Zuo Ziliang saw a lonely room. The restaurant outside the porch was surrounded by darkness. There was nothing except a dining table (not even a chair). There was a black thing on the dining table. There was a smell floating in the air.

The smell of dusty leaves and orange peel is not smelly, but when combined, it makes people feel that the smell is wonderful and makes them not want to stay longer.

The entire porch was as messy as a murder scene, with a few shoes scattered around. The floor was covered with intricate black footprints, extending all the way to the dark living room inside the house. The walls were very clean, but so clean that it made people feel uncomfortable. Zuo Zilianghua

It took a while to find the source of the discomfort: there were no decorations on the walls, not even a misleading hanging picture.

It was hard for him to imagine Wang Zixu living in this room.

"Did your house get robbed?"

Wang Zixu said: "Last time I asked Lala Lala to move books at home, the ground was soiled and I didn't have time to move them."

He was also a little embarrassed and went into the bathroom to get a mop.

Zuo Ziliang opened the shoe cabinet next to the door, and the smell of stale shoe polish hit his face. There were only two slippers in the shoe cabinet that were almost hairless. They were obviously not suitable for this season. After much hesitation, he finally did not change his shoes.

He walked into the house and looked around. The living room also followed the same minimalist style as the dining room. Except for a broken leather sofa and a pile of dusty large and small bags piled in the corner, there was nothing else, not even a TV.

There are no machines.

Zuo Ziliang never expected that one day he would use the word "empty" to describe other people's homes, but Wang Zixu's home was indeed very empty. He estimated that he would have echoes when he spoke.

"Your home was really robbed, right? Even the furniture was evacuated."

There was really an echo. A cold and hard resonance like metal hovered in my ears.

Wang Zixu came out with a mop and smiled awkwardly: "There was no furniture in the first place. In the past, my family was poor, so I just saved some furniture if I could, and then I just lived like this. It didn't affect my life, so it has always been like this."

This room had not had a visitor for a long time, and neither Wang Zixu nor the room itself was prepared. He wanted to pour Zuo Ziliang a glass of water, but he couldn't even find a disposable teacup.

Zuo Ziliang said: "You used to have a career, and your salary was not high, but it was considered a middle-income among the working class, right? Your family doesn't have any savings? Look at your house, it looks like it has been bombed."

"Half of my money was used to buy books." Wang Zixu pointed to the living room and said, "What you see now is not what this home originally looked like. The home was not empty before and there were books piled everywhere. Isn't that all taken away?

Have you gone to the base?"

"Then you are willing to dedicate yourself to the company."

"I've made back the money I spent on the books, and there's still more left."

"Where's the other half?"

Wang Zixu said: "The other half will be used to treat my father's illness."

"What disease?"

Wang Zixu didn't answer and mopped the floor seriously.

Zuo Ziliang said: "Can I go to your bedroom and have a look?"

Wang Zixu said: "Please do it."

Zuo Ziliang went away for a while, then came back and said, "There are only your own clothes in your wardrobe."

"She took away all her clothes. I checked and found that she took away everything she owns," Wang Zixu said.

"Nothing left?"

"Nothing is left."

After saying that, Wang Zixu sighed, turned to the bathroom, picked up a hairpin from the washbasin, and handed it to Zuo Ziliang: "Maybe this is the only one left."

Zuo Ziliang took the hairpin. It was a shiny and exquisite hairpin, but it was nothing more than that. It was not a valuable item.

Zuo Ziliang returned to the restaurant, and Wang Zixu returned the mop to the bathroom: "I just mopped the floor, and there is water. Be careful."

"I roughly know what the situation is. I have nothing to ask you, except one question: What is this?"

Wang Zixu saw Zuo Ziliang covering his nose and pointing at an oval-shaped black substance on the dining table.

"What?"

"This." Zuo Ziliang stretched out his fingers vigorously, as if to add an emphasis to his sentence.

The thing on the dining table he pointed at was gray, pitted, oval-shaped, and looked very evil. There was a faint smell in the room, which came from this thing.

Wang Zixu suddenly frowned and fell into deep thought. After a long time, he said:

"This looks like an alien egg."

Zuo Ziliang said: "An alien came to your house and laid an egg on your dining table. Did you not notice it at all?"

"If that were the case, I would definitely notice it. I just said it looked like an alien egg. It must not be an alien egg."

Zuo Ziliang stared at the thing for a long time and said, "If you said this was indeed an egg laid by aliens, I would believe it."

