After resting for a while, I walked from Yeyu Road to Renmin Road. I had learned from experience that there would be more empty bottles in places with high traffic, but there would also be more people picking up the bottles. However, I had an advantage because I had good eyesight and fast hands, and most people couldn't pick up as many as me.
I actually found enjoyment in such a trivial thing, especially imagining these bottles as eggs, one, two, three... and then combining them with tomatoes to make a dish. The feeling was indescribably wonderful.
Perhaps I'm not a particularly smart person, but I'm good at finding ways to have fun. So, after Ye Zhi left, as long as it wasn't late at night, I would briefly forget that heart-wrenching pain. If it was late at night, I would have cigarettes and alcohol to release myself and feel a little better.
...
After walking along Renmin Road, I had already filled two plastic bags. Then I took a side road and arrived at the "Bed Sheet Factory" near the South Gate of the Old Town. I heard that the Bed Sheet Factory was a product of the 1980s. After it closed down, the factory buildings remained idle until a few years ago when a foreigner came and contracted it to turn it into a bar. Then it attracted other people to open flower shops and bakeries, and gradually it became an art district. There are market events from time to time, where people bring out their collections to exchange or buy and sell. Therefore, the "Bed Sheet Factory" has become a relatively artistic and well-known place in Dali.
This was my first time visiting the "Bed Sheet Factory," and I couldn't help but take a few extra glances. It was indeed quite artistic, especially the large iron gate made of old, worn-out wire and the rusty street lamp standing next to it. It had a grand and magnificent feel, reminiscent of the Industrial Revolution era, where grandeur and decay coexisted.
Tonight, the "Bed Sheet Factory" is also hosting a New Year's Eve party. Most of the performers are artists who have settled in Dali. I heard that several of them are quite well-known musicians. They organized the event spontaneously and did not charge any performance fees, just to give people who are stranded in Dali and unable to go home for the New Year a sense of belonging. A young man with long hair next to me said that this is called humanistic care, and this kind of behavior is very characteristic of Dali.
I nodded in agreement, and then found a small open space to stand. Although I didn't know which of them were celebrities and which were just ordinary people, I still watched with great interest. During the breaks in the performance, I went to pick up empty bottles from the ground, and in a short while, I had picked up about ten more.
...
I arrived quite late. The performers on stage sang five or six songs, and then the New Year's Eve gala ended. Those who had watched the show with me went off in twos and threes to find places to drink. As for me, I remained the same as always, lonely and wondering if there were any other interesting places like the "Bed Sheet Factory" in the entire ancient city.
The surroundings gradually quieted down, and I sat under the dim light, counting the empty bottles I had collected as if to pass the time.
Just then, my phone vibrated again. I took it out and saw it was another message from Yang Sisi. She asked me to send her my current location via WeChat.
I asked, "Are you really here in Dali, or are you just pretending? I can't stand your rambling nonsense!"
"Haha... If you believe I'm in Dali, then I really am in Dali. If you don't believe me... then I'll be at the ends of the earth!"
"What people need in a relationship is sincerity; you can't treat it like a game."
"But I just love playing cat and mouse... I'm the cat, and you're the mouse."
I pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and after smoking almost half of it, I replied, "If you're really a powerful cat, then you should come find me yourself."
"No, I'm not a good cat, but you're a mouse that likes to walk into a trap... Hurry up and send me your location."
Do you know about the bed sheet factory?
Yang Sisi replied abruptly, "You wait and see, the cat is about to start catching mice."
...
After finishing my cigarette and idling for a while, I suddenly felt nervous and hid behind a half-ruined wall. If it really was Yang Sisi, I would scare her to tears and teach her a lesson, otherwise she would never be able to put away her playful nature.
On one hand, I believed she would come, and on the other hand, I thought it was a prank. In the end, I got more and more nervous the more I hid!
I felt that leaving those bottles behind would expose me, so I wanted to go and get them, but I was also worried that Yang Sisi would walk in while I was doing so, and then all my plans would fall apart. Then I became even more inexplicably nervous.
Finally, she gritted her teeth and ran over quickly, picked up the bag of bottles, and took a few big strides back behind the wall. Her heart was pounding, but she couldn't even see Yang Sisi.
After a while, there was finally some movement. A food delivery guy on an electric bike entered the yard, looked around for a while, took out the delivery slip to look at it, and then he seemed to make a phone call. Then my phone rang.
I was stunned for a moment before I realized... Yang Sisi was playing this trick on me again.
...
Feeling a bit listless, I walked out from behind the wall and took the beautifully packaged box from the delivery guy. Perhaps Yang Sisi's malicious intentions were hidden inside, but I still couldn't resist opening it to take a look.
Or perhaps it really is a surprise... but it definitely won't be Yang Sisi inside, because the box is only big enough to fit one cat at most.
I took a deep breath, then opened the box. Suddenly, a snake-like thing darted out. It was a really old-fashioned prank, but it still startled me. I instinctively dropped the box and kicked it away...
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