Chapter 2 The First Story (Part 2)

  Wang Qiang's heart skipped a beat, and he couldn't help but think of that time. He felt it was too coincidental. Although he had doubts in his mind, he was eager to find an excuse to see this young woman again. Seeing this great opportunity come knocking on his door, he readily agreed and followed her to her home, leaving the manuscript he hadn't finished reading on the bed.

  The light bulb was replaced quickly, and the woman in the red skirt asked Wang Qiang to sit on the sofa, turned around to pour him water. Wang Qiang looked over from behind, saw that the woman had a slender figure, and his mind involuntarily thought of that thing again. Suddenly, he felt a surge of impulse, stood up and walked to the back of the woman, covering her mouth with one hand.

  With a "crash", the teacup in her hand fell to the ground, and the woman struggled desperately, but how could she be a match for Wang Qiang? Her struggles only provoked Wang Qiang's greater fury, and the woman's strength gradually weakened until she was unable to resist any longer. Wang Qiang pushed the woman to the ground with one hand, tearing her long skirt...

  After a moment of madness, Wang Qiang looked at the woman lying on the ground and suddenly felt a chill in his heart. In his panic, he didn't know how to deal with it, but suddenly, an idea flashed through his mind, and involuntarily, he thought of that manuscript. Everything he had done was already written down beforehand, so what would be the consequences of doing this thing? There must be a detailed description on that manuscript as well.

  He remembered clearly that when he left, he had locked the door and closed all the windows. It was impossible for the manuscript to be blown away by the wind. Wang Qiang was now at a loss, pinning all his hopes on that manuscript, but after searching every room, it was nowhere to be found. Thinking of what would happen if the woman went to the police station to accuse him of rape, he felt afraid, desperate and regretful, and couldn't help but burst into tears.

  After crying for a while, the fear in his heart gradually decreased. He didn't want to give up his career and flee for the rest of his life, nor did he have the courage to kill someone to silence them. Thinking carefully, he felt that the only way was to have a good talk with that woman and see if they could settle it privately.

  Wang Qiang nervously pushed open the woman's room, and upon seeing the scene before him, he was taken aback: the woman had already sat up from the floor, but unlike his imagination, she wasn't crying or wailing. Instead, she was curled up on the sofa, holding a cup of tea in her hands, lost in thought. When she heard Wang Qiang's footsteps as he entered, she looked up at him briefly before lowering her head again to stare at the teacup in her hands, not uttering a word.

  As the woman raised her head, Wang Qiang saw that her eyes were filled with confusion. He also noticed that her clothes had been torn to shreds by him, and he couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache and regret. Taking a step forward, he said: "I... I..." He had originally intended to discuss terms with the woman, but upon seeing her condition, his mouth felt dry and his mind went blank. He stuttered for half a day, unable to utter a single sentence, and simply stood there, staring at the woman in a daze.

  It was unclear how much time had passed when the woman softly spoke a sentence: "You can go back now, don't worry, I'll be fine and you will too."

  Wang Qiang could hardly believe his ears, and asked: "What did you say?" The woman frowned slightly, saying: "Didn't you hear clearly? I told you to go back. Also, remember my name, I'm Sun Xiaohong."

  Wang Qiang saw that the woman was angry and didn't dare to stay here anymore, so he hurriedly ran back to his own room. As he was about to leave, he only heard the woman muttering to herself behind him: "So that person is him, I've finally found him, it's good, it's good." In the chaos, he didn't even have time to think about what this sentence meant.

  After this incident, Wang Qiang began to consciously avoid that woman. However, since they lived on the same floor, it was inevitable that they would run into each other a few times. Every time they met, Wang Qiang felt extremely awkward, but the woman seemed as if nothing had happened, and sometimes even took the initiative to greet him. This made Wang Qiang feel both honored and increasingly puzzled at the same time.

  Time flies, and half a year has passed in the blink of an eye. During this time, Wang Qiang and Sun Xiaohong's relationship has gradually improved, and they have even started dating and living together. This ending is beyond Wang Qiang's expectations, but he can't help feeling a little regretful: for some reason, Sun Xiaohong strictly forbids Wang Qiang from bringing outsiders home or even mentioning her in front of friends. Having such a beautiful girlfriend but not being able to show her off in public is indeed a pity, but Wang Qiang feels guilty towards Sun Xiaohong and tries his best to accommodate her, especially since she is an excellent wife and mother in every other way. Occasionally, Wang Qiang would think about those manuscripts and even searched the entire house once, only to be scolded by Sun Xiaohong as a "Red Guard rebel" and receive a few white eyes, but nothing was found. As time passed, Wang Qiang gradually forgot about those strange manuscripts.

  Wang Qiang received a notice from the newspaper company that due to poor management, the company needed to lay off some employees, and Wang Qiang was one of them.

