Su Mingan opened his eyes.
He stared at the dark ceiling, thinking back to the meeting.
This high-end meeting every night is very beneficial to him.
He is "Number One", the one with the highest status, and the other eight people will refer to his opinions when discussing. If he can take the opportunity to come up with some plans that are beneficial to this side, he can control the overall situation invisibly.
He closed his eyes and fell back into sleep.
The night wind blew against his cheeks through the window screen. He wrapped the quilt around his head and turned his back to the window.
Perhaps because it was late at night, the sound of gunfire outside the window had stopped. Instead, there was a tune that sounded like a piano, and someone was playing an instrument.
Playing musical instruments late at night, such as suona, bells and drums, is really annoying. But the sound of this piano-like instrument is very soft, like a serenade at night. Not only is it not noisy, it also helps you sleep.
Even in this world where the status of humanism has declined and cold machines are prevalent, there are still people who are addicted to music.
In the sound of nocturne to help him sleep, he had a dream.
...Maybe it was just an ordinary night in winter, and he played a Schubert serenade.
However, he made a mistake on the last staccato, so the piano case was pressed down by the woman's own hands and hit the backs of his hands.
He pushed her away, feeling a dull pain in his hands. When the woman saw the blood, she began to cry loudly. She pulled him and said she wanted to take him to a doctor, but she seemed to have forgotten that this was the injury she had just caused.
[Ming'an... Mom, Mom is in so much pain. People outside say that Mom only has skills and no emotions. You have emotions, why can't your skills keep up...? 】【You don’t know how much your mother admires you. Your piano sound is her most precious treasure. But why, why are you wasting this talent? 】【Everyone is wrong, it's all because of you. Before giving birth to you, my mother clearly integrated emotions and music very well...It was you who took away my mother's treasure】[If I hadn't met your father...if your father could have been more... Accompanying mom, if dad doesn’t have to be on duty, training, on duty, or staying up all night... If dad can be by mom’s side when she’s most vulnerable, if dad doesn’t disappear all the time... mom won’t be like this at all...] He had never seen such mixed emotions on one person's face at the same time: anxiety, sadness, joy, and anger. The woman's expression was half happy and half angry, as if half of her face had been torn open, with one corner of her mouth turned up in a smile. But he couldn't control the angry expression on his lips. She reached out and grabbed his bloody wrist, as if to crush his bones.
So he rushed out without hesitation and rushed downstairs.
A woman is a person that is difficult for him to evaluate.
...If you really want to say it, she is a madman, a mentally ill madman. Only music can make her black and white life come alive, and only emotional music can enter her almost rigid brain.
Her love for piano and music has reached a terrifying level. Sometimes, she almost knelt down and begged him to play the piano, looking at him like a lover... but when he made a mistake, she wanted to break his hand with the attitude of hating iron for not being able to make steel.
[Ming'an, Ming'an, don't leave... Mom knows you're wrong, stay with mom. Mom will take you to the doctor and her hand will be cured. Mom will teach you how to play Debussy's "Moonlight"... Bach, Canon, Czerny... Mom will practice with you every day, don't leave...] He didn't look back.
The only thing that can sustain a woman's life is music, and he can bring it to her.
Therefore, in her morbid and absurd thoughts, he was no longer her child, but an emotional piano-playing robot that could bring her satisfaction and happiness.
In the early years, after a tour performance, she was commented by a master as "no emotions, no skills", she went crazy and shrank at home, staying behind closed doors. She seemed to see pairs of people laughing at her when she went out. , commenting freely on her sight.
As soon as she goes online and logs into the forum, she will see negative comments about her.
Her madness reached its peak after her husband was on duty for a long time and stayed away all night.
Laundry, grocery shopping, cooking, taking care of children...the complexity of life made her originally young and beautiful face become more and more sallow, stained with ugly spots that could not be erased. Frostbite began to appear on her hands, and her arms would tremble in pain every time she played the piano in winter.
Her supposedly happy marriage had worn away her beautiful youth, and her deformed body shape after giving birth made her even more irritable. She no longer repeatedly compared lipstick colors and looked in the mirror, but often sat with her hair disheveled all day long. In front of the piano, don't touch a single key.
He was four years old and she went crazy.
His grandfather disappeared before he was born, and the grandmother who protected him died not long ago. His grandparents were unwilling to take care of the family, so the housework was left in his hands.
