Chapter 01
It's raining!
Soon the rain will stop.
Yìngyuè thinks that the rain this time is just light rain. The rain suddenly falls and wet the earth. A moment before, the weather was boiling, and there was no cloud at all. The situation is similar to yesterday when it was raining lightly and only briefly. So, this time, in a few minutes, the light rain would have stopped.
But Yìngyuè's guess is wrong. The rain even drops more massive; the falling water droplets have soaked Yìngyuè's dresses.
What I have to do now?
She is standing on the pavement of a moderately large road. The width of the road was about thirteen meters. It was a two-way street, each way six meters wide, comprising two lanes. There is a dividing line in the middle, which is one meter wide. On both sides of the road, there are pavements, each of which is two-and-a-half meters wide.
Several vehicles are passing by on both sides of the road. But no one was on the pavement. As far as Yìngyuè's eye could see, no one else is standing or walking. Of course, when it rains like this, everyone will seek shelter.
Yìngyuè speeds up her pace. She walks, half running. With a backpack that is heavy enough, there is no way she could run at full speed. Luckily, after running a few dozen metres, she found a public phone box on her left side. The phone box is not easily visible because it is not on the pavement. It's on a plot of land on the left side of the road. The phone box is about two meters from the pavement. Thinking no further, Yìngyuè runs towards the phone box straight away. Opens the door. Then rushes inside.
The phone box is aubergine coloured. It is not transparent, so from the outside, people can't see the inside. Once inside, people will lock the door before starting to make calls. Then other people cannot enter if there are already people inside. The phone box measures one and a half metres by one and a half metres. Big enough for a phone box. Phone boxes in this city are usually blue or green. Sometimes it's red or black too. But this is the first time Yìngyuè has seen an aubergine colour like this. What made Yìngyuè sure that it is a phone box is because on the roof of the box it was clearly written "Public Phone". So, there is no way that Yìngyuè would mistakenly enter another place, such as a toilet.
"Eh!"
As Yìngyuè walks into the box, someone shrieks. It turns out that someone was already inside. It is raining hard outside, so Yìngyuè couldn't come out again. Quickly she closed the door. Automatically her hand turns the lock button on the door handle. But it can't. Somehow the lock is broken.
"Sorry. It's raining. I have to take shelter. "
Yìngyuè says to the man.
"It's all right," replies the man.
"I'm also taking shelter here," he continues his words with a smile. Just like Yìngyuè, that person's clothes are already wet. Even though it isn't as wet as her clothes, it looked as though he has only entered this box a minute or two before Yìngyuè.
For a public phone box, people consider the box measuring one and a half metres by one and a half metres wide. But it does not apply to those two strangers who are standing close to each other. Under these conditions, they both agree that the place is tiny.
The person who has been inside before Yìngyuè looks at her. Then he said. "Hopefully, the rain will stop soon."
He is a grown man. Yìngyuè has a little trouble guessing his age. From the look in his eyes, it seems the man is over forty years old. But his face and figure look like he is in his late twenties or early thirties. Yìngyuè herself is a very young girl who doesn't have much experience, so it is only natural that she can't guess the age of a stranger.
The man is wearing a shirt wrapped with a waistcoat, complete with a tie. He does not wear a suit, which should be an integral part of the waistcoat and trousers he is wearing. Maybe because it is a hot day, so he wears no suits. Or perhaps he doesn't enjoy wearing suits at all. So he wears a shirt, tie, and waistcoat only. His shirt is bright yellow, while the tie colour is light green. He wears a vest and trousers which are dark blue. The man was about 165 centimetres tall. Not tall, but not short either.
"Do you live around here?" Yìngyuè tries to break the ice by asking simple questions.
That person seems to daydream, so he doesn't straightway answer Yìngyuè's question. Yìngyuè thinks that he doesn't enjoy talking. The person who is quiet and doesn't want to converse with other people. Especially for people who are stranger.
"What are you asking?"
Suddenly the person speaks. It's so weird. Yìngyuè thought that this person might have autism and was slow to respond to questions.
"Do you live around here?" Yìngyuè repeats her question.
Instead of answering, the person asks back.
"Why are you guessing I live around here?"
