Die einsame Stadt geschlossen

Kapitel 2

Old Postman never went out, nor did he appear during the day. He only came out at night, wearing a long black robe, and always walked on his toes, which made his toes the most robust part of his body.

The old postman thought he was a ghost.

Most people in this world are self-righteous.

For example, Ding Yan thought he was a vampire;

Those four twin brothers thought they were dogs;

Xiaomi thinks it's rice;

Rice thinks it's millet;

Meiniang thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world.

"Have you fed those four dogs?" Ding Yan interrupted him impatiently.

"I've fed them... Why did you ask me to keep those four things? They..."

"Where's the rice?" Ding Yan interrupted him again.

"I just took that junior employee to the railway tracks to lie down, sigh! And the rice too..."

"Where's Xiaomi?" Ding Yan asked, rubbing his feet.

"Millet naturally goes with rice... rice and millet... he..."

"Where's Aunt Mei?" Ding Yan looked into the kitchen.

"She just brought back some fresh skincare products from the clinic... I really don't know how long that old hag is going to keep pretending to be young... She's already 40, a middle-aged woman, and she's still painting herself green all the time..."

"Where's Lao You?" Ding Yan threw himself onto the sofa.

“I’m here…” the old postman said.

"Has the apartment rental information been posted?"

"It's been sent, through many channels." Old Postman is fluent in many languages, including computer languages.

5.

Millie felt as if she were covered in salty, smelly glue, her white dress clinging to her body, like the life of a salted fish, enveloping her completely and making it impossible to breathe any fresh air.

A salted fish turning over a new leaf? That's just a fairy tale.

She stood at her front door, inserted the key into the lock, but didn't turn it.

It's as if twisting it would unlock a suffocating lifestyle.

Millie didn't turn the knob, but the door opened anyway.

Her husband stood inside the door, wearing a greasy nightgown, with rice grains stuck to the corner of his mouth.

When they were dating, Millie's husband was very romantic. Every time they went on a date, he would have a grain of rice stuck to the corner of his mouth, saying that he took the rice grain with him wherever he went.

After getting married, Millie thought about it and realized that she should keep it close to her heart, not on her lips.

Millie's husband indifferently stepped aside, wiping his mouth as he did so, and Millie disappeared, going inside.

"Do you know where I went today?" Millie stood there blankly.

"I know." Millie's husband served her a bowl of rice porridge, which was white and sticky, almost as white as Millie's dress.

"How did you know?" Millie asked, still bewildered.

“I watched TV; there was a live news broadcast,” Millie’s husband said.

"Then why didn't you save me? Did you want me to die so badly?" This question should have been uttered with anger, but when Millie said it, it came out calmly.

“I knew you would come back.” Millie’s husband looked at her neck. “Just like I knew the rope used to hang myself would break.”

Millie stopped talking.

Millie's husband also stopped talking.

He went into the bedroom and never came out again.

She stood in the living room without going in.

Real water has no fragrance and is endless.

However, we can't just drink plain water every day; we should occasionally have some cola, juice, or beer. If we don't have any of those, drinking some poison would be quite interesting.

Life is like plain water.

6.

Aunt Mei mixed a delicious blood-boosting cocktail called Dracula.

Aunt Mei likes to eat vegetarian food, but the vegetarian dishes she makes have a meaty aroma.

Aunt Mei also likes to drink meat soup, but the meat soup she makes is light and delicious.

Aunt Mei only drinks one kind of meat soup.

Aunt Mei is Ding Yan's cook and also runs her own private clinic.

Aunt Mei's private clinic is free, but it's not a welfare institution.

Aunt Mei tied her hair crookedly to one side of her head, her smooth skin glowing with a rosy luster. Her face looked like that of a 20-year-old, but her eyes and expression exuded a mature charm, and her whole body radiated an alluring aura.

"This soup is really nourishing!" Aunt Mei placed a steaming bowl of white porcelain soup in the center of the table, then quickly pinched her earlobe and playfully stuck out her tongue. "She's just five months pregnant, so she's perfectly ripe and fresh, and incredibly nutritious. Ding Yan, you should try some today. It's very clean. Mommy is a college graduate, and this is my first pregnancy! I didn't use any medication when I made it. Drinking this will definitely make you look 10 years younger!"

"I don't want to be 10 years younger. I finally made it to adulthood." Ding Yan opened the closet in the living room, skillfully filled a cup with fresh blood, and then dipped it in a steamed bun to eat. Ding Yan's eating manner was very peasant-like.

"Did you change Xili's IV drip today?" Ding Yan pointed to the closet.

Aunt Mei smiled and said, "It's been changed, how could I forget that!"

