While my mother was cleaning the completely invisible dust in the room, she was mumbling and cursing.
The sound was just enough for Xiao Xiao, who was hiding in the bedroom, to hear it, but not loud enough for the neighbors to hear. It was occasionally mixed with the sound of her throwing a broom or rag on the floor or table in anger:
"When you grow up, you know how to stay in the bedroom and play games every day."
"The room is not tidied up. It's as messy as a pig's nest. How could I have a son like you? He looks exactly like your fooling father..."
"Destined to be unable to do anything and rot in the room!"
"..."
Xiao Xiao covered his ears in pain and his body was shaking slightly.
He forgot when he started this kind of life, he only felt a splitting headache, as if his brain was being cruelly broken.
Since four years ago, he has often suffered from splitting headaches, accompanied by a strong sense of dizziness, which makes him feel that everything around him is distorted and stretched.
The things in front of me seemed to be no longer real, twisting and squirming like earthworms.
He could hear the roar of his heart like a drum, and each interval seemed as long as several minutes.
In this state where the surrounding environment would become extremely unreal and distorted from time to time, he could not even concentrate. His thoughts were like fragmented lenses, reflecting strange interlaced lights.
He tried to accept it and control himself, but it was obvious that his family could no longer accept it.
"Buzzing..."
The phone suddenly vibrated slightly, and the sound made Xiao Xiao's symptoms slightly less severe, making him feel as if he had returned to reality.
"Don't forget the class reunion, Minghe Hotel, private room on the second floor."
The person who delivered the news was a high school classmate named Jiang Cheng.
In fact, Xiao Xiao has not contacted his former classmates for a long time. In the past four years, he has rarely even gone out, but after seeing this message, he decided to go out.
Even though the headache that was similar to a panic attack had just occurred, he still wanted to go out, maybe because he had been holding it in for too long and wanted to escape temporarily.
"If you don't stay at home, where are you going to go wild?"
"You go, you go!"
"If you can, die outside and never come back!"
"..."
When Xiao Xiao casually picked up a hoodie and went out, his mother's curses became louder. It seemed that no matter what Xiao Xiao did, he could always poke her anger.
"Bah, bah, bah..."
As she spoke, she vigorously chopped the unknown meat on the chopping board, her eyes fixed on Xiao Xiao, and the knife she was chopping in her hand seemed eager to chop it into him the next moment.
Xiao Xiao was frightened by this look. He felt cold all over and walked out of the door as if he was running away.
Night had fallen, and there were no street lights in the narrow streets. Xiao Xiao escaped from the sound of his mother chopping meat, but he always felt that something was watching him, as if a giant creature was staring at him.
"Woooooooo..."
The three vicious dogs in the neighbor's yard heard him approaching and let out threatening growls.
The iron chain around his neck was stretched into a straight line, making an overwhelming sound of metal fatigue. Dark red eyes stared at him, and saliva dripped from between the ferocious teeth.
He walked close to the outside corner, and suddenly there was a strange and changing sound above his head. Behind a window on the second floor, the sound of an old record player was like crying.
The invisible tension made him walk faster and faster, but he was suddenly attracted by the piercing sound of a chainsaw. Through the blurred and dirty window, he saw a tall butcher, holding a chainsaw and cutting something.
"Whoa!"
The butcher and the thing being cut suddenly turned their heads at the same time and looked at him outside the window.
Xiao Xiao felt extremely frightened. He staggered back, quickened his pace and started running. He didn't gasp for breath under the streetlight until he crossed the street.
Looking up at the busy street, a dizzying tide flooded into his brain.
Brilliant neon lights spewed over the city like lava, and the traffic with piercing sirens roared and flew past in front of us like groups of steel monsters.
The searchlight on the roof of the building looked towards the night sky, as if it wanted to illuminate the entire night, but it could only illuminate the dark corners of the city and the streets filled with sewage.
On the covers of the newspapers scattered on the ground, there were extensive reports that the serial murderer who stole the heart had not yet been arrested, and that the girl gang that had bombed the school not long ago had openly provoked the security office.
The black characters on a white background form a perfect unity with the temperament of the city.
"Have I not been out for too long?"
Xiao Xiao took a deep breath of the cold, damp air and forced himself to calm down.
Looking up at this city, I feel that it is very strange. I don’t know when it started, but this city has changed into a different kind of temperament.
He didn't know where this feeling of following him came from, but thinking of his persistence over the past four years, he wrapped his clothes tightly and slowly walked towards the gathering place.
…
…
"Xiao Xiao is here?"
"We have a great party today. We not only invited the house god Xiao Xiao who has not left home for several years, but also met the goddess Yang Jia who has not been in contact with any classmates for four or five years..."
