midnight
The spring is bright and beautiful.
Lu Miao left the Second Section and drove his black motorcycle to the commercial street to buy a clock.
The locomotive was like a silent steel beast, parked quietly on the side of the road.
She took off her helmet and looked around at the pedestrians, her eyes focused on the mobile phones they were holding.
A phone that dares to be exposed, without emitting a red halo.
Lu Miao hung his helmet on the rearview mirror and got out of the car swiftly.
The scanner installed at the store door scanned her fluorescent green earrings.
The smiling boss' smile froze and he became trembling with fear when he saw the holster on her waist.
She was wearing neither a police uniform nor a military uniform, so her boss was unsure of her identity.
The store sells both electronic clocks and traditional wall clocks. She chose an electronic clock with a calendar because it was big enough and eye-catching.
Electronic clocks display seconds accurately and stop working more obviously than traditional wall clocks.
"Boss, I want that black electronic clock."
"Okay, okay. Are you giving it to someone else?" As soon as he finished speaking, the boss blamed himself for being too talkative and wished he could bite off his tongue.
Lu Miao glanced at it indifferently. "How much?"
"998 yuan."
So expensive? She couldn't help but frown.
The boss smiled. "990 yuan is fine."
Lu Miao didn't expect that the larger electronic clock would be very expensive, so she didn't bring so much cash with her. What's worse, she couldn't show her mobile phone payment with a light ring.
But other electronic clocks are too small and inconspicuous when placed on the table.
She settled for the next best thing, a traditional wall clock with a black frame, a digital dial, and minute and second hands.
"This one is 50 yuan." The boss forced a smile.
Lu Miao took out a hundred-yuan bill.
The boss took it with wide eyes.
Nowadays, even the elderly use mobile payment, and he doesn’t have much spare cash.
"Boss, I want to buy a wall clock."
The man who spoke stepped into the store with his right foot first.
Lu Miao and the man looked at each other and were both stunned.
What a coincidence.
"Ms. Lu, are you buying a wall clock too?" Si Lan smiled faintly, his black eyes like sparkling gems.
"Yes." She changed the subject: "Is the clock in your house broken?"
He thought without hesitation: "I'll buy one to decorate it. The empty walls make me feel empty."
Then he scanned the wall clocks in the store and picked out a simple white-framed one.
The boss smiled faintly. "This one is also 50 yuan."
Unexpectedly, Si Lan also took out a hundred-yuan note.
boss:"……"
Is cash payment a trend among young people?
Lu Miao stared at his hundred yuan, thoughtfully.
In the end, the boss gave each of them fifty yuan in cash, and there was very little large change left in the drawer.
Lu Tmiao and Si Lan walked out of the clock shop one after another.
"Mr. Si, are you taking a day off today?" she asked casually.
He stopped and looked back politely. "Yes, our company has two days off a week."
She then noticed that he was not wearing a suit, but a black knitted top with a half-high collar.
Si Lan looked up at the rare blue sky. He bathed in the sunshine, his eyes lazy. "What a nice day. Can this kind of sunshine reach every crevice, Miss Lu?"
Lu Miao raised his eyes.
Light grey clouds sullied the vast expanse of blue water.
"Too glaring sunlight will hurt your eyes and make deep cracks even darker." She was neither sad nor happy, like a cold and distant planet.
Si Lan reached out and held a ray of sunshine. "It's okay. I will bring the most gentle sunshine to the darkness."
wack.
Lu Miao was secretly dissatisfied.
Even when she drove away, as long as she glanced in the rearview mirror, she could see Si Lan's distant figure still there, as if his gaze was always on her.
What a weirdo.
On the way, she stopped by a convenience store to buy spare batteries.
After returning to the dormitory, Lu Miao immediately went to the hall to hammer in nails. She hung a black-framed wall clock and checked the time on her phone to synchronize the two as closely as possible.
The ban on speaking has been lifted in the Penguin Group of "Night Owl House", and all group members can't wait to start chatting and testing each other.
Her cell phone kept buzzing.
100+ new messages.
She noticed that the group owner and administrator did not come down to chat.
[Hongyeshang]: I feel so depressed about my nickname, @group owner, can you help me change it?
[① All for you]: You are awesome, you dare to tag the group leader
[①Everything for you]: Be patient, brother, my nickname is even older.
[Dreaming in Half Summer]: Did you join the group for no reason too?
[Hongyeshang]: Well, I found this group when I woke up. Was it randomly selected or is there a pattern?
[Drunk on the Battlefield]: With more than a hundred people in the group, it would be a huge workload if there was a pattern to follow, and we cannot reveal personal information, so there is no way to find out.
[Xiao Cao Fang Fang]: Huh? Because of the rules that personal information cannot be disclosed, the group members are selected in a certain way, right? Maybe it's quite obvious?
Lu Miao, who had nothing to do, joined the group chat to join in the fun.
Wang Keke often follows anime and sometimes comes up with some strange words, which are not difficult for Lu Miao to learn.
Her words attracted many scuba divers.
[① All for you]: Awesome, reverse thinking. Don’t tell me, I think it’s very likely to be the case.
[萌兎爷]: It’s possible.
[Tears in the corners of eyes]: The field of ghost stories is mobile phones, and I can only think of spreading them through the phone’s address book.
[Writing in Lovesickness]: Hiss, so terrifying
[Chasing Dreams in Half Summer]: But my parents’ phone is normal, and so is my childhood friend’s. Could it be that they picked it randomly from the address book?
[Drunk on the Battlefield]: That’s still random.
[Hongyeshang]: I think it’s useless to dwell on this. It’s better to think about how to survive after midnight.
