Chapter 2

"Where am I?" Lin Xiao, who had just opened his eyes, looked at the white ceiling in confusion.

The camera pulls back, revealing a young man lying in a hospital bed, his head wrapped in white bandages, with a noticeable bloodstain on his forehead.

"Ah, you're awake. I'll go call the doctor," said the nurse in a pink uniform, immediately going to fetch the doctor.

Slowly, Lin Xiao recalled why he was in the hospital. It was the scorching heat of late July, with a heatwave that had lasted for several days. The sun was blazing, and as Lin Xiao left the company to have lunch, a wave of heat hit him as he stepped out of the air-conditioned room. He instinctively looked up at the sky and saw a stone rapidly growing larger in front of his eyes. Everything went black, and he lost consciousness. When he woke up, he was already here.

The sound of footsteps approached from a distance, and a middle-aged doctor in a white coat walked in.

"How many fingers?" the doctor asked, holding up one finger.

"1, Doctor, my eyesight is still fine," Lin Xiao said weakly.

"This is a routine check. If your eyes are fine, I'll continue checking other parts," the doctor said with a smile.

After a series of checks, "Hmm, I understand your condition. There's no major issue, just a bit of blood on your forehead. It's not serious. If there's nothing else, you can go through the discharge procedures and pay the fees. You don't need to stay in the hospital anymore," the doctor said to Lin Xiao after the examination.

"Okay, thank you, Doctor. Can you tell me why I'm here?" Lin Xiao asked.

"Well, someone passing by saw you lying unconscious on the street with blood on your face and called an ambulance. Do you have any other questions?" the doctor replied.

"Thank you, no more questions," Lin Xiao said.

"If there's nothing else, I'll leave now. You can go and pay the fees," the doctor said.

An hour later, Lin Xiao walked out of the hospital, took a deep breath, and shook his head in frustration. He sighed, looking at his rapidly emptying pocket. Life in the city was already hard, with rent and utilities taking up most of his salary. After adding the cost of food, he barely had any money left each month. This accident had cost him 2000 yuan, and he couldn't help but wonder why he was so unlucky, getting hit by a stone while walking down the street.

"If those two words didn't tremble, I wouldn't have noticed my discomfort." The song "Ten Years" by Eason Chan suddenly played, and Lin Xiao, touching his head, realized his phone was ringing. He picked it up and saw "Supervisor" displayed. Without much thought, he answered.

"Lin Xiao, how do you do your job? Where have you been all afternoon? You didn't even take a leave, just disappeared. Do you still respect me as your supervisor? Do you know how many people want to join the company? If you don't want to work, just say so," a roaring voice came from the other end of the line.

Lin Xiao imagined a 300-pound, 1.6-meter-tall pig spitting saliva and shuddered. He moved the phone about 30 centimeters away from his ear to reduce the volume.

Lin Xiao worked in the sales department, where the manager, Pang Niu, was a distant relative of the chairman. Pang Niu bullied everyone in the sales department, interfering with all the sales. Despite never going out to do business, his monthly salary was overflowing. Everyone was angry but dared not speak out, as they all needed to support their families. They just had to endure it, like feeding a dog. However, Lin Xiao, who had always been a top performer, made Pang Niu stumble. There was no way not to hate him, so Pang Niu found reasons to pick on him every day, nitpicking. But no matter what, he couldn't do anything to Lin Xiao, who consistently ranked in the top five in the company. Even as a supervisor, he couldn't fire an excellent employee. This time, he finally had a chance and wouldn't let it go.

After dealing with the fat girl (PS: This was the nickname the employees gave Pang Niu in private), the exhausted Lin Xiao took a taxi back to his one-bedroom apartment in HZ City. He threw himself onto the bed, still in his clothes, and fell asleep.

In his dream, he saw a colorful world with a blue sky, green water, green mountains, white clouds, and black earth. The five colors complemented each other. As he tried to see more clearly, the scene suddenly shattered.

Lin Xiao opened his eyes and saw that it was already bright outside. Another scorching, cloudless day. He got out of bed, stretched, and prepared to wash up and go to work. He entered the bathroom.

"Huh, what's going on? Why do I look so pale? Could it be from losing too much blood?" Lin Xiao muttered to himself. In the mirror, a man of about 25 years old with a fair and rosy complexion looked back at him, his eyebrows black and slender, his eyes large and black like grapes, as if they could speak. At first glance, he looked quite presentable, distinguishable in a crowd. After fiddling with his appearance and realizing it was all for nothing, he shrugged it off and ignored it.

Lin Xiao checked the time, which showed 6:50. Thinking it was about time, he straightened his clothes and left. After having breakfast, he headed to the subway station. The company was five stops away from his apartment, about a 30-minute subway ride. As a poor bachelor, Lin Xiao had no car or house and could only take the subway.

When he arrived at the company, he was caught by the fat girl and scolded for another half hour before being let go. He had just sat down and hadn't even had a sip of water when a voice sounded.

"Lin Xiao, are you okay? The fat girl didn't do anything to you, right? She seems to really dislike you. Is everything alright?" Wu Zuoli's voice came from a desk about a meter away, as she leaned over to whisper.

"I'm fine, don't worry, Wu-ji. The fat girl doesn't have the authority to fire me. My performance is good, and firing me would require the boss's approval. Otherwise, she can't do anything to me, just scold me. It's over now," Lin Xiao smiled at Zuoli.

Zuoli was like a ripe peach, with a husband and children. At over 35, she looked as young as a 25-year-old, with an added touch of maturity. She had a good impression of the handsome Lin Xiao, who had helped her a lot, such as moving things.

Lin Xiao generally got along well with his colleagues. After Zuoli, one by one, the colleagues in the sales department also came to ask if he was okay.

The days passed quietly, and before he knew it, a month had gone by. During this month, Lin Xiao had the same dream for the first three days, and in the last few days, he had the same dream every night.