Volume 2: The Days of Playing with Monkeys in the Village
Empty Space Under the Bed
Have you noticed that this bed is actually exceptionally high?
Lou Jingmo used a small wooden stick to block the door, then picked up the DSLR camera placed on the bed and took a photo of every corner of the room, including the ceiling above and under the bed. There were actually two cabinets in the room, but they were locked from the outside. She couldn’t possibly force open someone else’s cabinets to take photos.
Shen Maomao was still thinking about the “soul-sucking camera” and followed behind Lou Jingmo to avoid being photographed. “Sister Lou, what are you doing?”
“Sometimes, cameras can capture ghosts,” Lou Jingmo said while reviewing the photos she had just taken.
Hearing this, Shen Maomao suddenly felt like there were ghosts everywhere and timidly asked, “Then… are there any in our room?”
“No,” Lou Jingmo raised her camera towards her again, “but I don’t know if there are any on you.”
“Holy crap!” Shen Maomao was so scared she almost jumped three feet high. “Sis, don’t scare me!” She had personally experienced the terrifying feeling of something heavy on her back, and after Lou Jingmo’s words, she suddenly felt her exposed neck getting cold.
Lou Jingmo: “Want me to take a photo?”
Shen Maomao hesitated for only two seconds: “Yes, yes, yes, hurry up and take it.”
She stood at attention in front of the wardrobe, tilting her head and closing her eyes, nervously waiting for Lou Jingmo to take the photo.
With a “click,” nothing happened.
Lou Jingmo said, “Congratulations, there’s nothing on you.”
Shen Maomao wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and asked, “Do you want me to take a photo of you too?”
Lou Jingmo put away the camera and said, “No need. I’m not afraid of ghosts.” She was very certain.
Shen Maomao: “…” But I’m afraid, and I’m living with you!!
However, Lou Jingmo had already climbed onto the bed, ready to sleep. She had no choice but to climb up from the side near the wall, turn off the lights, and crawl under the covers.
Once the lights were off, it became pitch black. There was no light from outside either; she could barely remember the exact location of the window. Earlier, she had wondered why there were no curtains on the windows, but now she realized there was no need for them.
In such a dark environment, even if she tried her hardest to open her eyes wide, she still couldn’t see anything. This state of being blind with open eyes terrified her, and she couldn’t help but call out to the person beside her: “Sister Lou?”
The sound of Xiaolou turning over came from beside her: “What is it?”
Shen Maomao sighed in relief: “It’s so dark in here…”
“Mm-hmm.”
As expected of her goddess, so calm in any situation!
Thinking this, Lou Jingmo suddenly spoke: “Have you noticed that this bed is actually extremely high?”
Normally, beds are about 45 centimeters from the ground. Too high makes it inconvenient to get on and off, while too low can lead to dampness. But the bed they were sleeping on was a full â–¡â–¡ centimeters high, almost reaching Lou Jingmo’s thighs and Shen Maomao’s bottom.
Once she mentioned it, Shen Maomao realized something was off: “Yeah, it is a bit too high. I was thinking about that when I climbed up.”
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“You saw it earlier when I was taking photos,” Lou Jingmo said. “There’s nothing stored under the bed; it’s completely empty. What do you think that means?”
What could it mean… Shen Maomao activated her little brain, seasoned by years of watching ghost stories, and imagined scenarios like a female ghost living under the bed, or a couple sleeping back-to-back with them…
After scaring her, Lou Jingmo turned over again as if nothing had happened. Soon after, Shen Maomao heard her heavy breathing.
She fell asleep just like that? How efficient!
She tried closing her eyes, listening to Lou Jingmo’s breathing, and involuntarily yawned. Before long, she lost consciousness and went on a date with the Duke of Zhou (God of Dreams) in her dreams.
“Creak… creak…”
“Creak—crack…”
Shen Maomao was startled awake.
She immediately opened her eyes and pricked up her ears to listen to the sound coming from the door.
It seemed like someone outside was using brute force to push open the door to their room!
The floor on the second story of Zhang Jiansheng’s house was made of wooden planks, making footsteps particularly noticeable, especially at this quiet time of night. She could clearly hear the person’s footsteps approaching the bed, one step at a time.
Shen Maomao trembled with fear. She wanted to wake Lou Jingmo but was afraid that her wrong move might lead to both of their deaths. As she was scared and conflicted, a pair of hands reached out from under the blanket and gently held her hand.
Those hands were very warm and didn’t frighten her; they seemed to be Lou Jingmo’s hands…
She immediately held her breath, closed her eyes, and didn’t dare to move an inch.
In the darkness, a person’s hearing and other senses become extremely acute. She heard the intruder who had opened their door slowly walk to the side of their bed, circling around it repeatedly. The footsteps swayed to her side for a while, then to the other side, as if hesitating about whom to take away.
The breathing of Lou Jingmo, lying beside her, remained deep and steady, making her unsure if the hand on hers was actually Xiaolou’s.
Finally, this uninvited guest seemed to have chosen their unfortunate victim. They slowly stopped on Shen Maomao’s side and remained silent for a long time.
Shen Maomao was about to wet herself in fear. She could feel someone standing at her bedside, staring at her intently. The burning gaze was perceptible even with her eyes closed!
At this point, she could only try to maintain steady breathing, not letting the other person know she was awake.
