Blood Coconut

The rainy season in Jiangcheng is always sticky. Chen Mo stood on the balcony and looked at the trash cans softened by rain downstairs. The stench mixed with humid air floated up and penetrated into his lungs. Lin Wan's maternity pants were hanging on the clothesline, and the legs of the trousers were still dripping, hitting the cement floor, fainting a small dark water stain - just like the widening holes in his heart. The dining table is pressed by three sheets of paper, like three hills. At the top is the mortgage reminder, and the red "15 days overdue" is poked in the upper right corner. The number "7800" is a little blurred by the rain, but it is still sharp, which can break his last point of decency. In the middle is a list of pregnancy examination expenses. The small gestational sac on the B-ultrasound is curled up, and "¥568" is printed next to it. This is Lin Wan's expense to go to the hospital yesterday. When she came back, she did not talk about money. She only said with a smile, "The baby is very healthy, like you, and doesn't like to move." The bottom one, which was rubbed and wrinkled, was the mother's hospitalization reminder. The words "the advance payment is less than 2,000 yuan" were polished by Chen Mo's fingers, and there was also a line of small words attached below: "It is recommended to carry out secondary chemotherapy as soon as possible". "Looking at this again?" Lin Wan came over with a water cup. The heel of her slippers collapsed, and she made a slight "pop" sound when she walked. Chen Mo turned around and saw that she was holding her waist, sitting down slowly, and unconsciously stroking her lower abdomen. Her nails were trimmed very short, her knuckles were a little red because of long-term housework, and the silver ring on her ring finger was polished - it was bought when they got married. At that time, he said, "When I have money in the future, I will exchange it for a gold one for you." "It's okay. Let's see if I can advance the salary when I go to the construction site tomorrow." Chen Mo gathered the list and stuffed it into the drawer in the corner of the table. He was too hasty and knocked down the soy sauce bottle next to him. The brown liquid spread on the tablecloth, like solidified blood. He hurried to wipe it, but it got dirtier and dirtier. Finally, he could only tear off the tablecloth and put it into a ball and put it in the trash can. Lin Wan didn't say anything, but silently poured a cup of warm water and handed it to him. There were drops of water on the wall of the cup, dripping on the back of his hand, cold. "Chen Mo," she said softly, "I went to the vegetable market today and saw that the price of perch was reduced. I bought one and I'll make up for you." She paused and lowered her voice, "I borrowed some money from my sister. Let's pay off the mortgage first." Chen Mo suddenly looked up and his throat tightened: "Your sister's family is not well-off. My brother-in-law just lost his job last month..." "Then what should we do?" Lin Wan's voice suddenly cried. She grabbed the corner of her clothes, and her knuckles turned white. "The hospital called again today, saying that mom's bed was going to be vacated for someone else; your mobile phone should also be changed. The foreman couldn't contact you last time; and the baby's birth certificate. You need to bring a household registration book when you go to apply for it next week. Do you remember where you put it?" As she said, tears fell and hit the pregnancy test report. The word "normal fetal heart rate" was turned into light blue. Chen Mo wanted to hug her, but half of his hand stretched out and then retracted back - his palms were covered with sweat, and the mud from the construction site was embedded in the seam of his nails. At this time, the mobile phone vibrated, the screen lit up, and a strange text message was displayed: "We are looking for a cross-border technical specialist with a monthly salary of 50,000+, free food and accommodation, no experience required, Myanmar Brilliant Technology is looking forward to your joining." The snake-like symbol at the end looks particularly strange in the dim light. Chen Mo's heartbeat missed a beat. He clicked on the text message and turned out the "working environment map" sent by the other party: the spacious office, the employees in suits were busy in front of the computer, and the blue sea and blue sky outside the window. This is obviously fake. On the construction