I have a date with the devil

Chapter 28

　Just before the start of the school year, the agency was really crowded with students of all colors and appearances.

The staff member who greeted them was a young foreigner who skillfully gave Ye Miao an application form and asked her to fill out the information, while smiling and lamenting, "You've come just in time, in a few days, there won't be much room left."

Ye Miao took the form, could not find a seat, simply stood next to a tall table, head down to fill out. The black and soft hair hanging down the neck, the cheeks of the skin with a bright white luster.

Years of dance practice gave her a very beautiful body, wrapped in a heavy winter coat does not look bloated, not too thin nor too fat, plate bright stripes smooth, obviously not very tall, but excellent proportions, long neck, small skull, so the whole person looks slender and slender, is thrown into the sea of people will still attract the attention of the first glance.

For example, now, a few girls a little closer to her have noticed her and began to exchange pleasantries and whisper.

Ye Miao finished filling out the form, handed the form back to the staff. Wang Qi came to her side and saw the information she checked and was shocked: "Ye Miao, are you going to live in a student apartment?"

There are two types of housing for international students in M to rent. One is a bachelor apartment, where you rent a complete house with a living room, bedroom, kitchen and bathroom, so you don't have to share any space with strangers, and the door is closed to make it your own private residence. Usually, such a place is also very well secured, so it is very popular among international students who are concerned about **.

Of course, it is also more expensive than other types of housing. In the center of the city with convenient transportation, the rent can even be as high as 900MKT per month, which is close to 7000RMB, so it can be said that the price is sky high. But it is not a problem for the rich generation.

The other type of student apartment is a shared apartment, where the tenant only has a separate room, and in better conditions, the room will have a private bathroom. Other than that, the kitchen, living room, etc. are all communal and need to be shared with other people living in the same building. Generally speaking, there are six to eight students living in each student residence.

The soundproofing of the rooms can be annoying for those who like quietness if it is poor.

However, it has its own advantage, which is that the rent is relatively cheap after sharing. The apartment recommended by the agency is located near the University of A. It is only 1km away from the school, two bus stops away, or just a short walk away. After conversion, you can save 1600 RMB per month and a lot of money per year.

From the pictures, the rooms are also comfortable and spacious, and it seems to be a nice place to stay.

However, Wang Qi remembered that her best friend was quite concerned about private space and, as her father was an executive in a globally renowned company, her family was well-off from childhood. Although it is not as good as some of the gilded tycoon students in the international student group, but it is also far above the level of ordinary working families. It is not a problem at all to rent a single apartment with better conditions.

Ye Miao tossed her hair behind her ear, smiled and said, "I think the bachelor pad is too quiet. When you first arrive, isn't it good to meet a few more friends? You can also practice speaking."

The real reason was that her nightmare experience since childhood made her prefer to go to popular places. Living alone in a big house was scary to think about.

She couldn't be more aware of her own physique. In case something did happen and she wanted to call for help, it was unknown whether her cell phone would suddenly shut off, whether she would be able to call the police in time, and what was waiting for her inside after running into the dark hallway .......

Although the student apartment is also closed to sleep, but a wall outside there are people in, scared when you can stay in the common area, and chat with people, always let her feel at ease a lot. The smoky smell of living people chasing and fighting is her salvation.

The real reason for this, naturally, can not be explained to Wang Qi.

The good thing is, Wang Qi thought about it and also thought she had a good point, nodded: "That's right. Nowadays, the security of student apartments is quite good, and the public space is generally quite spacious. Usually it's just a matter of living on your own, except for the smaller rooms."

In that room, the staff successfully contacted her landlord to communicate. The staff gave her the key to the room, taught her how to communicate with the landlord and how to pay the subsequent fees, and gave her a booklet of "Transportation Guide", which was very warm and considerate.

After that, the two of them went to the bank to do their business and bought some necessities. It is still very efficient to have a car for transportation.

After coming out of the supermarket with a big bag, Ye Miao looked down at his wristwatch and found that it was already 6 o'clock in the evening.