My father often came back after more than half a month. He used the woman's savings from her concert tours in previous years to hire a nanny, but the nanny was scolded and driven away by the woman.
The family's originally affluent financial situation became worse and worse. The medicine the woman took was very expensive, the house began to get smaller and smaller, and the car was gone. The only thing that could not be replaced was the piano that the woman often stared at.
Later, the woman began to teach him how to play the piano, and her hope was so hot that he could not resist.
...After that, it became like that.
His hand was smashed, and after rushing out of the building, his hands felt severe pain. He dragged his thin body out and walked out. The world was big, but he didn't know where to go.
The scenes in the dream were vague, and the memories from childhood were not very clear either. He may have turned left or right, but in the end he saw an ordinary street...a street that was a little bleak, but not dark.
A child was walking alone on a deserted street late at night... What was he thinking at that time?
...Perhaps, I thought that grandma was still alive and would take maltose out of her pocket to give him. Perhaps, I thought of the time when the family of three went for an outing in the park before the woman was so crazy... The spring day was warm and the warm breeze It would wrap around him, and that kind of warmth would definitely be more durable than the cold wind at this moment.
He endured the pain in his hands and walked on the asphalt road between the masonry platforms on both sides. The surroundings were empty and quiet. The windows were dark in the middle of the night. Maybe they could convey the aroma of delicious food or the sound of laughter during the day. Children will huddle in their parents' arms and play, but it has nothing to do with them.
Coincidentally, while walking alone in this open street, he suddenly encountered another being covered with scars.
She had loose black hair, which was even darker than the cold winter night. She was holding a wooden sword in her hand and looked at him with her whole body covered in bruises. The desolate street scene spread out in front of their eyes.
She stared at him blankly, how similar their experiences were.
【You escaped too. 】she says.
[Just growing up' has become very difficult for us. ] She said: [But I can’t blame them. They are family members.
Only people... we can't blame. 】【If you can grow up. ] She said: [I don’t want to blame anyone, I want to leave that place, forever and completely. ] He wanted to speak.
He wanted to say that there will be a day when you in the future are completely far away from the gloomy past, you have traveled to many worlds, and you have become a very good person.
However, he didn't have time to say this.
wake up.
The open streets in his dream gradually blurred, distorted, and moved away from him.
The snow that fell in winter turned into a pale white and faded away, leaving no trace.
Su Mingan opened his eyes and rubbed his temples.
He looked at the system time and saw that it was still a while before dawn.
[Good morning, An-chan! It's four thirty-two in the morning! It is recommended that you continue to get enough sleep and sleep for eight hours to prevent symptoms such as blurred memory, mental decline, sudden death, etc.! 】【Good morning, doctor. 】Two voices, one in front and one in back, rang from his left and right hands respectively. He looked at the two virtual figures at his hands, feeling helpless.
Du on the left still looks like a faceless man with no set appearance. The one on the right hand has blond hair and beautiful blue eyes.
In terms of appearance, Ah Du failed miserably.
Coupled with Xiko's beautiful female voice, A Du, who mechanically matched the voice, failed miserably again.
【An Jiang! This Xiko A is so annoying! Get rid of it, get rid of it! ! ! 】 Ah Du became angry: 【I will never allow anyone to take my place! 】 Su Mingan made a "pop" sound, and the noisy Ah Du entered a dormant state, and he controlled the wheelchair to go out.
The wind that smelled of metal and rust was cool. He raised his head and saw the airship passing slowly under the high gray-blue dome, like dark clouds covering the sky.
Mountains of metal garbage of varying heights are piled up around it. This is a residential area, mostly bungalows or small two-story houses. High and low snoring can be heard from the room, and some people simply sleep outside wrapped in a sheet.
"Gululu..." The sound of wheels crushing metal fragments sounded as Su Mingan drove forward. The sound awakened some alert people. They leaned against the earth wall, opened their sleepy eyes, clenched their hands and never let go. The worn-out firearms, the dirty face full of vigilance, like a rat living in the sewer.
This place is like a dead black and white painting, with only dim black and gray left. Even if you are just walking there, you will feel a deep depression from the level of survival and humanity.
Su Mingan walked forward slowly, and suddenly saw a shaky figure walking from the other side of the open street.
