Two o'clock in the morning (suspense story)

Old Xu is a retired employee of the museum, his wife died early, a person lives in a huge old house, fortunately, his daughter Zhenzhen chose to come back to work after graduating from college, and Old Xu felt fun. The old house was bought by the old Xu in the early years, the appearance is old, the interior decoration is OK, the old Xu lives on the first floor, the children live on the second floor, through the window on the second floor can see the backyard, the third floor is a small attic, which is full of old furniture and books that are not used, the door is locked, and the key is only old Xu has. The backyard of the old house is full of flowers and plants of all kinds, and there are several old elm trees in the middle of the yard, and Lao Xu has built a small pool under the tree to raise fish. In his free time, Lao Xu takes care of his flowers and plants in the backyard, feeds the fish, and listens to the radio.

Once Zhenzhen accompanied Old Xu shopping, on the way back met the thief, the thief snatched Zhenzhen's wallet and ran, Zhenzhen shouted: "Catch the thief." Only to see a young guy rush out of the crowd, pick up the flowerpot on the side of the road and smash it, the thief fell to the ground in response, the guy stepped forward with an arrow, and held down the fallen thief to grab the wallet. Inadvertently, the thief quickly pulled out a fruit knife and stabbed at the boy's face, the boy used a block with his hand, injured his wrist, and the thief took the road and fled. Zhenzhen quickly picked up the boy and took him into her home to bandage him. "What I learned is nursing, rest assured, the wound is not deep, it will not be infected, just thank you." By the way, what's your name? "Zhenzhen chatted with him while bandaging him." My name is Cao Ran. The guy responded with a smile. Old Xu handed him a cup of tea: "Xiao Cao, thank you so much, the current thieves are too rampant, and they dare to rob in the street in broad daylight." "Yes, you're welcome." In this way, Cao Ran and Zhenzhen met. Zhenzhen immediately had a good feeling for Cao Ran and left contact information for each other.

Later, Zhenzhen often asked Cao Ran to come out to play, go shopping for dinner and watch movies. Cao Ran is tall, handsome and funny, and Zhenzhen is like a little woman who gradually relies on the days of Cao Ran. However, every time Zhenzhen returned home, Lao Xu, in addition to asking about Zhenzhen and Cao Ran, always did not forget to remind his daughter to be cautious: "You don't know Cao Ran's family background, don't get too close to him, the girl's family must learn to protect themselves, and he is still from Xi'an." "Dad, why are you still so old-fashioned, and now young people still have to pay attention to the door when they fall in love, right?" What's wrong with Xi'an, the scenery is better than Beijing. Cao Ran is very kind to me, considerate and generous, always able to make me laugh, and I am very happy with him. Zhenzhen made a happy expression, "He may be the person I was destined for." Old Xu saw that his daughter was so happy, smiled and said, "Well, find a time for you to bring Cao Ran back for a meal, we know each other." Zhenzhen was happy when she heard it: "Well, this Sunday, we are both on holiday, and I will go and tell Cao Ran the good news." ”

Early sunday morning, Lao Xu went out to buy many dishes. Zhenzhen and Cao Ran walked around the street for a while, bought gifts such as ginseng for Lao Xu, and returned when it was almost time for dinner. Some time before lunch, Cao Ran offered to ask Zhenzhen to show him this ancient mansion. Zhenzhen happily led Cao Ran to tell him about the old mansion, and when he visited Zhenzhen's room on the second floor, Cao Ran stood still and stared at the attic on the third floor: "What is the attic above?" "It's all old furniture or something, something that you don't need to throw away." "Locked?" Cao Ran walked to the attic door and touched the lock on the door and asked. "Dad said that it was all stuff from the past and my mother, and when he saw it, he was afraid of touching the scene and hurting it, so he sealed the attic." "Don't you have a key?" "The key was only available to my father, who generally didn't let me in, and I only went in when I was a kid." Cao Ran stared for a moment. At this time, Lao Xu stood at the top of the stairs and shouted, "Eat." ”

During the banquet, Cao Ran behaved politely. "Xiao Cao, I heard Zhenzhen say that you are from Xi'an and came to Beijing to work last year?" "Yes, uncle, there is a lot of room for big cities to develop." "What do parents do?" "Dad, do you check your household registration?" Zhenzhen smiled a little embarrassed. "They're all ordinary workers, in their hometown." "It's not easy to get a foothold in Beijing on your own, come, toast you." Everyone had a good chat, of course, the happiest is Zhenzhen, she is more convinced that Cao Ran is the Prince Charming in her mind.

