?The boy whispered in the girl's ear, with a happy expression on his face; for some reason, a burst of jealousy surged in Mengli's heart. Her he is not a bad personality, on the contrary, he does not have any violent temper.It's just that he is too much like an unresponsive stone!He never knew what was on her mind, he didn't know that she needed a cup of bubble tea when she was tired, he didn't know that she needed a hug when she got home, he didn't know that she needed his arms when she went to bed.

When I got home after get off work, I couldn’t see him at all. He almost hid in the darkroom... Forget about marrying a camera! Leaving the block, Mengli entered the more deserted mountain road, and it didn't take long to reach the apartment. It's been weeks since they had a proper meal, and it's been months without a proper conversation; she doesn't want that at all, it's like being with a rock What's the difference? Tonight, she decided to have a showdown with him. She couldn't bear this kind of interaction. She was obviously very tired, but she had to come forward to communicate the situation. Why wouldn't he want to solve the problem?Doesn't everything matter to him?Thinking of this, the feeling of powerlessness is even heavier.

The night view of Taipei is brilliant and gorgeous, especially from the apartment where she lives, the bustling urban area can be seen at a glance; from east to west, Four Beasts Mountain, Taipei 101, Taipei Main Station, Miramar Ferris Wheel...all shrouded in In the bright night. Once upon a time, the time when the two of them sat together under the night sky and counted the lanterns has passed away quietly. Now, can I find a reason to love him? The familiar four-story building appeared in front of my eyes. The apartment building under the night was much darker than that in the daytime. In addition, the building itself was old. At first glance, I thought it was a huge monster.

After parking the car, carrying the bloated chicken chop, Mengli walked through the management office on the first floor and walked towards the elevator. Although the room is on the second floor, she still avoids taking the stairs, so she can save some energy for negotiating. Their room was located in the east half of the floor. Mengli used the key to open the entrance door, took off her shoes and entered. The light in the living room was on.She put the chicken chops on the table and was about to go to the kitchen to wash her hands. Adjacent to the living room are the dining room and the kitchen. After entering the living room from the entrance, turn right and there is a corridor with bedrooms, bathrooms, study rooms and other rooms on both sides.

Then she found that the window of the restaurant was open.Meng Li walked forward, sticking her head out of the window, behind the building was the woodland, it was pitch black at the moment, and she couldn't see anything.Below the window is an old iron fire escape, which is crumbling. It is said that it will be demolished next week and replaced with a new one.She frowned suspiciously and reached out to close the window.That's when she caught a glimpse of a row of stains on the floor below the window; not very obvious, but what looked like shoe prints, stretching down the hallway on the other side.The direction of travel of the shoe print cannot be seen, in fact, the entire print is rather blurred.

"Ah, this is..." Mengli pressed her chest with one hand, and her whole body began to tremble. Robbers broke in.This was her first thought.what to do?Her heart was pounding like never before! Mengli stepped lightly, walked into the kitchen, stretched out her right hand, and took out a meat cleaver. The handle, which was rarely touched, felt extremely cold at the moment. Her hands were shaking, but she still clenched them tightly, and she tiptoed to the corridor, knowing that she was in the posture of a killer about to assassinate. The corridors are dark.My mind went blank, I didn't know what to think.Who broke in?

Is Zhaopeng safe and sound?What to do now?She flipped the hallway light switch, and a dim night light on the wall came on.There was not enough light for her to make out which room the shoe prints on the floor led to. There are six rooms in the corridor, three on the left and three on the left, and it seems that we have to find them one by one. Holding a knife in his right hand, fumbling for a switch with his left hand, the surrounding area was eerily quiet; the two loud tenants who originally lived on the first floor were silent at this moment, so they must have gone out, right? The first room on the right, the bathroom, is not big enough to hide from people.The moment the light came on, she knew there was nothing wrong with it.Mengli decided to keep the lights of the rooms she searched turned on, so she could feel more at ease.Next, head to the room across from the bathroom. The first room on the left was originally Mengli's bedroom, but later she and Zhaopeng slept together in another room. Until recently, when she really couldn't stand each other, she would run back to sleep in this room. After turning on the lights, it was confirmed that the room was fine.The second room on the right, the study room, is empty.The second room on the left, the warehouse, is a pile of sundries. I'm not sure if people are hiding in the pile of sundries, but it looks okay.She hesitated for a moment, but stepped forward to flip it over, but a pile of dust was raised.never mind. The third room on the right is her and Zhaopeng's bedroom.Press the light switch, and the inside is suddenly bright. There is no abnormality, Zhaopeng is not inside, and there is no sign of sleeping on the bed. In this way, only... Mengli's eyes slowly moved to the opposite room, the door was half closed, and darkness poured out. At this time, there was a certain sound.She listened attentively, her whole body became vigilant, and the knife in her hand clenched even tighter; what was that sound?It seems to be a collision sound, no, besides the collision sound, there is something else... There was only this dark room left, her body shook even more, and she could hardly stand still; she leaned against the wall and gently pushed open the door with the hand holding the knife, her breathing was short and her heart was tense. ——Has a thief invaded?Is Zhaopeng safe and sound?She approached the door slowly, groping inside with her left hand, looking for the light switch by the wall.Once found, press .The light is not on. By the way, Zhaopeng said yesterday that the light in the darkroom was broken, and he hasn't bought a light tube yet. Her heart beat faster and she remembered that there was a red photo safelight inside, but the switch was farther in the room... Mengli retreated to the opposite bedroom, took out the flashlight from the drawer, and after confirming that the switch was normal, she went back to the darkroom cautiously and shone the light into the room. The first thing that catches the eye is the filing cabinet facing the door and leaning against the wall. It is the cabinet used by Zhaopeng to store photo materials and negatives. The light beam moved to the workbench on the right, and countless photos were hung and pasted on the wall; the items on the stage looked a bit messy. The trembling beam moved towards the floor, flashing past a dark mass.Mengli screamed, and the flashlight fell to the floor. What flashed in his eyes was the figure of Zhaopeng lying on the floor.