Yìngyuè didn't guess. She asked him only to break the stiff atmosphere. But she still replies, "You don't have an umbrella, bag, or anything else. Your clothes are neat. Usually, with this neat clothes, people who live far, at least always carry something, either a bag or other items. So I thought you lived around here. "
Yìngyuè didn't think like that when she answered that question. She just said what automatically came to her mind.
"I see," the person answers while looking at Yìngyuè. Then he adds.
"I live far from here. Regarding this outfit, I like to dress like this. So it's just a habit. "
Yìngyuè nods at the person's explanation.
"Have you lived in this city long?" It seems the atmosphere had dissolved, so Yìngyuè asks again.
"Last year I moved to this city." Answered the man.
Yìngyuè nods again. She then says, "I just arrived in this city. To be precise, three days ago. So today is the fourth day I am in this city. "
"Where did you live for these three days?" The man asks curiously. Looking at the backpack carried by Yìngyuè, it is clear that the girl had no permanent place to stay while in this city.
"I live in a capsule hotel at the station," Yìngyuè answers straightforwardly.
"You are so brave," the man praises Yìngyuè. Then he continues, "when I was your age, I have never lived far from my parents."
"My parents have passed away," the girl replied flatly.
"Oh, sorry." Suddenly the man feels guilty about saying something about the parents.
"It is okay. My parents passed away a long time ago. In fact, I had never seen my father because he died before I was born. I had forgotten my mother's face because she died when I was only two years old. "
The man feels sorry for this young girl. Apparently, she has been orphaned since she was a child.
"I grew up moving around under the care of my relatives. They took turns taking care of me. Because of that, I never stay in any place for long. Always move according to where my relatives live. "
"So, you are heading to the place of the relative who currently has a turn to take care of you?"
"Right!"
"Then, for three days, you haven't found them?"
"It is not like that. I purposely took a walk around the city before meeting my relative. According to the schedule, it won't be until next week that I will arrive here. I am here earlier than I should. So I still have three more days before meeting them. "
The man looks at her face and think;
This girl is so brave.
He admires this young girl.
After that, there is silence for about three minutes. The man and Yìngyuè are deep in their thoughts. Yìngyuè suddenly asks.
"Have you come home from work?"
It is almost dusk, so it makes sense for Yìngyuè that the man is an office worker who had just finished work today.
"Ah," the man smiles. He touches his chin and says.
"I haven't worked for three months. Previously, I worked at a secondhand bookshop. The bookshop is not big; it has only six employees, including me. Even then, I only work part-time. There are only two full-time workers. The remaining four people are part-time workers."
The man pauses his words for a while.
"The owner is an old man. Four months ago, his relatives invited him to live together. The owner accepted. His health is not very good, so of course, we understand. "
He stops telling his stories. He watches Yìngyuè's reaction before continuing his story. Yìngyuè's expression shows an interest.
"He sold all the books he had to another secondhand bookshop. This one is huge. The owner of another secondhand bookshop is his old friend. The good news is, this old friend will accept all employees to work in his place."
"Why didn't you move into that other secondhand bookshop," Yìngyuè asked.
"It is in another city, so I can't possibly work there. I feel comfortable staying here. I want to be here at least for a few more years. "
"So during these three months, you haven't found a new job?"
"There have been several job offers. But I don't feel right yet. All offers are full-time jobs. I'm looking for a part-time job. "
Yìngyuè found this person is weird. Most people want a full-time job. This person wants to be a part-time worker.
"The reason I moved to this city is to explore all corners of this city. As you know, this city has a long history of our civilisation. So the part-time job gives me free time to explore this city.
Yìngyuè nods at the explanation. This city is gigantic. Lots of tourists come to this city to visit historical places.
Suddenly Yìngyuè realised the rain has stopped. There is no reason for her to remain in this box. This man must have other business too.
"The rain has stopped," Yìngyuè said in a cheerful voice.
"Thank you, sir," she opens the door and steps out.
"I should be grateful because you are here," the man said and smile.
"See you, sir!"
After saying that, Yìngyuè waves at the man, and then instantly walk away.
This time Yìngyuè feels hungry. She remembers she had not eaten lunch. Her intention this time is to find the nearest station to eat and then rest. Almost all stations in this city are equipped with canteens and inns. Visitors have no trouble finding accommodation. Of course, the lodgings at the station are simple, like a capsule hotel or a modest inn. However, such accommodation was adequate for most travellers who comes to this city.
