A long, long time ago, when Cai meiwen was still in junior high school, her family had a puppy. She didn’t want to raise it, but one day, after school, she saw a puppy in her house. Her parents explained that it was her aunt’s dog, but because she moved to the sixth floor, it was too tired to walk the dog every day, so she didn’t want to raise it. She came over and asked if they wanted to raise it. If they didn ‘t, they would send it to the countryside.
Her parents saw that the puppy was quite clever, and they had the mentality that it would be a waste not to buy it, so they kept it. Anyway, her aunt said that dogs were very easy to raise. They could be raised by feeding it some leftovers, and it could also help look after the house.
At that time, the real pet industry China didn’t exist yet. People raised pets blindly, lacked relevant knowledge, and lacked channels to understand the relevant knowledge, unlike now, where you could find out everything by searching online … And at that time, most people were not financially well-off. They even fed cats with leftovers, not to mention dogs.
At that time, Cai meiwen … Was probably in her rebellious phase. She was very rebellious and didn’t like her parents and teachers. She hung out with a few of her best friends all day. She dyed her hair, smoked, put on lipstick, wore ear studs, skipped class, and swore … She was a problem girl.
Whether it was little celery or Zhang Zian, or anyone who knew Cai meiwen now, it was impossible for them to imagine what she looked like at that time. Even she herself sometimes dreamed of herself at that time, and when she woke up, she would wonder who the strange girl was. Had he been possessed by a Vixen or Huang Daxian?
In fact, this was very normal. A person’s personality would change. Or rather, a person originally had many personalities, but at different times, they focused on one. Weren’t many people’s personalities very different in reality and on the internet?
In short, at that time, Cai meiwen didn’t even like her parents, so of course, she didn’t like this uninvited dog. As for the reason … Did rebellious teenagers need a reason?
If one had to find a reason, it might be that her living space had been occupied. After all, her house was not large. It was the common two-bedroom one living room at that time. The layout was so terrible that it made people wonder if the designer’s head had been clamped by lackeys. The walls and doors were as thin as paper. At night, they often heard some sounds that should not be heard. Of course, it was the sound of her parents sighing for her, a problematic girl, and not any other sound that could easily cause people to think wrongly.
When Cai meiwen entered and saw the puppy, she was so angry that she immediately flew into a rage. She asked,”why didn’t you discuss it with me before raising a dog?” Am I not a member of this family? I don’t agree with keeping a dog. You guys send it back, back to where it came from!
Her parents were in a difficult position. Her aunt had left for a long time, and she had already promised her. How could she go back on her words? So they didn’t agree. Instead, they told her that this puppy was so cute and that they would let her stay to relieve her boredom.
She didn’t want to keep a pet at all, and she didn’t like this dog. Although she didn’t know what kind of dog it was at that time, she could tell at first glance that it was a mixed-hair dog. It didn’t look expensive at all. With her aunt’s poor family, how could she keep an expensive dog, and how could she give it away?
The dog was also frightened by her thunderous voice and shrank under the coffee table, not daring to come out, which made her sneer at it even more … Of course, if the dog was not afraid of her voice and bravely barked at her a few times, she would have more reasons to send it away. Anyway, as long as it was not pleasing to the eye, there would always be a reason.
She angrily returned to her bedroom and slammed the door. She then picked up her bag and threw it on her bed to vent her dissatisfaction.
Her parents were already used to her being like this. They kept sighing outside. She was such a cute and obedient girl when she was young. How did she grow up to be like this? Who did he learn this from? What was he going to do in the future?
Cai meiwen pressed her head down with a pillow, not wanting to hear those old words. She didn’t even hear them when they asked her to eat.
What would they do in the future? In the future, of course, he would lead a happy life in the pugilistic world. He did not want to live a life like them, where they worked for nothing!
She was deeply influenced by the newsstands that sold pirated Hong Kong and Taiwan books at the school gate. She was immersed in unrealistic fantasies about the future. In her mind, she sketched out an illusory image of herself being able to get wind and rain as she pleased, and slowly fell asleep.
After an unknown period of time, she woke up from hunger.
When she got up from the bed, she saw that it was already dark outside, and it was also dark inside.
She turned on the light and walked out of the bedroom with sleepy eyes.
