"Ding-a-ling-a-ling, jingle-a-ling-a-ling..."
In the phone booth on the roadside, the ringing kept ringing.
Echoing in the silent and empty streets.
Sharp, harsh.
It was as if a small steel knife was cutting into a person's nerves, or like an awl piercing the brain.
Xie Xiaoyu stared at the phone booth that suddenly appeared.
Under the streetlight, the glass on all sides of the phone booth was polished, clearly revealing the red landline phone in the phone booth.
The bright red color seems to be dyed with blood.
Xie Xiaoyu even had a slight illusion - when he picked up the phone receiver, his hand would be stained with sticky blood.
"Dingle bell! Dingle bell!"
The ringtone became more and more urgent, as if urging her to pick it up quickly.
Rule 5, [When the phone booth on the street rings, please come forward to answer it. No matter what the other person says, please insist on listening to the end. 】
Xie Xiaoyu heard that Wang Qing, who was standing next to him, spoke.
There was a hint of complaint in his tone.
"Is this phone booth broken? Leave him alone and let's move on."
No, that's not right.
Xie Xiaoyu's head shook slightly.
She tightened her grip on the empty dog leash in her hand.
At the other end of the rope, the weirdly deformed "dog" that was supposed to be tied has disappeared.
Xie Xiaoyu didn't know if the dog's disappearance was a hint.
But at least, she should follow the rules.
Xie Xiaoyu did not listen to Wang Qing.
She walked to the phone booth in a few steps, opened the glass door, and got into the phone booth.
She stared at the bright red phone, hesitated, and picked up.
As soon as the microphone fell into her hand, Xie Xiaoyu felt a deep chill.
Starting from the contact surface of the palm, quickly climb up towards the entire arm.
Xie Xiaoyu almost couldn't help but hang up the phone.
But she still suppressed the discomfort, put the phone to her ear, and began to listen quietly.
It was very quiet on the other end of the phone.
Xie Xiaoyu almost thought that he had missed the answer.
She didn't hang up the phone, she just held the receiver and turned her body slightly.
From this angle, she could see Wang Qing standing outside the phone booth.
Outside the phone booth, Wang Qing didn't seem to have anything strange.
She stood there, still holding the bulging garbage bag in her hand.
Bright red blood seeped out of the garbage bag, dripping slowly, drop by drop, onto the ground.
Because the light fell from the street lamp above his head and fell on Wang Qing's face, adding some shadows between the uneven facial features.
The distance is quite far.
Xie Xiaoyu couldn't see Wang Qing's expression clearly.
The shadow lay silently at Wang Qing's feet.
Some sounds suddenly came from the phone receiver.
The sound was so soft that Xie Xiaoyu wouldn't even be able to hear it if it weren't for the extremely quiet surroundings.
In order to hear the sound coming from the receiver clearly, Xie Xiaoyu breathed softly and listened carefully.
After a while, she finally vaguely heard what the sound was.
A girl's sobs.
Very low, very thin.
It was like the instinctive whimpering of an extremely weak person.
Xie Xiaoyu listened attentively for a minute or so.
The girl was just sobbing quietly and didn't speak.
Xie Xiaoyu felt a little confused.
She even subconsciously wanted to ask the girl on the other side of the phone what happened? Why don't you speak?
But Xie Xiaoyu was not sure, so he rashly asked if anything would happen.
After all, the rules just required her to listen to the end.
It didn't say that she needed to respond to the girl on the phone.
Xie Xiaoyu calmed down and continued to answer quietly.
Just when listening to the phone, I didn't forget to pay attention to Wang Qing standing outside the phone booth.
Finally, the voice on the phone receiver changed.
There was a sound of metal friction, like a key being inserted into a keyhole and turned.
Immediately afterwards, there was the sound of metal scraping on the sandy ground.
It was like someone pushed open a door.
The girl's sobs became clearer.
At the same time, Xie Xiaoyu heard a dull sound of footsteps approaching the woman.
"Eat." A man's voice came from the phone.
He seemed to be talking to the girl.
With a "pop" sound, something was thrown to the ground.
Xie Xiaoyu immediately constructed a scene in his mind.
In a dark and dilapidated confined space, a place like a warehouse.
The girl curled up and cried quietly for her unknown fate.
A man opened the door of the warehouse, walked in, and threw the lunch box containing food in front of the girl.
Sure enough, Xie Xiaoyu heard the girl's pleading coming from the phone.
Mixed with uncontrollable sobs, choked with fear.
"When can I go home?" The girl's plea was filled with expectation, "My parents can get the money."
"Go home..." The man repeated these two words, and then suddenly let out a cold sneer, "Go home?"
"boom--"
A violent crash sounded.
Accompanied by a sharp scream of pain from the girl.
"You still want to go home? That's okay. We'll help you find a new home."
Accompanied by the man's voice,
There were also sounds of violent banging and beatings.
The girl was beaten until she screamed in pain, crying and begging miserably for mercy.
"Don't fight, don't fight, please don't fight..."
"Woo, mom and dad, please help me..."
"I didn't do anything wrong, please let me go..."
Listening to the sound coming from the phone receiver, Xie Xiaoyu felt a discomfort.
The familiar sound of beatings was different from anything she had ever heard before, yet very similar.
It was like night after night, she heard her father beating her mother through the thin door of her bedroom.
She could hear it,
What sound is a fist hitting the head;
What sound is a slap in the face;
What sounded like a foot kicking hard on the soft belly.
On the phone, the man continued to beat the girl.
While beating him, he warned fiercely.
"Do you still want to escape? Do you still dare to escape?"
"Don't even think about going home! Just be obedient!"
The girl's cries gradually turned from high-pitched to low.
There were still vague sounds of begging for mercy coming out of his mouth.
Xie Xiaoyu felt like his head was getting hot.
For a moment, all the memories of the past seemed to overlap with the voice on the phone.
She couldn't even tell where she was at the moment.
It's like being trapped in a nightmare that lasts for years.
She subconsciously shouted into the phone: "Don't hit her!!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, the last note had not yet fallen.
Xie Xiaoyu woke up suddenly and broke into a cold sweat all over his body.
Her hand holding the receiver stiffened.
For a moment, the voice on the phone became quiet.
There was deathly silence all around.