About a fifteen-minute walk, Yìngyuè find the station. In this city, there are several modes of public transportation. The most popular transportation is an underground railway. In this city, there are about three thousand subway stations spread over an area of twenty-five thousand and six hundred square kilometres. Besides, there are still three thousand subway stations in the small cities surrounding.
Every day a lot of commuters from the surrounding area commute to this city. The large population in this city creates many social problems. Among these problems are the high unemployment rate and the never-ending trend of urbanisation. One way of overcoming this problem is to create new economic centres. The local government made the underground stations the points of the new economic network. Therefore, nowadays almost every subway station here is equipped with a shopping centre and other facilities.
The station is not significant. Only serve one line. Even though the shopping area is only two levels, the contents are relatively complete. Apart from stalls selling daily necessities, there are also children's play areas, restaurants, simple inns and Yìngyuès favourite place, the capsule hotel. Yìngyuè chooses foods that are not too heavy. Foods that contain lots of coconut milk sometimes make her stomach feels uncomfortable. Absolutely not suitable for tourist or people who are travelling.
Yìngyuè eats quickly. The time shows 6.45 in the evening when Yìngyuè finishes eating. Speedily she goes to the area where the capsule hotel is, to get rest. It turns out that all the places are full. Indeed, there are only twelve units there, and currently, all units are in use. Yìngyuè initially intends to try a simple inn just a few metres away. But she cancels it because she wants to save money. She decides to look for a capsule hotel in another station. This time she headed for a rather large station. She hopes the capsule hotel there has more units.
Suddenly she remembers that it is rush hour. Taking the underground during the rush hour is really not a pleasant experience. She decides to just go surface and explores the area to sees if there are any other capsule hotels around. Although she knows the possibility is small. If she does not find the place, she will come back here to catch the train when there are not too many passengers. By now, she had eaten, so it was fair to take a little walk. Isn't the goal for the week just to take a walk around?
On the surface, it is already dark. Yìngyuè walks with light steps. She realises the station is located at a crossroad. One road is big, which is vast and busy. The other is a relatively small road. The road leads out of town. Of course, that isn't the main road to the next town. The highway connecting this city with the next town is a few blocks away. Out of curiosity, Yìngyuè decides to turns and walks down the relatively small road.
During the few days here, Yìngyuè has more or less recognised the rhythm of life in this city. At this hour, the streets on the outskirts of the city tend to be quiet. It will be after eight or nine in the evening before it starts to get busy again. So now the road is quiet.
About five hundred paces walking, Yìngyuè witnesses something. An SUV suddenly stops beside Yìngyuè. The car is dark blue. The windows are so dark that Yìngyuè could not see what is going on inside. The car rocks as if there is a struggle inside.
Seconds later, the left rear door of the car opens. A woman tries to get out of the vehicle. Behind her is a man holding her. With all his might, he tries to prevent the woman from getting out of the car. The front left door opens, a man comes out. He catches the woman's hand that was struggling to break free from the clutches of the man behind her. The hand of the man outside the car flew and hit the woman's face. After that, with both hands, he throws the woman back into the car. After slamming the rear door of the vehicle. The man forthwith gets in through the front door. The car quickly moves away from Yìngyuè.
Yìngyuè is shocked and dumbfounded watching all that. She does not know what to do. What she saw is like an action film scene that she sometimes watches on television. Her body is stiff as a statue. There is fear rising in her mind.
The car is running northward away from Yìngyuè. But suddenly after running about two hundred meters, the vehicle stops again. This time the car doesn't shake. Instead, a few seconds later, the car is reversing. At this time, she feels a tense atmosphere that makes her so afraid.
She realises she had just witnessed a crime. She becomes a witness. The criminals certainly do not like the presence of a witness who might cause difficulties for them. The car retreats rapidly. The distance of two hundred meters is certainly not a long distance for a car. Soon the vehicle will be back here, and the criminals will get out of the car to eliminate the girl who witnessed their crimes.
