Ham

Ham

It is still difficult to judge the landlord's situation.

I didn't necessarily think of the most extreme situation. I would rather ask the property management and local authorities to check together and remind them to be careful and put their own protection first.

There were two ordinary people in front of me. I saw that they had been frightened enough today and it was not appropriate for them to listen to any more horrifying and strange things. So I winked and changed the subject with the guys, and chatted for a while to liven up the atmosphere.

The boy then slowed down and, following Xiao Yu's gaze, politely asked me to sit down and relax.

I didn't bother to be polite with them and sat down on the sofa at the side. Seeing that it was a bit inappropriate for me to bring a group of burly men with me, I calmly took out Dongzai to save the situation.

Breaking into a house and picking the lock is not very ethical. I was afraid of corrupting the cat, so I stuffed the cub into my clothes before entering the house.

Now sitting down and unzipping his pants, Dongzai seemed to miss the long-lost feeling of being held in my pocket. He poked his head out with his ears sticking out. Even when I pushed his butt, he just meowed and refused to come out, suspecting that I was going to harm him.

The girl named Xiaoyu's eyes brightened up and her face looked much better. "Mimi! Whose child did you get lost from? Did your brother help you along the way?" She quickly said she was going to look for the sausage in the refrigerator.

The student followed her listlessly, still afraid.

After a while, seeing that no one was paying attention to him, he couldn't help but correct in a low voice, "The upper compartment, the ham sausage is pressed next to the box of eggs. No, that's the pork I found and thawed yesterday...Okay, okay, pork is fine. Baby, I didn't say I was reluctant, I just wanted to cut it, right? How can I feed Mimi if it's so cold. Let me do it, I'll do it, your hands will be frozen later." The two of them huddled together and whispered, getting closer and closer.

I coughed dryly, and both of them blushed and quickly separated.

I thought to myself that it was good to be young. How come my little consultant wasn't as lively and cute as a peer? It seemed that the Zhang family's mostly middle-aged and elderly bandits had a bad influence on me, and I lost my youthfulness.

As for the cat, "I'm not selling it, I'm not giving it away, I picked it up and raised it myself."

Dongzai nudged me with his forehead in a serious manner, and I touched him and started to fool the cat, "Yes, yes, according to the rules, you are my biological child. You are all fetuses that I snatched out from the mother's womb and "hatched" according to the rules, so why are you not considered my children?"

Xu You looked at me speechlessly, as if he didn't want to be of the same generation as Dongzai and recognize me as his half-parent.

I showed tolerance to him and from now on, no matter what we do, he is still my second uncle and cheap master.

I can't take advantage of Zhang Tianyi. He is not under my jurisdiction, and I dare not act recklessly. Otherwise, I'm afraid my own parents will kick me out of the household registration book when I return home one day.

Seeing that I was hugging the cat and had no intention of giving it away, the couple was reluctant to leave, and even forgot to take the sausage, and looked at me eagerly. I sighed and thought to myself, why is it like bullying a child? The boy is stupid, but the girl was so smart and capable just now, how could she be made to look stupid and unable to walk when she saw the cat.

There was really nothing I could do about this situation, so I stuffed the boy into their hands and let them have their fun. I still told them that our previous statement of evacuating the residents was not an excuse, and asked them to pack up some important items and follow the main force out later.

The boy groaned, a little bit incredulous, and Xiao Yu pulled his ear, "I'm doing this for your own good, and you still don't believe me? Do you think I'm being told bad things?"

I smiled secretly and waved my hands to tell them to stop working. If they want to touch the cat, just come directly. The girl cheered, but poured another glass of boiled water first, and said with a smile, "This time I really want to treat you to a drink. This is water for friends. Please forgive me for the previous offense and the silly look of our baby."

I thought to myself, what a clever girl, is this a hint to me? I took the water and said with a smile, "Okay, we will take care of the rest and won't bother you again. Don't worry."

She then blinked, without looking at Dongzai for long, and sat down comfortably watching her boyfriend play with the cat, as if her previous enthusiasm for the little fat cat was deliberately shown to build a relationship with me.