It was winter in Santa Montaña, and it was getting dark very fast. The two of them went into a nearby subway and bought hot dog sandwiches for dinner.

I don't know if it's the difference between Chinese and Western tastes, but the first bite, Ye Miao felt that the meat of the hot dog was powdery, with a little bit of fine froth, and when mixed with the salad dressing, the taste was incomprehensible.

"I haven't eaten this kind of sandwich for a long time." Wang Qi sighed and explained to Ye Miao: "When the international students in M country first arrived, they basically couldn't cook, and the prices of Subway's hot dogs, burgers and sandwiches were relatively cheap, so there was a nickname for the international students' dining hall. However, they get tired of eating too much, and they can't go to restaurants every day, so for the sake of their wallets and appetites, they have to learn to cook. In Chinatown, there is a Hong Kong style restaurant, egg tarts and baked goods are very good, every day there are long lines. There are also Sichuan cuisine, but the taste is not authentic, only spicy and not numb even if it is, but actually sour."

Ye Miao mouth a twitch: "Acid?" What kind of dark cuisine is this?

"Yes, in order to meet the taste of M people, the Chinese food here taste strange, will add a lot of vegetable puree ingredients."

Ye Miao: "......"

The more she listened, the more she found the hot dog in her hand hard to swallow, and she was suddenly glad that she still knew a little bit about cooking.

During the time she lived in her grandparents' home, she followed the nanny aunt who took care of the two elderly people to learn a little bit of cooking skills, simple steamed eggs, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, cola chicken wings, black bean ribs will do, and will also use the rice cooker to make soy sauce chicken.

Originally learned for fun, but now it seems that mastering the culinary skills of the old ancestors of Greater China is completely necessary. At least, after that, do not have to eat noodles and a variety of "dark cuisine" to spend the year miserably ......

Wang Qi said: "If my home is not too far from A University, I really want you to come to my home every day to eat ah."

Ye Miao's heart was warm: "I will go over to you on weekends to play. Daqi, I'm really bothering you today."

"What are you polite with me." Wang Qi laughed, without the shame of being a scum: "In high school, I also went to your house all day to live and copy your homework!"

The two of them chatted for a long time, and when they left the convenience store, the hour hand had stepped to 21:00 and the street lights were on.

The winter in Santa Montaña is dry and cold, and after dark, there are no pedestrians on the road, and occasionally a small car passes by slowly. In November, there is no snow yet. The church stood at the end of the road, the bell tower reflected the dim light, and the soft sound of carols came to the ears from a distant place, which made people feel calm.

Wang Qi sent the Buddha to the west, sent Ye Miao to his destination, and also very bluntly commented on the security of M, saying that compared with similar European countries, the security of M is very good. But with the influx of refugees, various emergencies began to more, now late at night independently out of the single ladies or men are less than before. It is important to be careful if you live alone.

Ye Miao nodded: "Don't worry, I will pay attention to safety."

The student apartment was some distance away from the busy area, but it was only a five-minute walk to the station, which was very convenient. On both sides of the straight oil-parked road, big evergreen trees were planted. The three-story vintage Western-style building is built with light yellow brick walls and creepers climbing under the snow-white window ribs. There is a semi-circular gable over the entrance, with a western-style black hooked lamp dangling from the center. There is also a row of mailboxes along the stairs.

The interior of the building is a wooden staircase structure with a small elevator. On the first floor is the living room and a semi-open kitchen with a bar, with a long dining table outside the kitchen. There is also a common bathroom - but since the room itself comes with one, no one would use it unless under special circumstances.

The second and third floors each have four rooms. In the entrance door facing the staircase, there is a small recreation and relaxation area with a treadmill in the corner, where you can run for 30 minutes with a coin. Normally, if friends come to visit, you can have a party here, but there are strict time limits. Ye Miao's room 202 is on this floor.

Further up on the third floor is the rooftop.

After thanking Wang Qi again and again, Ye Miao stood at the door and watched her drive away with a smile before turning around and pushing the box into the door.

