Ding Fan's work I can still live for 30 days I can still live for 30 days I can still live for 30 days Unfinished Volume Twenty-Seven Red Dress

  A sleepless night, the dark clouds dispersed at dawn, and the sunlight burst out from between heaven and earth, burning away the gloom of the night.

  I stretched and looked at the blue sky and white clouds, none of the calls I made last night got through, so I tried again, still out of service.

  It's also unreachable, not in the service area, it's better than an empty number for me. I endured until the hotel owner got up and borrowed a bicycle after saying good things. The shop owner is very kind and cares about this stranger very much, repeatedly reminding me to be careful of the slippery mountain road.

  I'm a person who tends to be sarcastic towards those who are insincere, but for someone like you who genuinely cares about me, I don't dare utter a single word of sarcasm and can only nod in agreement.

  The shop owner's little girl didn't care, I knew this kid was called Xiaofang, just started high school this year and is in the fearless period of youth. She saw her father send me off like a funeral procession, with a lollipop in her mouth, saying "what's there to be afraid of? That place has nothing, it's all old folks' nonsense."

  The shop owner glared at his daughter and said, "You don't know, so don't talk nonsense."

  Xiao Fang stuck out her tongue and said, "What kind of ghost or god is this? I went past here a few days ago, and there was nothing."

  The owner said, "That's just your good luck. How dare you mention this? I've told you many times, don't go to the old village, can't you understand?"

  Xiaofang said, originally a broken village I didn't want to go either, and I was also afraid of getting sick. How did our classmates say it before? Ancient villages are heavenly flower villages, going there will get you sick, later we found out that was also parents deceiving us, they were just afraid we would go.

  The boss said, no matter what he says, it's all for your own good. The ancient village cannot be visited, and you can't go there. If you go again, I'll break your legs.

  Xiao Fang covered her eyes and shouted, "You're yelling at me! You want to hit me? I'll tell my mom!" Waaahhh...

  The shop owner was startled and hastily said, "I didn't want to hit you, I didn't say I wanted to hit you."

  Xiaofang put down her hand and snorted, saying, "I knew you wouldn't dare either."

  I quietly retreated and got on my bike, but my heart was trembling.

  I followed a few people, although we were just acquaintances, but they were all good people, university students without any ulterior motives. Especially Fengyue, who was stunningly beautiful, yet had a similar temperament to mine, and among this group of people, only she had my phone number. Yesterday, if someone really called me...

  It could only be that she is in danger.

  The shop owner was right, the mountain road after the rain was as slippery as a geisha's skin. Although there was no heavy rain in the sky, there were always fine misty raindrops on the way up the mountain. The big sun was clearly visible in the sky, but it was unknown where these rains came from.

  I ran erratically for half a day, fell twice, and was covered in mud before I finally arrived at the cave on the other side of the mountain.

  This time I drove in and stopped the car, rested for a while inside, hid from the rain, and carefully looked at the cave.

  I always feel uneasy every time I come to this cave, and it's the same this time. However, when I compare inside and outside, the inside of the cave is pitch black, and I can't see anything at all. The longer I stay inside, the more my scalp feels numb, and the silence makes me feel like there's something around me.

  I yelled like a madman for a few times and then pushed the cart out running.

  It's all downhill from here, and soon I saw the village. From a distance, there was still no sign of human life. The more I walked into the village, the more scared I became. As I walked, I kept pressing the bicycle bell, ringing out a loud "ding-ding-ding", but it was still eerily quiet.

  To be honest, I was really scared when I entered the village and saw the terrifying scene of corpses all over the ground. I'm not a brave person, just thinking about it makes my back feel cold.

  I rode into the village and circled around for a while, but didn't see anyone. I shouted for half a day, but there was no response.

  The village is still so desolate, not a living thing in sight, no human shadow, the ruins and broken walls are overgrown with weeds. Anyone who walks alone in such a place may be driven mad by the terrifying stories that come to mind.

  I'm really collapsing, where are these students? Did they leave after seeing that it was going to rain last night?

  It's not impossible and from now on it seems very likely.

  Another question is who made the phone call to me last night?

  Did they really encounter an accident here?

  I can no longer control my own wild thoughts, especially after hearing the three words "red skirt" last night, which has kept my mind in a state of high tension.

