My Iyashikei Game

"My love life?" Zhang Mingli deflated slightly. Love was the turning point of his life.

The cigarette smoke was blown away. Zhang Mingli was silent for a while before saying, "I have two relationships. The first was my first love. We met at high school."

"Friends since childhood?"

"No. She's from my village." Zhang Mingli drove the car. The car swayed occasionally, and the axe in the passenger seat bounced around. "We were poor when we were young, but we had very good results at school and got into the town's only high school. I was always first place, and she was second. I've always liked her. It was a pure feeling. Thinking back, I didn't know why I liked her so much. I would feel safe and happy when she was around."

"Have you confessed?" Huang Yin turned his head around.

"It was a secret love. I tried to confess in a roundabout way once." Zhang Mingli placed his fingers on the steering wheel. "I know she's very competitive. Therefore, during the middle exam, I purposely missed a few questions, so I would give her the first place."

"Is that romance between valectorians?" Han Fei was intrigued. "Then, what happened?"

"Fuck. The exam was rather simple. Some bastard got first place ,and she still got second. I got sixth place, and I became further away from her." Zhang Mingli punched the steering wheel. "Then, I studied very hard. I got into the same university as she did. We reunited at a state-wide competition. It felt like old friends meeting.

"I didn't date anyone at university. The girl who talked to me the most back then was her. I didn't know what kind of life she had. I was curious about her, but I didn't have the courage to pursue her. After all, there was nothing between us.

"The real change happened after graduation. She was feeling down during that period and started to drink. She didn't have many friends, kinda like me." When Zhang Mingli talked about love, he cursed less and looked normal. "She asked me out on our first date. She said she wanted a drinking partner. I didn't think too much of it. Perhaps because we were older, we talked about topics we hadn't talked about before, like plans for the future.

"Actually, I wasn't a drinker. That was my first drink. I followed her and kept pouring the drink down my throat. Back then, I was so innocent. After I was drunk, the words in my house poured out. Her future was all about her. My future was all about her.

"What's the meaning of hard work? Isn't it so that you can have a glorious relationship when you meet someone you love?

"Most people don't have that right, but I've planned my life from very early."

Zhang Mingli slowed down. "That period during graduation was the happiest of my life. We were always together. But after graduation, she went to work in another city."

"Didn't you two get together?" Huang Yin asked Zhang Mingli for a cigarette. He was really into the story.

"She didn't give me an answer." Zhang Mingli looked at the dark path. "A person's pain came 90 percent from pain. They know that they're holding a thorned rose, but they wouldn't want to let go. I was such a person. When I bought a lottery ticket and knew that I had lost, I would still check online again. I'm still such a person."

"Wouldn't it be too impolite to keep on knocking on the same door?" Huang Yin placed his hand on the window.

"Yes. I was worried too, but the door eventually opened for me."

The car drove down the night as if no one knew the destination.

"We got together. My goal was marriage. Because I knew I had nothing, I worked so hard. I didn't want her to feel wronged, and I didn't want her to think that choosing me was a wrong choice.

"I would satisfy her every need. I was like superman. Perhaps that was the power of love. She was a very good person. In terms of working ability, she was not worse than me. She was very gentle and polite. When she was free, she would do charity work. In my eyes, she was like a fire, lighting my life.”

This was supposed to be a fairy tale, but as the cigarette smoke cleared away, Zhang Mingli slowly walked out of the memory, “She was so great. So I didn’t get it. Why would she lie to me?”

“Did she have an affair?”

“It didn’t count as one. She was too bored with me, so she didn’t want to surrender this security.” Zhang Mingli lit another cigarette. “Maybe she had a different life away from me. I didn’t want to think of her in that negative life, not even after we split up.”

“You two split up?” Huang Yin asked curiously.

“Yes. A few days before our marriage.” Zhang Mingli was very calm. “My love for her didn’t teach me anything. She was like the sun I kept chasing. When I caught up to her, she only burned me. I didn’t think that counted as love.

“Thinking back, my most memory about her is already hazy. Perhaps I didn’t love her. I only missed that version of myself when I was with her.