site, he heard from his fellow workers talk about the scam in northern Myanmar, saying that it was "hell on earth". But the number "50,000" was like a hook, entangled in his eyes. Mother's chemotherapy expenses, Lin Wan's maternity expenses, and the milk powder money of the unborn child... These numbers circled in his mind, and finally turned into Lin Wan's red eyes and his mother's coughing voice. "I'll have a look." He heard himself say, and his voice sounded strange like another person. "Are you going?" Lin Wan stood up suddenly, and her stomach hit the edge of the table. She took a breath in pain, but she couldn't bother to rub it. "Chen Mo, that's the north of Myanmar! The news said..." "The news also said that someone won the lottery!" Chen Mo suddenly raised his voice, and then softened, "I'll go and inspect it. If it doesn't work, I'll come back. Think about it, if you can really make money, mom can cure the disease well, and you don't have to suffer with me..." The more he said, the more anxious he became, as if he was trying to convince himself. Lin Wan looked at his eyes covered with red blood, which used to be bright, but now there was only the turbidity of anxiety and greed. She touched her stomach, and the child kicked her gently, as if protesting. "I'm not afraid of being poor," her voice trembled violently. "I'm afraid that you are eager to make quick profits, and I'm afraid that something will happen to you... Chen Mo, let's take our time, okay? I'll set up a stall, and you'll go for takeaway. I can always survive. Chen Mo didn't say anything, but just stared at the mobile phone screen. The false "blue sea and blue sky" was like a magnet, sucking away his last bit of reason. He remembered that when he went to the hospital yesterday, his mother took his hand and said, "Leave me alone, keep money for Wanwan and the child." He remembered that Lin Wan sneaked up in the middle of the night, counted the coins in the jar and sighed. He thought that the foreman patted him on the shoulder and said, "Your skill is like this for a lifetime on the construction site." "I must go." He put his mobile phone in his pocket. When he stood up, he knocked down a chair and made a harsh sound. When packing, he took out the canvas bag that had been used for five years. The zipper had long been broken and could only be tied with a rope. He stuffed two old T-shirts and a pair of jeans in it, all of which were washed white. Turning to the bottom of the wardrobe, he took out a faded wallet with only three wrinkled ten yuan and a family photo. The photo was taken last year. It cost 20 yuan in the photo studio at the gate of the community. Lin Wan was wearing the first gift he bought - a pink dress, smiling with two small tiger teeth; his mother sat in the middle, her hair was not completely white, holding the crutch he bought for him; he stood on the far left, wearing the blue uniform sent on the construction site, smiling silly. On the back of the photo, Lin Wan wrote the word "peace" with a pen, and the place where the tip of the pen crossed was slightly wrinkled. Chen Mo stuffed the photo into the mezzanine of his wallet, rubbing the two words with his fingertips, and suddenly his nose was sore. He walked to the balcony and looked at the dim yellow street lights downstairs. It was still raining, pouring oil on the road, reflecting his vague shadow. "Mom, I'm going to Shenzhen on a business trip tomorrow. It's sent by the company, so I can earn some subsidies." He dialed his mother's phone, and there was a noisy background sound from the handset, including the footsteps of nurses, and TV news broadcasts: "Recently, there have been frequent cases of telecommunications fraud in northern Myanmar, and the police reminded the public not to trust overseas high-paying recruitment information..." "Shenzhen is good," my mother's voice gasped. "It's warm there. Remember to wear more... No, it's hot in Shenzhen now. You can bring that blue plaid shirt so as not to get sunburn..." She said, coughing more and more heavily. "I'm home alone late. Call me more often. She's timid and afraid of the dark at night. ......" "I got it, Mom." Chen Mo gritted his teeth and didn't let himself cry. "You take good care of your illness. When I come back, I'll bring you lychee from Shenzhen." Hanging up the phone, he squatted on the ground, his shoulders couldn't stop shaking. The sound of Lin Wan cutting vegetables came from the kitchen. The knife touched the