Meng Tingdong has never felt that his life is a failure. The salary is not high, but the advantage is that he has a fairly stable job, which is much better than those "Beijing drifters" and "ant clan". He has a house and a car, although the house

It was a two-bedroom apartment of less than 90 square meters, and the car was a second-hand Xiali. Lin Ying, however, sneered at his lack of progress and complacent attitude. She mercilessly mocked him: "You have to work in that shabby factory.

It has been over twenty years, and everyone who came later than you has become a manager, and you are still just a small squad leader. Apart from being promoted from "Xiao Meng" to "Old Meng", you really have not made any progress at all."

He didn't pay any attention to such cynicism. Everyone has his own ambitions and cannot be forced.

He didn't understand that a man like him, who never cheated or behaved badly, always put up with her, what was she dissatisfied with?

No one answered Meng Tingdong's question. If he asked Lin Ying, Lin Ying would sneer and say: "What else do you do besides looking at your mobile phone?! You can't turn on the light bulb when it's broken, you can't fix the toilet when it's broken, and the sewer is blocked.

You don’t know how to turn on the gas, you can’t even change the gas, tell me, what do you know how to do? What use do I need from you! You just hold a mobile phone and look at it all day long, can you see through the screen?!"

At any time, people must have a spiritual sustenance to support themselves going forward.

Meng Tingdong’s spiritual sustenance is his mobile phone, or more precisely, fantasy novels.

Perhaps you can't understand a middle-aged uncle's love for fantasy novels, just like you can't understand why some cats prefer to eat dog food.

This is not only about personal preferences, but even rises to a person's dignity. For Meng Tingdong, all the injustices encountered in the real society are always easily solved in the world of novels. That world is the paradise in his heart, for

He is willing to defend his ideal world with his own dignity to prevent it from falling apart. Indulging in the illusory world is nothing but the desire and pursuit of perfection, and he makes a reasonable explanation for his behavior based on wishful thinking.

Therefore, Meng Tingdong was always happy to indulge in the fantasy world in all places where Lin Ying could not see. In all his free time, his eyes were glued to the small screen, and he could not let go of it for a moment.

Often when Lin Ying is on a business trip, her home is always more eerie and eerie. The curtains are tightly closed and the sunlight cannot get in no matter how hard she tries. There are piles of instant noodle boxes and various instant food bags everywhere. Lin Ying is on the refrigerator.

The note left by Ying was ruthlessly torn off, and it was densely filled with daily menus, fruits, takeout phone numbers and prices, and even stipulated that everything in the refrigerator must be eaten before she came back - all of this was done after

Strictly measured, she was sure that the amount of these things could be solved before she went home. This was also a way to verify whether he was obedient.

Regarding these regulations, Meng Tingdong's usual approach is to deal with them on the surface but go his own way in private.

I ate takeout a few days ago and thought about cooking for myself when I ran out of money. The money at his disposal was really limited. He had to hand over his wages, and they were often taken away by Lin Ying before he could cover the heat. But before that,

He would secretly take out one and put it into his own small treasury, creating the illusion that his salary has not been increased. Lin Ying has never been aware of these small actions. Man, who hasn't secretly hidden a private money in a "small treasury"? Himself

He just did what ordinary men would do. Meng Tingdong often comforted himself like this.

As for the food in the refrigerator? Eat some if you like, throw away the food you can't eat, or feed it to wild cats outside.

These foods with mandatory meanings,

It won't be digested even if you eat it in your stomach.

Whenever he throws away a large bag of food with the "Fascist" logo, Meng Tingdong will feel a sense of heroism in his heart, as if he has completed a feat, just like countless people who died heroically in history, breaking through the cage of fascism and moving towards freedom.

glorious progress.

So, every time Lin Ying came back, all she saw was a clean refrigerator and a clean floor. All the instant noodle boxes and fast food bags were gone, as if they had never been there.

Only then will she show a satisfied smile, and the small mole under the left corner of her mouth will have a slightly greasy sheen.

…………………………………………

Meng Tingdong had almost forgotten what he looked like when he was young. Looking at the photos from twenty years ago, he felt confused and a little unbelievable.

At that time, my hair was still oily, black and shiny, and I was not as pot-bellied as I am now. The tall and thin young man leaned on the railing, looking into the distance. Lin Ying was wearing a white dress, standing beside him

, holding his arm intimately, smiling sweetly. It turned out that they also had such a beautiful period.

Meng Tingdong felt that Lin Ying in the photo was not Lin Ying at all. No, or it should be said that Lin Ying in the photo was fake, but the old and haggard woman in front of him was real.

He even thought that maybe the gentle, kind, and considerate girl was a figment of his imagination. Or maybe, his memory was confused.