After that, Zhenzhen and Cao Ran dated more frequently, and soon Cao Ran and Zhenzhen decided to get married, and Old Xu also confidently handed over Zhenzhen to Cao Ran. But there is a requirement for the two, that is, the two must live at home. Cao Ran gladly accepted, after all, he also saved the money to buy a house.

Old Xu renovated Zhenzhen's room, and one happened shortly after the two of them moved in. One morning when she got up, Zhenzhen told Cao Ran that after midnight, she faintly heard the bells from the attic. Cao Ran frowned: "No, I didn't hear it, will you hear it wrong?" "Maybe I'm too tired." Zhenzhen smiled and said. For the next few days, Jane said she heard a bell in the attic. While comforting Zhenzhen, Cao Ran secretly left a heart eye, and when he went to sleep at night, Cao Ran put his watch in front of the bed, lay on the bed, closed his eyes and recuperated, waiting for the bell to ring. At two o'clock in the middle of the night, two bells rang faintly in the attic. Cao Ran quickly got up and looked at his watch in the moonlight, and found that Zhenzhen beside him had also woken up, and whispered to him: "Cao Ran, did you hear me?" "I heard it too, and it was indeed coming from the attic, so how could there be a bell in there?" Has it sounded before? ”。“ No, I've never heard it, and the bell sounds like an old-fashioned wall clock, and the sound is really uncomfortable and a little scary. Zhenzhen hugged Cao Ran tightly. Cao Ran thought in his heart, "If this is the case, then someone in the attic must have entered it, why?" Cao Ran put his arms around Zhenzhen: "It's all right, ask Dad tomorrow if he put it in." The next day when he got up, Old Xu went out for a walk early, and Zhenzhen and Cao Ran went to work separately. Not long after, Cao Ran secretly ran home after taking leave from the unit and hid in the room on the second floor, intending to monitor the movement of the attic through the crack in the door. Soon, Lao Xu returned and shouted, "Children, have you all gone to work?" "Seeing that no one responded, I went into the study and took out a key and went to the attic." It's him? Cao Ran held his breath and gently pulled the door open a slit. Old Xu opened the lock of the attic, "creaked" and pushed open the heavy iron door, and then there was a sound of plucking the bell, Cao Ran listened to it really, it was an old-fashioned wall clock. At dinner in the evening, Zhenzhen asked Lao Xu: "Daddy, what's going on with the bells in the attic?" Old Xu was stunned at first and then smiled unnaturally and said, "Oh, some time ago I put the broken wall clock in, what's wrong, is there a sound at night?" I'll take a look in a moment. After dinner, Old Xu went to the attic alone, and Cao Ran said that he wanted to go together but Old Xu refused. Since that day, Zhenzhen has not heard the bell ringing again at night.

This morning, Cao Ran and Zhenzhen both went to work. Old Xu went out and walked around and came back to clean up, accidentally rolled down the stairs, the brain was seriously damaged, coupled with the fact that the body was not good, when it was found and sent to the hospital, there was only one breath left, the hospital issued a critical illness notice, Zhenzhen and Cao Ran rushed to the news. Seeing her father lying on the hospital bed, Zhenzhen hurried to the bed, held her father's hand, and the tears couldn't stop flowing: "Daddy." Old Xu struggled to raise his hand, stroked his daughter's head and said softly, "Daughter, Daddy is leaving you, Daddy is sorry for you." "Dad, don't say it." "Daddy can't see your grandson, think about how cute you were when you were young, Daddy especially liked to like you when you were young, do you remember Daddy teaching you to memorize ancient poems while combing your horns and braiding?" "Remember, Dad, you hurt me the most." "Do you remember how naughty you looked the first time you were taught to memorize ancient poems?" "I remember, Dad, don't leave me." Old Xu pulled Zhenzhen's hand: "Zhenzhen, you have to live a good life with Cao Ran, so that your father can rest in peace." Cao Ran, you have to treat Zhenzhen well. Old Xu glanced at Cao Ran, and Cao Ran also had tears in the corners of his eyes. Suddenly Lao Xu's breathing became short, and he took Zhenzhen's hand and gasped and said, "Key, key?????? "I just choked on my breath." Daddy, Daddy?????? Zhenzhen threw herself into Lao Xu's arms and cried bitterly.

