It’s too similar, its eyes are too similar to that of his wife An Chu. A little angry, a little suspicious, and a little indifferent.
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one
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Ma Chang followed the monkey juggler for a few streets. The monkey man would stop every time he crossed a street, and he asked the monkeys to salute, do handstands and somersaults to the onlookers. After the performance, the monkey juggler stretches out his hand in front of the audience and asks for a dollar or two. He is often the most loyal audience in several games, and he spends money without hesitation. It was getting dark, and he continued to follow the monkey man. The monkey man stopped by a public toilet. Ma Chang secretly rejoiced in his heart, people had three urgent needs, and he finally waited.
“Your monkey is so smart.” Ma Chang approached him.
The monkey man smiled. His face was dark and deeply wrinkled, especially around the corners of his eyes.
“Are you going to the toilet?” Ma Chang said with a smile, “I’ll lead you the monkey, this monkey is really smart.”
The monkey man frowned and didn’t speak.
“You don’t believe me?” Ma Chang shouted, “I am your loyal audience.”
The monkey man seemed to have made up his mind. He handed the rope for the monkey to Ma Chang, and walked quickly into the toilet. Ma Chang was stunned for a moment, but he immediately implemented the plan he had been brewing. Ma Chang led the monkey into a taxi, and in the rearview mirror he seemed to see the monkey juggler yelling when he came out of the toilet with his pants up.
This monkey is mine now, Ma Chang thought happily. The taxi is now running at a speed of forty kilometers per hour. The horse often sits in the back seat, side by side with his monkey. He was finally able to watch the clever monkey up close. Wearing a shabby and dirty red gown, the monkey sat quietly with its front legs tucked in front of its chest. Ma Chang looked at it subconsciously, it was a female monkey.
“Come, give me a salute.” Ma Chang was a little excited.
The monkey did not respond. Its upper jaw is long, protruding forward, and the whole face is like a slope.
Ma often touches the monkey’s head: “Salute.”
The monkey tilted his head back and looked at Ma Chang angrily. The monkey’s eyes are large, hidden under the brown fur on the forehead.
Ma Chang felt very embarrassed. He wanted to go home and feed it something. After getting off the taxi, Ma Chang bought some peanuts at the convenience store before taking the monkey home. He saw that the monkey juggler was feeding the monkey with peanuts.
This is the single dormitory arranged by the company for him. The horse often closes the door and releases the monkey. He can finally play monkey tricks as he pleases. The horse often throws a peanut high, but the monkey doesn’t jump up to catch it. It waits until the peanut hits the ground to slowly pick it up and put it in its mouth.
“Damn it.” Ma Chang scolded, and he slapped the monkey on the head, “Turn me a somersault.”
The monkey squeaked and jumped away, sitting on the desk staring at Ma Chang.
Ma Chang was stunned for a moment. He felt that his eyes looked like a person, but this person had disappeared. Ma Chang regretted bringing back the monkey, he didn’t think about it so much at the time. The phone rang at this moment, and the monkey jumped around the phone. Ma Chang waved his hand to drive away the monkey and took the call.
“What are you doing, haven’t answered the phone for so long?”
“It’s alright, are you off work? I’ll pick you up.” Ma Chang heard Xiaowen’s voice. Xiaowen is his new girlfriend. The horse often tied the monkey behind the door, and he made the rope short so that the monkey could not wander around the house. The horse often went out whistling.
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two
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On the way home, Ma Chang bought Xiaowen a new dress, and they looked all smiles. In the small restaurant downstairs, the two ate beef noodles and took some napkins when they left. Ma Chang looked at Xiaowen, and his heart was full of joy. This is what people in love are like. Ma Chang almost forgot about the monkeys.
Xiaowen followed Ma Chang to his single dormitory. It was already more than nine o’clock in the evening, and Ma Chang said, “Go to bed early, I have to go to work tomorrow.”
The two of them began to undress and embrace each other.
“Listen, what’s that voice?” Xiaowen suddenly became nervous.
“What’s the sound?” Ma used his mouth to cover Xiaowen’s mouth.