[① All for you]: (almost shaking to send an emoji) I can only hide in the bathroom
[Drunk on the battlefield]: Take it easy @① Everything is for you
[Writing Acacia]: It should be fine to hide in the bathroom until dawn
[萌兎爷]: Is there such a loophole?
[Xiao Cao Fang Fang]: Will the administrator peek at the screen?
Lu Miao held his chin in his hand and saw the interesting reply.
[①Everything for you]:!!!
[Red Leaf Sorrow]: ...
[Tears in the corners of eyes]: ...
[Drunk on the battlefield]: ...
[Mengtuye]: …
…
Everyone stayed in formation and responded, it was weird and funny.
[①Cut for you]: Sister, every time you speak, you are so scary @小草芳芳
[Xiao Cao Fang Fang]: Oh oh oh
[Blue Ocean]: Vision: A 1.8-meter-tall muscular man is crying to his phone
Lu Miao gave a thumbs up to "Blue Ocean" in his heart.
Just one sentence made her image in the group even more confusing.
She looked at the "Blue Ocean" avatar curiously - it was a deep blue ocean.
[①Cut for you]: Sorry to bother you, brother @小草芳芳
…
The content of the following group chat was meaningless, and most group members just chatted in order to divert their fear of midnight.
Until an emoticon appeared in the black text group chat.
[薄荷嶶凉]: A face full of fear.jpg
[薄荷嶶凉]: My hand slipped!
The lively atmosphere in the group quickly cooled down.
[System Message]: The group owner has kicked Boheliang out of the group chat!
There are 166 people left in the "Night Owl Home" group.
Lu Miao was not surprised that the group owner had the power to kick members out of the group, but he didn't know what would happen to the kicked members.
After a while, a group member popped up.
[①Everything for You]: What are the consequences of being kicked out?
[Tears in the corners of the eyes]: If you don’t want to die, don’t try to post pictures
Ninety percent of group members dare not stay in the group anymore, for fear of accidentally sending out emoticons.
The group went cold.
Lu Miao put down his phone and went to the kitchen to think about what to eat for lunch.
To be honest, her taste has become more picky and she doesn't want to go to the cafeteria to eat "junk food" anymore.
After dinner, she lay on the bed and fell asleep like a salted fish.
In the evening, the setting sun is as bright as blood.
She received a WeChat message from Si Lan.
It's a photo.
The place where the photo was taken should be the balcony of his house, with a corner of the metal fence exposed.
After the distant setting sun fell into the skyscrapers built with money, the afterglow gave the outlines of the skyscrapers a gorgeous orange-red color, like a halo emanating from the realm of ghost stories.
Lu Miao had never looked at the sunset carefully.
She has been busy for half of her life and has never stopped for the little things in life.
Enter the dangerous realm of ghost stories and break the rules;
Return to the department to turn in supplies, undergo mental evaluation and training;
Return to the dormitory to write the mission report and sleep.
Her work is brilliant, but her life is simple and boring.
Lu Miao replied to Si Lan.
[Deer]: It’s a beautiful shot.
[Mr. Si]: Thank you.
The sun will eventually set below the horizon, and night will fall with starlight.
Tick. Tick.
The second hand of the wall clock keeps moving.
Tonight, she made a rare meal for herself and spent the quiet time before midnight.
The deeper the night got, the more panicky the atmosphere in the group became, and eventually someone couldn't help but confide in the group.
[① Everything for You]: I brought a folding bed back and put it in the bathroom. I decided to spend the night in the bathroom!
[Yearning Across Time and Space]: Alas, I still have people at home. I just hope they remember to go to the neighbor’s house to use the bathroom in the middle of the night.
[Black Demon King]: Damn, there are people at home too. They won’t see the administrator, right?
[Thoughts Across Time and Space]: Probably... not
[Black Demon King]: Your hesitation scares me!
[Hongyeshang]: Calm down. We are the ones who were chosen, and we are definitely the only ones who can see the administrator.
[Meng Tu Ye]: If you don't break the rules, you won't die.
When death was mentioned, the atmosphere in the group dropped to freezing point.
Wang Keke and He Pingan sent messages at this time.
[Coco]: Come on, Captain! If necessary, we can overturn this weird story area *^o^*
[Ping An]: I believe the captain can crack this field of strange stories.
Lu Miao smiled and muted her phone.
In the dead of night, everything was silent, and the floor where Lu Miao lived was as quiet as a cemetery.
There were still ten minutes until midnight, and she carried a small stool into the bathroom without turning off the lights.
Then she closed the bathroom door.
[① All for you]: The group is about to close, everyone please come out and take a look.
[Drunk on the battlefield]: You really can't sit still, you dare to chat in the group at this time
[① All for you]: To distract attention. Is your bathroom door closed?
[Drunk on the battlefield]: Nonsense.
[Xiao Cao Fang Fang]: If you have family, remember to lock the bathroom door
[① Everything for you]: Brother, I get even more scared when you speak. You always find something that is terrifying when you think about it carefully.
[Drunk on the battlefield]: I also...
[System Message]: The group owner has muted all members!
At exactly midnight, except for the lights in the bathroom, the hall and the bedroom, all went out, leaving only the glass of the windows and cabinet doors, reflecting the lights outside the dormitory building.
Tick, tick.
The second hand of the wall clock is still running.
Lu Miao sat facing the bathroom door, tightly holding a cell phone that emitted a red halo.
Outside the door, it was dead silent.
The mirror above the washbasin reflects the wall tiles on the opposite side.
Tick.
A drop of water falls from the tap.
She concentrated and held her breath.
After a while, she smelled a fishy odor.
She had eaten the cheapest, smelliest processed meat, mixed with the stench of fish.
Just like the fishy smell that seeps in from outside the door.
She knew that the administrator was parked outside the door at that moment.
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