cutting board and made a regular "dongdong" sound, as if it was knocking on his heart. He knew what he was doing and knew that it was likely to be a road of no return, but he really couldn't find any other way - life was like an airtight wall, trapping him in it, and that strange text message was the only "light" coming in through the crack of the wall, even if it was ghost fire. At four o'clock in the morning, Chen Mo gently pushed open the bedroom door. Lin Wan slept soundly, but his eyebrows were wrinkled, as if he was having a nightmare. He squatted by the bed and looked at her slightly bulging lower abdomen, and his heart hurt like being cut by a knife. He wanted to touch her face, but was afraid of waking her up. Finally, he just tied the corner of the quilt and turned around to pick up the canvas bag. The slippers at the door were neatly arranged. They were just brushed by Lin Wan yesterday, and they still smelled of soap. When he changed his shoes, he knocked down the green lotus on the shoe cabinet - they bought it when they first moved in. At that time, the branches and leaves were lush. Now most of the leaves are yellow and hanging down, just like his life at this moment. Chen Mo finally took a look at the house. The wedding photo on the wall was crooked, the clothes on the balcony were still dripping, and the fish soup stewed for Lin Wan was still warm in the pot in the kitchen. He gently brought the door, and the voice-controlled light in the corridor turned on in response to the sound. The miserable white light hit him, pulling the shadow very long. When I walked downstairs, the rain had stopped, and the air was filled with the smell of dirt and rotten leaves. A van was parked at the corner of the alley, with its headlights on, like two peeping eyes. The driver poked his head out. A man with a scar on his face raised his chin at him: "Let's get in the car. If it's too late, you won't cross the border." Chen Mo took a deep breath and opened the door. The car was filled with the smell of tobacco and sweat. He held the canvas bag in his arms, as if holding the last bit of hope. The border road is getting more and more bumpy, and the van is rolling on the mountain road like a broken tin can. Chen Mo picked up the car window and saw that the word "China" on the boundary stele gradually blurred, and the "go and no return" written in red paint on the back was washed away by the rain, leaving only the outline. "This is the 'advice' left to you by the hometown!" The driver suddenly burst into a rough smile, and the scars on his neck twisted with the action of chewing betel nut, like a live insect. Chen Mo noticed that the bamboo forest outside the car window turned into a tall rubber tree, and the water drops on the leaves dripped, smashing dark pits on the mud. "Master, can you take a look at the company environment first?" Chen Mo's voice tightened. The driver suddenly turned his head, a mouthful of betel nut scum at his feet, cursed in Burmese, and then took out a folding knife. The blade flashed a cold light in the sun. He slowly peeled the apple, and the peel was connected into a long line: "I'll know when I arrive. I'm sure you... don't want to leave." The apple core was thrown out of the window and was instantly taken away by a wild dog running out of the roadside. Chen Mo saw that under the guardhouse in the distance, a man in a camouflage suit was carrying an AK47. The snake trunk hanging from the muzzle of the gun swayed in the wind, and the scales were blue-black in the light. The tin building of "Brilliant Technology" is like a rusty band-aid in the mountain. The "struggle to change fate" painted on the exterior wall faded to pink and white, and the word "dou" fell off a piece of paint, like an unhealed wound. The iron door is a welded steel bar, and colorful rag strips are hung on the electric barbed wire. When the wind blows, it sounds like a soul flag. Chen Mo was pushed into the main building, and a musty smell mixed with sweat came to his face. The mattress in Datong was black, and the foam board could be seen underneath. Half a bag of moldy rice was piled up in the corner of the wall, and several cockroaches crawled out of the empty wine bottle. "Newcome?" A man with missing front teeth squeezed his eyes at him, and the dental bed was black and hole. "Good light, catch up with the 'performance sprint week'." He spit on the ground, "My name is Brother Wang. What do you don't understand in the future..." "Stop