Xiaowen was sure that she heard a strange voice, she pushed Ma Chang away: “Look.”
When Ma Chang turned around, his heart was about to burst out. The monkey’s face was right on his face, and it opened its eyes wide and stared at Ma Chang. Ma Chang fought a cold fight, and he subconsciously waved his fist. The monkey jumped away, but still looked at Ma Chang. Ma Chang remembers tying the monkey behind the door. But now the monkey was dragging a long rope around his neck, and the knot had been untied. To be sure, the monkey untied that knot by himself. Ma Chang felt uneasy. He felt that he brought back not a monkey, but a human being. That is a familiar person.
“Why is there a monkey here?” Xiaowen had already started to get dressed. “It’s really sick of you to let a monkey watch us make out.”
“It’s not like that. I picked this monkey from the road. I think it’s very pitiful.” Ma Chang hurriedly defended, “Well, it still performs a show. I’ll let it show you.” Ma Changbian Said and went to find that bag of peanuts. Unfortunately, he only saw a plastic bag, and the peanuts had already been eaten by the monkeys themselves.
Xiaowen opened the door: “You and this monkey have a good time, I’m going back.”
Ma Chang heard the loud closing of the door, and he didn’t have time to hold her. Monkey, it’s all the monkey’s fault. The horse often jumped up and hit the monkey, but the monkey avoided it nimbly. The things in the room quickly changed positions during the chase, and several glass cups were smashed to pieces. Ma Chang was even more angry, and he stepped on the rope around the monkey’s neck. Ma Chang laughed oddly, and he pulled the monkey towards him step by step. The monkey leaned over like a tug-of-war. But Ma Chang still pulled the monkey in front of him. He reached out to hit it, but when he saw the look in its eyes, his hand suddenly trembled.
Too similar, its eyes are too similar to that of his wife An Chu. A little angry, a little suspicious, and a little indifferent.
“Who are you?” Ma Chang suddenly released his hand.
The monkey jumped and ran away, squealing.
His wife, An Chu, disappeared half a year ago, and so far there is no news. Live to see people, die to see corpses. But half a year has passed, and the police have not received any information.
Ma Chang lit a cigarette and sat on the floor in a decadent manner. The monkey looked at Ma Chang from a distance and frowned. Ma Chang seemed to see An Chu behind the monkey. He didn’t know what kind of feelings he had for An Chu, love or hate. After getting married, An Chu was often suspicious. Every night when he went to bed, An Chu always stood in front of the bed and looked at him. Turning off the light, An Chu’s face looked narrow and weird in the dim light. She said that as long as she looked at Ma Chang quietly like this, she would know if he had any other women outside. The horse often rolls over unaccustomedly, and he feels like a prisoner. Ma Chang thought that he hated An Chu, so he was not in a hurry to find her after An Chu had been missing for so long.
The monkey sits on a chair and smokes. When Ma Chang looked up, he saw this scene. He found the monkey smoking the butt of the cigarette he had smoked. He smiled nervously.
three
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Xiaowen still didn’t let Ma Chang go so easily. The next day she called Ma Chang.
“Did you send the monkey away?” Xiaowen’s attitude was not very good.
“Send away?” Ma Chang felt inexplicable, “Where to send?”
“How do I know where you’re going?” Xiaowen said bitterly, “If you don’t send the monkey away, don’t come to me, you can marry it.”
Ma Chang didn’t know what to say, Xiaowen had already hung up the phone. Ma Chang sighed, and other colleagues in the company looked at him curiously. Ma Chang suddenly felt that Xiaowen and An Chu were essentially the same, which made Xiaowen’s impression in his heart discounted. Women are so unreasonable, Ma Chang suddenly thought of An Chu. An Chu often came to the company to find him. She didn’t call him by name, but just stood at the door to see if he was too close to his female colleague. Sometimes when Ma Chang came home from get off work, he would hear the sound of footsteps behind him. He wasn’t sure if it was An Chu, but he was extremely annoyed. He felt that An Chu was more suitable to be a detective.
