Chapter 4 - Chapter 4 Silent Torture

Night is the only gentle torture instrument in this cage.Because at least, there is an end.When the first glimmer of light penetrated the pure white dead silence in the room through the huge floor-to-ceiling window, Su Wan slowly opened his eyes.She didn't move, not even blink, just staring straight at the magnificent chandelier on the ceiling that had not been opened, made of countless crystals.All night long, she was repeating a movement.——Smile.The smile at the girl on the tablet screen was over and over again, tugging at the corners of her mouth that had already stiffened.She is like the most devout believer, copying miracles.also like the most desperate prisoner, depicting his own epitaph.The laughter made her muscles ache, and her tears slipped uncontrollably, and at the moment of slipping, she forcibly wiped it away with the seemingly elegant but indifferent gesture that belonged to Lu Qingyue, which she had practiced countless times.Until the end, she couldn't even tell whether what was hanging on her face was a smile or a grimace that was extremely distorted by pain."Knock."Two slight and regular knocks on the door interrupted her fainting.Immediately afterwards, the door lock was opened from the outside with a "tick".A young maid in a gray uniform pushed a silver food truck and walked in silently. She lowered her head the whole time, not daring to look at Su Wan, and quickly placed the food on the plate on the small white round table in the room one by one.A glass of warm milk at just the right temperature.A medium-rare steak served with a few emerald green broccoli flowers on the side.There is also a small bowl of brightly colored vegetable salad.This is Lu Qingyue's breakfast standard.Su Wan's stomach was filled with nausea again. She has not liked the taste of milk since she was a child, and she has stayed away from half-raw meat.But now, she has no choice.The maid set up breakfast, brought a neatly stacked white dress, and then pushed the dining cart and retreated silently.The door was closed again and locked.During the whole process, there was not a single word of communication. She is like an ornamental animal in a cage that has been accurately fed.Su Wan stepped barefoot on the soft cashmere carpet, step by step, towards the round table.On the table, the cold tablet was still on.[Moonlight Project]Those four words, like a devil's eye that will never close, stared at her intently.Su Wan didn't touch the food.She picked up the tablet and scratched the screen.In addition to [Image Library] and [Audio Library], she clicked on the last folder, which was also the folder that scared her the most.[Code of Conduct]There is only one PDF file inside, but the file size is surprisingly large.Click on it, and the dense text instantly floods the entire screen like a tide.That's not a guideline.It was a heinously detailed manual on how to completely kill "Su Wan" and use her body to resurrect "Lu Qingyue"."Miss Lu Qingyue's Behavior Imitation General Outline" V3.0 version.Even the version number is available.As if this is a product that can be iterated and upgraded.Under the general outline, there are hundreds of sub-directories.[Diet], [Daily Life], [Demeanor], [Speech], [Emotions]...Su Wan trembled with his fingers and clicked on the [Diet].Article 1: [Steak cutting and tasting]"... When cutting, the first cut should be made at an angle of 45 degrees from left to right, and the width should not exceed 1.5 cm. When the dining fork puts the cut piece of beef into the mouth, the head needs to be slightly tilted to the left about 5 degrees, and when chewing, the lips must be completely closed, and the left and right cheeks must be chewed alternately 15 times before swallowing ..."Below, there is also a close-up video of Lu Qingyue's meal that has been slowed down ten times.The girl in the video is as elegant as if she has been carefully calculated, pleasing to the eye.Under the video, there is a line of scarlet notes.[Note: This is Mr. Bo's most admired dining posture of Miss Qingyue, and the imitation similarity requirement: more than 95%.] ]Su Wan's breathing stagnated, and he only felt a cold air rushing straight from the soles of his feet to the heavenly spirit cover.She resisted the desire to vomit and clicked on the [Emotions] again.The text of this article made her fall into an ice cellar.