Yìngyuè panics. This girl looks surrounding. This area is quiet. With the backpack she carried, there is no way she could run fast. Leaving a backpack is also not the right choice because, in the bag, many items can lead those people to identify her. Yinyue turns her head and looks back. A building that looks quite old, standing there. Without wasting time, Yìngyuè in a flash runs towards the door of that old building. After opening the door, Yìngyuè immediately lunges in. Yìngyuè is sure that the people from inside the car saw Yìngyuè running towards the building. In the building, there is not a single person. This situation makes Yìngyuè panics again.
Is it an abandoned building? But the electricity is still on. So there must still be people in this building.
Indeed the building is still brightly lit. At least on this ground floor, there are still signs of life. The electricity is still on.
The lift! I have to get to the lift!
Yìngyuè searches the lift. She doesn't have much time left. The car must have reached the place when they first stop. The criminals must have got out of the vehicle to catch her.
Ah, the stairs are over there!
Yìngyuè found the stairs. For a moment, she considers whether to use the stairs. But she soon abandons that idea and returns to look for the lift. After finding the lift, Yìngyuè directly runs there.
There are four lifts there. Lift number one seems to be out of service. In a hurry, Yìngyuè presses the button up-down button. The indicator at the top of the lift doesn't turn on. Lift number two also off. Lift number three is on. As soon as the lift doors open, Yìngyuè straight away enters. She hurriedly presses the top button on the lift. She intends to go up to the top floor, which is the 12th floor. The lift number four seems to be off too, although Yìngyuè isn't sure of that. So at least she has to buy time by going to the top floor.
The lift seems to take a long time to close its doors. Yìngyuè hear some angry voices. Apparently, the criminals have entered the building. The lift doors finally closed, but Yìngyuè could still hear the screams and yelling of the people outside. The lift has closed, it doesn't go up right away. At that time, if someone presses the button, the ride can still open. Yìngyuè's face this time is so pale. Luckily the ride finally started moving up.
From the faint shouting earlier, Yìngyuè concludes that the men are then trying to catch up with Yìngyuè via the stairs. They have no idea which floor Yìngyuè is headed for, so it would likely they will check every floor. Then, this would be an advantage for Yinyue as it would give her enough time to find a hiding place.
Yìngyuè feels the lift is moving so slow. Yìngyuè couldn't make sure the lift was slow because it is old or just because of Yìngyuè's feelings. Each floor takes approximately five seconds. So in one minute, Yìngyuè arrived on the 12th floor. Of course, the pursuers are still on the second or third floor. Every time they climb one floor of the stairs, they have to check the front of the lift.
When the lift finally opens on the 12th floor. Yìngyuè immediately put her backpack on the lift floor. She lays it longitudinally, so that part of the backpack is outside the lift and partly inside. She wants to keep the lift doors from closing, so the criminals couldn't use to go up. Yìngyuè looks out in all directions, trying to find another object that could replace her backpack as a wedge.
Then suddenly the indicator on the lift number four flashes. Yìngyuè can see that the lift is on the 10th floor. For a few seconds, the indicator still shows the 10th floor. So lift number four now is stopping and opening on the 10th floor. Anyone who is currently standing in front of the lift on10th floor must have noticed that the lift number three stop on the 12th floor. If they are the people who are chasing Yìngyuè, then they should immediately go up to the 12th floor. But people who are on the 10th floor doesn't do that. Then, they are not the people who are chasing after Yìngyuè.
Yìngyuè decides to ask the person on the 10th floor for help. This is the top floor, so the button in front of the lift is only the down button. Pressing the down button won't make the lift number four on the 10th floor go up to the 12th floor. Lift number three is still open and probably won't go down unless someone downstairs wants to go up. Yìngyuè immediately grabbed her backpack that had been used to prop the lift door. Then she ran towards the stairs and go down to the 10th floor.
Once she reached the 10th floor, she pronto headed for the lift area. It is almost late because lift number four is closing when Yìngyuè runs towards it. Arriving in front of the lift, Yìngyuè presses the down button and hopes that the lift has not gone down yet. Yìngyuè shouts with joy and right away rushes into the lift after the lift finally open. Inside the lift, there is a person. So Yìngyuè's theory must be correct that this is the person who stops on the 10th floor.
The lift doors closed. Yìngyuè and the person in the lift make eye contact. Yìngyuè surprises when she can see the person clearly. The person standing in front of her is the man she was previously chatting with at the phone box.
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