They also have one thing in common, that is, they both like to give orders to Ma Chang.
“Why should I send the monkey away?” Ma Chang didn’t like this kind of order.
He returned to the dormitory at noon. The monkey sat on the desk by the window and basked in the sun. Ma Chang sat down on the bed. He yawned, and the monkey yawned with him. He bent down to tie his shoelaces, and the monkey bent down and fiddled with his feet. Ma Chang waved a little unhappily, and the monkey did as he did.
“Don’t follow me.” Ma Chang said angrily.
The monkey squeaked, didn’t know what to say.
Ma Chang stood up, and he saw an empty bread bag on the ground, which was what he put in the refrigerator. Ma Chang opened the refrigerator suspiciously. The refrigerator was touched and two pieces of bread were missing.
The monkey did somersaults on the desk. Ma Chang suddenly looked back at the monkey. The monkey stole his bread, no wonder it was so energetic. Ma Chang was not in the mood to appreciate the monkey somersaulting, so he rushed over and slapped the monkey. This time the monkey didn’t avoid it, and the pain made it scream sharply. Ma Chang was stunned again. He felt that the voice seemed to be from An Chu. In order to maintain the dignity of a man, Ma Chang once hit An Chu, and An Chu cried out when he was in pain. But this did not make An Chu give up monitoring Ma Chang’s actions. Ma Chang’s spirit was a little broken at that time.
??
It’s almost time for work in the afternoon. Ma Chang still tied the monkey behind the door, and he tied many knots, almost all of which were dead. Ma Chang smiled with satisfaction: Now you can’t solve it. He measured the distance from the door to the refrigerator again. The length of the rope restrained the monkey from reaching the refrigerator.
Look how hungry I am. Ma Chang locked the door.
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Four
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Ma Chang didn’t go home that night, and he was in a bad mood. Several colleagues invited him out for drinks and got very drunk in a bar.
“Don’t you have a new wife? Why haven’t you gone home yet?” The colleague rolled his tongue as he spoke.
“I’m not married yet. I’ve been arguing with me all day long. I don’t want her anymore.” Ma Chang became a hero after drinking.
The colleague said, “Where’s your ex-wife, haven’t you found it yet? You also didn’t go to the Public Security Bureau to run away.”
When Ma Chang heard this, he suddenly woke up a little. He is afraid of the police. “I’m not looking for the police, and the police don’t come to me.” Ma Chang tried to think of An Chu’s appearance, but the monkey appeared in his mind. Ma Chang became frightened, An Chu disappeared, did she turn into a monkey? Ma Chang shuddered at the odd thought. He vomited at the wine table.
When he woke up in the bar in the morning, Ma Chang was dragged by his colleagues and went straight to work. When he went to work, all he could think of was the monkey: brown fur all over, face slanted, eyes sunken. It learns his moves. Ma Chang clenched his fists: I can’t starve you to death.
At noon, Ma Chang hurried back to the dormitory. He was stunned when he opened the door: the monkey was gone. Only a piece of rope was left behind the door. Ma Chang quickly looked around. A shadow suddenly jumped up and hugged Ma Chang’s head. Ma Chang felt that he was being held under a belly, and he smelled a stench. “Go away.” The horse often hit the monkey on the back with force.
The monkey screamed in pain, it jumped away, and scratched several bright red blood marks on Ma Chang’s face.
Ma Chang stayed there, he felt like he was about to vomit. The monkey jumped from the top of the refrigerator. Wasn’t it tied by a rope? Ma Chang saw that there was a pair of scissors next to the rope in the ground. It was the monkey who cut the rope by himself. It never thought to untie the dead knot. Ma Chang felt a biting cold wind penetrate into his body. He suddenly remembered what he said to the monkey juggler: Your monkey is so smart.
The monkey crouched in the corner. The corners of its mouth were raised to the sides, as if mocking Ma Chang, it was a winner. Ma Chang suddenly thought of An Chu, the woman he beaten. Was she hiding somewhere and smirking?
