Late night bookstore

It's already midnight 12 o'clock. In a small rented room, Jam sitting next to the computer is not sleepy at all. He stared at the computer screen, his fingers froze on the keyboard, and looked at the gradually blurred words on it. The plot just sorted out in his mind was overthrown again. In anger, he hit the table with one punch, but he didn't want to stand beside the hot instant noodles that had just been soaked. He snorted unreservedly and covered the floor, and soup and noodles were scattered all over the floor.

"Damn it!" Jam thundered, his heart was agitated, and the story he had just conceived slipped away from his mind like a frightened mouse.

He took a long breath in anger and leaned back heavily in the chair, and the aging chair let out a sigh.

Yes, Jam is a contract writer of a famous website, and he is a freelancer. But Jam never felt how free he was, with a small salary and being urged by the editor every day.

He feels like a desert now, and his inspiration, like water, has long been drained.

But the editor is still asking for his work like a ghost, and there is no way. Jam looked at the time on the computer. There are still eight hours left. If he can't finish the satisfactory work, he won't get paid this month.

In order to clean up the instant noodles on the ground, Jam scratched his messy hair and continued to knock on the computer, trying to catch the mice that had just escaped in shock.

In this way, there was only a crackling keyboard tapping in the rental house, and he had no time to complain.

At least there is a certain foundation. Jam came up with a story of 15000 words when he was in a hurry at 7 o'clock, and he felt quite satisfied. When finished, he proofread it a little and sent it directly to the editor.

After all this, he stretched himself with satisfaction, twisted his neck, and his back ached. As soon as he stood up, he stepped on the bucket of instant noodles, and the soup on the ground had already dried up. He licked his thirsty lips and was too lazy to drink water. He took two steps back and fell flat on the bed.

"I can finally sleep in peace." He couldn't help looking at the ceiling and talking to himself.

Without the heavy stone in my heart, sleepiness came slowly.

In his sleep, he dreamed of the heroine in an island movie he saw the day before yesterday. There was a smile on his lips, and just as he was about to get down to business, suddenly a hurried telephone bell rang. Just a beautiful dream is like the moon in the water, broken by a boring stone.

"Damn, Lao tze later sleep, be sure to turn the phone to mute! Affirmation! " Zhan Mu closed his eyes, gritted his teeth and thought.

In a daze, I touched my mobile phone and looked at the caller ID, and my sleepiness suddenly disappeared.

This is the editor's phone, a bad feeling. He felt thirsty in an instant and pressed the answer key for a long time.

Sure enough, you can hear the voice clearly without turning on the hands-free button: "Hello?" ! Jam? What exactly did you send me? You wrote this? I caught a dog, and I can write with my feet better than you! I'll tell you what, help me rewrite it, okay? Otherwise, you can't expect to have money this month! "

The editor's character is to click Hang up before replying.

Jam suddenly plunged into an ice cave and felt cold all over. You know, the story of light was invented after he exhausted all his brain cells. There are still ten days in this month, and it's too late.

As if his chest was blocked by something, he stood up and kicked the instant noodles that fell to the ground last night. I don't want to kick the chair next to him a little off. He fell to the ground in pain.

For a whole day, he lay in bed without eating or drinking, and his head was empty. When he woke up, it was dark again

He said a few words to himself, which was nothing more than a few swearing words. After cursing, he felt very hungry and had to go out to find something to eat.

He looked at the clock before going out. It's already afternoon 12.

Although it is already midnight, the neon lights on the street are still flashing. Go straight along the street and come to a 24-hour convenience store.

There is no one in the shop. The only sound came from the ceiling TV by the door. The cashier stared at the screen with the remote control.

The midnight news is on TV.

"Recently, Wei Yan, a very popular novelist, suddenly announced his withdrawal from the literary world and chose to change careers, which surprised many people in the industry ..."

Change the channel.

"According to the police, the murder case on a rainy night some time ago was done by one person. This person is extremely cruel, and has committed crimes twice in a row, all on rainy nights ... "

Jam looked up and didn't come out for a while, so this murder happened outside? It seems that I am really isolated from the world.

I bought bread and looked up at the sky when I came out. It was as dark as ink. He remembered the news just now and muttered, fortunately, it didn't rain.

But then he went back to the convenience store and bought a Yicheng Evening News.

The cold wind blew, and he walked leisurely while chewing bread. He doesn't want to go back yet, sleeping too much during the day, just taking advantage of the busy time in the evening to find inspiration for the story.

Walking slowly, I just feel a little dizzy and I don't know if I'm hungry.

He shook his head with the advertising pole on the roadside, but was caught by the neon sign in the alley on the right.

