Requiem Chapter 6: The City That Never Sleeps
It was a rainy night. In front of an old public telephone booth, Yin Hui dialed 110: "Hello, is this the Public Security Bureau? Who am I? I'm a caring citizen! Yes, yes, yes, hurry to XX Bar on XX Road! I have a big gift for you!"
After saying this, Yin Hun put down the phone without waiting for the other party to respond.
At night, the drizzle mixed with the whistling cold wind would roar past him who was alone.
I don’t know how long I walked, but the shops on both sides of the road were closed, leaving only the dim street lights, which seemed so bright under the drizzle.
Today is the 15th day of the seventh lunar month, the Menglan Festival, also known as the Ghost Festival. Therefore, the flow of people in the funeral home is several times more than usual. The front and back hills are full of chrysanthemums and memorial paper. As a makeup artist, Tang Yan was forced to work overtime.
After getting off the last bus, Tang Yan was ready to go home when the moon was already high in the sky.
She stopped and squinted her eyes to look back. Behind her was the dark road, and she could barely see the bus number plate. The dark clouds were so thick that they completely covered the moon, and not a single ray of moonlight could penetrate. The cold wind blew, and Tang Yan couldn't help but sneeze.
At this moment, a windbreaker was placed on Tang Yan's shoulders from behind, giving her the warmth she wanted in an instant.
"Who?!" Tang Yan raised her head alertly. Her thin but curvy body looked surprisingly attractive in the dim light.
"Let's go! I'll take you home." Yin Hui pulled a cigarette out of his pocket, and without using a lighter, he waved his hand and the cigarette lit up. He took a deep puff of the filter, and when he saw Tang Yan's somewhat allergic expression, he stomped the cigarette butt hard with his toes, stood up, and walked forward without caring whether the people behind him caught up or not. "Wait, why are you here?" Tang Yan, wearing high heels and carrying a white shoulder bag, followed closely behind.
"I know you're working overtime at night, and I was worried something might happen. So I came specially to pick you up. Not bad, we met at the platform." Yin Hun stuffed his ten fingers into his pockets, and his long bangs covered his other eye.
"pick me up?"
"How long have you been waiting?"
"Uh... I've been asking this question for about two hours!"
Tang Yan opened her mouth and was about to speak, but when she saw Yin Hun's nonchalant expression, she lowered her head stubbornly.
"Yin Hui——"
"What's wrong, Miss?" Yin Hui raised her wrist and looked at the scale on her watch. "You are so kind, can you please do me a favor? Walk faster and take a nap. I have to go to work tomorrow!"
"No... that's not what I meant." Tang Yan's cheeks blushed as she hesitated, "I just wanted to say thank you!"
Although the sound was as thin as a mosquito's hum, it entered Yin Hun's ears word for word. At this moment, he couldn't help but pursed his lips slightly, wanting to laugh, but then he realized that the situation was a bit awkward, so he had to pull the lip line back to its original position and pretended to be indifferent.
"Okay, let's just follow each other! Let's go!"
I don't know why, but I always feel a little uncomfortable when walking with this girl. Is it because I am shy? I am confused. So Yin Hui decided to devote 99% of his attention to the night scene around him, and the remaining 1% to lingering around Tang Yan's skirt, of course, only occasionally.
At work, Yin Hui and Tang Yan are colleagues, both senior employees of the Beijing Funeral Home. In life, they happen to be neighbors. Of course, it might be more appropriate to explain that they share a house, because they live under the same roof. His home is her home, and her home is also his home, but I have to state in advance that their relationship is pure.
Night is falling and the lights are coming on.
The whole city is like a modern beauty with heavy makeup, fashionable and dazzling. The neon lights flash with confusing lights, confusing people's eyes and confusing people's hearts...
Those high-end hotels were brightly lit, and there must be people inside drinking and chatting until they were drunk. The glass curtain walls of those office buildings became huge display screens, switching between different advertising images and slogans.
The shadows of the lights reflected in the river water created a confusing effect - could it be that the river water was also intoxicated by this city of lights and wine?
But it shouldn't be. Maybe it must just be smiling.
Looking up, there were no stars in the sky. Yes, it was just darkness, without a single star. This made Yin Hui feel a little sad.
A city without dreams is realistic, but a city that is too realistic makes people lonely and even sad.
Yin Hui is not a wandering poet, nor can he write sentimental words. But he admits that he really cannot see through this city, which is too beautiful, too prosperous, and too disguised.
I wonder if there are people in this city that never sleeps who are just like me, lonely in the midst of prosperity and dying in loneliness.
As he was walking, the sound of an engine interrupted Yin Hun's thoughts. He subconsciously looked in the direction of the sound and saw a brand new BMW X6 parked on the side of the road. A familiar figure was opening the door and preparing to get in.
Isn't that Tang Xing? Yin Hui was a little surprised. Yes, it was this guy. I haven't heard from him since I graduated from college. I heard from my roommates in the group chat that he hooked up with the mayor's daughter and got a high-paid job. Unfortunately, it was said that the daughter's appearance was really not good.
Tang Xing was not a good boy at school. He always liked to steal girls. Whenever he saw his friends had a pretty girl, he would have evil intentions. This was how he stole the girlfriend of one of Yin Hun's juniors, causing him to lose face in front of his junior.
Now that he had met her today, he wanted to see if Tang Xing’s wife was really like what his classmates said online, that she would make men lose their basic physical desires when they saw her.
"Tang Xing!" Yin Hun tried to call out.
Tang Yan saw Yin Hui calling someone's name for no apparent reason and asked in surprise, "Who are you calling?"
Yin Hui pointed at the man in front and said, "I saw a college classmate, I wonder if it's him."
In fact, Tang Xing had just seen Yin Hui's figure, and his first feeling at that time was - a little surprised. After all, meeting someone he hadn't seen for more than a year in the middle of the night was somewhat unexpected. He wanted to pull the woman next to him to avoid him. But after the other party called out his name, he had no choice but to stay.
He straightened his Italian suit, with a playful look on his face. When Yin Hui walked up to him, he shook his hand cordially: "Oh! It's Yin Hui! What a coincidence to meet you here."
Yin Hui smiled and said, "Yeah! We haven't seen each other since we graduated ."
When Tang Xing saw a beautiful woman next to Yin Hui, his eyes lit up: "Who is this?"
Yin Hui was about to tell Tang Yan his identity, but unexpectedly Tang Yan interrupted him. She suddenly grabbed Yin Hui's arm intimately and said to Tang Xing: "I am Yin Hui's girlfriend, my name is Tang Yan."
Yin Hun looked at Tang Yan in surprise and found that she was smiling at him strangely. Yin Hun didn't know why Tang Yan said she was his girlfriend, but at this time, he couldn't point it out to her in person.
Tang Xing seemed to envy Yin Hui for having such a beautiful girlfriend: "Yin Hui, you have always been lucky in love! It was like this in college and it is still like this now. By the way, this is my wife, Chen Jin."
Chen Jin, it turns out that he is really the same as the legend said. He really looks a bit ugly. Not only is his facial contour not very good-looking, but the most terrifying thing is that there is a scar on his left cheek, as if he was burned.