Ma Chang leaned against the door, and he was a little overwhelmed. In his heart, it is not a monkey, it is a person, to be precise, it is An Chu.
After closing the door, Ma Chang hurriedly left. He went back to his office desk and was in a trance all afternoon. When it was time to get off work, Xiaowen came to him. She saw the bloodstains that had turned black on his face.
“Who are you insulting?” Xiaowen said angrily, “No wonder you abandoned me and have a new love, right?”
“No.” Ma Chang said solemnly, “I only have you in my heart.”
This sentence attracted laughter from colleagues who had not yet returned home.
“Then what’s going on on your face, is it a ghost?” Xiaowen said with a sneer.
“It’s a monkey, that monkey caught it.” Ma Chang explained.
Xiaowen didn’t believe it: “You really can lie. Did you fall in love with that monkey?”
Ma Chang stopped talking. He felt that she was making trouble unreasonably. He escaped from An Chu’s clutches and fell into Xiaowen’s abyss again. But he didn’t dare to say anything cruel. He found that he couldn’t live without Xiaowen now. He felt that he was a bitch.
“Why didn’t you send the monkey away?” Xiaowen spoke again.
Ma Chang hurriedly replied, “Send it away, I’ll send it away tomorrow.”
Xiaowen turned around and walked out of the office: “Send the monkey away and come back to me.”
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five
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The monkey’s front legs are draped over the top of the wardrobe, like a pull-up. From time to time, it looked back at Ma Chang, revealing its large yellow teeth.
The horse often sits on a chair. He felt remorse, and he thought that he really shouldn’t have brought this monkey back, just like he shouldn’t have married An Chu back then. Now he can’t get rid of them. Ma Chang saw a knife in the open refrigerator, and he wanted to kill the monkey with the knife. Thinking of this, he shivered. That is the monkey, it is the ancestor of human beings, or human beings that have not yet fully evolved. I cannot kill. Ma often got goosebumps all over.
He suddenly thought of An Chu inexplicably. He remembered that two days before An Chu disappeared, he went back to his hometown to attend a funeral. His cousin’s wife died because of tuberculosis. An Chu disappeared within two days after returning. He called the police, the police came a few times, and there was no news after that.
“Why didn’t you post the missing person notice?” Xiaowen once asked him, “How long do you have to wait to divorce her?”
Ma Chang was so annoyed that he said, “I don’t want to get on board. Didn’t I want to marry you? How can I marry you if I find her?”
Thinking of this, Ma Chang beat his head, he felt as if his head was filled with lead, and it was too heavy to lift. The monkey, following Ma Chang’s example, also tapped a few times on the head. Ma Chang roared at the monkey, and the monkey returned angrily.
Ma Chang stopped looking at the monkey. He felt that the monkey and An Chu were in the same group. I’m going to send you away. Ma Chang thought of this and made a call. It was the advertising hotline of the morning paper, and Ma Chang wanted to put up an advertisement to find the monkey juggler. He doesn’t want the monkey anymore. After registration, Ma Chang finally hung up the phone in peace. He looked at the monkey, and the monkey looked at him, as if laughing at himself. Ma Chang’s mind suddenly jumped. Monkey jugglers may not be able to read tomorrow’s morning paper. And he’s a wandererMan, maybe he has left the city. Maybe he’s back home and training another monkey, saluting, handstands, somersaults. He might say that at last a fool took my baggage away.
Ma Chang didn’t want to think about it any longer. Feeling sleepy, he lay down on the bed and fell asleep. The monkey didn’t run far, it just stood by the bed and looked at Ma Chang. Ma Chang angrily drove the monkey away. But when he turned over, the monkey stood by the bed again, looking at him coldly. Ma Chang gave up, and he wrapped the quilt tightly. He felt that An Chu was not missing, she came back and stood beside him. Dark complexion, owl-like eyes. He was shrouded in gaze and could not escape. Slowly, Ma often felt brown-black hair grow on his body, from his legs to his face. That kind of hair is firm and prickly to the touch. The horse was often frightened, and he got up and went to look in the mirror. He saw that his chin was sticking out and his face was covered with hair. He stared at himself in the mirror, he had turned into a monkey.
impossible. The horse was trembling all over. He wanted to wash his face and wash off the filth, but as he walked he found himself unable to move. He wore a collar around his neck, and a rope was attached to the collar. The rope straightened slowly, and the other end was held in the monkey’s hand. The monkey smiled at Ma Chang: You can’t escape my palm. Ma Chang can see the monkey’s face clearly, isn’t that An Chu?