I could see that she was still quite cautious and wary of our group, which was normal. I didn't force her and found an excuse to take the guys out to the corridor and asked someone to verify the matter about the landlord.

It was soon noon while we were waiting for the news. The guys who went to make the arrangements had probably finished communicating, and then I heard a cell phone ringing in the house. It was the message that the residents had been notified to evacuate.

After thanking the two of them, I took my friends to send them out of the residential building and watched them walk out of the community gate. The sun was still a bit strong outside at noon. The two of them blocked the sun for each other. I don’t know what they said, but they just bumped shoulders and walked away together with silly smiles on their faces.

I breathed a sigh of relief, turned back to the corridor entrance, sat in the shade, and watched groups of residents evacuate in an orderly manner under guidance.

This trip took almost half a day, and it was gradually getting dark outside. The property management and the local helpers kept shouting, "Don't worry, bring everything you need, and be careful about stepping on things," until their voices became hoarse.

The guys who were directing the crowds were exhausted, and they only had a casual meal after working the shifts. After the property management and local people were sent out, the checkpoints at the gate of the community were opened, and we were the only ones left in the empty community. The wind blew around us, and we felt relieved but also a little sad.

I also took a shift and was feeling dizzy with hunger. Seeing that the door of the young couple's house was still open, I thought to myself, "Don't blame me!" and planned to go to their place to get a piece of frozen meat to make something to eat.

Zhang Jia laughed at me on the spot, "Young Master, can you cook?" He pushed me away and rolled up his sleeves, saying that the thief did not leave empty-handed today, so he even stole the tomatoes in someone's refrigerator.

I was so tired that my legs were shaking, so I shamelessly accepted the offer while I could be lazy. I went back to the living room, sat down, and put two big red bills under the fruit plate as food money.

I felt embarrassed to take something without asking for permission, especially since I had picked the lock in front of someone else today, so I gritted my teeth and paid another fifty bucks.

I was feeling very sad at being an idiot, and the fat cat was struggling on the edge of the sofa. I raised my arm to block the cat for fear that it would fall, but my arm felt cold and I accidentally swept something away.

I was a little puzzled, so I bent down to pick it up, and it turned out to be Daqi.

A very small flip phone, strung with an old red string. I had just seen it, it belonged to that clever little fish girl. I told them not to worry, how could they have left their phone behind.

I called him Brother Xiaoyi and was about to ask him where the property management’s phone number was and if he could find someone to help send the phone over.

Zhang Jia didn't hear clearly, so he poked his head out of the kitchen and asked me what I said. He said depressedly, "There's no water. I just made some egg drops. These people evacuated, but why did they cut off the water?"

I don’t know why, but I suddenly felt a sudden shock in my heart and a slight discomfort came over me.

Forget it, I should have brought the boy’s cell phone. I’ll call them and tell them not to worry.

Slide open the cover and the screen is always on.

I was stunned again, and found that the screen was still on the alarm interface that Xiaoyu showed us, and there was a barely visible scratch on the edge, as if it had been broken and the interface was stuck.

I tried to pull back twice but failed. Instead, the old red string on the phone was hanging on the edge of my palm, which made me feel a little annoyed.

I untied the rope with my backhand and accidentally rubbed it. I felt an electric shock all over my body and raised my head suddenly to look at the light.

"…What's that on top?" I said, my hands shaking a little. "Is it the rope that has faded?"

Zhang Tianyi had already come over, took a look, and immediately stood up, "It's blood, I don't know how long it has been dry." He walked quickly to the door and called Xu You who had just gone out to take a break for a smoke.

All the guys who were still lying on the ground at the entrance of the corridor to take a rest got up. Someone called out and they reacted very quickly, holding up their phones. "Advisor, I'm on the line!"

I didn't have time to take over, so I asked him to ask quickly. The property management staff listened nervously and seemed to be looking at each other in confusion.