The lights were on in the living room, and the whole building was quiet.

In China's prosperous first- and second-tier cities, nine o'clock is just the beginning of a wonderful nightlife, and friends out to j******f and eat late night snacks are a common occurrence. I don't know if her neighbors are party animals who have gone out to party and haven't come back yet, or if they are early to bed and early to rise, Ye Miao tried to avoid making noise and quietly entered her room.

Her room has a good layout, four-square, with a single bed, desk and a closet and other simple furniture. Since the whole building is on a high slope, the second floor also overlooks a large red tile roof in the distance, and the lighting should be very good after dawn. Ye Miao checked the door locks, heating and other facilities after the bed was made - she has a little bit of a cleanliness fetish, think that the new sheets bought back can not sleep without a wash, but after a day of running around, also no energy to pick, tonight will first make do.

After hanging up clothes and organizing household items, the room is still very empty. Time is slipping fast, already almost gone to the early morning. Ye Miao rubbed his sore eyes, turned out his pajamas and pressed the bathroom light, intending to take a shower and sleep.

Who knows that the light bulb flashed, then suddenly went out, after how to press the light, it should have been about to break. Ye Miao was dumbfounded and thought bitterly, she actually encountered this kind of thing on the first night, so she could only talk to the landlord tomorrow.

After taking a shower in the dark bathroom in front of the mirror, Ye Miao decided to borrow the public bathroom on the first floor - she now finally knew what it could do in critical moments.

The public bathroom is quite a bit more spacious than the one in the room, so Ye Miao put down her toiletries and took off her clothes. The straps of her underwear strangled a light red mark at the back of her shoulders and collarbone.

Just between her **, off the bottom, there was a light eggplant-colored mark, in the shape of a rose petal, like a luscious hickey.

Ye Miao pulled up the shower curtain and swung open the button. Hot water rushed out of the shower and poured over the body. The tense muscles slowly relaxed, she only felt relieved, gently sighing out a breath.

After rinsing off the foam of the shower gel, Ye Miao was still a bit reluctant, and showered for a while longer. At this time, her afterimage suddenly glimpsed a shadow outside the shower curtain next to her.

Her heartbeat suddenly stopped creepily, and the blood flowing slowly throughout her body instantly froze.

The shower curtain was beige, and became slightly transparent when it was wet with water vapor. The shadow is very short, hanging head, black hair covering the head, sitting next to the shower curtain on the toilet lid, hazy, silent, I do not know how long has been staying.

She just now, clearly locked the door.

The shower curtain was moved by the warm breeze, and the empty section below revealed a pair of feet of that thing. The dark red blood dripped down along the skin crawling with corpse spots, dripping into the water on the floor, draped into blood, flowing towards the drain ......

Previously in a temple to worship, Ye Miao heard a statement called "low luck". A normal person who suddenly saw something that should not be seen, is a bad omen, meaning that he will soon have bad luck, or even to go to the ghost gate to take a trip.

Ye Miao is not the first time to see these things, but, they are forced to such a close place, is also rare.

In the air, there was only the sound of rushing water.

Ye Miao's face was white, teeth chattering slightly, but did not dare to lift the shower curtain, shivering fingers unconsciously clasped the heart of the seal, a blink of an eye, then found that the shadow was gone.

The water on the ground regained its clarity. The blood froth that melted away seemed to be just her illusion.

Ye Miao is no longer in the mood to enjoy the shower, blue-white face, put on clothes, fled back to the room, locked the door carefully, shrunk back to the bed, buried himself under the covers.

She didn't dare turn off the light to sleep tonight, she took out her phone and turned around in her contacts.

It's already one o'clock in the morning in M. It's not good to disturb Wang Qi again. Her finger paused at the "Dad" line, but chose to skip it. When she reached the midway point, she saw a contact with the name "S".

Before leaving for M, her grandmother was worried that she was unfamiliar with the country, and it just so happened that a former student had left the country, married an M person, and settled down abroad.

