Ази Хелл - Глава 3
Someone introduced me to a man who was quite handsome. After dating for a while, I found out he was two years younger than me. I said, "You're younger than me?" He said, "I don't mind that you're older!" He wanted to live with me. I said, "How can I do that? We're not committed yet." He said, "How can I know if we're compatible if I don't try? You have to try with me to know if we can get married." I was terrified! I avoided him and never dared to see him again.
A friend introduced me to a man several years older than me. He always boasted about wearing designer clothes and shoes, using a phone that cost at least four or five thousand yuan, and eating the finest delicacies. He only treated me to two meals, both times with three other people. Each time, the man he called "Big Brother" paid for the meal, and afterwards, "Big Brother" would leave first, saying, "You two have fun." This man, several years older than me and shorter than me, claimed to own several construction sites and was a real estate developer from some small town. He kept telling me, "Let's live together! Let's live together! If you can give me a son, I'll give you a house!" I said, "Living together is fine, but you need to get a divorce first, then we can register our marriage." He said, "No need. As long as you can give me a son, I'll definitely give you a luxury house so you can live comfortably for the rest of your life!" I said, "Okay, then pay the deposit first!" The foreman then fell silent.
An Audi sped by, splashing water all over him. Then a BMW followed closely behind. Isn't Liberation Square a pedestrian street? How come cars are driving in here? These must be rich men; rich men can do things poor men wouldn't dare. Let them die in car accidents!
"Give me some money! Give me some money!" A young woman held a child in her arms, with a little boy following behind. Why was she begging at such a young age? "Give me some money! Give me some money!" The northern accent was tinged with a heartbreaking sob. He hurriedly pulled out a dollar and gave it to her, watching her receive no more money until she disappeared into Liberation Square. Where was the man who had given birth to her two children? Where did he go? Why did he make her beg?
Someone who went to Moscow to study Russian for two years returned saying that there were too many single women in their forties there. They had all been married before, and many men, approaching forty, started drinking heavily, becoming irresponsible, and refusing to work. The women, however, were all working and couldn't tolerate their husbands' behavior, so they had to divorce. That's why there were so many excellent single women in their forties there. Tang Baoming had once been heartbroken over those foreign women, but he never expected to hear of a group of divorced single women in their thirties around him.
He wondered what would happen to the growing number of single women in the future? Would they remain single forever? His age had taught him that it was a cruel prospect.
I haven't done that kind of thing for four years. I don't think about it anymore, I won't think about it, I've gotten used to it. That time, the manufacturer's representative said, "We don't want the rest of these goods, you can take them." I said, "Take them! I haven't done anything for years, I don't need them!"
He was curious and didn't know what she was talking about, so he asked. She laughed for a long time before saying, "How can you be even more naive than me? What could it possibly be?"
What are those things? As he thought about it, he suddenly felt a pang of sadness, wondering what would become of her in the future.
My colleagues like to joke with me because they know I have a good temper and never get angry with anyone. A female customer broke something in the store, and I asked her to pay for it, but she refused. Later, she asked me for a discount. I couldn't give her a discount, because if I did, I would have to pay for it myself. She got angry and yelled at me, "Look how ugly you are!" She's even younger than me.
My colleague found some pornographic photos and showed them to everyone. I glanced at them a few times and walked away. My colleague asked why I didn't look at them. I said, "Why would I look at them? I never want to do that kind of thing anymore, so why would I look at them?"
Whenever she talked about these things, he had many questions he wanted to ask her, and he wanted to tell her that doing so was harmful to her health and life. However, he asked her, "What do you do every day after you get home from get off work? Watch TV? Play mahjong? Can you stand staying at home every day?"
I never play mahjong, nor do I watch TV all day. I do housework. I often visit my parents; if I don't go home, my mom will look for me. She can't live without me; if I don't go home for a few days, she'll ask what's wrong. I handle so many chores around the house: grocery shopping, cooking, washing dishes, scrubbing the floor, cleaning the toilet—I do it all every day. The other day at dinner, my dad looked at me with a serious face and said, "I need to talk to you." I said, "You don't need to say anything; I know what you're going to say." My mom said, "It's good that you know. You should hurry up and find a husband so we can feel at ease." I said, "I'm not looking anymore. I don't want to look anymore. I'm fine as I am; it's better without a husband."
