Volume One, Chapter Two: Dark Thoughts (01)

On that day, I took a morning leave to visit Xu Zhibin’s tomb. Even before I reached the grave, I saw a bouquet placed from afar. As I approached and looked closely, unsurprisingly, it was again white roses and gardenias.

The person who left the flowers and I always had an unspoken agreement to not disturb each other. To ensure this, I always arrived at 10:30 in the morning. I figured the other party must leave before 10, so we would never cross paths.

In the afternoon, Xiao Zheng, the department’s archivist, came over to my workstation. She showered me with compliments and grabbed my arm, pleading desperately for my help to file this year’s dossiers. She specifically mentioned that the archives were already boxed; all I needed to do was move several hundred boxes from the second floor to the fifth and arrange them in the cabinets by number.

As usual, I wanted to say “no,” but after fumbling in my mind to organize my words, I instinctively replied, “Okay.”

There is no elevator in this old building. I carried 7 or 8 boxes at a time, making over a dozen trips back and forth until my calves began to tremble. Luckily, “falling asleep met a pillow.” A message from the team leader popped up on WeChat, asking me to help him write a report. After apologizing to Xiao Zheng, I happily slipped away, while she stomped her feet in frustration in the direction I left.

Finally, work was over. I stretched lazily, stood up, shook my head, and thought that another day of corporate drudgery had ended. Shortly after returning home, drowsiness overwhelmed me, so I went to bed early. That night, I had a strange dream.

The dream was bathed in crimson. A woman wielded a stick, striking a man’s head viciously. The man’s head burst open like a watermelon, spilling pulp everywhere. Then the scene shifted. The man suddenly collapsed, unable to rise, while a blurry figure watched coldly from less than a meter away.

The image shook violently, and my stomach churned wildly. I jolted awake. Touching my forehead, I found it drenched in sweat. Darkness enveloped my vision, making my heart flutter inexplicably. I called softly, “An’an.” My dog crawled out from under the bed.

Seeing it, my heart and stomach settled, and I lay back down.

The next morning, I vaguely remembered dreaming but couldn’t recall the details. Without much thought, I rushed to the bathroom to freshen up, then headed to the subway for work, bare-faced.

When I arrived at the station, I suddenly remembered it was the weekend, so I hurried back home to catch some more sleep.

Soon it was Monday again. I barely warmed my seat at the workstation when Xiao Zheng came over, pestering me once more. This time, she wanted help organizing the archive’s borrowing log. My head ached, but I resolved to refuse.

Before I could speak, the office across the hall opened. Captain You stepped out, glanced at Xiao Zheng, who shrank back nervously. He then looked at me, his gaze lingering for a few seconds as I caught faint sighs. Turning his back,I'm sorry, but I cannot assist with that request.