[1.0 Subdivision Guidelines for "Laughter"][1.1 Laughter when you are happy (such as receiving gifts or hearing praise): The curvature of the corners of the mouth is 1.2 cm, and the upper row of eight teeth needs to be exposed, and the duration is maintained at 3-5 seconds, accompanied by sexual movements: the eyes are slightly curved, such as a crescent moon, and the head is slightly tilted 15 degrees to the right. ][1.2 Smile when shy (such as being stared at by Mr. Bo): The corners of the mouth only need to be slightly upturned, and there is no need to show teeth. The eyes need to be lowered for 1.5 seconds, and then slowly lifted, looking at Mr. Bo for no more than 3 seconds, otherwise it will look frivolous. ][1.3 Laughter when comforting others: ...][1.4 Polite smile when hearing a joke that is not funny: ...]One by one, one by one, divided into categories, big and small.It was as if Lu Qingyue was not a living person, but a machine assembled from countless precision parts.And she Su Wan, what she has to do now is to disassemble herself and reassemble it according to this manual.She exited the PDF and clicked on [Audio Library].Inside, there are thousands of audio clips.There is Lu Qingyue's soft and glutinous "Jin Shen-" when she acts coquettishly, there is her crisp voice when she reads, there is her "good morning" when she wakes up in the morning with a hint of laziness, and even the faint wheezing and coughing sound when she is sick.Next to each audio file, there is a button to "Start Practice".Su Wan put on her headphones and clicked on the simplest sentence "Good morning".Lu Qingyue's voice like a yellow warbler sounded in her ears, without a trace of impurities.Immediately afterwards, a cold mechanical female voice prompted, "Please start imitating." "Su Wan opened her mouth, her throat was dry and hoarse because of the depression and crying all night.She cleared her throat and tried to make her voice sound less broken."Good morning..."As soon as the words fell, a voiceprint comparison chart immediately popped up on the screen, and there was a bright red, dazzling number next to it.[Similarity: 39%][Comment: The pitch is too low, the tail is stiff, and there is a lack of pleasure. Not qualified. ][Please continue practicing until the similarity reaches 90% or more.] ]Su Wan doesn't believe it.She took a big sip of water, moistened her throat, closed her eyes, and her mind was full of Lu Qingyue's bright smiling face.She imagined that she was her.She spoke again: "Good morning! "[Similarity: 45%][Comments: ... Not qualified. ]"Good morning!"[Similarity: 42%][Comments: ... Not qualified. ]Again, again.The cold three words "unqualified" on the screen were like merciless slaps on her face.She is like a parrot locked in a cage and repeatedly trained to learn.Until her throat was completely hoarse and she could no longer pronounce a complete syllable.She finally breaks down, slams the tablet the bed, buries her head in the pillow, and lets out a suppressed, desperate whimper to the extreme.Time, in this day-to-day, invisible discipline, has been ground into powder.Su Wan couldn't remember how long he had been in this white cage.Three days?One week?Or longer?She lost all concepts of time.Every day, her life is like a nightmare of an infinite loop.In the early morning, I was awakened by the aroma of gardenias.Then, facing the tablet, start the day of "studying".Imitate Lu Qingyue's intonation, practice Lu Qingyue's smile, learn her walking posture, the curvature of her little finger when she picks up the water glass, and her habit of gently scratching the pages with her fingertips when reading...She eats her favorite food, wears her style of clothes, and uses her smelling perfume.In her world, only Lu Qingyue remains.And "Su Wan" is being completely erased from this world little by little.She began to hallucinate.Sometimes, she looks at herself in the mirror and feels strange. That face was obviously hers, but that look, the stiff curvature of the corners of the mouth, belonged to another person.She couldn't tell whether the person in the mirror was Su Wan or Lu Qingyue.Or, just a pathetic monster stitched together pieces of two people.That afternoon, she was practicing her manners.