  I've seen a woman in a red skirt before, but I don't know if it was in a dream. I've been deceiving myself all along, saying that this is just a dream, but what if others have also seen her...

  At least what does it portend?

  In this case, I don't have many options. After thinking for half a day, I only have one plan: ride my bike out and report to the police. Whether these students went back or encountered something bad here, it's easier for the police to find them than me.

  I got back on the bus and headed back, rode for a few steps and saw some smoke rising in the distance, on a far mountain slope, the smoke was not big but not small either.

  This puff of smoke made me like a rabbit, turned around and rushed to that place in an instant, rode for more than ten minutes, saw the figure far away, and heard someone laughing.

  I'm completely at ease now, laughter can represent many problems and the vast majority are good things. I rode my bike up the mountain and saw that group of students from yesterday setting up a barbecue pit, the fire hadn't risen well yet, thick smoke was billowing from the charcoal.

  The men who were starting a fire all looked at me with some surprise. Tianpeng, Xiyao's boyfriend, waved his hand and said, "How did you come back again?"

  I let out an "oh" and said, are you guys BBQing?

  Da Peng said, "Yes, yesterday it was hard for a few people to move the barbecue oven over here. The weather is so good, there's no more suitable place than this. What are you doing here?"

  I felt a bit awkward and didn't know how to say that I received a mysterious phone call yesterday, so I was worried about them. Da Peng is Si Yao's boyfriend, so I just asked, "How's Feng Yue?"

  When I mentioned Fengyue's name, the faces of several men who were already not in a good mood changed even more, and even Dapeng felt a bit uncomfortable. He pointed to the back and said, "The girls are all playing together in the tent behind."

  I let out a loud "oh" and abandoned the car, walking towards the back. I heard someone curse behind me, but I was too lazy to bother with this young punk whose head was clouded by lust. I didn't even turn my head, and swaggered into the tent.

  As soon as I entered the tent, all the girls inside were stunned. There were five girls in total, including three that I knew, plus a fat and dark-skinned girl and another tall and thin girl who were also busy inside.

  Fengyue saw how enthusiastic I was and smiled, saying "How did you come back?"

  I said, let me see if you have anything on hand.

  What's up, Fengyue? Anything going on?

  I saw Siyao looking at me, so I nodded and smiled at her, saying, "I heard this is a ghost village. It was raining heavily yesterday, so I was a bit worried about you guys. I came over to take a look."

  The fortune teller said, "I'm afraid you're not looking at me, no, it's not us."

  Fengyue stood up and said, "Let's go out and talk, it's a bit crowded in here."

  I followed Fengyue out and walked for over a dozen steps before she said, "You're just back to see me?"

  I'm still not good at saying it, is it or isn't it? Some things others have misunderstood, no matter how I say it, it seems wrong. I said, are you okay?

  It's all just an excuse for poor students like us to come and have some fun, nothing more.

  I took a look around and saw that there was only one tent. I said, "With such heavy rain yesterday, can this one tent hold up? You're not all living in the same tent, are you?"

  Fengyue made a gesture and hit me, saying, "What nonsense are you talking about? With such heavy rain, what's the use of this tent? There's an inn around here."

  I was stunned for half a day and said, inn?

  Isn't this too weird? This crappy place doesn't even have a single person, what's the point of opening an inn? Even if this inn is for animals, it won't be fully occupied.

  Opening an inn in this place... is a strange thing in itself.

  Fengyue said, on that side, also on the waist of the mountain, yesterday when we strolled around below, we didn't see it. Later, it was going to rain, everyone was worried, and walking wasn't urgent anymore. We stayed behind, but the tent couldn't withstand it. Someone discovered there was smoke from a kitchen stove, we went over to take a look, and it turned out to be an inn. You say how lucky that is!

  I say, lucky, lucky. Don't you think it's a bit strange?

  Fengyue said, yesterday we just started and it was also very strange, but at that time the sky was still bright, everyone's courage was bigger. After entering, I found it to be very simple and expensive, heard from the boss that it was specially built for this ghost village temporarily, in order to seize the initiative of tourism.

  I nodded, this explanation also makes sense, but it still sounds a bit ambiguous. Fengyue said, really, it's not as scary as you think, there are people living inside too, it's not just us alone.

  I nodded and said, "Alright, as long as it's safe, I'll head back then."