"It's really a big deal to call Xiao Xiao, who is planning to stay at home until death..."
In the box, the smiling faces of classmates began to overlap with the energetic faces in Xiao Xiao's memory, and also brought him back to the sunny memories four years ago.
This calmed his wildly beating heart a little.
In four years, they have all gone to college and started another life.
But I was different. Because of the severe headache, my life seemed to have been locked in a cage for four years.
There was already a sense of alienation, but Xiao Xiao still felt very happy. After all, this seemed to be a normal feeling and a group of normal people.
"What are you talking about?"
At this time, someone smiled and spoke, interrupting everyone's discussion.
A beautiful girl who was on the phone outside the door walked in. She had a slender figure and clean and delicate facial features, which immediately attracted the attention of everyone present.
The students at the table also suddenly changed their smiling faces and said one after another: "It's okay, Yang Jia, you will stay here when you come back this time, right?"
"..."
She was the center of attention at this class reunion and was recognized by everyone as the most beautiful girl.
Even in Xiao Xiao's memory, she can be clearly seen. She was the most beautiful girl in high school, with excellent grades, good at sports, and outstanding in all aspects.
In addition, there is some mystery that cannot be accurately described.
It is said that she was originally from a big family in a big city in the north. She transferred to another school for some special reasons and later left after only one semester.
"Will stay here for a while."
Yang Jia smiled and replied: "But the specific length of stay has not been determined yet."
She always seems to have that kind of temperament, treating others gently but also with a sense of distance. She obviously doesn't care, but she always becomes the center of everyone's attention.
"She seems different from others..."
Xiao Xiao didn't know when he felt attracted to Yang Jia.
It's not because she is beautiful, but because she always exudes a real feeling that is difficult for Xiao Xiao to describe in words.
Only by looking at her, he seemed to be far away from the dizziness that seemed to be unreal, and his nervousness was slowly fading away.
Perhaps, the previous discomfort and panic were just the effects of my headache, and I was just too nervous and became suspicious.
"Hey, Xiao Xiao, what are you looking at?"
But at this moment, a cold voice suddenly woke up Xiao Xiao.
He raised his head and saw Jiang Cheng looking at him with a sinister look, holding a cigarette in his hand. The corners of his mouth were grinning unnaturally, but his eyes were emitting a chilling light.
Another classmate was holding a knife in his hand, poking the meat on the plate vertically, but while doing these actions, his eyes were fixed on Xiao Xiao.
Someone on the opposite side pulled the chair hard, making a harsh noise, then leaned back on the chair and showed Xiao Xiao an expression that was half-smiling.
At this moment, Xiao Xiao felt as if he had suddenly become the target of everyone's hatred.
His heart suddenly began to beat wildly and uncontrollably, and it beat slower and slower. Xiao Xiao felt that his nerves were tightening uncontrollably again, and cold sweat seeped out layer by layer on his forehead.
That dizziness hit me again, and everything around me seemed to be becoming unreal.
He could even feel that these people seemed to jump up explosively at any time and stab him with the knives in their hands.
"They all want to harm me..."
When this idea suddenly burst into his mind, Xiao Xiao himself was shocked.
He stood up in a panic: "I'm going to the bathroom!"
He left the hotel private room as if fleeing. He could still feel that behind him, countless pairs of frightening eyes were staring at him.
"What happened to me?"
A handful of cold water was poured on his face, and Xiao Xiao closed his eyes in pain.
He didn't know why this happened. His mother at home, passers-by on the road, and even his familiar classmates would inadvertently look like they wanted to kill him.
So, is he actually sick?
I started to get sick four years ago, with splitting headaches and the whole world becoming distorted and unreal.
I exercised in my bedroom for four years and felt better, but in fact I didn’t. Instead, my symptoms got worse?
…
…
"How long has it been since you woke up?"
Just as Xiao Xiao was asking himself in pain and confusion, a calm voice sounded.
Xiao Qi was startled and quickly turned his head, only to see that Yang Jia had appeared behind him without knowing when.
She leaned against the wall, holding a slender cigarette between her fingers, looking at herself with indifferent eyes.
"I……"
Xiao Xiao hesitated, trying to explain that he had just said he wanted to go to the bathroom.
But Yang Jia suddenly interrupted him and said, "I'm asking you, how long have you been awake? How can you attract so much hatred?"
"Hate?"
Xiao Xiao couldn't understand it, and looked at Yang Jia with confused eyes.
"Didn't you notice?"
In the slightly mint-flavored smoke, Yang Jia's eyes seemed a little mysterious and she said softly: "This city is fake..."
