Love, please don't bloom

Chapter 6

The lady looked at Ge Mai somewhat awkwardly.

She has been recuperating at home for the past few days.

She works for a clothing company, spending her days running around, persuading clients with her words to secure orders for the company. Of course, the profits have nothing to do with her; she only uses her performance to enhance her competitiveness within the company and solidify her job and salary.

For her, the mouth is the most important thing.

But a few days ago, she suddenly lost her voice. The doctor diagnosed her with laryngitis.

Ge Mai wasn't angry, just a little puzzled. He asked his wife, "Why did you kill it?"

The woman pointed to the goldfish, then to her chest, as if she had a very important reason. However, her laryngitis exempted her from any explanation.

That night, the moon was very full. However, Ge Mai couldn't sleep.

He suddenly realized a terrible problem—since they got married, his wife seemed to kill a living thing every few days!

Yes, that's right!

When she gets off work, she always buys some live animals, such as chickens, ducks, geese, rabbits, fish, crabs, turtles, bullfrogs, snakes... she rarely misses a day.

She always takes the lead, and her movements are exceptionally swift.

Once, she even bought a lamb. Actually, calling it a lamb is a bit of a stretch; it was already quite tall and should be called a "little lamb." Ge Mai still remembers that its fur was pure white and its voice was delicate, like a very clean fifth-grade girl.

The wife struggled to kill it. The lamb seemed to sense its impending doom; it took off running around the kitchen. It was surprisingly strong, knocking over a clay pot and a five-kilogram beer barrel.

The woman feinted twice, then pounced on it.

She squatted down, tucking it between her arms and thighs, and it couldn't move. All she could hear was its hopeless babbling, "Baa...baa...baa...", a sound that sounded exactly like a child calling, "Mommy...Mommy...Mommy..."

The woman stabbed it through the neck with a single stroke. Delicate blood spurted out, staining its tender fur red.

For the past few days, my wife has stayed home and hasn't gone out, so the goldfish died...

A week has passed in the blink of an eye, and the wife's illness still has not improved.

She became more and more absent-minded and irritable each day, sometimes flying into a rage for no reason, or standing alone on the balcony in the dark, lost in thought.

Ge Mai felt that his wife was becoming more and more of a stranger.

He tried to talk to her, but she couldn't speak. All he could do was frantically seek medical treatment for her everywhere.

That morning, she wrote a line on a piece of paper and handed it to Ge Mai: "Buy a chicken tonight."

That evening, Ge Mai bought a plucked white chicken. He was exploiting a loophole in her writing, deliberately playing dirty tricks on her, wanting to test her reaction.

When she saw that Ge Mai had bought a whole white chicken, her face turned pale, and she began to roar angrily. She quickly stopped and started coughing painfully.

Day 104 (2)

Ge Mai put his arm around her shoulder, trying to comfort her, but he couldn't muster any enthusiasm. He could only offer a few explanations. He said he passed by the free market, but everything was closed except for the stalls selling dressed chickens…

After a long while, she seemed to have calmed down and sat on the sofa in a daze. Ge Mai took the opportunity to slip into the kitchen and start cooking.

He made chicken stew with mushrooms. His wife didn't eat a single piece of chicken, she only drank some soup.

There was no moon at night, and a strong wind was blowing.

Ge Mai wasn't asleep; he strained his ears to catch his wife's breath.

His wife remained silent, seemingly asleep. Ge Mai felt a weight lifted from his heart, yet also a slight disappointment. He didn't know how much time had passed before he too drifted off to sleep.

In the middle of the night, he was awakened by a strange sound. It was the sound of sharpening a knife: "Shh—shh—shh—" It was lonely and slow, like the thoughts of an old man.

Grimald lay on his back, not turning his head, but slowly reaching out to touch his wife—the space beside her was empty. His heart sank.

What is she doing?

He remained motionless, waiting quietly. The wind grew stronger with each gust.

After a very long time, the sound of sharpening the knife finally stopped, and the lady stood up, seemingly tired, and slowly began to walk. Her footsteps were very light, and she was undoubtedly barefoot.

She walked from one room to another, and then from one room to another...

It's getting cold, and all the mosquitoes and flies in the house have disappeared. There are no more living creatures to kill.

Thinking of this, Ge Mai shuddered.

Finally, she walked towards the bedroom. Although there was no moon, Ge Mai could still see that she was carrying something shiny in her hand.

He recalled the premeditated plot just three feet away, and his whole body went weak. He felt he was no match for her. He gripped the quilt tightly, squinting in the darkness, staring intently at her.

She stopped in front of the bed and carefully examined the man who was pretending to be asleep.

Ge Mai's nerves were like a slingshot stretched to its limit, trembling slightly, on the verge of snapping.

Finally, she spoke, her voice hoarse like a man's: "Kill..." Then, she shuddered violently and slowly collapsed.

Ge Mai sensed something was wrong, got up, and shakily turned on the light.

In the stark white light, he saw a sharp knife plunged into his wife's heart, blood gushing out. Her eyes trembled as she stared at him, her expression a mixture of ecstatic joy and rage…

This woman's suicide was very suspicious.