He squinted to see the name of the brand, but somehow his eyes blurred and he felt like vomiting.

Shit, is the bread expired? He threw the bread in his hand into the trash can and rubbed his temples.

This time, he saw the neon sign in the alley, with four big white characters: "Late Night Bookstore".

Seeing the word bookstore is really a long-lost feeling. Without hesitation, he crossed his legs and walked into the alley.

The alley is deeper than expected, as if it took a long way to get to the door.

At the moment he entered the door, he only felt a cold wind blowing in from behind his ear. When he looked up, he only felt darkness.

He thought he was dizzy and hallucinated, but when he looked carefully, he found a man in a black coat in front of him. He quickly brushed past him and went out.

Jim walked into the shop.

There is a unique smell in the cold wind, and the image left in my mind is like that man, with curly hair and beard, unable to see his age clearly and a long scar on his neck.

The light in the bookstore is a little dim, but when you are at the door, you give people the illusion that it is bright inside. In addition to the rows of bookshelves against the wall, there is a wide table with a thick stack of books in the middle.

Jam suddenly has a familiar feeling. This bookstore seems to have seen it somewhere, but I can't remember it when I think about it. It is estimated that most bookstores look the same.

Just as I was about to walk in, a voice came from the right, "What book do you want, sir?"

Jam looked to the right, only to find that there was a man standing in front of the counter at the door, and he was suddenly startled.

This man looks like the owner of a bookstore, smiling at himself. This smile makes people feel sinister.

"I'll see for myself first." Say that finish, Jam went in, and didn't want the boss to come out and stop Jam soon.

"How much trouble have you given yourself? Tell me what you want. Here is everything you want. "

Jam thinks you're bragging.

"Actually, I am a novel writer. I really just want to look around today and find some writing inspiration. "

Now you should let me go, thought Jim.

I don't know if the boss is more energetic. He grabbed the jam. "Turned out to be a great writer. I was rude. "

Jam felt funny and was about to say something. The boss smiled mysteriously and patted him on the shoulder. "You are right to come here today!"

"What ... what do you mean?"

"Didn't you say you have no inspiration? I have something here to ensure that after you use it, your mind is full of ideas, and you can't stop if you want to stop. " The boss said excitedly, his eyes narrowed into a crack.

Jam's first feeling was that he met a liar. He looks like a liar, saying what medicine he gave you can make you live forever.

But he didn't want to care, just pretended to smile. "Thank you very much, but I don't need it." When I finished, I was ready to go back, thinking that I just wanted to visit a bookstore quietly, but I met a boss who treated people like children?

Only children believe it, right?

See jam to go, the boss pulled again, jam incredibly can't get away.

The boss laughed even harder. "Young man, I promise you won't regret it after using it."

"What's the use? To tell you the truth, I am a poor man and can't afford anything from you. " Jam, with a killer, confessed his bottom.

The boss did let him go, but he said something that Jam couldn't believe.

He said, "I don't want money for this thing."

"No money?" Now that Jam is interested, he wants to see what a free lunch is like under the sun.

The boss turned behind the counter, bent down to look at it for a while, then mysteriously took out a matchbox-sized brocade box and smiled strangely at the jam.

"What is this?" Jam didn't dare to look at him and stared at the small box.

The boss approached Jam and said in a low voice, "I think today is your destiny, so I'll give you this pill."

He opened the brocade box carefully, and the jam dipped into it. He saw two pills in it, as big as Mellisol, which he often ate. Jam suspects that this is Melissol.

Only these two pills are painted green and red respectively.

"What's the use of this thing ...? "

The boss quickly closed the brocade box again and put it in Jim's hand. Can't refuse, and then said in a teasing tone: "You young people have a worse memory than me. You just said that your writing has no inspiration, right? " I tell you, as long as you eat this, you can be sure that your inspiration will continue! "

Now that Jam has some confirmation, the old man should be mentally ill. How can there be this medicine under the sun? Even if there is, it just happened to pass by today? Even if drugs really exist, what does he want?

Jam noticed the strange smile on the boss's face. Now, at midnight, there is no one in the shop. He is getting more and more scared and just wants to leave early.

"Well, thank you." Jam made a casual remark and left, but he was still held back by the boss. He only heard a thin voice say, "Young man, don't be in such a hurry."

Jam knows there is no such thing as a good thing in the world. The damn boss must want to leave something for himself and turn around and say, "Forget it, I don't want this medicine from the head office, do I?"

But the boss walked behind the counter in the blink of an eye. He didn't know when he had taken out a blank sheet of paper and put it on the counter. "Don't worry, I won't ask you for anything. Just sign your name on it. "

Said and handed a pen, grinning at jam.