  Fengyue said, "Let's have some barbecue before we go. This group of men is so clumsy that they can't even light a charcoal. Look at all the smoke."

  I said I'm not eating anymore. If I stay any longer, they might just eat me up. So I left and we'll be in touch again. When are you guys leaving?

  The wind and moon hummed in agreement, saying that I had nothing to do anyway. Everyone planned to play for a week this time. The sister you met at the hotel yesterday said she would get married in a few days and asked us to wait until after her wedding before leaving. I'm still considering it.

  I almost jumped up and grabbed Fengyue's shoulder, saying, "What's that sister's name?"

  Fengyue was startled by me, she said, Ai, surname Ai, she asked us to call her Dà ài Jiějie.

  It's Da Ai, and amazingly, Da Ai is still here!

  I searched for him in a crowd of thousands, but unexpectedly found him by mistake.

  I trembled with fear and asked, "Is she still in the hotel?"

  Fengyue nodded and then blushed, saying: "Is she your lover? Did you come here just to find her?"

  I didn't have time to answer, and turned around to rush towards the hotel in the direction that Fengyue had just pointed out.

  My mind is filled with great love, curses, and an upcoming wedding.

  All of them have less than thirty days left in their lives.

  There are countless riddles in between, I must ask them in front of great love.

  Get to the bottom of what's going on.

  This inn is easy to find, just on the half hillside, I'm a bit surprised why I didn't see it yesterday. The old wooden house is quite broken, and it has three floors, no matter how you look at it, it's been around for years, doesn't seem like a newly built inn.

  I walked in, and inside was unexpectedly spacious and bright, it really was an inn. On the counter hung a symbolic clock showing Beijing time, and on the wall was posted a price list that only had today's room rate: 168.

  This price is really outrageous for this environment, but fortunately I have made some savings in the past few years and there are not many days when I can spend money. One of the greatest sorrows of human beings is that when people are gone, they still have unspent money.

  Since love is here, I must attend the wedding before leaving. I walked over and knocked on the counter, seeing only a head sticking out from above the counter.

  Then I saw a big head suddenly jumping up, scaring me, and then I saw a dwarf sitting on the chair in front of the counter, possibly just now that jump was a bit too forceful, his face very red.

  The dwarf's face was somewhat ferocious, I subconsciously took a closer look, and immediately realized it was impolite, so I turned my head to the side.

  Dwarf said, live in store?

  I said with a sigh, "Stay."

  How long will you be staying?

  I said, let's start with one day first, if I'm still staying tomorrow, we can renew it then.

  Are you with those students?

  I nodded and shook my head, saying "a fleeting encounter".

  The dwarf furrowed his brow, perhaps because his head was too big and his eyes were too small, this frown was a bit obvious. He took the money and even asked for my ID card. I didn't expect such a shabby hotel to be so formal. As I handed over my ID card, I muttered, "Does this place have hotels? Is there business?"

  The dwarf looked up at me again and threw his ID card onto the counter, saying "Room 208. Check-out is tomorrow at noon."

  I let out a sound, and surprisingly, it sounded quite professional. I didn't leave, but instead asked, "Excuse me, is there someone named Ai Feng living here?"

  The dwarf said, we can't disclose passenger information here.

  I said I was her friend...

  Before he had finished speaking, a loud voice from inside asked, "What's going on?"

  A burly man with a shaved head and tattooed arms walked out, looking like no good.

  The dwarf said, this person inquired about the guest's information.

  Zhuang Han said, "You ask me and I'll tell you, what's there to keep secret about this place? Are you a lodger? Do you have any luggage? I'll help you carry it up."

  The difference is too big, I was stunned for a moment and said, no luggage, thank you.

  The strong man said, "My name is Ma Tiancheng. You can call me Brother Ma. This inn was opened by my elder brother. If you need anything, just call for me."

  Juru Cha looked around and said, "There is no one named Aifeng."

  I was stunned again, could it be that Aifeng had changed his name and lived here? It wasn't good to say much more, thinking that everything would be clear when Fengyue returned, these two people were too different in height and build, I'd better not cause any trouble here.

  Went up to room 208, the house is the oldest, the lock is also the oldest, used a key to pry open the lock, inside the room there is only one bed, one lamp, one table and one chair, the only thing that might be worth something is that old TV.