Tang Baoming wanted to ask, "Are you really that good?" He was glad he had managed to hold back from asking, otherwise, wouldn't he be a complete bastard?
If you can be with me, I will go grocery shopping for you every day and cook for you, take good care of you, and make you fair-skinned and plump.
Tang Baoming's heart clenched. He didn't want to tell her what he was thinking, not because he was afraid of hurting her feelings, but because he felt he didn't have the courage to say it to her, because he wasn't a good man either. At this moment, he wondered if he could really say he was much better than that contractor.
You know how to cherish people; men like that are rare. I like men like you. If you want me, we don't even have to get married; I'll stay with you for life.
That won't do! Wouldn't that be too unfair?
I don't care.
This was my first time visiting this beautiful city, and everyone I saw on the street seemed happy, hopeful, and blessed. But today I realized that behind this happiness, there are many single women in their thirties, numb and hopeless about the future because they can't find suitable men. They're just living day to day, taking it one day at a time. They no longer expect to meet a good man, not because they don't want to, but because they can no longer see a man who can share their joys and sorrows. What will they do? Grow old like this? Until… He dared not think further; his mind was a complete mess.
The spring rain, wet and chilly, never seemed to stop, like a persistent, shameless man. Suddenly, fast-paced music blared from the disco, vibrating intensely in my heart. The boys and girls there must be drenched in sweat, completely immersed in endless joy. I wonder if these men and women who grew up clubbing will live like Zhao Yajuan and her man? Will some girls, like her, be unable to find their own men? Will they, like her, never again think about those things that men and women can't help but think about? It's precisely because we don't know what the future holds that we strive and fight. If we knew the outcome beforehand, would we still have hope? Would we still have the courage to live? Sometimes we say that people need ideals and goals to have direction in their efforts. But for some, it's precisely because they are confused about their future that they have the courage to live. If they were too clear about their future, they would only suffer and despair.
An elderly, hunchbacked woman, short in stature, carried two woven bags taller than herself on her back. She moved with great difficulty, inch by inch, stubbornly making her way across Liberation Square. It was a sight that pained him to see.
Can you say men are bad? He is a man himself. How much glory have men created? Aren't there more and more wealthy men? Isn't it because men have money that women can live better lives?
I don't want to find a rich man. If I wanted to, I would have found one long ago. I just want a man who knows how to cherish me and can live a good life with me.
If Tang Baoming hadn't met Zhao Yajuan, he might never have known that there were such pitiful women living such lonely and miserable lives, and he would never have had to worry about them. He would have felt that the world was still a beautiful place.
If a rich man has nothing but money, how can this world not be terrifying? How can women in this world still be happy?
If poor men, besides being poor, also want to enjoy life like rich men, can this world still be peaceful? Can women in this world still have a good life?
Why are men becoming increasingly depraved? Men don't know how to cherish women, so in the end, they don't know how to cherish themselves either. Aren't men who play with women also being played with by women? Can men who play with women really escape retribution in the end?
When Tang Baoming later told me about these things, I saw tears glistening in his eyes, and I could only nod and say nothing.
Tang Baoming and his group arrived at Zhao Yajuan's courtyard. They hurriedly got out of the car and rushed to the building entrance, shouting and stamping their feet. The corridor lights weren't working; someone suggested they might be broken. Tang Baoming, standing in front, heard a noise in the stairwell and quickly switched on his flashlight. He saw a person bending over, picking something up from the ground. As the person turned around, he covered his face with his hand and walked outside. Tang Baoming and his group stepped aside to let him pass. Tang Baoming then noticed the man was carrying a bag, which looked like a tool bag used in factories. He staggered over, and saw a bicycle leaning against the wall. The man put the bag into the front basket of the bicycle, started pushing it, and tripped on the pedals, nearly falling.
Why was this short man so flustered? Tang Baoming wondered.