She had jet-black hair, and her hair was messy, as if it had been torn by force. She wore a thin red cloak on her shoulders, and the high-quality white fluff at the collar wrapped her slender neck. A pair of legs as slender as reeds were exposed, revealing bruises and bruises. As she walked, her whole body was shaking slightly, as if she was sick or cold.
As he got closer, Su Mingan could see her face clearly - it was a pale face wrapped in white down, like frost and snow. Her eyes were long and narrow, the color of her eyes was dim, and her lips were extraordinarily bright red, as if they had been wiped. A layer of bright red blood and low-quality frost on the face were floating in the cold wind.
Wash that soft face like a new snow-white wall.
She suddenly raised her eyes and met Su Ming'an's eyes. After a moment, she turned her face away slightly, not wanting to look at him. Wearing a pair of flashy shoes with slightly high heels, she walked across the ground covered with garbage and metal pieces, her body swaying like a reed that might fall at any time.
She is a very beautiful girl who looks to be no more than sixteen years old. If she were on Zhai Xing, she would be at an age where she had just entered high school and could sit in a warm classroom and listen to classes.
"Click, click." The metal piece was crushed by her sharp high heels. She coughed and shivered in the cold wind.
When passing by her, Su Ming'an noticed the direction she was heading, which was Dong An'an's house.
She might be Dong An'an's sister who goes out to work at night. I don't know what her job is.
As he continued to drive forward, a gust of night wind blew by, and he suddenly smelled the aroma of powder.
He raised his eyes and saw two women standing against the wall under the mechanical light in the distance, smoking cigarettes.
A soft halo of light fell on their faces painted with brightly colored lipstick, turning the white and red makeup into a hazy yellow. In the cold night wind, their limbs were exposed, and their fingers were red from the cold, like ten slender carrots.
They borrowed the fire from each other, laughed in a low voice, and talked about some vulgar topics in dialect. A thin cloak was draped on them, wrapping their slender and fragile bodies beautifully.
Seeing Su Ming'an in the wheelchair, their eyes showed a bit of astonishment. One of them, a slightly slender woman, hesitated for a moment and approached him. An increasingly clear smell of powder hit her face.
Su Mingan has already figured out what profession they are engaged in.
"...Mr. wearing a mask, this is a cold winter night, do you need someone to accompany you?" The woman's words came out, and the voice translated by the system had a strange tone. Her eyes were bright, The aroma is also very attractive, with a hint of tobacco. If a man who has been tired for a day passes by here, he will find it difficult to refuse such a beautiful woman.
Su Ming'an has already understood their work, or in other words, such work exists no matter what kind of world it is.
He looked into the distance along the wide street, and could vaguely see slender figures in groups of three or two under the dim street lights, or the figures of some tall or thin drunkards. Women with heavy makeup passed by on their arms with the men around them, and the lights in the rooms on both sides dimmed.
Many of the women were not very old, not even more than sixteen or seventeen years old. Their slender wrists and ankles were exposed, and their bodies were trembling under their thin cloaks.
The girl in the red cloak just now should be one of them.
"I think I don't need it." Su Mingan spoke in a voice so low that he was a little surprised.
He has never seen such an intuitive world.
In other words, he is too young and has never seen such a [real] world.
The woman laughed and slowly retreated. The smoke of the cigarette floated in front of her eyes, which was the few warmth she had in the winter night.
As a person with an inferior personality, she has hands and feet but cannot find a job. Once she enters the city, she is easily overloaded and arrested. She can only do this kind of work that can bring in money at night, otherwise she will starve to death.
She also understood that a gentleman in a wheelchair probably did not need such services.
"Then do whatever you want. It's best not to wander around at night. People like us will get it wrong." The woman said, taking another puff of cigarette.
His expression has become a little impatient.
Su Mingan turned the wheelchair and turned back from the path. He did not dare to look back. The air pressure in this street was too low and the cold wind was too cold.
There was faint laughter from the women in the background, seeming to be talking about why a person in a wheelchair wanted to have fun, or maybe they were talking about where to get tomorrow's breakfast.
The strong smell of engine oil, the rust of machinery, the smell of powder and cigarettes in the air merged together. The cold wind blew Su Mingan's black hair, and his eyes were dim and unclear.
After returning to the room and blocking out the cold wind outside the door, he bent down and picked up the dagger that "Dong An'an" had used to assassinate him.
He stared at the reflective side of the dagger, stared at his own clear, pure gray human eyes without any mechanical quality, and murmured to himself.
"Asa Aktor..."
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