“Mom, I’m hungry!”
There was no response.
The living room and master bedroom were also dark, and only the moonlight shone in from the balcony.
She turned on the light in the living room and saw a note on the dining table.
Her parents had gone to the night shift and left her a message telling her to leave dinner in the pot and heat it up before eating. They told her not to eat cold food, as it would ruin her stomach. They also told her to lock the door after she woke up and to go to bed early after eating. It was all cliché talk and nothing new.
Her father was a factory worker and had three shifts. Her mother was a nurse in the hospital and often had to work the night shift. It was not unusual for them to go out on the same day to work the night shift.
At that time, incandescent lights consumed a lot of power, and their lives were not well-off. It was not like now, when no one was at home, the night lights were still on, and the lights were turned off when they went out.
She threw the note away and walked into the kitchen with a yawn, ready to eat.
The lights in the kitchen were not on, but there was moonlight. After all, it was a home he was very familiar with. He would not go the wrong way even if he closed his eyes. He could find the location of his things in the dark.
She opened the lid of the pressure cooker, and there was a steamer in it. One layer was rice, and the other layer was vegetables, but because it had been left there for too long, it had already turned cold.
Taking advantage of her young age and good health, she ignored her parents ‘advice. She found it troublesome to cook hot food, so she directly brought out the dishes and planned to eat them cold.
Compared to this, she had been thinking about what to do tonight. Of course, she couldn’t do her homework. It would be embarrassing to do it. Why don’t she have a long phone call with her best friend?
At that time, the phone bill was more expensive, and she only had a fixed phone at home. Because she was always on the phone, the monthly call fee was very high. Her parents had already warned her seriously that if she continued to talk on the phone, they would dismantle the phone.
As she was thinking about something else, she absent-mindedly took out a bowl and chopsticks from the cupboard. She had just turned around and taken a step when her ankle rubbed against something furry.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
She screamed and threw the bowl and chopsticks in her hand, which broke on the ground with a bang.
That thing was also shocked and quickly ran out of the kitchen. Only then did she see that it was the puppy. She had forgotten about it after sleeping.
“Damn dog! Why are you scaring me?” She roared in anger.
The puppy shrank back under the coffee table, only revealing its head to look at her in fear.
The bowl shattered on the floor. It was not an empty bowl. It was filled with rice and vegetables. She had planned to eat while watching TV, but now it was all smashed on the floor.
Fortunately, her parents had left more food for her today than usual. There was still food in the pot, so she was not hungry.
“I’ll deal with you after I’m full!” She glared at it fiercely.
She scooped another bowl of food and brought it to the living room. She turned on the TV and ate while watching the TV. After she finished eating, she threw the empty bowl on the dining table and waited for her parents to come back from work to clean it.
As for the broken bowl and the food on the ground, she didn’t care.
Soon, she was immersed in the world of wuxia and variety shows. She was so fascinated that she giggled as she watched, or was infatuated with handsome male stars.
At about Teno’ clock in the evening, the TV series and variety shows had finished broadcasting. She was thirsty and stood up from the sofa to get a glass of water.
At this moment, she suddenly saw that the leftovers on the ground had disappeared. They had almost completely disappeared.
The puppy licked its lips and looked at her with satisfaction.
“Woof! This dog is lucky!”
She pursed her lips. This was good. At least her parents would have less complaints when they came home tomorrow.
She went to the kitchen to pour some water, and it followed her into the kitchen. It stared at the cup in her hand, as if it was thirsty.
She gulped down a glass of cold water, ignoring its sad eyes.
Wu~
At this moment, it whimpered and turned to look at the door.
The TV was still on, and the sound was quite loud. Cai meiwen didn’t notice anything unusual, and she ignored the dog. After drinking the water, she sat back on the sofa and changed the channel in boredom.
Once it was past 10:30 pm, there were no more interesting programs. She changed all the TV stations that she could receive, and the boring programs made her sleepy.
Forget it, I’ll just call my best friend. It shouldn’t be a problem to call less.
The phone was also placed in the living room, not far from the TV. If you wanted to make a call, you had to turn off the TV or lower the volume, otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to hear clearly.