The doctor couldn't explain it, the police couldn't explain it, and neither could her parents.

For a time, everyone around was talking about it.

A year later, Ge Mai remarried. His new wife was a psychologist, and he learned a new term from her: occupational anxiety.

She said, "Your ex-wife's death was very likely related to occupational anxiety. This mental illness is common, affecting 1% of modern women."

Ge Mai believes she is only 1% right.

Masquerade

At every masquerade ball, a woman mysteriously disappears, but no one notices...

Masquerade (1)

This was Yuan Xiaojiang's first time attending a masquerade ball.

She didn't tell anyone; she came secretly, feeling both excited and nervous.

There was a sign at the entrance stating that each person could only buy one mask. She chose a relatively pretty one; it was a banshee with a deathly pale face and blood-red lips.

Then, she followed the waiter down the long, steep staircase.

The ball had already started, and she was the last to enter.

This underground bar was spacious and dimly lit, with fluorescent lights flashing everywhere, creating a bizarre and fantastical atmosphere. Occasionally, wisps of white smoke would rise from the dark corners. The music was wild and deafening. People dressed in all sorts of strange costumes and wearing bizarre masks writhed and twisted their bodies frantically, lost in a temporary illusion.

The ad says it's a party where "men are the coolest and women are the most dazzling," but who knows what kind of faces are behind the masks?

Yuan Xiaojiang's excitement was ignited, and she danced energetically with everyone.

She had never felt so exhilarated; every bone and muscle in her body seemed to dissipate into musical notes, trembling and soaring. No one could have imagined that this enchantress concealed an introverted, sensitive, and conservative girl.

After an unknown amount of time, the disco music abruptly stopped.

Everyone stopped, still wanting more, and returned to their seats. Yuan Xiaojiang noticed a man who wasn't wearing a mask. He sat in the deepest corner, neither smoking nor drinking, just silently watching.

He was the only one in the entire room who was real.

Yuan Xiaojiang walked over and sat down next to the man. She noticed that he was holding two masks, one a cat's face and the other a dog's face, and couldn't help but wonder—each person could only buy one, so how did he have two?

There were only the two of them at the table. Yuan Xiaojiang thought he would strike up a conversation, but he didn't even look at her. Feeling a little bored, she asked the waiter for a glass of iced water and drank it down in one gulp after another.

They changed to a more elegant waltz.

Yuan Xiaojiang looked around through her mask, searching for a dance partner. Today, she was going to fully experience her opposite personality.

She wanted to find the ugliest man in the mask. Finally, she found him. The man sat alone, wearing a demon mask; his face was green, his eyes were rimmed with black circles like a panda's, and his jagged teeth protruded. He looked quite imposing.

As Yuan Xiaojiang stood up and walked towards him, suddenly, the person whose face was visible next to her spoke up: "Miss, be careful."

Yuan Xiaojiang turned to look at him: "Are you talking about me?"

His eyes remained fixed on Yuan Xiaojiang, his gaze darting warily around the dance floor as he said in a low voice, "There's something unusual about this bar tonight..."

"Why?"

He finally turned around, raised the two masks in his hand, and said, "I bought this cat face and I found this dog face."

"What's the meaning?"

"Among these terrifying-looking dancers, there was one... who wasn't wearing a mask."

Couples had already left the dance floor. Yuan Xiaojiang's eyes quickly scanned the entire room, then she said sincerely, "You're as perceptive as a policeman."

Have you ever heard this legend? — Every masquerade ball, there is always one less girl.

"No."

"Almost everyone who attends the masquerade ball doesn't want anyone they know to know them, so they all come alone. Besides, the ball is chaotic, and everyone is a stranger to each other. Therefore, no one discovers this terrible secret."

Where have all these girls gone?

“They were taken away by a man. Of course, they will never come back.”

"What kind of girls did he take away?"

"The last one to enter."

Yuan Xiaojiang immediately realized that this man was teasing her.

Why did the girl go with him? Did he drug her?

"I don't know what method he used, but the girl always complied. What followed was almost always the same—he and she drove to the countryside to make love. The man never took off his mask the whole way. Finally, they stopped the car by a grove of trees, and began to embrace and kiss. The girl reached out to remove his terrifying mask, but he didn't move, letting her take it off. However, after touching his face for a while, she would always scream—because he wasn't wearing anything; the mask was his face!"

"You mean, that man was here today?"

“I think so. So you’d better change your mask.” He held up his cat-face mask.

Yuan Xiaojiang hesitated for a moment, then accepted his suggestion and said softly, "Thank you."

Just as she was about to walk away, a mischievous idea suddenly came to her. She turned back and said, "What can he do if you put on my banshee mask?"

He paused for a moment, then said, "I really want to try."

Yuan Xiaojiang felt much safer after putting on the cat-face mask. She walked up to the "devil" and invited him to dance.

He accepted it as a matter of course.

The two of them went down to the dance floor together, arms around each other, and began to dance gracefully. They seemed to be completely absorbed in the beautiful melody, and neither of them spoke.

Yuan Xiaojiang didn't quite believe the legend, but she still cautiously sized up the other person a few times.