Chapter 24 Coffee

"Doctor, don't scare me," the fat man said with a bitter face and trembling, "Don't look at me as strong, I'm just fat, I can't stand being scared at all."

Jiang Cheng looked up and glanced at him, as if thinking that the food cooked by the fat man was really delicious, so he let him go and didn't continue talking.

Since being with Jiang Cheng, the fat man's nerves have become much more relaxed. After a while, he started to jump up and down again. "Doctor," the fat man licked his lips and asked in a low voice, "Do you think we will have nightmares after we fall asleep tonight?"

The nightmare was full of murderous intent, and the weird and extremely real feeling made people shudder.

Jiang Cheng, who was busy hanging wet clothes, stopped what he was doing, thought for a few seconds, and then said, "It shouldn't be. Although our physical strength can be fully restored after being freed from the last nightmare, the energy we have consumed cannot be restored."

The fat man understood what Jiang Cheng meant. He meant that the energy consumed in a nightmare cannot be restored like physical strength. If this continues, they will become more and more tired and eventually be exhausted to death by the nightmare.

From Fan Li and Sister Nuan, they learned that although nightmares are terrible, they often leave a glimmer of hope, which is obviously inconsistent with the rules of nightmares.

"That's good," the fat man took a long breath, and then said, "I'm still thinking about whether I should stay awake tonight."

"It's meaningless," Jiang Cheng shook his head, "You can only last a few nights at most. When you can't hold on and fall asleep, you will die in a nightmare."

The word death instinctively taught the fat man a chill on his back, and he quickly explained that he was just complaining and would not do that.

"Would you like some coffee?" Jiang Cheng wiped his hands and walked towards the kitchen, asking the fat man as he passed by.

The fat man was a little flattered, "Then I'll trouble you, doctor."

The sound of ding-dong came from the kitchen, and Jiang Cheng reached out and took two cups from the rack where coffee cups were hung, "American, Italian, latte, or cappuccino?"

The fat man said a little embarrassedly, "Doctor, I don't know much about coffee. I usually drink the instant coffee that costs 1 yuan a pack in the supermarket. How about you make me a cup of cappuccino?"

"Sorry," Jiang Cheng said, "I'm out of cappuccino."

"Then let's change to latte."

"I'm out of latte too."

"American?"

"No."

"Then Italian coffee is fine," the fat man shrank his neck, "Thank you for your hard work, doctor."

"Not hard," Jiang Cheng replied in a hoarse voice, "Because there is no Italian coffee either."

The fat man was stunned, "American, Italian, latte, cappuccino? What do you have?"

"Instant," Jiang Cheng came out of the kitchen with two coffee cups, "But I have to correct you, the retail price of this one is 1.5 yuan now, not 1 yuan anymore, it has increased in price."

"Only instant coffee, what do you want me to choose?" the fat man said excitedly.

Jiang Cheng sat opposite the fat man, picked up the coffee cup and took a sip, and said slowly, "Because life needs a sense of ritual."

The fat man felt that there was no point in arguing with Jiang Cheng, and in order to prevent Jiang Cheng from getting into trouble again, he wisely chose to shut up.

"Drink it while it's hot," Jiang Cheng said, "I didn't put too much sleeping pills this time. You taste it first and I'll know next time."

Fatty: ""

The night deepened, and the neon lights in the distance lit up little by little. Through a half-open glass window, you can see the bright lights and feasting outside. Fatty leaned on his chin and stared blankly at the window.

Recalling every bit in the nightmare, I cherish the beauty of the real world more.

Jiang Cheng was slumped in his office chair watching a horror movie, eating French fries with ketchup. He called Fatty, but the latter refused to go.

After watching "Old Corpse in the Mountain Village", Jiang Cheng almost fell asleep.

When he opened his eyes, he saw Fatty curled up on the sofa, plugging his ears, looking uncomfortable.

When he found Jiang Cheng awake, Fatty let go of his hand and shouted, "Doctor, what movie did you watch? That ghost is too scary."

After listening to Fatty's explanation, Jiang Cheng realized that Fatty heard a very strange singing voice, and then wanted to go over to turn off the movie, but Chu Renmei appeared.

"The ghost you are talking about is called Chu Renmei," Jiang Cheng explained, "a miserable woman in feudal society, and also the prototype of Mr. Lu Xun's "Lady of the Camellias."

The Fatty automatically blocked what Jiang Cheng said.

After turning off the computer, the two went upstairs to sleep.

The Fatty said that it was a bit cold last night, and Jiang Cheng found him a new quilt. Fatty took the last opportunity for Jiang Cheng to walk into the bedroom and told him that if he was scared after watching the horror movie, he could accompany him.

Before he finished speaking, the bedroom door was closed with a "bang", and then there was the sound of locking.

The Fatty smacked his lips and lay down unwillingly. Jiang Cheng had reminded him before that it was best to wear clothes and shoes before going to bed.

So Fatty brushed his shoes today while the sun was shining, and bought himself a pair of new sneakers while he went out to buy groceries, which he was wearing now.

The location of the studio is relatively remote, and it is very quiet at night.

Jiang Cheng habitually pulled the quilt to his chin, breathing steadily and evenly.

His physique is very different from that of ordinary people. He is not so sensitive to cold and heat, and he rarely gets sick, and his pain nerves are relatively dull.

Sometimes he even feels like a tool without emotions.

He fell asleep in a daze.

This sleep was very deep.

An inexplicable melody echoed in his ears.

It is not classical, not pop, nor jazz. The melody of this song is different from any genre he knows.

This sound seems to be born in darkness.

Born in darkness, and returned to darkness.

Jiang Cheng felt that everything was leaving him. He seemed to sink into the depths of the ocean, and seemed to walk into a tunnel with no end.

Despair, only despair, nothing else.

A crisp cracking sound sounded, like a pure black cloth torn apart by brute force, and Jiang Cheng suddenly woke up.

He found himself standing at the corner of the first floor of the studio, with a black iron door in front of him.

The body gave orders before the brain, and he stretched out his hand and pushed open the door in front of him.

After a strange dizziness, his feet seemed to have found a support point again and stepped on solid ground.

In front of him was a building similar to a school. It was not large in scale and the edge could be seen at a glance.

Several buildings stood quietly in the afterglow of the sunset, casting dark gray shadows, with a romantic temperament.

He squinted his eyes and looked at the sunset, judging that the current time in this world was about 4 or 5 o'clock in the afternoon.

There was no one else nearby, and the school gate was closed.

He shielded the glaring sunlight with his hands, stared at the direction of the school for a few times, then decisively turned around and walked in the opposite direction.