What the hell does this mean? Jam is getting confused. Isn't this old man sick?

But thinking of leaving early, there is nothing wrong with signing an autograph anyway, so I picked up a pen and wrote my name on white paper.

When finished, Jam found that the color of this item was red.

When signing, the boss, the damn old man, said something, but he didn't listen carefully. After signing his name, he hurried out.

On the third day after returning home, the document on Jam's computer was still empty, and not a word was written.

I'm going crazy.

It is late at night again. He tossed and turned and couldn't sleep. One hand accidentally touched the box next to the pillow. He took the brocade box bored, and there was a faint light in the moonlight.

Jam sat up, opened the brocade box, and the old man's words floated to his ear:

"Swallow the green pill when you are not inspired, but this red pill ..."

He didn't catch the last sentence clearly. He only heard about what to remember and what to avoid about this red pill. ...

Does he mean not to eat this red one? Still can't eat? Then why did he return it to me?

Jam picked up the green pill and his throat moved. He is really on the verge of despair these two days.

Is it true what he said?

But jam immediately felt crazy, believed the old man's words and threw it aside.

After another hour, the jam was picked up again.

If this is poison, he wants to try it, too.

Few people can really understand this feeling. People who fall into the river will regard a straw as a life-saving thing, which is better than doing nothing.

Just as he was thinking, Jam swallowed the green pill, and his heart was pounding. He imagined what the effect would be after taking this magical pill, and would it change?

And the heart rate is so fast. Could it be poisoning?

After half an hour, everything was calm and nothing happened.

Jam sighed rather disappointedly and laughed at herself at the same time. There is no miracle.

But one good thing is that Jam slept soundly that night.

When he woke up the next day, Jam habitually turned on the computer and stared at the blank words with wide eyes.

A story almost jumped into his mind. He used to write campus youth love novels, but recently he felt that he was not suitable for writing that, and he was considering whether to write some other themes.

He suddenly thought of a suspense and horror story, which was novel and creative. He just thought about it. As soon as he went down, the outline of the story was smoothly displayed, such as the leaves and veins were clear and transparent under the sunlight.

It takes less than a minute for a complete story to be conceived successfully.

Jam jumped with joy, as if it had been constipated for a week, and today it was finally unobstructed.

At the moment he jumped up, he suddenly remembered the green pill he took yesterday. Is it really that pill?

But he didn't care so much, so he took advantage of a hot energy and quickly pulled the shit out ... Oh, no, he wrote the text.

It took only seven days to write this story of hundreds of thousands of words. Jim has never been so smooth. He is possessed by a spirit.

He gave it to the editor with confidence.

Sure enough, soon the editor called. This time, the call is no longer scolding, but wanton praise.

Not only praised his story writing, but also improved his literary talent by more than one grade.

Jam was so happy that she took out the brocade box from under the pillow and kissed it again.

In ancient times, there was a magic pen, but now there is a magic pill and jam! He thinks there are miracles in the world, which makes him more and more interested in that bookstore.

So he decided to go again.

Just left, or at noon, people came and went in the street. He has just moved to this place for a long time, but he usually stays at home and has no time to go out. He forgave for a long time, but he couldn't find it.

He felt a little strange. Although unfamiliar with the surrounding environment, he is a little road-crazy, but he can't find the place he just went a few days ago, remembering that he hadn't gone far at that time, he should be nearby.

Jam stopped and looked around. Now he notices that there is a supermarket in front of him. Isn't that the supermarket where he buys bread and newspapers himself?

It should be in an alley nearby, yes.

That night he looked around excitedly for the alley, but looked around. There is only an alley nearby, but the sign clearly says "public bathroom"

There is really no way. He found an old man selling newspapers in a stall and asked, "Hello, uncle, is there a bookstore nearby?" What's it called ... Late Night Bookstore? "

"What did you say bookstore? There is only one Mu Qing bookstore near here. " The old man replied kindly.

"Are you sure? I remember going to a bookstore called Late Night last time. " Jam felt a little uneasy.

The old man smiled, "son, I have lived here for decades." Can I not know? " There is no nightclub like you said. "

"No ... not a nightclub ..." Jam retorted, but after thinking about it, he didn't ask again. After all, I really looked for it for a long time and I really couldn't find it.

When he got home, he felt a tingle in his scalp. He won't hit a ghost, will he?

Or ... a dream?

But what happened that night is really imprinted on my mind, not like a dream. If it is a dream, how can we explain it?

And I went to the supermarket to buy bread myself, and the supermarket was still there.

Fortunately, he was still here, when he suddenly remembered that he had bought a Yicheng Evening News in that supermarket, yes, the Evening News.