"Have the millet and rice returned?" Ding Yan asked the old postman. The old postman stood behind the curtains and said shakily, "They just returned."

As they were talking, Xiaomi pushed open the door and entered. She had a clean buzz cut, but she didn't look awkward at all. Instead, she had a unique feminine charm.

"Was it going smoothly?" Ding Yan asked, like a concerned parent.

"Smoothly, the train rumbled and ran right over my heart." Xiaomi said as she sat down. "I'll eat first, and then I'll switch to rice."

"Hmm!" Ding Yan watched as Xiaomi gulped down Aunt Mei's soup and laughed mischievously.

"The soup is good!" Xiaomi said, ladling another bowl. She swirled the ladle around in the bowl, then suddenly realized something was wrong. "Aunt Mei—you bad person! Did you cook that again?"

Aunt Mei smiled mischievously.

Xiaomi stood up angrily, "I'm going to tell Dami that you two are playing a trick on me!" With that, she hurriedly returned to her bedroom.

Old Mail was still hiding behind the curtains, grinning sinisterly. Behind the curtains was the darkest corner of the room.

Rice and millet are a loving couple, inseparable, yet they never go together.

7.

The next day, the front page of the newspaper described Ding Yan as a mysterious female hero, an angel who saves suicidal people.

Millie was presented as a typical case of a patient with depression who had attempted suicide multiple times. Various so-called psychology experts working in private and public hospitals appeared to offer in-depth analyses of Millie's psychological state and behavior. Some mental health institutions were even eager to use this opportunity for publicity, offering to provide Millie with free psychological treatment and reporting the entire treatment process.

Millie held the newspaper, feeling that those so-called psychology experts all had some kind of delusion.

She had never considered any of their analyses.

She was just bored. She just wanted her husband to come and rescue her, then hold her, stick a grain of rice on the corner of his mouth, and say, "I'll take you with me wherever I go."

Now Millie's husband never takes her anywhere. The more money he has, the more bored she becomes.

He said, "Am I crazy? Why would I stick rice grains on the corner of my mouth like an idiot?"

When in love, everyone is a lunatic, an idiot, or mentally challenged.

Once I get married, I'll be fully sober and healed.

When Millie went downstairs to buy groceries, she got a big hole in her spine—from being poked by her neighbor.

The neighbors, who were initially indifferent to her, all brought her fruit and snacks when she first attempted suicide, making her feel loved.

But later she discovered that they were sacrificing the money for cheap fruit in order to get firsthand gossip information, and everyone, including Millie, felt happy during that time.

Being noticed is always better than being invisible, even if it's negative.

Butcher Wang wasn't there, but his son was; he would watch the shop for his father on holidays.

Butcher Wang's son wields his knife quickly and precisely, and the meat he cuts isn't bumpy and uneven like his father's, but rather has a vibrant beauty. His fingers are long and strong; the neighbors say he's aspiring doctor, and that the knife he uses to cut pork will one day be used to cut human flesh.

Wang the butcher's son packed the black meat into a plastic bag and handed it to her with a smile, saying, "Take good care of yourself and don't make things difficult for yourself." He always gave her a little extra.

Millie smiled. The vegetable vendors across from her were huddled together and whispering, which made her feel very satisfied and in a good mood.

As she took out her change, she pulled out a business card—a striking red one—with only a name and a sentence on it:

Extraordinary Consultants

A professional suicide and homicide counseling organization.

It was given to her by that short-haired girl.

She said that when needed, she should write her phone number on her business card and put it in mailbox 5155, and someone will contact her.

8.

Ding Yan lived in a very tall, newly built luxury apartment building with 28 floors.

Currently, more than half of the residents have moved in, and these residents all moved in before she took over. After she took over, for some reason, there have been very few new residents, and even if there are, they move out after only a few days.

This apartment is called Very Apartment, and the property belongs to Ding Yan.

The rooftop of the Very Apartment building features a sky garden with a giant locust tree growing inside.

When the night is still and quiet, Ding Yan would hang upside down on that locust tree, sometimes thinking about something, sometimes not thinking about anything, just hanging there like a beautiful bat.

Vampire bats.

Ding Yan finished another carton of blood yogurt and jumped down from the tree.

The blood yogurt was specially made for her by Aunt Mei so that she could drink it when she was out. It has a sweet and sour taste and is delicious.

The blood in the blood yogurt is from Xili.

Xi Li lives in a closet. He was once a wildly popular pop star, sexy, handsome, and cool, a heartthrob loved by all ages. But after becoming famous, he became increasingly miserable and lost his freedom. No one can live 24 hours a day under the intense gaze of others.

Two years ago, when Ding Yan was 20 years old and had just entered the music scene, Xi Li was his senior, and she was a newcomer and his assistant.