She turned off the TV, picked up the phone, and was about to dial when she suddenly noticed that the puppy was still staring at the door. It would wagged its tail at her occasionally, then continue to stare at the door.
“Is this dog stupid?” She sneered.”You don’t want to stay in this house anymore? You want to run back to your original home? Alright, then I’ll let you out!”
She smacked her forehead. She was really muddled from anger. Why did she only think of such a great idea now?
If she opened the door and let it run away, she could tell her parents that it ran away through the crack in the door when she opened the door to school. Wouldn’t that be easy to get rid of it?
She immediately walked to the door, planning to open the door and drive it away.
When her parents went to work, they locked the door from the inside. However, the locks at that time were relatively simple and useless in the eyes of people who knew how to pick locks, unlike the Beyond B grade lock that was popular now. So, they told her to plug in the bolt after she woke up as a double safety.
Wuwuwu~
The puppy seemed to be a little restless and kept running in circles.
Her hand had already touched the lock and was about to twist it open.
Woof!
It had not made a sound since it entered the house, but it suddenly made a sound and faced the door.
There was a corridor outside the door. They lived in the family residential area of the factory.
The voice-controlled lights outside the door lit up, and a black shadow seemed to flash in the door mirror. Then, a series of footsteps quickly disappeared down the stairs.
Cai meiwen didn’t put her eyes on the door mirror at that time, so she didn’t see clearly what the black shadow was. However, her heart instinctively trembled, and her palms were covered in cold sweat. Her hands unconsciously moved to the bolt, but not only did she not unlock it, but she also gently locked it.
She was rebellious, but she was not stupid. She was also afraid.
Judging from the height of the door mirror from the ground, the black shadow could only be a person.
Who had walked over?
Her house was on the fourth floor, and there were two floors above hers. The factory employees and their families lived on the first and second floor. Due to the three-shift working system, it was common for them to go out or go home in the middle of the night after the night shift.
Therefore, the black shadow was probably just a neighbor who was on a night shift and happened to pass by her house.
The problem was that when people went up and down the stairs at night, they would usually stomp or cough to wake up the voice-controlled light to avoid stepping on the stairs. However, she didn’t hear the person cough or stomp.
Of course, it was also possible that she didn’t hear the man stomping his feet when she had the TV on. The voice-controlled light turned off when the man passed by her house, and the barking of the dog woke up the voice-controlled light. This seemed to be a reasonable explanation.
But what if he wasn ‘t?
She suddenly shivered. While she was watching the TV and laughing, had that person been quietly waiting at the door, standing in the dark, listening to the movements in the room?
Excluding the possibility of temporary shifts, the shift schedule in the factory was public and could be seen by everyone. There was also a certain pattern to the nurses ‘night shifts, so those who were observant could actually know when her parents went out, when they came home, and when they would work the night shift at the same time. This included the working hours of the neighbors upstairs and downstairs.
Speaking of that era, people nowadays often missed how sweet the fruits were and how simple life was. In fact, that was not the case at all. The public security situation at that time was much worse than it was now. However, because there was no internet, the news was blocked, and the information blockade was very serious. Therefore, even if there were major murders, few ordinary people knew about it. Everyone thought that they were living in a peaceful world and did not know how to be vigilant.
It was the same for Cai meiwen. She had never been in any danger since she was a child. In her impression, the workers in this family compound were all petty and disobedient. This night was the first time she felt afraid of the silence of the night, afraid of being alone.
Usually, she wished her parents would work 24 hours a day so that they could just cook for her and not be an eyesore at home. But now, she desperately wanted them to come home at the last minute.
She stared at the door. The door mirror had turned black again, the voice-controlled light had gone out, and the corridor was dark.
If she suddenly coughed loudly and turned on the voice-controlled light, would she see … A ferocious face in the door mirror?
She took a few steps back, afraid to make a sound.
Creak.
Her slippers stepped on a broken bowl, making a light sound.
The sound was too soft, and the sound detector was not as sensitive.
Wu~
Her ankle rubbed against something furry again. It was the puppy.
It seemed to have relaxed. It licked its lips and stared at her, occasionally turning to look at the kitchen.
“……”
She tiptoed into the kitchen and filled a plate with water for it.
It licked the water and wagged its tail.
At least, she didn’t plan to let it out tonight.
