"Knock, knock, knock..."
The knocking continued.
Trembling, I clutched my pillow, not daring to respond.
My eyes were fixed on the door, and my body couldn't stop shaking.
But the knocking wouldn't stop, it was endless, and no one spoke.
Finally, I gritted my teeth and shouted towards the door:
"Who, who is it?"
As soon as I finished speaking.
The knocking stopped.
After about two seconds, a strange woman's voice came from outside:
"Need to change some money."
When I heard those three words.
My mind instantly recalled the woman in white I had encountered at the intersection, the one who wanted to change money with me and followed me, giving me a sinister smile.
I became even more terrified and stammered a reply to the door:
"No, no money, go away..."
My fearful response, that kind of terror, was pushing me to the brink of collapse.
I hugged my head and squatted in the corner of the sofa.
After I shouted like that, it actually worked. The hurried knocking stopped.
Outside the door, there was no further movement.
Everything seemed to have returned to calm.
But I dared not sleep, and had no desire to sleep.
I kept the light on, my eyes fixed on the door.
Afraid that if I looked away, the closed door would be pushed open...
Only when dawn was approaching did I lean on the sofa and fall into a shallow sleep.
When I woke up again, it was already two in the afternoon.
My head felt foggy, and I had endured another night of torment.
Just as I was about to get up and wash my face, I discovered a thin blanket covering me.
I froze on the spot.
I remembered, the thin blanket was in the bedroom.
Last night, I hadn't gone into the bedroom to get the blanket.
So how did it end up on me now?
Did I misremember?
I picked up the thin blanket and looked at it from side to side.
Finally, I pressed my temples.
Perhaps my mental state had been too poor lately, and I had remembered it wrong.
But what about the knocking last night? How could that be explained?
The thought of the woman at the intersection sent a shiver through me.
Was that a person, or a ghost...
I splashed some cold water on my face.
Looking at my haggard reflection, I sighed deeply.
I still had to go to work.
I cooked a bowl of noodles in my room and headed out for work, carrying a trash bag.
This was my second night shift before the shift change.
Only two more days until I switched to the day shift, I thought to myself.
Just as I was about to go downstairs, my neighbor Auntie Wang from next door also opened her door to put out the trash.
Seeing me about to go downstairs, she smiled and said:
"Little Qin! Sorry about last night.
My son-in-law and his friends were playing cards and didn't have change.
When your eldest daughter saw you coming back from work, she came to change money and disturbed you."
Hearing this, my body trembled violently.
I asked in utter surprise:
"Last night, last night, was it, was it your daughter who was knocking?"
Auntie Wang looked at me with a puzzled expression at my shock:
"Yes? What's wrong?"
Hearing this, I felt a wave of relief, almost wanting to laugh.
I thought it was something unclean, a ghost knocking.
Turns out, I was just being overly sensitive and imagining things.
The tension in my heart instantly eased considerably.
The stone that had been hanging over me finally dropped.
I chuckled bitterly to myself.
I had really been suffering from neurasthenia and was too sensitive lately.
After all, this was the 21st century, what kind of unclean things could there be?
I smiled and shook my head:
"It's nothing, Auntie Wang. Last night, last night I didn't have change, and I was in a bad mood, so I was a bit grumpy..."
Auntie Wang continued to smile:
"It's alright. But Auntie has to say something to you.
Even though your girlfriend is beautiful, you still need to take care of yourself.
Look at your complexion, it's so bad. You should drink more soup to nourish yourself."
Hearing this, I froze.
Girlfriend? And drink soup to nourish myself?
I'm a single dog, where is this coming from?
I replied with great confusion:
"Auntie Wang, I, I don't have a girlfriend."
Auntie Wang gave me a look as if she saw right through me:
"You're a young man, don't be shy.
I saw you last night when you came back.
The one in the white dress, her skin was very fair.
She entered the room with you.
Alright, hurry up and go to work!
Hehehe..."
After saying that, Auntie Wang ignored me further.
"Bang!"
She directly closed the door and went inside.
But standing in the hallway, I felt as if I had been doused with a basin of cold water, from head to toe.
That feeling of being watched from behind resurfaced.
The peace I had just found was shattered, and my heart sank again.
Last night, last night, there was a woman who entered the room with me...
I swallowed hard, glancing around the dim hallway.
The hallway itself seemed to have become a bit eerie.
Terrified, I hurried downstairs.
How could a woman in white have entered my room with me last night?
The room was clearly empty except for me.
Could it be that the thin blanket covering me was put there by someone else?
My whole body trembled, I dared not think further, and had no idea what to do.
Leaving my rented apartment, I came to the intersection to wait for the commuter bus.
The intersection was bustling with people during the day.
But I still felt an uncontrollable fear, a sense of anxiety and unease.
Nearly a month of mental pressure left me completely lost in this unfamiliar big city, not knowing what to do next.
I was enveloped by fear and darkness, unsure if I had gone mentally unstable or if I had truly encountered something unholy.
A feeling of being alone and helpless.
I got on the commuter bus like a zombie, my face etched with melancholy.
Just as we were nearing my stop, a middle-aged man suddenly sat beside me.
I didn't pay much attention, just thinking about what to do after work tonight, whether to go back to my rented room.
The middle-aged man beside me was playing with his phone and casually spoke to me:
"Qin Ze, right? I've been observing you for quite some time.
Have you encountered anything strange and unexplainable lately?"
These words struck me right in the heart.
I suddenly turned my head.
The man looked familiar, but I didn't know him.
He was probably from the logistics department, not from my assembly line.
I didn't even know his name.
He looked at me calmly, still scrolling through Douyin, not looking at me.
But I was shocked and asked:
"How, how do you know?"
The middle-aged man simply smiled faintly, not offering any further explanation.
He just reached into his pocket and rummaged around.
Finally, with some effort, he pulled out an old copper coin from his jeans.
He casually handed it to me.
"Here, take this. If you encounter anything strange again.
Just throw this old coin on the ground and tell her to take the money and leave..."