However, before he had time to come out of his memories, Lin Ying cut out all those old photos, leaving not a single one. Click, click, clean and neat, without any sloppiness. Especially when the scissors cut through Meng Tingdong's face on the photo.

When she hit her head, she used even more force. The force was so strong and the speed was so fast that Meng Tingdong had the illusion that his head was really broken under her scissors.

She might really want to kill me, Meng Tingdong thought.

The light from outside cautiously shone in, staying in this dull and cold room for a moment before shining elsewhere. The sound of a car horn was heard in the distance, and the flashlight flashed past.

The hands of the clock on the wall were still making a circular motion dutifully, and seemed to point to nine in an instant.

It's 21 o'clock now, and it's only been two hours since Meng Tingdong went home.

The lights were on outside and neon lights filled the sky, but here it was dead silent.

A strange feeling spread between the two of them, fermenting and expanding in the air, and it seemed that it might burst at any time.

Meng Tingdong suddenly wanted to smoke a cigarette, but he knew that this was just an unrealistic wish. Under Lin Ying's high-pressure control, he had not enjoyed the pleasure of smoke filling his mouth for a long time.

He felt like he was going crazy.

He doesn't understand the meaning of his life, which is so restricted. Do he really want to continue like this until he dies?

But then I thought, after more than 20 years of this, there is nothing wrong with it. It is better to live than to die, and besides, it is far from that level now.

He was waiting, waiting for Lin Ying to speak, even if it was a biting sarcasm or a shrew-like curse, it was not like this now, suffocatingly quiet, and he could only feel the shallow interlacing of breath in the air.

finally--

"Meng Tingdong, you are just eating and waiting to die day by day. There is no hope for people like you. You can't live without it."

Go to hell! Even if you eat shit, no one will poop on you!"

"You son of a bitch, you're just a loser!"

"I was really blind before I fell in love with you!"

…

The words that sounded like a thousand arrows piercing the heart to others seemed to have no meaning to him. He seemed to have turned off his hearing function and gradually became numb. In the void, he saw her mouth opening and closing, her loose skin and the corners of her eyes.

fine lines, and saw the mole under the left corner of her mouth. When he was in love, he was unreasonably happy when he saw this mole. He always felt that it was made from the red clouds on the horizon and dyed layer by layer. But now it is

It feels like a speck of fly droppings stuck to the drooping corner of the mouth, which is annoying.

It doesn't matter anymore because I'm used to it.

Meng Tingdong was unknowingly devoured by the beast called habit, including his skin and bones.

…………………………………………

Meng Tingdong looked at Lin Ying who was sleeping soundly, and suddenly a bold and terrifying thought came to his heart:

It would be nice if she disappeared from here.

This thought became more and more intense, so that he could not feel at peace in his heart. There were countless voices in his mind shouting: strangle her to death! strangle her to death!

He tried hard to suppress himself from thinking, but his thoughts became increasingly out of control. He was surprised to see that he slowly raised his right hand and placed it on Lin Ying's neck.

He exerted force bit by bit, but Lin Ying seemed to have no reaction. It wasn't until he strangled the fragile neck with all his strength that her arms began to struggle violently, and soon they were weak.

hang down.

"Crack!" A crisp sound of broken bones came in the air.

Lin Ying was like a leaf, falling lightly on the mattress.

Meng Tingdong felt as if he had fallen into an incredible madness. He began to laugh, loudly, exaggeratedly, until tears and runny nose came out.

"I'm free! I finally get rid of the nightmare of more than 20 years! Haha, hahaha..."

However, before he finished laughing, he heard a very familiar voice saying in a cold and contemptuous tone: "Do you think this is the end? Trash..."

…………………………………………

Meng Tingdong woke up suddenly, panting heavily, and it took him a long time to calm down. He turned on the bedside lamp and found that the pillow towel was soaked with cold sweat. He looked up and looked at the clock. It was two forty-eight in the morning.

Lin Ying was lying on his left side, breathing evenly and already sound asleep.

The beige light shone softly, giving everything in the room soft colors. In this magical atmosphere, his heart gradually calmed down.

He got out of bed, poured a glass of water, and drank it all in one gulp. Then he secretly took out the cigarette hidden in the cupboard, and without even bothering to put on his coat, he walked quietly to the balcony.

Light the fire, light it, put it in his mouth and take a deep breath, letting the smoke reach the bottom of his lungs. Only then did Meng Tingdong feel that he was alive again.

He didn't dare to study the dream in detail, it was too scary.

This is just a dream, he told himself again and again, trying to hypnotize himself in this way.

It was cold outside, but the despair inside him was even colder, so cold that he almost froze himself.
Chapter completed!