The literary era since 1979

Chapter 294 I was so scared at that time

Yenching University Shaoyuan, international students dormitory building.

A desk lamp was emitting a yellow glow, illuminating the dark night. Yoko Suzuki was lying on the table, translating "The Ring" carefully.

Suddenly, the door creaked open, and she shivered with fright.

Looking back, fortunately it was not Sadako, but Hashimoto Yui who came back from the bathroom, wearing a white pajamas.

Hashimoto Yui blinked: "Yoko, what's wrong?"

Suzuki Yoko breathed a sigh of relief, "You scared me when you opened the door."

"No way?"

Yui Hashimoto was puzzled, "Yoko, I remember you were usually very brave."

Suzuki Yoko picked up the manuscript and said, "Maybe I was influenced by Mr. Fang's novel."

"Teacher Fang has published a new book!"

Yui Hashimoto was surprised and delighted, and read out the title of the book, "The Ring? It sounds a bit scary."

"It's a horror novel." Suzuki Yoko added: "To be precise, it's a science fiction horror novel."

"Eh?"

Yui Hashimoto has read science fiction novels and horror novels, but this is the first time she has heard the term "science fiction horror".

"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed there was such a thing."

Yoko Suzuki stroked the rough manuscript paper and said with sincere admiration: "I never thought that horror novels could be written like this. No, I should say that the combination of science fiction, suspense and horror elements is so clever, so natural and so profound that it reminds me of Lafcadio Hearn."

"What? What did you say?"

Yui Hashimoto was inevitably shocked, because "Heavenly Lafcadio Hearn" is the originator of modern Japanese ghost story literature.

The so-called ghost story literature covers many types of novels such as fantasy, science fiction, suspense, mystery, and ghost stories.

"Great Japanese writers" such as Dazai Osamu, Natsume Soseki, Akutagawa Ryunosuke, and Koizumi Lafcadio Hearn have all written ghost story literature.

"Maybe I'm exaggerating, but it's true."

Yoko Suzuki was full of praise.

Especially the integration of science fiction, suspense, horror and reasoning into one book is simply beyond imagination.

"real or fake?"

Yui Hashimoto was anxious and couldn't wait to see Teacher Fang's new work.

"Are you sure you want to watch this now?" Suzuki Yoko smiled playfully, "I don't recommend you watch this at night."

"Why, is it scary?"

Seeing her bestie nod, Hashimoto Yui said nonchalantly, "It's okay, I'm very brave!"

Yoko Suzuki jokingly said: "Really? I don't believe it."

"Yoko!"

Yui Hashimoto glared in embarrassment, "You may not believe this, but I have been scared since I was a child. I have seen all the movies like "Haunted House", "Eight Tombs Village" and "Haunted House Terror". I am not afraid at all."

"OK then."

Yoko Suzuki handed over the manuscript, then picked up her spare clothes and other things and walked out of the dormitory.

Yui Hashimoto flipped through the books, page after page, and the strange videotape murder case in the first ten pages was enough to make her throat ache.

"The TV suddenly flashed out of focus."

"It was blurry and flickering, and suddenly there appeared the scene of the well they had just left."

"At this time, the sound of the phone was quite harsh, and his nerves were almost broken, and he was about to fall to the ground."

"A pair of pale, skinny arms stretched out from the well, and a strange figure in a white dress and white clothes appeared in his sight."

"She took erratic steps, her loose bones twisting and swaying, and reached out her hand toward the TV screen."

"No!"

"It crawled out of the TV little by little."

"Green nails gleamed on the pale bones. Then she stood up, her body twisting and swaying constantly, and an eye appeared from under her long hair..."

Seeing this, Yui Hashimoto felt an inexplicable chill on her spine, and gusts of cold wind blew on her neck.

Goosebumps appeared all of a sudden.

I slowly looked back and found that it was the wind blowing from the electric fan, and I immediately exhaled.

At this moment, a woman with disheveled hair and a long cotton nightgown suddenly appeared, and a ray of light shone on her face.

"what!!"

A scream erupted, sharp and piercing. "It's me. It's me."

Yoko Suzuki was also startled and quickly lifted her hair and turned off the flashlight.