The family has a young grandson who is about the same age as Ye Miao and now lives in Santa Monica. The family has a young grandson who is about the same age and now lives in Santa Monica. Grandma Ye then asked someone to get his contact information and gave Ye Miao a copy so that she could contact the family if something happened.

In fact, Ye Miao thought that when something really happened, the police might not be able to help, not to mention the strangers she had never met, so she did not intend to really contact each other. But since it was the grandmother's kindness, she saved the number in front of the old man, and also god forbid knocked a "S" letter as a name.

She inexplicably felt that the other party and this letter match quite well.

The good thing is, because of the time difference, China is now 8 am, refresh the circle of friends, you can already see the early riser's dynamic. Ye Miao browsed for a while, finally felt a trace of peace of mind, sleepiness came up, unconsciously curled into a ball, pressed the body of the seal.

Back then, that letter to Santa Claus disappeared out of thin air. Of course, with the hair to think also know, even if really sent out, will only end up a stone sunk in the sea, no reply.

But strangely enough, after Christmas that year, she found herself with a strange brand on her body. It was not a bump or a paint, but a flat birthmark that appeared on her skin.

From that day on, she felt a vague sense of an extra protective shield around her. The yin and yang eyes that had been bothering her for so long were forcibly closed, and there were no more nights of tossing and turning, fearful of not being able to dream, and no more seeing scary things and getting caught up in horrific events on three days. She began to live like a normal girl.

At first she was shivering and confused, but then she finally accepted the fact.

Although it was not explicitly stated, she had a feeling that it was the disappearing letter that had worked.

Something had received her plea for help and was sheltering her.

This kind of shelter, is silent and powerful.

But there is no free lunch under the sky. All of life's gifts have a quiet price tag. The freedom and joy that is advanced today will one day be repaid with interest.

From adolescence onwards, she will gradually have some lucid dreams.

Dreams are supposed to be hazy and will be forgotten soon after waking up. So the term "lucid dream" sounded a bit strange. But she couldn't find a more accurate description - because she could describe what had happened in her dreams in a very precise way, long after she woke up.

Slippery tongue-like things that would delicately lick the young girl's lips in the middle of the night, even sliding into unmentionable places. The mere kiss can also make one's body tingling.

That is definitely not Santa Claus, Ye Miao thought.

Because, the Santa Claus in this world, would not be so evil, absurd, full of desire.

The young and youthful, there is nothing wrong with having these dreams. But by the night she came of age, this dream went too far. In reality, she had never even touched a man's hand, and she seemed to be a quiet, well-behaved girl who had never had a boyfriend, but her body had been opened by something unknown that night, and she had been thoroughly enjoyed.

Probably because it was a dream, she did not feel the pain of the broken melon, and did not know what shame was. After the initial panic passed, she could not help but shamelessly take the initiative to wrap around that thing, stick to it and grunt weakly, as if she did not want to be tickled again, longing to be completely possessed by that thing, strong control.

In fact, she has long been unable to distinguish whether that night was her imagination or what had really happened. After all, when she woke up, there was no physical discomfort.

But even if it were true, she acquiesced that this was the price she had to pay for accepting protection - if not, she might still be bouncing around temples and churches in various places to this day, humbly pleading with the gods for shelter.

Moreover, she could not say against her will - she did not like being treated this way at all.

However, things have suddenly changed since six months ago. The thing that had been with her for several years and had been "visiting" her every once in a while, suddenly stopped coming.

In contrast, the barriers that protect her began to become weak, there are gaps.

If she had been living in hiding, it would have been fine. But she has tried to live a normal life, naturally she can no longer accept to live the kind of fear, fearful days.

Therefore, even though she knew that she was no longer in a state of peace and security, she was too bold to stop going out into the world and was unwilling to give up the opportunity to come to M for exchange.

After all, subconsciously, she didn't believe that the thing would let her go so easily and stop caring about her.

The author has something to say: MKT is an abbreviation for the currency of M that I made up.