Chapter 1 The First Story (Part 1)

  "Don't live here! Don't see that 'woman'!! Don't talk to her!!!! Absolutely don't!!!!!!"

  On the paper in front of him were scribbled a few extremely sloppy characters, with several exclamation marks written so heavily that they had torn through the paper.

  This was found in a newly purchased house, although the house is a bit old and a bit far away from home, but all household items are complete, and the price is not high, it's really the most suitable for Wang Qiang who has just worked for a short time.

  Of course, he also knew the reason why the house was sold cheaply. It was said that previously, a writer who specialized in writing ghost stories had rented this place. Later, this writer committed suicide under strange circumstances. Rumors spread outside that at midnight, people could often hear someone talking inside the house and faintly see someone's shadow moving around. The police had opened the door to investigate, but found only dust all over the floor and no signs of human activity, so they just thought it was someone spreading rumors and let it go.

  This man himself is an extremely mysterious figure, it is said that he used to write in a purely literary style, but never had any great success, until one year he suddenly changed his style and started writing about the supernatural. Although his writing style remained the same, the plot twists and turns were so bizarre that they could be said to have captured people's hearts, and as a result, he instantly became an idol pursued by many.

  But he never spoke about his own creative experiences, even after achieving fame and fortune, still living in this rented house. Just when his career was at its peak, he suddenly committed suicide under strange circumstances. After that incident, rumors about the house and home spread more and more outside, and this house could no longer be rented out. Gradually, even the neighbors next door moved away one by one, and the name of this neighborhood slowly became "Ghost District" in people's mouths. As a result, the landlord had no choice but to sell at a low price.

  Many friends had advised Wang Qiang not to buy this house, but Wang Qiang never believed in ghosts and spirits. He laughed and said: "Since ancient times, scholars have looked down on each other. I work at a newspaper and am considered a scholar. The two of us, one a scholar and the other a ghost, probably look down on each other and will not bother each other. It must be peaceful and worry-free." So he immediately bought the house and lived there for several days. Indeed, nothing happened, and Wang Qiang often joked about it with his friends, saying they were "superstitious".

  That day coincided with Wang Qiang's rest, he was alone at home cleaning, when moving the sofa, a piece of paper suddenly fell out from the armrest of the sofa, picked it up and took a look, it was a manuscript called "The 'Female' on the Stairs", signed "Chu Jiangshan", which was exactly the name of that family.

  The paper of the manuscript is old and yellow, it seems to be what he lost unintentionally before. The words on the manuscript are written very hastily, as if the author was in a great hurry when writing this article.

  The opening sentence was so bizarre that Wang Qiang couldn't help but find it laughable, thinking that even if he wanted to create an atmosphere, there was no need to be so exaggerated. This article would still have the same heavy tone no matter how it was published, and although the exclamation marks could be printed as is, the publisher would never deliberately damage good paper just to sell it to readers.

  He continued to read on, the article was written in first person: "When I was young, I vowed to make a name for myself, I was so infatuated with literature, putting all my time and energy into it, but many years passed and I still hadn't achieved anything. It was that year that I moved here, right here, I...I saw her!" The handwriting on the last few sentences was somewhat disjointed, with heavy strokes, clearly the author's hand was shaking as he wrote, showing that the author had a mix of hatred and fear towards this woman. Wang Qiang continued to read on:

  "That evening, as I was going down the stairs, on the second floor, I saw her. She was wearing a red long dress that day, with long hair, and although it was already evening, I could still see her clearly. The evening breeze blew up her hair, she was panting slightly, with fine sweat seeping from the tip of her nose, and her chest rising and falling gently. She was such a beautiful woman, even if all the words in the world that describe women's beauty were used on her, they still couldn't express her elegance."

  At that time, there was a very large box beside her. Facing such a beautiful 'woman', I couldn't help but ask if she needed any help. She nodded shyly, and it turned out that she had just rented the place too. At that time, this area was still quite remote, and hardly anyone wanted to move in. Now, with a young and pretty 'girl' as my neighbor, I was thrilled. What's more, it turned out that this 'girl' lived right across from me. From then on, every day I could see her, and from that moment on, there was only one thought in my mind: I must get this 'woman', no matter what method I use!

  The article ended abruptly, and it was clear that this manuscript was only a part of it. Wang Qiang read with great interest, but felt that the writing style and plot were not good enough to be considered a good work. Although some people say that good things are like climbing a mountain to enjoy the view, starting from a dull beginning, but getting more exciting as you go on, he had lost his appetite for this article. He crumpled up the manuscript and threw it in the trash can, feeling regretful for wasting time reading something so bad. Looking at his watch, he saw that it was already 6 o'clock in the afternoon, and too lazy to cook himself, he put on his clothes and thought of going downstairs to treat himself at a small shop.

  Wang Qiang's home was on the fifth floor. As he walked down, for some reason, although he felt that there was nothing worth taking from it, his mind couldn't shake off its shadow. When he reached the second floor, he suddenly froze: in front of him stood a 'woman', wearing a long red dress, with long hair, and slightly panting.

  Wang Qiang's mind suddenly flashed back to that article as soon as he saw this 'woman', and he couldn't help but feel that the world was indeed full of wonders, for a fictional plot had actually come true. Wang Qiang was by no means a gentleman; although he wasn't married yet, he had already had ambiguous relationships with many 'women'. The beauty of the 'woman' in front of him, however, was something he had never seen before, and his heart suddenly welled up with a feeling that made him think it wouldn't be excessive to use all the words in the world that were used to describe beautiful women on her.