Time passed second by second. Shen Maomao wasn’t sure if they had left, so she still didn’t dare to move. Due to keeping her body tense for so long, her right leg had gone numb, feeling like hundreds of tiny insects were crawling on it. The numbness and itching made her wish she could chop off this troublesome leg.
Just when she was about to give in, Lou Jingmo suddenly turned over beside her and mumbled something unclear, as if sleep-talking. At the same time, the hand covering her own withdrew.
This made her feel slightly relieved; at least she could be sure those hands were Lou Jingmo’s.
After about another minute, footsteps were heard in the room again, this time heading towards the door.
“Creak—” The sound of the door closing again rang out, and Shen Maomao let out a sigh of relief, collapsing onto the bed. In just this short time, her back was already drenched in cold sweat.
Her right leg, which had been numb, was now almost completely without feeling. Shen Maomao endured the pain and slowly moved it a bit under the covers, grimacing for a while but controlling herself not to make any sound.
Lou Jingmo lifted the blanket and rolled over, ending up in Shen Maomao’s arms. She hugged Shen Maomao’s arm with one hand and draped her leg over Shen Maomao’s, transferring her warm temperature to her.
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This time, Shen Maomao felt at ease. She closed her eyes again and finally fell back asleep.
After the night’s events, neither of them managed to get up early the next morning. Only when sunlight shone through the window did Shen Maomao groggily open her eyes.
She first saw the yellowish ceiling, then felt the weight pressing on her body.
—Weight pressing on her body?
She opened her eyes wide and turned her head, burying her entire face in Lou Jingmo’s embrace, which embodied the core values of socialism.
Holy crap?!!
Shen Maomao’s face turned bright red. She suddenly jerked backward, feeling an odd sensation in her nose. She raised her hand to touch it—
Her hand was covered in red.
Her nose was bleeding…
She used her hand to stop the nonstop bleeding, and as it continued, she couldn’t help but laugh.
What the hell! Why would she get a nosebleed over a girl? It was just a brief face-plant, wasn’t it?!
Hahahahaha, but damn, this is the embrace of the goddess, oh wow…
For some reason, her laughter turned into tears.
Lou Jingmo opened her eyes and coldly looked at her, seemingly ready to send whoever disturbed her sleep to the afterlife.
Shen Maomao quickly raised both hands to prove her innocence: “I! I-I-I-I have a nosebleed!”
Lou Jingmo gave her a suspicious look: “Overheated?”
Shen Maomao nodded repeatedly: “Yes, yes, yes, I’m overheated.”
Lou Jingmo frowned: “Hurry up and get off, don’t dirty the sheets.”
Shen Maomao, feeling both heartbroken and amused, covered her nose and got up, preparing to get the tissues from the bedside table. Just as her foot touched the ground, a pair of hands suddenly reached out from under the bed and firmly grabbed her ankle.
For a second, her heart almost stopped, and then a scream squeezed out from her throat.
Lou Jingmo quickly got up and jumped off the bed. She bent down and looked under the bed, where a little boy was lying face down, his head towards the wall and feet towards the door, holding onto Shen Maomao’s ankle and not letting go.
Hearing the scream, Wei Yu and Wang Xiaoming from next door and across the hall rushed out and gently knocked on their door: “Are you alright?” It was Wei Yu’s voice.
“We’re fine!” Lou Jingmo grabbed the little boy’s feet from behind and forcefully pulled him out from under the bed.
The little boy was forced to let go, turned his head and bared his teeth at her, as if ready to bite her at any moment.
The sound of someone climbing the stairs came from downstairs, followed by Aunt Zhang’s voice outside the door: “What’s wrong? What happened?”
As she spoke, she didn’t wait for the two to agree and directly pushed the door open, witnessing the situation in the room.
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Lou Jingmo, crouching by the bed, was holding one of the little boy’s legs. The boy, face down on the floor, was struggling like a fish out of water, his hands slapping the floor with loud smacks.
Shen Maomao, weak in the knees, slowly sat down on the bed while holding onto it, letting out a long sigh.
Aunt Zhang said: “Oh my! This little rascal! Did he scare you?”
Yes, they had seen this little boy at dinner last night; he was one of the Zhang family’s grandsons.
Now that his grandmother was here, Lou Jingmo couldn’t bring herself to hit someone else’s child in front of them, so she reluctantly handed the little boy over to Aunt Zhang. Aunt Zhang picked him up and gave his bottom two hard smacks: “What’s wrong with you? How could you run into the sisters’ room? I’ll have to tell your mother about this and let her give you a good spanking!”
The little boy didn’t cry when he was hit, but instead made a strange laugh: “Hee hee hee, hee hee hee~”
After scolding him, Aunt Zhang looked apologetically at Shen Maomao: “Did he scare you badly, young lady? How about Auntie kills an old hen to make some soup to calm your nerves? Would that be alright?”
Shen Maomao didn’t dare to offend the child’s family now, so she quickly waved her hand to indicate it wasn’t necessary: “I’m fine, Aunt Zhang. Please take the child away first.”
Aunt Zhang smiled: “This naughty boy is such a nuisance. Since there’s nothing serious, I’ll go downstairs now. I’ll start cooking the soup, and you can come down to eat when you’re hungry.” With that, she carried the child downstairs with a “thump thump thump.”
The two people at the room’s doorway watched her descend, their expressions becoming grave.