  This TV is estimated to be about as old as I am, it's the oldest rotary one. I turned on the TV and inside was a snowy screen, after fiddling with it for half a day nothing worked.

  To be honest, this crappy room can't even compare to a 68-dollar motel, let alone a 168-dollar one. I threw my stuff on the bed and lay down for a bit before realizing there was no toilet in the room.

  Going to the bathroom was a big problem, I just went downstairs and knocked on the counter again, the dwarf came out from inside, his voice was very unfriendly, he said, what do you want?

  Excuse me, where is the restroom?

  The dwarf said, when going out, on the right side, do you know the thatched cottage in the countryside?

  I said, toilet?

  The dwarf said, it's just this condition, can't help it.

  A look of loving to live or not to live makes me headache, I went out and saw two wooden houses side by side, with the words "male" and "female" written on them in a very formal way. The gap between the boards is quite large, and light shines through it. I clearly see that there's no one inside.

  Such a semi-outdoor toilet, if you're not careful, you'll be exposed. As a man, I don't have to worry about it, but what about the ladies?

  Standing at the door, letting my thoughts run wild for half a day, I felt refreshed, and this unbearable toilet was no longer an obstacle. I solved the memory problem with ease and when I came out, I looked into the distance for half a day without seeing anyone.

  I was anxious to know the whereabouts of Da Ai, but I really didn't want to see those male students' ugly faces. After weighing it for half a day, anyway, I wasn't in a hurry at this moment, and only when I returned to the hotel did I realize that I hadn't eaten yet.

  If I were a thick-skinned person, I would have gone to find Fengyue and the others to eat barbecue and ask about Da'ai's whereabouts. But who made me a homebody for so many years, turning me into an introverted personality? I didn't want to see people's faces, so when I returned to the hotel and ran into Ma Tiancheng, I asked him, "Tiancheng, is there food here?"

  Ma Tiancheng said, "Well, I'm a chef, but I don't cook very well. Can you eat it?"

  I say, whatever is available, I'll eat it.

  Ma Tiancheng said, "Alright, follow me, there's a restaurant in the back."

  I followed Ma Tiancheng to the back and pushed open the door on the side of the stairs. Inside was a very large hall with a long table and a row of long chairs.

  Ma Tiancheng said, otherwise eat noodles? La Mian.

  I nodded, and he went to the back kitchen. After a while, he brought out a bowl of noodles. I took a bite, and it wasn't bad. Ma Tiancheng seemed to be in a good mood too, sitting down beside me as if watching someone else eat his cooking was also a pleasure.

  To be honest, I've never seen a chef so dedicated to his work. I felt embarrassed eating in front of others and said, "Cheng Ge, this noodle dish is not bad."

  Ma Tiancheng said, is it? No one has ever said that before.

  I said, you're a chef, how can there be no one praising you?

  Ma Tiancheng said this is not just after changing careers.

  I uttered an "oh" and asked, what did you used to do?

  Ma Tiancheng didn't respond, waited for a while and said, you eat first, I'll go out for a walk.

  After he left, I finally had a full meal. When I went out and took a look around, I was originally not a fan of traveling. In front of me were desolate mountains and wild ridges. I stretched my waist and felt a bit tired. After all, I rode for so long yesterday and didn't sleep well at night. Once I relaxed, I felt extremely sleepy.

  I fell asleep almost as soon as I returned to the room. This place is too quiet, and I have never slept so soundly before.

  When I woke up and subconsciously looked at the watch, I had actually slept until the second half of the night. I sat up and thought for a while under the light in the room before figuring out where I was.

  Wait a minute, why is there light in the house?

  I lifted my head to see that the TV was already on, no sound, still snowflakes, but the snowflakes were distorted, a figure inside was swaying back and forth, sometimes rushing towards the screen, sometimes being scattered by the snowflakes.

  I walked over and turned the volume knob, hearing a noisy sound coming from inside, then a woman's voice came through, saying "Save me, save me quickly... Red skirt..."

  Isn't this the woman who called me yesterday?

  I stood there for half a day, and suddenly felt that something was outside the window. I raised my head to take a look, and a red skirt was constantly hitting my window back and forth.

  Silently colliding.

  This is the end of the twenty-seventh day of my countdown on life, and also the beginning of the twenty-sixth day.

  I just don't know if I still have tomorrow.