After seeing the face of the "ghost girl", Yui Hashimoto immediately realized that this was a prank by her best friend and stood up suddenly:
"Yoko!"

"Haha, sorry, sorry."

Suzuki Yoko dodged her lunge and apologized while laughing.

After a while, the lights in the dormitory building were turned off on time, and the corridor was pitch black, with faint footsteps being heard.

After watching "The Ring", Yui Hashimoto's mind was full of "Sadako". She tossed and turned in bed and couldn't fall asleep. She always felt that there were people everywhere and she was suspicious of everything.

Ceiling, bedside, balcony, cabinet, door...

If I opened my eyes, there was nothing, but as soon as I closed them, the ominous feeling returned and I heard footsteps again.

My heart was pounding and I couldn't help but regret why I read a horror novel so late at night!

So, he said weakly: "Yoko."

However, Suzuki Yoko did not reply to her, and the whole room was dead silent and eerie.

Yui Hashimoto was anxious and shouted to the lower bunk, "Yoko, are you asleep?"

Suzuki Yoko replied: "Falling asleep."

"Yoko!"

Yui Hashimoto pursed her lips and looked down at the bunk below.

I saw the light was on, and Suzuki Yoko was holding a flashlight, shining the light on her face from the chin upwards, and her tongue was sticking out.

"Hehehe, Yui-chan, come down and keep me company, okay?"

"Yoko-chan!"

Yui Hashimoto was so embarrassed and angry that she immediately jumped to the lower bunk and got into Suzuki Yoko's bed.

The two of them were laughing and joking together, and their laughter gradually spread to the corridor, giving the girls who were passing by alone a shudder.

Originally, Yenching University has always been rife with creepy supernatural stories, and there is even a saying that it is a "restricted area late at night."

Now, the rumor that the international student dormitory building was haunted spread throughout Yanyuan. The more it spread, the more it became known.

"Hahaha~"

Bai Ruoxue turned around and told Fang Yan about this. Both of them couldn't help but smile.

Fang Yan laughed and said, "Is Yenching University really haunted?"

"There are indeed such rumors, but I don't know if they are true."

Bai Ruoxue talked about classroom 609 in the fifth teaching building.

"I'm afraid it's the same as what happened in Haidian in 72. Someone is playing tricks."

Fangyan raised his hand and changed the topic to the delegation returning to Japan for a visit.

Bai Ruoxue showed regret in her eyes and said that she was not on the translation list this time, but Suzuki Yoko and Hashimoto Yui were both on it.

"Don't feel sorry, there will be plenty of opportunities like this in the future."

Fangyan said a few words of comfort.

Bai Ruoxue nodded in understanding, and then asked, "Teacher Fang, when are you going to publish "The Ring"?"

"This time I plan to publish it in Japan first. Once I have some success, I will choose one of the few remaining science fiction magazines in the country."

Dialects are spoken bluntly.

Bai Ruoxue suddenly understood, isn't this a roundabout way of rescuing?
“We cannot confront spiritual pollution head-on.”

The Fangyan Plan aims to make "The Ring" famous abroad, and then use its influence to reduce the damage caused by "spiritual pollution" to domestic science fiction literature. It does not seek to turn the tide, but at least to preserve a glimmer of hope for the revival of domestic science fiction.

"No wonder you asked us to try our best to complete the first part of the translation before the visit."

Bai Ruoxue suddenly understood.

Fangyan crossed his hands, smiled and said nothing.

The purpose of this visit to Japan is mainly to develop exchanges in culture, education, sports and other areas between the two countries. If nothing unexpected happens, it will inevitably trigger a wave of "China fever" in Japan.

By then, whether it is movies such as "That Mountain, That Man, That Dog" and "A Bite of China", or novels such as "The Ring", they will be able to take advantage of this opportunity and attract more attention.

When I thought of this, I prepared to write a letter and ask Yoko Suzuki to send it to her father Shunjiro Suzuki.

While the two were chatting, a familiar melody came from the TV outside the house.

"A Bite of China", which was pre-launched in newspapers, radio stations and television stations a week ago, has finally officially started broadcasting today.

(End of this chapter)