Under the bright moonlight and thin, gauzy clouds, a young man lay under his blanket, seemingly asleep. The reason for using the term "seemingly" was that, upon closer inspection, one could notice his eyelids twitching slightly, and his fists under the blanket clenching and unclenching repeatedly.
"Tat tat tat—!" Something was tapping at the window.
Raymond ignored it.
The sound grew more lively, tapping rhythmically.
Raymond pretended not to hear it.
After a while, the sound ceased.
But barely ten seconds of silence had passed before another noise suddenly began. It sounded like something was slowly scraping against the glass, piercing and sharp, enough to make one's skin crawl.
"Tat tat tat—!"
"Screech screech—"
"Tat tat tat—!"
It seemed like a duet of noise had begun!
Raymond's brow twitched furiously. He threw off his blanket and got out of bed, storming over to the window and yanking the curtain open with a swipe.
Outside, under the bright moonlight, there was nothing. As if everything just now was a ghostly prank.
But Raymond didn't believe in that nonsense. He took out his phone (though it no longer made calls or accessed the internet, Raymond kept it as a memento, regularly charging it and occasionally using it to take photos, record videos, or jot down notes). He turned on the flashlight and shone it around outside.
In the darkness beyond, a pointed, monkey-like face suddenly loomed into view.
Many people have had the experience of suddenly seeing a face illuminated in the dark, which can scare one half to death. Even more so if it's a hairy face.
Such a sudden appearance could make anyone's heart skip a beat.
But at this moment, more than being scared, Raymond was furious.
Damn it!
That damn monkey was harassing him before he could even confront it! Knowing it was exposed, it didn't care about running into him?
Too arrogant!
Intolerable!!
At the other end, the monkey, suddenly caught in the flashlight's beam, was initially startled. But soon, seeing Raymond's furious expression, it gleefully danced around, even shaking its red monkey butt at him.
So shameless, just like in the surveillance footage.
Are you a three-year-old child?!
Raymond felt like he was dealing with a mischievous kid.
Swish—!
He suddenly opened the window.
The little monkey, frightened, turned and fled, disappearing into the distant darkness in a few leaps.
"Meow~~~"
At that moment, Ben Mao walked into the room. Clearly, it had sensed something unusual and came to check it out. Although Raymond had closed the bedroom door when he went to sleep, it wasn't locked. For a cat (let's still call it a cat) with such extraordinary intelligence, opening a door was no challenge.
Of course, Raymond would never forget how, back when Ben Mao wasn't yet intelligent, it once tried to open the door. It stood up shakily on its two legs but was too short to reach the doorknob, so it kept hopping up and down…
Every time Raymond thought of that scene and compared it to now, he would marvel at the wonder of evolution.
Having been harassed by the little monkey and filled with rage, Raymond didn't sleep well that night.
The next morning, he got up looking sleep-deprived. He decided to take a nap after breakfast. But before that, there was something he needed to do.
Raymond moved the speakers from the living room to the balcony. Since the cables were too short, he had to make a trip to the computer store to get some extension cords.
After setting everything up, he returned to the living room, turned on the TV and DVD player. Honestly, he hadn't used the DVD player in a long time. It was once popular, a home theater essential, but now almost obsolete, much like the DVDs themselves.
If it weren't for the monkey using it, Raymond would have forgotten he even had a DVD player in his living room, or the collection of movies and TV shows in his cabinet.
Looking at those familiar DVDs, full of nostalgia, Raymond felt sentimental. It reminded him of his childhood, when the whole family would gather in the evening to watch TV. Watching a DVD movie was an event that could make a child excitedly scream.
Thinking back, how long had it been since he watched TV with his parents? Not since he moved out after graduating college, but even before that, it had been a long time since the family watched TV together.
His parents still had the habit of watching TV after dinner, but he had changed. Growing up brings changes, and no one can go back to the past. Yet, seeing those familiar DVDs, Raymond felt nostalgic. If it weren't for this, he wouldn't have bought a seldom-used DVD player after moving out.
Such thoughts were too extravagant in these times.
Taking out the "King Kong" DVD, Raymond started playing it on the TV. Then, he put on sleep earplugs, turned the volume to the highest he could tolerate, glanced at the speakers on the balcony, locked the glass door, and drew the curtains.
Yawning, Raymond returned to his bedroom for a nap.
He had a comfortable, refreshing nap. When he woke up, "King Kong" was still playing on the TV, now at the part where the gorilla was falling in love.
Raymond walked to the balcony and drew the curtains. Outside the glass door, a yellow-haired monkey was anxiously pacing, occasionally scratching its ears, like an ant on a hot pan.
Seeing the curtain open, the monkey turned its head and, upon seeing Raymond, acted like it saw a mortal enemy, baring its teeth and making threatening gestures.
"Screech screech—! Screech screech—!"
Raymond, expressionless, looked at it, then pulled the curtain a bit more to the side, letting the monkey see the "King Kong" playing on the TV.
The monkey's eyes lit up instantly.
But it only managed to watch for three seconds before Raymond blocked its view again.
"Screech screech—!"
The monkey, dissatisfied, bared its teeth at Raymond again, then stretched its neck, trying to find another angle to see inside. But just then—
Swish.
Raymond pulled the curtain shut tightly, sealing it completely.
"Screech screech—! Screech screech—! Screech screech—!"
Hearing the monkey's furious screeches outside the glass door, Raymond suddenly felt much better.
Nowadays, he thought it was silly to be fighting with a monkey. Look, the monkey had successfully dragged him down to its level. But fortunately, he had defeated it with his experience.