He turned and started looking. Under his desk, he found the evening paper.

More specifically, that night was not a dream.

He threw the evening paper on the table and began to think about the whole thing, but he couldn't figure it out.

Why the sudden inspiration? What exactly is the pill in that brocade box?

Inadvertently, he noticed the headline in Yicheng Evening News: "The devil committed another crime on a rainy night ..."

Rainy night demon? This reminds him of the news he heard in the supermarket. Out of curiosity, he opened the newspaper.

According to the newspaper report, this is the second victim of rainy night. She is also a woman. The cause of death was that someone attacked her head from behind and died. The origin of the name Rainy Night Devil is naturally that the crime was committed on a rainy night and the place was chosen on the victim's way home at night. Compared with the first case, there is a witness this time. The murderer happened to move his hand under the street lamp, without a mask and wearing a black coat. Witnesses also said that the murderer had a beard and curly hair, as if he had a long scar on his neck. ...

Seeing this, Jim's hair stood on end. The killer ... seems to have seen it himself.

Without hesitation, Jam chose to call the police. He thinks there is still some consciousness. Perhaps the most important thing is that he feels scared for no reason, because a series of recent events, an impartial police uncle usually gives people a sense of security.

At the police station, a young policeman received jam.

"Hello, my name is Qin. You can call me officer Qin. According to you, where did you witness this' rainy night demon'? "

"This is ... it's in a bookstore."

"What's your name?" Officer Qin is going to search on the computer.

Jam hesitated, but said, "Late Night Bookstore."

Officer Qin glanced at the jam doubtfully and then turned to the computer. After a while, he looked squarely at the nervous young man in front of him, knocked on the table with a pen and said simply, "There is no bookstore like you said, and there is no Yicheng."

"No ... no, I did see ..."

"What do you see? Do you know what the murderer went to the bookstore for? "

"Well ... I don't know. I just met him when I went in. Officer Qin, you must believe me. "

Obviously, the police officer didn't want to talk any more, just called another colleague to take notes and went to work by himself.

He thought it was a prank.

Jim was in a trance when he came out of the police station. He suddenly felt that what happened these days was not true, but really like a dream.

He looked up at the sky. The clouds are low and the weather is stuffy. It looks like rain.

The familiar ringtone is his cell phone ringing. Jam looks at the phone and the editor calls.

"Jam, you smelly boy really don't worry at all!" A familiar and annoying bawl.

"What's the matter?"

"You return not bashful to ask me what's wrong? I said, why did you suddenly write so fast! Can you do such a thing? I tell you, you have to clean up the mess yourself, and you can't take the money this month! "

Jam is very confusing. Isn't he satisfied with the manuscript that was just sent to him a few days ago?

"What ..." Before Jam finished asking, the phone was hung up over there.

With a bad feeling, Jam hurried back to open the website where he published his works, and as a result, he received many comments at once, mostly cursing himself.

But a closer look, jam cold sweat came down, with two big words written on it:

"Plagiarism!"

Plagiarism? How is that possible? Is this the story I came up with? When I was writing, I never even touched the novel. How do I copy it?

Refusing to comment, the reader even posted the original text of the plagiarized object.

Jam looked at it and was familiar with it, but couldn't remember it, so he posted the text on the search website.

The result is a famous article by Wei Yan, a very popular writer before-Ghost of the Old House.

I copied this?

Jam is a little flustered, and his hair feels dry. He must have never read this article, but why does it feel so familiar?

After reading the original text for an hour from beginning to end, he completely collapsed in his chair.

Not just plagiarism. Exactly the same.

It's like putting a piece of ice on my back.

What the hell is going on here? Jam pressed his head hard, trying to sort out something even normal from his messy head, something that can be explained by common sense to prove that he is not crazy.

The result is just that the more I think about it, the more chaotic it is. When did that start?

Ever since I met that bookstore that night, I've taken some damn medicine from that damn boss.

Yes, that's right, it's medicine.

Jam like crazy, took out the brocade box from under the pillow, it's all this damn thing! He was angry and wanted to smash it.

But it suddenly occurred to me that there was a red pill in it.

If this green pill is the medicine to motivate you, what about this red one?

Is it an antidote?

Or poison?

He took out the red pill, and suddenly there was a flash of lightning outside the window, reflecting Jim's pale face. He has a bold idea.

At this time, there was a strong wind outside, and the thunder that came crashing made the whole rental room tremble.

Jam suddenly laughed. This is the antidote. Yes, everything is an illusion. This is the illusion caused by this green pill. Intuition tells him that if you swallow this red pill, everything will return to normal.

