Vollständiges Metamorphose-Handbuch

Kapitel 5

I breathed a sigh of relief. Then, I glanced at her in the rearview mirror; she was still looking around, hoping for the next customer.

A few days later, I drove to Huai'ren County alone again.

By then I already had a driver's license, and I drove that big-tailed jeep to the company in Huai'ren County to pick up a new recruit. I was going to be discharged in a few months, and he would be taking over my job, so I had to train him for a while.

This time, I hope to see Saburo again.

But on the way to Huai'ren County, I only saw a few middle-aged women selling fruit; I never saw her again. I began to feel sad again—after returning home, I would never be able to come back to this place again, never see her again…

The new recruit was from the south. He was very well-behaved. On the way back, he kept talking to me, calling me "Brother Zhou" over and over, his mouth as sweet as honey.

I didn't say much; I kept looking out at both sides of the road.

It was getting dark, and the middle-aged women selling fruit had all gone home. The road was wide open, with only the roar of a large jeep engine.

Unexpectedly, she reappeared, right where she had been last time. In front of her were two baskets filled with apples, and the carrying pole leaned against a tree.

I paused for a moment, then slowed down and stopped in front of her.

The new recruit said solicitously, "Brother Zhou, do you want some fruit? I'll go buy some!" As he spoke, he was about to get off the vehicle.

I said, "No need, you can wait for me in the car."

With that, I jumped out of the car and walked towards her.

She stared at me intently; clearly, she hadn't expected to see me again.

In the distance was a forest, and beyond the forest was a village. Gentle wisps of smoke rose from the chimneys of a few houses, slanting into the dark blue sky.

I stood in front of her and smiled at her.

She smiled and said, "Master, are you buying apples?"

She didn't even recognize me!

I looked into her eyes and said softly, "You don't remember me?"

She slowly stopped smiling, glanced warily at the car, and said, "I don't know you."

I said, "Take a good look."

She looked at me for a while, then shook her head.

I wanted to call her name, but then my heart suddenly ached, so I gave up the idea, smiled faintly, and said, "Never mind if you don't remember. Goodbye!"

Then, I turned around and got into the car.

The new recruit asked in a low voice, "Brother Zhou, why didn't you buy any?"

I said, "That's so despicable."

He paused, then asked, "Isn't it too expensive?"

I turned around and shouted at him, "I mean, I'm so shameless!"

He didn't understand what was going on and dared not say anything more.

The jeep sped off angrily. I didn't say a word the whole way.

The darkness, like a giant pocket, slowly closed in, finally swallowing my big-tailed jeep.

The blinding headlights shone on the road ahead, like a swaying, pale face, devoid of features. In the distance stretched endless darkness.

My heart was like a speeding car that suddenly crashed into a cold secret—she had said that she had seen me twice on this highway one autumn! The first time someone else was driving, and the second time I was driving myself!

I ran into her a few days ago when the section chief was driving, but this time, I was driving!

She also said that the second time, I stopped the car to talk to her and asked her if she remembered me...

It was like watching a movie where the projectionist had reversed the order. I stood there dumbfounded, trying to figure out what was going on.

In this boundless darkness, I felt a profound terror.

A week before I was discharged from the army and returned home, I went to Huai'ren County again.

This time I took a long-distance bus and was dressed casually.

I got off the bus where she was selling apples, then walked off the road, through the woods, and toward the village. I figured her family lived in that village.

At the village entrance, I met a young man who was about her age. He was pushing his bicycle and was about to ride on it when I stopped him and said, "Brother, is there a girl named Sanlang in this village?"

He looked me up and down and asked, "Who are you?"

"I am a friend of hers."

"She is dead."

I was shocked: "When did he die?"

"It's been three years, hasn't it?"

Please tell me the exact date!

He thought for a moment and said, "August 1991."

In other words, she wasn't dead when I first met her. But I clearly saw her selling apples by the roadside again just a few days ago!

The young man pushed his bicycle away.

I called out to him again: "Brother, can you tell me how she died?"

The young man didn't stop. As he walked, he said, "Her family found her a man from the neighboring village, but she didn't want him. She argued with her parents and was kicked out of the house. Soon after, the police came and said they had pulled a body out of the river..."

Encounter on the road (4)

I don't know how I left that village.

I don't know how I left Shanxi and returned to my hometown.

Saburo became a dark mystery in my adolescence. I never told anyone about it. When I was alone, whenever the night was quiet, I would suddenly think of that field of bright rapeseed flowers and her eyes.

Until one day, I saw some very mysterious reports in the media, like a lightning bolt traversing the universe, striking my brain:

In early 1994, an Italian passenger plane was flying over the coast of Africa when it suddenly disappeared from the radar screen in the control room. Just as airport staff on the ground were extremely anxious, the plane reappeared in the sky, and the radar signal was restored.

Finally, the passenger plane landed safely at an airport in Italy. However, the crew and 315 passengers on board were unaware that they had ever been "missing".