Ma Chang wakes up crying. Tears flowed into his mouth, Ma Chang opened his eyes, he saw the monkey still standing by the bed, looking at himself coldly.
At this moment the phone rang.
The horse often picks up. No one spoke there.
“Is that Xiaowen? Why didn’t you speak?” Ma Chang said eagerly, “I’ll send this monkey away today.”
Still no one spoke, Ma Chang heard the call to hang up, followed by the busy tone. He threw the phone aside and took a long time to recover.
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six
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Ma Chang put his cell phone in front of him, and now he just hopes that the cell phone will ring. Then the man said to him, I’m the monkey juggler, and I’m going to take the monkey away.
But Ma Chang was disappointed. The phone did rang halfway through, but it was just a few dirty jokes sent by an old classmate. After reading the text message, Ma Chang looked behind him, and he was sure that An Chu was not standing behind him. When I was at home, every time a text message sounded, An Chu rushed to see it. She was worried that it was sent by the woman he was outside. Ma often felt that he had left behind a legacy.
Until he got off work, Ma Chang only took two calls. One is that the person dialed the wrong number, and the other is that Xiaowen called. She still doesn’t speak as she did in the morning. She waited for Ma Chang to say that she had sent the monkey away, but Ma Chang hadn’t completed the task she had given her, so the call took less than ten seconds.
Ma Chang was very frustrated. He scolded a swear word viciously, as if he was scolding himself, but also like scolding Xiaowen. Now Ma Chang is facing the monkey by himself again. He felt that his body was hairy, and he was a little afraid of this monkey now.
“You’re not An Chu, I know you’re not An Chu.” Ma Chang said to himself, “Because An Chu is dead, do you know that he is dead?”
The monkey didn’t speak, but jumped twice, like provocation.
The phone rang. It was a short message from Xiaowen. The text message has only twelve words: If we don’t send the monkey away today, we will break up.
Ma Chang threw the phone aside, thinking that he had no way out. He took out a fruit knife from the refrigerator. He said to the monkey, I’m going to kill you.
He walked towards the monkey step by step. The monkey sat on the desk without moving, looking at him coldly. Ma Chang pounced angrily, and the monkey dodged and jumped to the side. Ma Chang was lying on the desk, and he saw a piece of paper on the desk, with a picture of a dead person on it.
That was the death certificate of his cousin. He came back specially from the funeral. He hid the death certificate in the innermost drawer, but now the monkey has turned it out.
The person in the photo seems to be looking at himself. Ma Chang sat on the ground, and An Chu seemed to appear in front of his eyes. Ma Chang stood up, threw the knife, and grabbed An Chu’s neck. An Chu’s face flushed red, and her tongue stuck out. Ma Chang increased his strength, he thought that as long as he didn’t let go, he would be free. An Chu was doing her last struggle, she shook her head, those hair covering her eyes. Ma Chang saw that she was like a monkey.
Ma Chang hehe laughed. Something suddenly came to his mind. He took his cousin’s death certificate to the crematorium and burned An Chu’s body. No one noticed the appearance of the deceased, who appeared to call the police later.
It was half a year in the blink of an eye, and no one found out. They said that An Chu disappeared. Ma Chang also thinks so.
The monkey saw Ma Chang sitting motionless on the ground, like a vegetative person, and it also sat behind Ma Chang, motionless.
Xiaowen came to see Ma Chang the next morning. She angrily opened the dormitory door and saw Ma Chang lying on the ground with a fruit knife stuck in his chest. A monkey ran out in a hurry. Xiaowen saw the monkey’s bloody hand clearly, and the blood dripped all the way.