After a while, the person on the other end of the phone asked carefully, "First floor? There are no existing residents on the first floor. Are you asking about Room 0103, Unit 1, Building 9?"

The guy was startled and looked at me quickly. "Wait a minute, the tenant of this house seemed to say that they don't have a house number. I'll come out and take another look. Maybe I reported it wrong."

"That should be correct." The property management became more cautious. "Several floors of Unit 1, Building 9 have been vacant for a long time. The landlord said he has no plans to put it up for sale."

"So we didn't put house numbers on the houses that were not occupied, so that other tenants who came to see the house would not have difficulty identifying them."

My forehead ached, my temples felt throbbing, and I felt a cough coming up in my throat.

"Is there anyone who can sketch or draw quickly? Make a portrait for the property management to identify. See if there are two college students, a boy and a girl, and the girl's surname is Yu."

"——Ran Ran, come here for a moment."

I turned around and Zhang Tianyi motioned me to go to the kitchen and pointed at the sink with a cold look in his eyes. "It's not that the water is out of service, it's probably blocked by something."

He scraped the sink with his fingertips and raised his hand to show me the strange stains left on it. "It smells like blood, but it shouldn't be the pork that was thawed before they left. The smell is too strong."

I just felt my heart sinking more and more, with a complex emotion that I expected but didn't want to accept. I responded casually and went to open the refrigerator, trying to find the piece of meat that I had heard the young couple mention but hadn't seen with my own eyes.

No, there is no thawed meat. The refrigerator has a strong smell and it feels like it hasn’t been cleaned and ventilated for a long time.

Zhang Jia came over and shook his head, "There were only eggs and two tomatoes. I saw some noodles so I didn't look through them carefully, but I didn't see the things you mentioned at first glance, and there was no ham either."

"..." Without saying a word, I walked back to the kitchen, picked up the bone-chopping knife, and knocked the sink with the handle.

The sound inside was very muffled.

Because there was no water coming out, the idling faucet made a long sucking sound, which made me feel upset.

"Smash it open and see."

I said, a few turbid drops of water slowly dripped from the faucet that was turned wide open, and this time even I could smell a very faint and very spoiled fishy odor.

Maybe I was seeing things, but I felt like there were some thin black particles coming out of the faucet.

"Human hair." Zhang Tian said, and asked me to step back. The guys came up and started to dismantle the sink quickly.

I felt an unusual sense of stress and resistance for the first time in a long time, as if I was not facing a harmless sink, but the wall that was scratched by the fat cat in my nightmare that day. Once I opened it, I would see some extremely horrible fact.

Xu You and Zhang Jia dragged me to the living room, forced me to sit down, and told me to wait until they finished dismantling the house before watching.

It was at this moment that Dongzai jumped off my shoulder, suddenly looked around quickly, and all the hair on his body stood up.

Actually, before today, the little fat cat had entered retirement and had not been so attached to me for a long time. No matter how I persuaded him, he insisted on staying with me and didn't want to be separated. I realized it later and saw him exhale sharply and take a posture of guarding me in alertness.

With a thud, the entire sink in the kitchen was dismantled and thrown to the ground. Several surprised voices came from inside, and then there were several more thuds in tacit understanding, as if they were hitting the wall together.

"Someone! Someone is in the wall!"

"What is this, a dead rat?" someone shouted, enduring the discomfort. "Don't come in yet, you might vomit! It's all mixed together!"

A few minutes later, Wu Chou forcibly took me out of the room. He was very determined and said that my two new friends probably wouldn't want to meet me in such an undignified way, and asked me to think more about them.

I was speechless and turned my back to let them handle it. After a long time, the guys cleaned up a space outside the residential building and covered the two people who had been preliminarily dressed with white cloth, and left them there for the time being.

I lifted the white cloth and took a look. It was horrible. I put it down and my chest felt tight. I went to pull Xu You, "Where's your cigarette?"

"You don't smoke. If you don't learn good things, you will learn bad things."

Xu You didn't agree, and raised his hand to hand over a glass, steam rising from it. "The water that the two young men gave you is ready. Drink this, it's also a token of their thoughtfulness."