Wait, something seemed off about that statement.
Although the little monkey was angrily calling from outside, Raymond wasn't worried that it would break the glass door and come in.
Because, after observing for the past few days, he found that it didn't have any companions or subordinates to help it, and it was clearly impossible for it to know how to use high-tech products like surveillance cameras. So, the only reason it could always leave his house early, avoiding Raymond and Ben Mao, was that it could detect their presence.
To be precise, Raymond believed it was Ben Mao's presence it detected.
The concept of presence might sound mystical, like something out of a novel, but in fact, even among humans, there's sometimes a feeling called an aura that, though invisible, truly exists.
Although Raymond hadn't felt any presence from Ben Mao, what did Sherlock Holmes say? Eliminate all impossible conclusions, and whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.
Moreover, this wasn't really such an unbelievable thing.
Animals' senses are often more acute than humans', especially evolved animals.
The little monkey deliberately avoided Ben Mao after detecting its presence. Recalling how the big dog last time seemed genuinely afraid of Ben Mao, Raymond felt that with Ben Mao at home, the monkey wouldn't dare come in.
Sure enough, the little monkey raged outside for a long time but didn't dare break the glass door to come in.
After a dozen minutes or so, it seemed to have vented its anger and stopped yelling.
There was no sound from the balcony.
Raymond listened from the living room, raising an eyebrow, wondering if it had left in frustration. Just as he was about to get up and check, there was a loud "bang," followed by a series of noises.
At the same time, the TV playing "King Kong" suddenly went silent.
Raymond's face darkened slightly, guessing what might have happened.
He got up, walked to the balcony, and opened the curtains. He saw that the once classy-looking sound system on the balcony was now a heap of junk, smashed to pieces.
Raymond couldn't help but twitch his mouth.
Although the sound system in his living room wasn't top-tier, it still cost him several thousand dollars, and now a monkey had smashed it?! Outside the glass door, seeing Raymond appear, the little monkey puffed out its chest and strutted around. It danced on the smashed sound system, chirping proudly as if it were a victorious general, and then left with a smug look.
Raymond was dumbfounded and could only say, "Idiot!"
Sound systems like the one he had were cumbersome to move and not easily found on the market, but those small sound systems costing tens or hundreds of dollars were everywhere in the electronics market.
You smash one, I'll replace it with another!
Raymond was really butting heads with a monkey!
Sure enough, fighting with a monkey was foolish.
But foolishness aside, his method was unbeatable.
Raymond went out, directly drove to the electronics market, and brought back dozens of small sound systems.
Thus, when the little monkey was attracted again, it quickly found out in despair that every time it smashed one, the hateful human would nonchalantly come out with the cat, scare it away, and calmly replace it with another.
Then, the sound would start again.
And it could only hear the sound, not see the picture!
Ah! How could there be such a cruel, heartless human in this world!!
The little monkey was furious!
It continued to smash!
So, the little monkey smashed one, Raymond replaced one; the little monkey smashed one, Raymond replaced one...
It was like a bottomless pit!!
Seeing the little monkey outside, jumping around in fury but helpless against him, Raymond couldn't help but laugh. He suddenly understood what it meant to "love seeing you hate me but can't do anything about it."
After three days of this, the little monkey was thoroughly enraged.
If at the beginning it thought, "This human is so despicable, coming up with such a heartless way to torture me, only letting me hear and not see, how despicable! He's a devil!"
Then, after three days, it had no such thoughts left.
With the repeated scenario of "smash one, Raymond calmly brings out another," the little monkey was now simply burning with anger, just fighting against Raymond out of spite.
Like two people who start a conflict over some friction, initially remembering the cause, but once the fight starts, if no one stops them, it often escalates continuously.
The initial conflict?
In the heat of anger, who still remembers that?!
"Damn! The last one is broken too!" Raymond glared at the little monkey, swore, and cursed.
The little monkey spread its hands, shook its head, looking helpless but actually feeling triumphant.
...
No more sound systems? Just get more!
Raymond took Ben Mao and went out.
After they left, the little monkey stood among the pile of broken sound systems, hopping around as if showing off its trophies, occasionally scratching its ears triumphantly.
"Chirp chirp! Chirp chirp!"
Suddenly, its eyes lit up, thinking of something. It reached out and tugged at the sliding glass door.
But then it jumped up in anger, shouting furiously because that hateful human had locked the door before leaving!
After venting its anger by stomping on the broken sound systems, the little monkey raised its hand, seeming to want to break the glass door, but after hesitating for a moment, it withdrew its hand.
It then leaped onto the balcony railing and left the balcony.
But it didn't leave Raymond's house; instead, it began checking the windows of his house.
Bedroom window, closed.
Kitchen window, closed.
Damn human!!!
Bathroom window... huh? Not closed!
The little monkey was delighted, opened the window, and excitedly jumped in...
Time passed by.
About ten minutes later.
Raymond and Ben Mao returned to the apartment building by car. They parked the car and went upstairs.
If the little monkey had seen this, it would surely be confused, puzzled, because the human didn't bring back anything that could produce sound, but instead carried a transparent plastic bag with a few packs of napkins inside.
It seemed he had just gone to the nearby supermarket to get some napkins...
Opening the door and walking into the living room, Raymond put down his things, picked up the remote on the coffee table, and turned off "King Kong" still playing.
Then, he found the circuit breaker in his house and cut off the electricity to the bathroom.
Finally, he walked to the scorched figure lying outside the bathroom, squatted down, and poked it with his finger, then poked it again.
A smell of roasted meat wafted through the air.
"Cooked quite well," Raymond said with slight surprise.