talking nonsense!" A fierce shout interrupted him. Scarface Zhang Qiang came in, and the army green T-shirt was stained with brown stains. He snatched Chen Mo's wallet, shook out the money and ID card inside, and took a look at the family photo. "Tsk, my wife is very handsome." With his thumb hard, the photo split in half with a "click". The glass fragments cut Chen Mo's hand, and the drops of blood dripped on the word "peace", and quickly fainted. "Here, don't talk about feelings," Zhang Qiang threw the fragments on the ground and crushed them with his military boots. "Look at this." He turned on his mobile phone. In the video, a man's legs twisted at a strange angle, crawling in the mud, with the sound of turbid water and the roar of crocodiles in the background. Chen Mo's stomach turned upside down. He clenched his fists, his nails were embedded in his palms, and the bloody smell permeated the tip of his tongue. The first "task" was placed early the next morning. Chen Mo was pressed in front of the greasy desk, with a yellowed book of words spread out in front of him, and the words marked with a red pen made his eyes hurt: "The old man should 'pretend to be filial', women should 'talk about feelings', and the poor should 'draw a rich cake'". When the phone was dialed, his fingers trembled and pressed the hands-free button unsteadily. An old cough came from the handset with a strong Shandong accent: "Hello? Which one is it?" "Hello, Aunt Zhang," Chen Mo's throat seemed to be polished by sandpaper. "I'm... your son's friend. Something happened to him abroad..." "My son?" The old man's voice suddenly brightened, "Did he call me? This kid hasn't contacted me for a year. I thought he..." Chen Mo's eyes fell on the fragments of the family portrait in the corner of the table, and Lin Wan's smiling face was torn in half. He thought of his mother, who might be sitting in front of the hospital bed at the moment, staring at the phone and waiting for him to be safe. "Your son..." He couldn't continue to say, and the words on the speech book rotated in front of him. "Bang!" An electric stick poked his back waist, and the electric current instantly spread all over his body. Chen Mo was like a fish that had only been thrown ashore, and he fell to the ground with twitching all over. The screen of the mobile phone cracked spider web-like lines, and the old man's voice was still ringing intermittently in it: "Young man? What's wrong with you?" Zhang Qiang stepped on the back of his hand and sneered, "Your wife's belly is getting bigger day by day. Do you want her to collect the body?" He put his mobile phone in front of Chen Mo's eyes. On the screen was Lin Wan's photo, or when they went to take a pregnant woman's photo last year. She was wearing a white long dress and gently covered her stomach with her hand. "If she knew that you didn't even dare to deceive people, would she regret marrying you?" Zhang Qiang's voice is like an ice cone. "Either open your mouth to cheat, or go to the crocodile pond to feed the fish now - choose one." Chen Mo looked at Lin Wan's gentle eyebrows in the photo. The burning pain in the back of his waist had not dissipated. He opened his mouth, but he could not make any sound. At three o'clock in the morning, Chen Mo was awakened by the screams next door. The voice was like a cat's throat being pinched, bitter and desperate, and finally turned into a ambiguous sob. "Last week's performance was at the bottom," Brother Wang sat up at some point, poured inferior liquor into his mouth, and the liquor flowed down his chin into his neck. "Zhang Qiang poured boiling water on his hands and said, "Let him remember how to type and deceive people." Chen Mo touched the wound on his hand, and the blood had condensed into a dark red scab, like an ugly period. The wind outside the window rolled the rain and hit the iron sheet, crackling, mixed with the roar of nothing in the distance, like countless unjust souls wandering in the dark. "Here, tears are worthless than s**t," Brother Wang burped with cloudy eyes. "Either be a wolf or a sheep - the end of a sheep is to be skinned and boned." Chen Mo closed his eyes, and Lin Wan's face appeared in the dark. Her hand gently covered the back of his hand and said, "Chen Mo, let's take our time, and it will always be fine." His nails were deeply cut into the old wound in his palm. It hurt, but it made him feel that he was still alive. It's just that it's alive and has begun to rot.