  The girl saw Wang Qiang looking at her with a somewhat impolite expression, and her face turned slightly red. Wang Qiang immediately noticed it and felt very embarrassed. He lowered his head to see that there was a large suitcase next to the girl, and he hurriedly asked: "Miss, do you need help?"

  The girl hesitated for a moment, smiled shyly, nodded, and Wang Qiang picked up the suitcase and asked, "Miss, have you just moved in? Which floor do you live on?"

  The girl replied: "It's on the fifth floor."

  Wang Qiang smiled and said: "What a coincidence, I'm also on the fifth floor."

  The woman said faintly: "This is really a coincidence." Then she stopped talking and went upstairs. The woman thanked Wang Qiang and didn't seem to plan on inviting him to sit down at home. Wang Qiang invited the woman to have dinner together, but she politely declined. Wang Qiang was rejected and went downstairs by himself to drink some wine.

  Since the young woman in a red dress moved in, Wang Qiang has been like a lost soul, thinking every day about how to get close to her. Wang Qiang was also an old hand in the dating scene, but for some reason, when he saw this young woman in a red dress, he felt she was shining brightly and unapproachable, and his heart was already intimidated, let alone talking to her. So Wang Qiang often hid behind his own door, and as soon as he heard footsteps coming from the stairs, he would immediately open the door and pretend to be going out, taking the opportunity to glance at the woman on the stairs to comfort his lovesick heart. If he could manage to say a few words to her, he would be excited all night and couldn't sleep, but the woman's attitude towards him was always quite cold.

  That night, Wang Qiang drank some wine and lay on the bed alone, lamenting his fate. On one hand, he was grateful for his good fortune in having a beautiful woman as a neighbor; on the other hand, he couldn't help but feel useless for not daring to confess his feelings to her. As he thought about this painful reality, he let out a long sigh and flung his right arm outward, accidentally hitting the bedside cabinet. Wang Qiang felt a sharp pain in his hand and quickly withdrew it, only to find that it was already bleeding.

  Wang Qiang felt a sense of unease: the surface of this "bed" cabinet was smooth, and although he had used a bit too much force when he flung his hand out, it shouldn't have been enough to make him bleed. He turned his head to look, and saw that the cabinet had shifted slightly from its original position, and his hand had just hit the corner of the cabinet. Wang Qiang was even more perplexed: this cabinet had been wiped clean just that morning, and he had clearly placed it in a stable position. He had been at home all day and hadn't touched the cabinet, nor were there any other guests in the house. So how could it have moved? This cabinet was quite heavy, and normally one person would struggle to move it, so it definitely wasn't something that his careless fling could have caused. As he stood there feeling puzzled, he suddenly noticed a crack on the corner of the cabinet, which looked like it had been broken just recently. His hand had hit right on this crack, causing the bleeding.

  Wang Qiang got up to arrange the cabinet, and suddenly saw a piece of paper exposed at the crack of the cabinet. He pulled it out and read a few words, which was the continuation of the manuscript he had seen last time. Wang Qiang was melancholic, although he didn't feel anything about it, but in his boredom, there was nothing else to do, so he continued reading.

  The paper originally had written on it "my" deep longing for the woman in the red dress, and when Wang Qiang saw it, he thought of his own situation and felt a great sense of resonance in his heart. He immediately became interested and eagerly continued reading:

  "She will never know how I think of her, every time I think of the heartache, I would burn a scar on my hand with a cigarette butt. The physical pain can temporarily make me forget about her, but after the pain is gone, the longing comes back even more fiercely like a tidal wave. I am just an ordinary person, I don't have the qualifications or ability to possess her, she wouldn't even give me a glance. So I take all my little money and go outside to find women, listening to them moaning under me, but in my heart, I imagine they are all her."

  That evening, I was working at home, but my mind was like a tide, and her shadow was in front of me. I couldn't even write a single word. Just then, the doorbell suddenly rang. I opened the door to find that it was her! I was so excited that my heart almost jumped out. She said that the light bulb at her house was broken and asked me to help her replace it. At this moment, even if she had asked me to jump from the fifth floor, I would have done it without hesitation. How could I not agree to just change a light bulb?

  The light bulb was replaced quickly, she asked me to sit on the sofa, and she turned around to pour tea for me. My eyes, however, did not leave her back for a moment. It was then that I noticed she was wearing a red nightgown today, which was so thin that I could almost see her body underneath.

  She poured me tea, chatted with me, but I didn't hear a word, my mind was filled with her body under the red pajamas. Just as she poured water for me for the second time, I suddenly felt an impulse in my heart, and from behind, I covered her mouth and pressed her to the ground. She struggled desperately, but at that time, I had already lost my rationality, how could she possibly fight back? I raped her like this, at that time, I didn't think about the consequences of what I did would be like today...

  Wang Qiang was just looking here, when the doorbell suddenly rang. He got up and opened the door, and it was a young woman wearing a red dress who had pressed the doorbell.

  The woman saw Wang Qiang, looked apologetic and said: "Sorry to bother you, the light bulb in my house is broken. Can I trouble you to replace it for me?"