Captain Badari said with a puzzled look, "Our flight has been very smooth since it took off from Manila, and there have been no unexpected incidents."

However, the facts are undeniable: upon arrival at the airport, every passenger's watch was 20 minutes slow.

Experts believe the only explanation for this phenomenon is that the passenger plane entered a state of "stillness" at the moment it "disappeared".

※With the collapse of the Soviet Union, some classified documents have been released, and scientists have discovered that some of them contain information about time travel.

One day in August 1971, Soviet pilot Alexander Snov, while conducting a routine flight in his MiG-21, inadvertently "stumbled" into ancient Egypt. He witnessed the construction of the pyramids—a single pyramid stood majestically in the vast desert, and not far away, the foundations of another pyramid were just being laid…

On September 9, 1990, staff at Caracas Airport in Venezuela suddenly spotted an obsolete Douglas aircraft approaching the airport, which was not detected by the airport's radar.

Airport staff asked, "This is Venezuela. Where are you from?"

Upon hearing this, the pilot exclaimed in surprise, "My God! We are Pan Am Flight 914, flying from New York to Florida. How could we have missed our destination by more than 2,000 kilometers and ended up here?"

Then, he showed the airport staff his flight log: the plane took off on July 2, 1955, 35 years ago.

At first, airport staff thought the pilot was joking. Later, after verification via telex, it was confirmed that Flight 914 did indeed take off from New York on July 2, 1955, bound for Florida, but suddenly disappeared en route and was never found. All 50-plus passengers on board received death insurance payouts.

These people returned home to the United States, much to the shock of their families. Their loved ones had aged, while they looked as young as they had in their youth. American police and scientists examined the passengers' bodies and documents, confirming the truth.

I know the media isn't trustworthy. Sometimes, they're the ones who create the rumors.

But this time I believed them.

Only in this way can we reasonably explain Saburo's situation: perhaps, my first encounter with her was, for her, our third meeting!

There is another mysterious piece of evidence: when I first met her (or the third time), the electronic clock in the car showed 00:00:00.

Day 104

Generally speaking, women don't dare to kill chickens or fish. These bloody and dangerous tasks are always done by men, while women simply wear pretty aprons and cook. However, Mrs. Ge Mai seems to be different.

Day 104 (1)

Generally speaking, women don't dare to kill chickens or fish. These bloody and dangerous tasks are always done by men, while women simply wear pretty aprons and cook. However, Mrs. Ge Mai seems to be different.

She never cooks, but she has a penchant for killing.

Ge Mai got married in the fall, and it's been three months. He noticed that every time she chopped off a chicken's head or gutted a fish, she seemed very pleased, a bit like... the expression of a man during sex.

Ge Mai sensed that his wife possessed an extremely strong mental fortitude. That was all.

Once, while Ge Mai was watching TV, his wife suddenly stared wide-eyed at the corner of the wall.

Ge Maishun looked over and saw a mouse. It shot from point A to point Z like an arrow, then suddenly stopped, its two bright little eyes darting back and forth.

A look of surprise froze on the lady's face. She slowly raised her foot, silently took off a slipper, and suddenly swung it, hitting the mouse accurately. The mouse lay on its back, twitched a few times, and died without a drop of blood.

Ge Mai was dumbfounded.

We can view this event as accidental; for example, sometimes when we look up a word in a dictionary, we just happen to find it.

However, Ge Mai doesn't think so.

He felt that his wife's ability to hit the mouse was definitely not a coincidence, but rather related to her skill.

He clearly saw that the slipper landed about three feet in front of the mouse. As she suddenly raised her hand, the mouse darted forward, and the slipper flew through the air for exactly the same amount of time as it ran three feet.

Therefore, G.M. believes that this deviation was premeditated.

A small-scale survey was conducted, and it was found that 92% of women love cats and 99% of women are afraid of mice—however, this survey was conducted four years ago.

Mrs. Grumman was one of those 1%.

She not only enjoys killing chickens and fish, but also swatting flies and mosquitoes. The latter may be related to women's love of cleanliness.

Sometimes, if Ge Mai happens to find a mosquito at home, she definitely won't kill it. Instead, she'll immediately run to the computer, call her over, and let her smash it.

Ge Mai first felt terrified because of a goldfish.

That day, Ge Mai worked overtime at his company and didn't get home until very late. As soon as he entered the door, he smelled a strong odor of blood.

He went into the bathroom and saw his wife with blood on her hands, killing a goldfish.

That's Ge Mai's goldfish. He'd had it since before he got married, for over a year now. It's about the size of a thumb, and Ge Mai named it "Thumbelina." It's entirely yellow with black markings, very beautiful. Every day it swims silently to and fro in its glass tank, lonely yet radiant.

Currently, Thumbelina's belly has been cut open by her wife with scissors, and she is wagging her tail on the snow-white tile floor. Her eyes are open as usual, quietly gazing at this vast world.

Ge Mai never expected that "Thumbelina," with her tiny body, would have so much blood.