“After we split up, I went into teaching. I came from a poor family, so I knew how tough it is for the kids in the mountain. I wanted to help change their fates so they wouldn’t end up like me.

“Actually, I have very low self-esteem. Whenever I meet love, I’ll only leave with scars. For me, love is pain. The first relationship placed that thought in me. The second relationship confirmed that as the truth…”

At that moment, there was a knocking from the bonnet. Han Fei and Huang Yin heard it clearly. The bonnet opened, and something crawled out!

Blood slid down the car window. Nail scratching came from the roof. Several seconds later, a bloody face suddenly appeared!

A dead woman leaned on the car roof and lowered her face to look at Zhang Mingli.

“The fuck!”

Zhang Mingli stepped on the break. When he recovered, the female body was gone.

“Did you see that female corpse?” Zhang Mingli shouted.

Huang Yin didn’t answer. He turned to Han Fei as if waiting for his lead.

“We saw it too. She… appeared to have come out of your bonnet.” Han Fei stared at Zhang Mingli, waiting for an explanation.

“Impossible! Why would there be a dead body in my car?” Zhang Mingli didn’t look like he was lying. He got out of the car and opened the bonnet. “There’s nothing! There’s no blood here!”

“Should we go to take a look?” Huang Yin grabbed the car door.

Han Fei planned to open the door when the ghost tattoo was triggered. There was something very dangerous waiting for them outside the car.

“Don’t go out. This nightmare is very special…” Han Fei whispered. “Zhang Mingli’s iPad has pictures of a woman. Even though the faces are cut off, from the body shape, it didn’t look like the dead woman.”

“Is it possible that Zhang Mingli has killed his first love and forgot about it?” Huang Yin guessed.

“If Zhang Mingli is the owner of this nightmare, then this road trip is his life. The burned house, the elder, and the dead woman should represent something. The dead body might not be able dead people.” Han Fei and Huang Yin communicated and then saw Zhang Mingli head back to the car.

“Those dirty things are trying to stop me! They don’t wish for me to move forward, but I refuse to budge!” Zhang Mingli was not afraid. He fixed the axe again. He turned around to console Huang Yin and Han Fei. “Don’t be scared. If the woman comes back again, I’ll chop her up!”

“What if she won’t die?”

“Then, I’ll drag her into the car and chant the sutra until she dies!” Zhang Mingli hissed. The car moved. The group slowly forgot about the incident and continued the previous topic.

“Teacher Zhang, your second relationship sounds more intense.”

“The second relationship should be real love. I met a person who changed my life. I understood happiness, bliss, and the meaning of being alive. The girl became my wife.” Zhang Mingli’s gaze became gentle. Just the thought of his wife calmed him down.

“It looks like she was your true love.” Huang Yin asked Zhang Mingli again for another cigarette and listened patiently.

“Actually, I’m going on this trip to find her.” Zhang Mingli gripped the steering wheel. “No matter what we meet on the way, I’ll keep driving until I see her.”

“Is your wife leaving you? Was there conflict?” Huang Yin was almost 40, but he was not married either. He wanted to know what married life was like.

“I love her, and she loves me, but she doesn’t think we can be together.” At that moment, Zhang Mingli saw a boy kneeling beside an abandoned telephone booth. He looked around three.

The car had already passed, but Zhang Mingli turned around and stopped. “Wait a minute. It’s so late, and the kid is all alone. It’s not safe.”

“He might be a ghost.” f𝗿𝚎eweb𝗻o𝐯𝐞l.𝚌om

“Then, he must be a lonely ghost.” Zhang Mingli didn’t grab the axe but brought a candy. The kid wore white clothes and cried harrowingly.

“Stop crying. Uncle has candy for you.” Zhang Mingli waited for the wind the blow away the smell of smoke on his body before he approached. “Where are your parents?”

The boy looked up. He looked suspiciously like Zhang Mingli.

“Say something. If you have any trouble, you can tell uncle.” Zhang Mingli handed the candy to the kid. He could feel the coldness on the boy’s body.