After taking care of Lao Xu's aftermath, Zhenzhen and Cao Ran returned home and looked around the empty house, Zhenzhen couldn't help but be sad, and Cao Ran's mood was also extremely heavy. When sorting out the relics, Zhenzhen suddenly remembered the key she said before she died, so she said to Cao Ran: "When Dad said the key key before he died, did he want to tell us anything?" Did he mean the key to the attic? Zhenzhen and Cao Ran rushed into the study, looking for Dong xi in Lao Xu's desk drawer, and finally found the key to the attic in a small box, and the two entered the attic together, which was full of old furniture and covered with spider webs. Suddenly, Cao Ran lost his voice and exclaimed, "Bell, the bell is gone!" Zhenzhen searched around, and indeed did not find the wall clock that had sounded at two o'clock in the middle of the night. Zhenzhen felt a chill in her back: "Cao Ran, why did someone steal the bell, what was the purpose, and would it be related to my father's death?" Cao Ran also felt the horror of the incident and proposed to move out: "Zhenzhen, the old house is empty, let's move closer to the city." But Zhenzhen called the police in fear. Officer Zhang led several people to learn more about the specific situation, and after Zhenzhen and Cao Ran carefully inspected the first and second floors, respectively, and finally found the wall clock in the corner of Old Xu's study. "False alarm, I think you are too tired during this time, a little nervous, nothing happened, we left." Officer Zhang left with the people. Cao Ran hugged Zhenzhen: "Zhenzhen, a false alarm, don't be afraid to have me in it, maybe the last time you said that the wall clock had a sound at night, Dad later moved the wall clock out and didn't tell us." You've been hit too hard these days and need a good rest, Daddy's fall was just an accident, you don't have to think about it, I'll be with you to protect you. Zhenzhen hugged Cao Ran and cried loudly.

In the next few days, Zhenzhen took a long vacation from the unit to take advantage of her physical discomfort and rested at home. Cao Ran also went home early every day to accompany Zhenzhen, and went into the study to read a book at night.

That night, Zhenzhen said that she had a headache and asked Cao Ran to go out to buy her some headache medicine, and Cao Ran arranged for Zhenzhen to lie down, close the door and go out.