Wang Zixu said: "Oh, I remembered, this should be a grapefruit."

"Grapefruit?"

Zuo Ziliang stared at the things on the table and was silent for a long time.

If this is really a grapefruit, it will be the saddest grapefruit Zuo Ziliang has ever seen in his life.

"Why would you think of using a cultural relic grapefruit as a table decoration?"

Zuo Ziliang sometimes speaks a bit harshly.

Wang Zixu found a garbage bag and said, "I bought it to observe it, but after putting it away for a long time, I forgot about its existence."

"What does Observation mean? Observe?"

The expression on Zuo Ziliang's face seemed to be that of a mad scientist, using his familiar vocabulary to explain concepts that he didn't understand at all.

Wang Zixu waved his hand: "Help me come here and hold the bag."

Zuo Ziliang helped him open the garbage bag and watched as he picked up the limp black grapefruit with both hands and threw it in. A puddle of disgusting liquid was left on the dining table. He turned his face away and held his breath.

Wang Zixu said: "There is a passage in my novel about a wife who asked her husband why he left a rotten grapefruit on the table instead of throwing it away. I wanted to see how long it would take for a grapefruit to rot, so I bought one and took it home.

Watch and learn.”

Zuo Ziliang asked: "Do you need to consider so much when writing a novel?"

"Yes, there are many more issues to consider than you think."

Wang Zixu took the garbage bag in his hand and tied it tightly to prevent the smell of corruption from leaking out. Talking about the novel, Wang Zixu seemed to have forgotten that his wife was missing:

"For example, I wrote about apples at the beginning of that sentence, because apples are the most common fruit in life. But after I finished writing it, I looked back and felt that it lacked literary authenticity. At first glance, I felt that it was made up."

"Literary authenticity?" Zuo Ziliang repeated the phrase.

Wang Zixu said: "If I say there is a fruit on the table, what fruit do you think of first?"

"apple."

"That's right," said Wang Zixu, "so at first glance, I made it up."

Zuo Ziliang felt that he probably understood: "So you want to observe grapefruit and establish an emotional connection with it?"

Wang Zixu said: "It's not about emotional connection. I specifically want to see how long it will take for the grapefruit to rot and whether it will be too smelly during the rotting process. If the smell of rotten grapefruit is as bad as the smell of an exploding sperm whale, then

No, if you don’t throw it away even then, the male protagonist would be a bit too much.”

Zuo Ziliang nodded slowly: "I probably understand your dedication to the novel. But even Yuzi, your male protagonist is too much."

Wang Zixu stretched out his hand: "I'm going to wash my hands."

While waiting for him to wash his hands, Zuo Ziliang sat on a chair and thought. He thought very seriously, and his forehead under his bald head was tightly knitted, like a wrinkled braised egg.

Wang Zixu also washed his hands very carefully. The grapefruit juice had a faint smell of gasoline, and it left an acid-corroded texture on his hands. It took him a long time to rub the texture off, and after washing his hands, he returned

He became gloomy because he remembered that his wife had left.

When he came out, Zuo Ziliang said to him: "I don't know whether I should tell you something or not."

"Let's talk about it first."

Zuo Ziliang said: "I won't go into details first. Let me ask first, what exactly did the note your wife left for you say?"

Wang Zixu gave him the note. After reading it, Zuo Ziliang said: "Since she said so, I won't tell you anymore. Just listen to her."

"Listen to what?"

"Don't look for her, and don't contact her." Zuo Ziliang said, "She is right."

Wang Zixu was confused: "What then?"

"There is no after," Zuo Ziliang said, "So what if I find it?"

"If you find it, just..."

Wang Zixu was also confused. He had never thought about this problem. After his wife left, he felt empty inside, as if he had lost part of his soul.

He just felt that he should look for it, and what to do after finding it, he could think about it after finding it. But after Zuo Ziliang asked him, he suddenly felt that he might not be able to figure out this problem after finding it.

Did he want to salute, shake hands, and then ask her, hello, why are you leaving? Did I dissatisfy you in any way?

After getting the answer, he saluted again, waved his hand and said, thank you for your feedback, see you next time.

It really doesn't seem appropriate.

Zuo Ziliang said: "The most stupid thing in the world is to try to win back a woman who has changed her heart. The harder you try, the more you expose your weakness and cheapness. A woman will not give herself to a weak and weak person.
To be continued...