  Wang Qiang walked upstairs with a swagger, just reaching the second floor, when he heard someone shouting "Mr. Wang, Mr. Wang" from behind. This residential area had only been inhabited by Wang Qiang and Sun Xiaohong all along, so it was sudden to hear a stranger's voice. Wang Qiang was taken aback, turned his head, and saw a woman in her fifties standing behind him, holding an envelope in her hand.

  The woman saw Wang Qiang turn around and handed over the letter in her hand, saying: "Mr. Wang, this is your letter, it was delivered by someone this afternoon, and I must hand it to you personally."

  Wang Qiang casually took the letter and asked, "Who are you?" The woman smiled and said, "I'm from the property company, newly assigned to take care of the daily management of this neighborhood. You can call me Sister Li, Mr. Wang."

  Wang Qiang casually said, "Thank you, Sister Li," and took the letter. Under the light of the corridor, he suddenly trembled: on the envelope were written the words "Please present to Mr. Wang Qiang in person". The handwriting was extremely familiar, exactly the same as that mysterious manuscript.

  Wang Qiang suppressed the shock in his heart and asked, "Sister Li, did you see the messenger's appearance clearly?" Sister Li said, "I saw it. That person is really strange, on such a hot day, he wore a windbreaker, wrapped his head up, and even wore a large mask on his face. He spoke Mandarin very fluently, and judging from his voice, he should be a young woman. Mr. Wang, this friend of yours is really strange."

  Wang Qiang casually responded with a "hmm" and said "thank you, Sister Li", then turned around and headed upstairs. Sister Li saw that Wang Qiang had a worried look on his face and didn't dare to ask him anything, so she said: "Mr. Wang, I'll be off." She walked down two steps, then turned back to Wang Qiang and said: "Mr. Wang, it's not that I'm being nosy, but you really should spend more time with your girlfriend. She's always alone at home, feeling bored, and only has a cat to keep her company. Young people these days are like this!" After saying this, she glanced at the letter in Wang Qiang's hand, shook her head, and walked down the stairs.

  Wang Qiang listened to Li Jie's words, first stunned, then thought she might have mistakenly believed he had found someone new outside, and this time it was the other person who came to him. At that moment, his mind was all on that letter, unintentionally explaining the matter, and not paying much attention to what she said, and walked upstairs by himself.

  When he reached the third floor, Wang Qiang felt that the letter in his hand was as heavy as a thousand pounds, and his hand holding the letter couldn't help but tremble slightly. He gritted his teeth, tore open the letter, and all that came out were a few torn pieces of paper.

  There were not many of these scraps of paper, only about a dozen or so, big and small. Wang Qiang picked them up to take a closer look, and saw that some had the word "cat" written on them, some had "tell stories", and some didn't even have a single character. It was clear that these scraps were just part of a complete manuscript. Although from the handwriting it could be confirmed that they were still written by the same person, with only these few pieces of paper, Wang Qiang couldn't see any important information from them.

  Wang Qiang stared at the slips of paper for a while, unable to make sense of them, so he stuffed them into an envelope and casually put it in his pocket, heading towards the fifth floor.

  As he walked to the door, just as he was about to take out his key to open it, a faint meowing sound came from inside the room. This soft meow, although extremely light, sounded like thunder on a clear day in Wang Qiang's ears. He couldn't help but think of the words on the torn paper scraps. His hand holding the key trembled uncontrollably, and he couldn't seem to align it with the keyhole.

  Suddenly, only the cat in the house let out a sharp cry, the sound was extremely mournful, but after that miserable cry stopped and disappeared suddenly, as if it had been choked by someone halfway. Wang Qiang's heart skipped a beat, thinking of Sun Xiaohong inside the house, he hastily opened the door and rushed in.

  As soon as Wang Qiang entered the room, he shouted loudly: "Xiao Hong, Xiao Hong!" The cat's cry just now was too mournful and strange, he was extremely worried about Sun Xiaohong. After calling out twice, Sun Xiaohong came out of the kitchen with a few apples in her hand, saw Wang Qiang's tense face, and asked: "What's wrong?"

  Wang Qiang pulled Sun Xiaohong over and asked: "Did you hear any sound just now?"

  Sun Xiaohong gave Wang Qiang a white eye: "What sound? I only hear your ghostly cry! You're yelling so loudly in the room, I'm not deaf, hurry up and eat an apple, it's just been washed." As she said that, she handed over the apple in her hand.

  Wang Qiang was extremely shocked in his heart. He had just clearly heard the sound of a cat meowing coming from the room, how could Sun Xiaohong possibly say she hadn't heard it? But he was afraid that if Sun Xiaohong knew more, she would be even more frightened, so he just grunted and didn't say anything else. Sun Xiaohong pushed Wang Qiang into the living room with one hand, saying: "You've finished eating, go take a bath quickly, you're all sweaty."

  Wang Qiang responded with a grunt and headed towards the living room. Sun Xiaohong saw Wang Qiang leave, patted her chest with her hand, let out a soft sigh, then turned around and walked into the kitchen.