After Cao Ran left, Zhenzhen quickly got up from the bed, went downstairs, came to the back garden, moved the ladder, climbed up the old elm tree by the pool, there were several bird nests on the old elm tree, Zhenzhen looked at these bird nests in a panic, as if looking for something. Finally, a tree hole was found under a bird's nest, and Zhenzhen reached in and touched it, and quickly put the bird's nest back in place. Just as he was about to get down the ladder, he found Cao Ran standing under the lamp at the top of the stairs staring at her, and it turned out that he did not go far, and quietly sneaked back to the house to monitor Zhenzhen. Zhenzhen cried out, "Cao Ran, you? Cao Ran walked out, holding a knife in his hand, his eyes were shining coldly, staring at Zhenzhen with a vicious face, and he sneered and said: "Or you found it, I know that you are restless these days, there must be something wrong." Take down the stuff on it, or I'll kill you." "Cao Ran, did you kill my father?" Cao Ran sneered, "It's too late to know now, the old guy himself deserves to die, he has lived for so many years is really cheap for him, how come he has not been condemned by his conscience." Tell you, my original name was Chen Ran, and my father and your father turned out to be archaeologists. By chance, they found a valuable piece of jade, and your father actually pushed my father into the ravine in order to swallow the jade alone, and hid it from his superiors that my father accidentally fell. When my mom found my dad, she found a picture of my dad holding a button and a piece of jade in his hand, and that button belonged to your dad. Later, my mother remarried and I changed my surname to Cao, so many years, I will never forget every moment, it is your father who makes our mother and son suffer from the white eyes. So, I'm going to take revenge. I've been plotting how to get close to your dad, and just as you're back, I know my chance has come. I bought a bastard to get close to you by pretending to steal your bag. At first, your dad told me to go to dinner because he was constantly tempting me, but fortunately I was prepared. Do you want to know how your dad died? I know your dad has a habit of cleaning every day, and before I went to work that day, I deliberately put a layer of oil on the stairs, and I also wanted him to taste the taste of accidentally losing his foot. The old guy, in order to test me, deliberately put a wall clock in the attic to fool me, and set the wall clock at two o'clock at midnight every day, so he made a mistake. When I received a notice from your father to take him to the hospital, I deliberately went home first to clean the oil on the floor and steal the wall clock. I thought he would hide the jade in the wall clock, and to keep it unnoticed, I left it in the study. The wall clock is actually carefully designed, and you must enter the password to open the iron box inside. These few nights, I hid in the study and meditated, and finally I figured out that the password turned out to be 2, and the old guy was really well-intentioned, deliberately setting up a situation to lead me into a trap. I originally thought that I would find jade after opening it, but I didn't expect that there were only two letters inside, do you want to see it? One to me, acknowledging the fact that he harmed twenty years ago, and one to you, I haven't had time to open it yet. You give me the jade, I'll show it to you, hurry up. Cao Ran approached step by step, trying to climb up the ladder.

Just then, the police rushed in and subdued Cao Ran to the ground. Cao Ran was surprised and said, "Why, how do you know?" Zhenzhen also sneered: "Once I was resting, my father talked to me and said that recently he always felt that there were eyes staring at him behind his back, he felt very bad, and said that if the wall clock in the attic was missing, let me call the police." Originally, I only thought that my father was old, his health was not good, and the overall tension was not good, and he did not pay attention to it. Later, when we opened the attic after doing Dad's affairs, you didn't look for it and said that the wall clock was missing, and since then I have known that you must have opened the attic, and the person dad said that he had been spying on him was you, you are too terrible. Taking advantage of the police's time to handle the case, I secretly handed the written note to Officer Zhang and asked them to keep an eye on you and protect my safety. I had no idea what you were looking for, and Dad never said it to me, but I knew it must be something very important. Dad shouted the keys before he died, and I thought what you were looking for was in the wall clock. But tonight, when I was lying at the window looking at the pool in the garden, I suddenly remembered that before my father died, I asked me if I remembered the first time I memorized ancient poems when I was a child, and I remembered that the first ancient poems that my father taught me to memorize were goose and goose, and the song was sung to the heavens, and I finally understood the true meaning of my father's last words, and the thing you were looking for was not in the clock but on the tree next to the pool. I pretended to have a headache, and when you went out to buy medicine, I secretly sent a message to Officer Zhang, and now you know why you were caught, it was you who killed my father, and I hate you. ”

"Now please all of you follow us back to the police station for the next step of investigation, as for the stolen goods must be confiscated." Officer Zhang found a delicate iron box from the tree hole, but there was no key.

At the police station, Zhenzhen opened the letter left to her by her father:

Zhenzhen, Dad is sorry for you, when you saw this letter, Dad was no longer there, Dad looked at Cao Ran wrongly, it was Dad who hurt you. Dad did something wrong that year, and he didn't expect it to affect you. After you find the iron box, give the contents to the state, the key is the key to the attic, for what should not belong to us, Dad harmed two families, but also hurt you young people. Once you have lost your footing into a thousand years of hatred, Dad has been guilty for a lifetime, you have to live well, don't be sad.

"Daddy." Zhenzhen burst into tears.