Tang Baoming shone a small flashlight, and the sound of their footsteps echoed as they arrived on the sixth floor. They knocked on the door and asked who was inside.
He said I was Tang Baoming, and that I had come to see Zhao Yajuan!
The door opened, and the person who invited them in was a stranger whom Tang Baoming did not recognize.
Tang Baoming stood at the door, at a loss for what to do, and hurriedly asked Ya Juan what had happened.
The man said, "Come in and talk!"
Tang Baoming thought, "What are we four grown men afraid of?" He glanced at his buddies and then went inside.
The stranger said I was Ya-juan's neighbor, living across the hall. He then led them into the bedroom.
Zhao Yajuan was lying on the bed in her pajamas when she opened her eyes and saw Tang Baoming burst into tears. Fortunately, there was a young woman sitting next to her who quickly wiped away her tears, comforted her, and stroked her like a child.
Tang Baoming and his group retreated to the living room. Zhao Yajuan's neighbors told them that she had been followed while shopping at the supermarket that evening, all the way into the building. Even after she went inside, the man remained outside, unplugging all the motion-activated lights in the hallway. Later, somehow, the man got into the house and hid, not even opening the door. It was really strange. When she was about to sleep, he came out, grabbed her, and smeared some kind of drug on her face, causing her to faint in the hallway. Luckily, she opened the door before she fainted, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to save her. We heard her scream loudly, and when we opened the door, we saw her lying in the hallway. The man, wearing a black hood and white gloves, rushed out the door after her, as agile as a dog, and ran downstairs quickly. I didn't dare chase after him. Who knew what weapons he had? My wife and I immediately carried Yajuan to her bed. My wife stayed with her. She woke up once and asked you to call her. I called 110 (the police).
Tang Baoming said he saw a short, thin man who looked flustered when he entered the building.
The man across the hall was taken aback and said, "Yes! That guy is short and quite thin. How dare he? He's been standing on the first floor for so long! What else does he want to do?" (Later, in an interview, Wang Liguo told me that he hadn't actually been standing downstairs the whole time. He didn't have that kind of guts. He had already ridden away on his bike, but halfway there he remembered that he had left some incriminating evidence downstairs. He broke out in a cold sweat and had to muster up the courage to run back and get his tool bag.)
Knowing all this, Tang Baoming disregarded everything else, rushed into the bedroom, and in front of everyone, hugged Zhao Yajuan tightly, whispering to her, "I'm with you, and we'll never be apart again! Never apart!"
A police siren sounded in the distance, quickly reaching the courtyard, followed by thunderous footsteps echoing in the stairwell.
Two patrol officers knocked on the door and entered the room. After listening to a brief introduction from the male landlord of room 601, they took a statement from Zhao Yajuan. However, she fainted again after only a few questions, and the police car had to take her to the hospital.
Later, the police learned that nothing was stolen from Zhao Yajuan's home, and apart from being frightened, she hadn't suffered any other harm. But they still made a note of the incident.
On May 31, 2003 (Saturday) at 23:50, a report was received that a suspicious man broke into Zhao Yajuan's home at Room 602, Unit 1, Building 37, Mudan Lane, Gujing District. The time was around 23:20. No items were stolen and no one was injured.
The day after Zhao Yajuan was discharged from the hospital, the Criminal Investigation Brigade of Gujing District came again to record her statement and also made a scene investigation record:
Exploration time: 2:00 PM, Sunday, June 1, 2003
Investigation Unit: Criminal Investigation Brigade of Gujing District
Surveyors: Wang Liguo, Li Zhongxin
The incident occurred at Room 602, Unit 1, Building 37, Mudan Lane, Gujing District. The unit door lock was intact. A motion-activated light bulb in the sixth-floor corridor was loose and not working. The apartment has two bedrooms and a living room; the two bedrooms are on the south side of the living room, and a sofa set is located against the west wall. The balcony is on the north side of the living room, and the aluminum alloy window is open, but the window trim is rusted. There are two broken wavy footprints on the windowsill. An external awning is attached to the fifth-floor balcony, and there are two broken wavy footprints on the awning as well.