Even poison is better than doing nothing now.

Another flash of lightning, the red pill has been swallowed with the movement of fingers.

He doesn't know why he did it. Maybe he just wants the truth.

The rainstorm finally came and hit the ground rudely, which was unreasonable.

Jam suddenly felt a headache, a splitting headache, and then fell to the ground and fainted.

I don't know how long it was before he finally woke up. The rainstorm outside has not stopped, but it is getting bigger and bigger, as if it were going to devour the whole world.

He felt thirsty and got up feebly, but there was no water in the cup, and even the bathroom seemed to be cut off.

The thirst in his mouth made him anxious, so he pushed open the door and rushed out.

Until he went downstairs, it was raining and thundering outside, but he was not afraid at all. On the contrary, some people ... unspeakable pain comes from their hearts.

He ran like a demon on the road until he had no strength to fall to the ground, opened his mouth to the sky and let the rainstorm pour into his nose and mouth.

The cool rain makes the pain in my heart worse.

The line of sight in front of me is slowly blurred.

He stood up and barely saw a truck shining straight with a high beam in the distance, showing the pouring rain line, and ... a young woman in a white and blue skirt.

Ah ~ ~!

There was a scream, the brakes screeched and the tires rubbed against the ground.

Jam wiped his eyes blurred by the rain. He saw the woman being hit and drawing an arc in the sky.

When I looked again, she had fallen in the water, splashing countless times, and the white and blue skirts were dyed red.

He couldn't control himself in pain and half knelt on the ground.

The car started and left.

He tried to hold himself up and look at the woman who was hit, but he had no strength at all.

At this moment, another bright light flashed. He looked up and found a truck with a high beam in the distance.

What scares him most is that it is a young woman in a white skirt who wants to cross the road.

This time, he didn't care how weak he was or how weird what happened in front of him, so he rushed over with all his strength. Before the truck arrived, he almost hugged the woman's waist, and with a scream from the woman, they fell to the side of the road together.

Choked by the splashing rain, Jim turned to the ground and found that the truck was gone.

In front of me is a car flashing red and blue, and then a shrill siren.

Several people in police uniforms got out of the car and came towards them.

His head became more dizzy, and the woman he held in his arms began to struggle desperately. He didn't notice that she didn't wear a white skirt, but only a white coat.

And then I don't remember anything.

Woke up again, already in the police station.

"Are you all right?" The speaker is a former Qin police officer.

Rub your head with jam and look around. He was lying in a bed in a small clinic, still hanging a bottle.

"How did you go?" Qin police officer asked again: "Don't look, this is the infirmary of the police station."

"So ... is that woman okay?"

"That woman?"

"That man just now ... almost got hit by a car." Jam propped up and sat up.

"What car?" Officer Qin looked puzzled, thought for a while and then said, "The woman you said you threw yourself at?"

"yes."

"Then we just want to ask you, what are you doing there? And-why did you throw that woman down? "

"But, there is a truck ..."

Officer Qin is also anxious. "What truck? We have been guarding it. There is no truck at all, not a car! "

Jam's eyes widened. "No ... that's impossible?"

"What is impossible?"

Jam felt a pain again. He covered his head and buried his head low in his chest.

Officer Qin said aside, "I shouldn't have told you this, but I always thought you should know something, so I told you." That woman was arranged to pass by there today, and our people have already laid an ambush. All this is to catch the' rainy night demon'. "

"'rainy night devil'?"

"Yes, he has committed two cases before. After special analysis, we found that the victims have some similarities. First of all, the crime was committed on the night of heavy rain. The murderer chose office workers, belonging to a company, and it seems that they are all women at present. The killers all choose to do it after work. So we found a similar woman in their company and discussed with her. On a rainy night, we will ambush along the way to protect her safety. "

"Are you using her as bait?"

Qin police officer noncommittally, "even if you don't do this, the murderer will continue to commit crimes. Okay, I've said everything I need to say. Now it's your turn to tell me why you did it? "

Jim still feels bouts of headache, but the pain makes his thinking clearer.

He began to touch all kinds of strange things from the beginning to the end, from strange bookstores and brocade boxes to plagiarism, to the illusion of trucks.

He seems to have many memories that don't belong to him.

With this in mind, he finally found the thread from the messy wool ball.

"The murderer should be a male of about 35 years old, with a figure of about 175, which is thin." Jam closed his eyes and thought.

"What else? You continue. "

"His wife died in a car accident on a stormy night, when she was wearing a white and blue skirt. He killed those people because they were there that night and chose to destroy them. "

"How come ... do you know?" Qin police officer incredible asked.

"Because-I saw it all."

Jam looked up and said.