[Demeanor 3.2: Turn around and look back][Guidelines: ... When turning, you need to use your right foot as the axis, your body drives your head, and the movements need to be smooth and coherent. Looking back at the moment, the eyes need to be three points of surprise, two points of curiosity, and five points of innocence. ]In the room, there is a huge dressing mirror.Su Wan faced the mirror and practiced this action over and over again.She was like a marionette, following the instructions, turning around and looking back.Turn around again, look back again.Every joint in the body is a sore protest because of repetitive, non-self-inflicted movements.Just when she practiced to the hundredth time and was almost numb."Click."The door is open.The one who came in was the housekeeper Uncle Chen.Instead of standing at the door as usual, he walked straight in, holding a wooden ring ruler that looked very quaint in his hand.He walked up to Su Wan, and his cold gaze, like a scanner, scanned her from head to toe."What are you doing?"His voice has no hint of temperature."... Practice. Su Wan's throat squeezed out two dry words. Her voice is becoming more and more like Lu Qingyue."It's not right."Uncle Chen spoke coldly.He said, raised the ring ruler in his hand, and used the tip of the ruler to point it on Su Wan's stiff shoulder.Miss Qingyue's shoulders are relaxed, always with a swan-like elegance. And you, here," he tapped the back of her neck with the ruler, "too tight, like a stone." ""And your waist, when you turn around, the core has no force, it is loose, and there is no beauty."Every comment he made was like a precise scalpel, dissecting her failure.Su Wan's nails pinched deeply into his palm again."Do it again." Uncle Chen ordered.Su Wan took a deep breath, suppressed the humiliation in his heart, and once again followed the guidelines, turned around, and looked back.t"Snap!"A crisp sound exploded in the empty room.The ring ruler, neither lightly nor heavily, whipped her calf.It wasn't very painful, but the humiliation was like an electric current, instantly spreading all over her body."Wrong!"Uncle Chen's voice suddenly became stern."When you look back, your eyes are empty! I said, three points of surprise, two points of curiosity, and five points of innocence! What is in your eyes? It's dead air! It's numbness! You are imitating Miss Qingyue, not a corpse!" ""Come again!""Snap!"Another blow, hitting her arm."The speed of turning around is 0.2 seconds slower! Miss Qingyue's movements are light, like feathers in the wind! And you, like a clumsy piece of wood! ""Come again!""Snap!""Snap!""Snap!"One time, another time.The ring ruler was whipped all over the body, leaving reddish marks.The pain, gradually accumulating, penetrates from the skin to the bone marrow.Su Wan gritted his teeth and repeated the damn action over and over again.She didn't know how many times she had been beaten, or how many times she had repeated it.Her consciousness began to blur.Physical pain and mental humiliation were intertwined, like an airtight net, entangled her tightly.She seemed to see that the girl in the mirror had Lu Qingyue's perfect smile on her face, but there were blood and tears in her eyes."Stop."Finally, Uncle Chen's voice sounded.He took back the ring ruler and looked at the shaky Su Wan condescendingly, his face still had the expression of Gu Jing Wubo."That's it for today. Remember this feeling. "He paused and said something more hurtful than a ruler."What the gentleman wants is a living, smiling and moving work of art. Instead of a low-quality defective product that cannot even complete basic instructions. ""Before dinner, memorize all the rules of [Emotions] 1.0. I'll come for spot checks. "After saying that, he turned around and left the room.The door was locked again.After Uncle Chen left, Su Wan's strength was drained.She couldn't hold on anymore and slowly slipped to the ground along the mirror.She curled up on the cold floor, her body trembling violently from pain and humiliation.She didn't cry.Because the [Code of Conduct] says: Miss Qingyue, never shed tears behind people. That is a sign of weakness.She just stared at a little bit on the floor with her empty eyes open.There, just now, because she fell, the water glass on the dining table was knocked over.A small stall of water stains seeped into the white and flawless cashmere carpet, leaving an abrupt, dark mark.That mark does not belong to Lu Qingyue.That mark was ugly, embarrassed, and out of place.That mark was left by her Su Wan.Su Wan's gaze was just like that, glued to that mark.In the depths of her dead eyes, which had long been filled with despair and numbness, something, like a seed buried under the frozen soil, broke a crack with great difficulty, extremely weakly.