I took a long breath, suppressed all my emotions, and drank the cup of hot water in one gulp.

I choked as soon as I took a sip. It was hard to tell whether I was laughing or feeling helpless. "Apple cider vinegar is not water. Does this place hate water?" I swallowed the whole cup anyway. The sour taste made me feel dizzy for a while, but my brain, which was dizzy from the rancid smell, became much clearer.

Zhang Tian glanced at me and didn't try to comfort me. He just asked calmly, "Are you okay? Come if you can hold on."

I calmed down and asked, "Anything else you found?"

"Yes," he walked in front and sighed, "I've drunk the water, let's go and avenge them. The girl is smart in business, don't let them lose money."

We walked one after the other, and Zhang Tianyi gave me a brief account of the injuries. He said that the injuries of the two lovers were very similar, as if they had suddenly slipped and fallen into a crack, unable to struggle free, and had been trapped for a long time, and the fat on their bodies had been basically consumed.

Afterwards, it seemed as if some kind of squeezing occurred in the place where they were trapped, causing the bodies of the two people hugging each other to be severely deformed and broken into many pieces.

"The rat in the wall must have smelled the smell and crawled in through the gaps in the pre-buried wires, but it was trapped and starved to death, so it didn't bite the two of us."

We looked in from the window on the first floor. Zhang Tianyi made a closing gesture and said, "The wall is very intact, with no signs of redecoration. They were not buried there, but fell directly into the wall."

I shook my head, and I had a slight tinnitus. At this time, I was so hungry that my stomach felt like it was burning. I reluctantly asked the waiter for a compressed biscuit to chew on. After thinking for a while, I said seriously:

"It's possible that although the fourth floor and the second floor overlap, there is still a slight deviation. When the walls overlap, there are places where they don't completely overlap. As a result, they were caught in the same trap as Lao Lin. When they were supposed to fall from the outside of a certain wall, they didn't actually fall off the building, but were stuck by another wall instead."

That scene is just too tragic.

Lao Lin was determined to save people. If this is the outcome, how would I face it if he knew about it?

Shaking off this overly pessimistic idea, I asked for a flashlight, turned it on and shone it towards the second floor and the rooftop, using the light to point at the flower pots on the rooftop that were about to fall off.

"I was thinking, if Lao Lin's flower pots are a reminder of boundaries... then the flower pots on the rooftop that are placed so far out and almost about to fall off may be marking the boundary of the 'wall' further out. And the lines with bolts on the second floor are drawn by the flower pots, marking the wall further in."

"When a jumping incident occurs, why does a flower pot always fall to the ground at the same time after a period of time? Does it mean that the wall is further offset, causing the flower pot anchored at the boundary to be accidentally pushed out and fall to the ground?"

"That means that Lao Lin didn't quite understand the warning from the flower pot, or that after he heard the warning from the flower pot and knew that the wall might be squeezed and dislocated, he still didn't have a chance to react." Zhang Tianyi asked me, "Do you think there is a possibility that the flower pot is not Lao Lin's?"

He put forward a very informative idea, saying that Lao Lin might have just observed the existence of the flower pots after coming here, and roughly got some rules from them, realizing that they needed to be kept as they were, but he had no way of seeing the overall situation and avoiding them.

…So who placed the flower pots?

Who could place so many flower pots in tenants' rooms and on rooftops without raising any suspicion?

landlord?

Is it related to that group of wanderers?

I suddenly shuddered and had a crazy idea, "How many houses does the landlord have? Can the property management company check the relevant records?"

"Lao Lin is an ordinary person. It's not just a coincidence that he discovered this incident. It's even more unfortunate that we were looking for a waterless place and the two things came together.

A more reasonable possibility is that this happened over and over again, and it was inevitable that Lao Lin noticed one of them. Therefore, we were so lucky that we could run into the victim of the incident when we opened the door of any resident. "

I suspect that this phenomenon exists not only in Unit 1, Building 9, and that there is someone inside the wall of Room 0103 alone.

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