Chapter 2

"Too cold! Too cold!"

"Yesterday it was sunny, but today it suddenly turned overcast. It’s probably going to snow."

"If I had known, I wouldn’t have come out. It’s much better to stay at home."

At a bus stop, a dozen people were waiting for the bus. Among them, a young man and a young woman were talking.

The woman said, "I’m freezing, this weather is so unpredictable, how did it get so cold all of a sudden?"

"It’s winter, of course it’s cold," the man said nonchalantly, then glanced at her, "Put your hands in my pockets, I’ll warm them up for you."

"Hehe!" The woman giggled, turned around, and faced the man, putting both hands into his down jacket pockets. The man also put his hands in and held hers, and the two of them huddled together for warmth.

The woman scanned the surroundings, then suddenly lowered her voice and leaned close to the man’s ear, whispering, "Look at that person, wearing so little clothing."

The man turned his head and asked, "Which one?"

The woman whispered, "The one in the blue jacket."

The man glanced at the crowd, then turned back and said indifferently, "Why bother about others?"

The woman seemed very interested and laughed, "He’s wearing so little, isn’t he cold?"

The man pursed his lips and made a dismissive expression, "Who knows if he’s cold. Maybe he doesn’t have any clothes. His clothes look so old, he’s probably been wearing them for years. There are plenty of poor people like that, it’s normal for them to not be able to afford clothes."

"Shh!" The woman looked up at him, "Speak softly, he might hear you."

Xu Mo couldn’t help but shrink back and take a step backward. He vaguely felt that these two were talking about him.

Today, he was going to a job interview for a quality inspection position at a factory.

He was a quiet person, not good at expressing his thoughts through words, and his luck was always terrible. Every time he tried to do something, he would encounter all sorts of unexpected problems, and nothing ever worked out.

He graduated two years ago and had done countless part-time jobs, but due to his bad luck, he had never found a decent job. His expectations for work had gradually diminished.

His parents had mysteriously disappeared the year he graduated, and their fate was still unknown. He had endured many hardships, and his life had become increasingly difficult. He had no extra money to buy more clothes. The man’s words hit a sore spot, and he couldn’t help but feel a lump in his throat, almost on the verge of tears.

In such cold weather, even without the wind, his body temperature kept dropping. He tightened his clothes, but it was no use.

He was only wearing a pair of thin pants and a T-shirt suitable for spring and autumn, which provided no warmth.

Looking up at the sky, it was gray and offered no hope. He sighed, lowered his head, and his eyes were filled with confusion.

At that moment, he heard the sound of a car engine. Turning his head, he saw a bus slowly approaching and stopping. He looked and was instantly delighted; it was the 645 bus, the one he was waiting for.

The bus doors opened, but no one got off. Without hesitation, he walked out of the crowd, went to the front door, and jumped onto the bus. Just as he was about to put in a coin, he suddenly heard someone say, "Get off, this bus has been chartered."

Xu Mo was taken aback and looked at the person who spoke. It was a man in his thirties sitting in the driver’s seat, looking at him coldly.

The man who had spoken to him was this person.

He was wearing a black suit, holding the steering wheel with both hands, and had a briefcase slung over his right shoulder, which he didn’t put down even while driving. His appearance was quite unusual.

From his attire, he didn’t look like a bus driver at all, but more like a financial or insurance salesperson who makes house calls.

In a flash, Xu Mo noticed that the first seat behind the driver was occupied by another man in his forties, wearing a bus company uniform. Compared to the man in the driver’s seat, he looked more like a bus driver.

At that moment, the man’s expression was blank, and his eyes were fixed on the front, not looking at Xu Mo.

Just this brief delay, the man driving the bus waved his hand impatiently and said, "Get off, get off, hurry up."

Xu Mo glanced at the other passengers, who all looked the same as the man in the uniform, with blank, lifeless expressions. None of them looked at him.

Xu Mo quickly scanned the bus, sighed, and got off. As soon as he stepped down, the bus doors closed, and the bus started, driving away quickly.

While the bus was leaving, Xu Mo glanced at the rear of the bus and remembered the license plate number—62975.

He thought to himself: I’ve never heard of a chartered bus. The driver must be breaking the rules and renting the bus out privately. Should I report him?

He thought for a moment, then shook his head and gave up. Even if he reported it, it would probably be treated as a minor issue by the bus company, and they would just brush it off. It would be a waste of his phone bill.

So he took out his phone, dialed the first number, sighed, and hung up, putting the phone back in his pocket.

At the same time, he felt something was off. In that brief moment on the bus, he had noticed something strange but didn’t pay much attention. Now, he couldn’t remember what it was.

The driver’s behavior also seemed odd. Why didn’t he put down the briefcase on his shoulder while driving? What was in the briefcase that he valued so much? What about the man in the uniform and the other passengers? Why did they look so strange?

But these things didn’t concern him much, so he dismissed them from his mind and continued waiting for the bus in the cold wind.

About ten minutes later, another 645 bus arrived. Before the bus even got close, a few people in the crowd walked out and waved to the bus. Among them were the young man and woman who had been talking about Xu Mo earlier.

Xu Mo was secretly surprised. If these people were also taking the 645 bus, why didn’t they move when the previous bus came? Did they know it was chartered? But the bus had no obvious distinguishing features, so how did they know?

In this hesitation, he was left behind by the others.

Xu Mo didn’t think much about it and got on the bus. As he was about to put in a coin, he glanced at the bus driver and couldn’t help but exclaim, "Huh!"

The bus driver was very familiar. He had just seen him on the previous bus, sitting in the first seat behind the driver.

How could this person, who had just left on the previous bus, be driving this one?

The driver’s expression was completely different from before. When Xu Mo saw him earlier, he looked very tired and lifeless. Now, he looked completely different, energetic and alert.

The driver immediately noticed Xu Mo looking at him, turned his head, and said unhappily, "What’s the matter?"

"Nothing," Xu Mo laughed dryly, turned his face, and walked into the bus.

The driver glanced at him again but didn’t say anything more.

Xu Mo was puzzled and found a seat after a few steps.

In front of him was a high school girl, about fifteen or sixteen years old, wearing a white school uniform with "Yuyang High School" on the back.

The girl had been on the bus since the previous stop and was playing with her phone, not looking up when Xu Mo and the others got on.

The bus continued forward, and after a few stops, more people got on.

Xu Mo, feeling uneasy, couldn’t help but lightly tap the girl on the back. She turned around, looked at him unhappily, and asked, "What’s the matter?"

"Ah!"

Xu Mo was startled again when he saw the girl’s face. She was as familiar as the driver. He suddenly remembered that he had seen her on the previous bus, sitting in the same seat.

What was going on?

He felt a chill and a sense of inexplicable fear, momentarily forgetting to answer the girl.

The girl, seeing his strange expression and his lack of response, felt confused and muttered, "Crazy!" before standing up and moving to another seat.

Xu Mo thought for a moment and suddenly remembered something. He loudly asked the driver, "Driver, what’s the license plate number of this bus?"

The driver didn’t turn his head, "62975, what’s the matter?"

62975?

Xu Mo’s face turned pale. He couldn’t speak. Wasn’t this the license plate number of the previous bus? Could it be that the bus had turned around and come back?

He turned his head and looked back, seeing the young man and woman who had been talking about him earlier, now sitting side by side in the seats closest to the rear door.

Suddenly, he remembered why he had felt something was off when he got on the bus earlier.

This young man and woman had been on the previous bus, sitting in the same seats.

He felt a chill run down his spine. Could he be seeing ghosts?

At that moment, the bus stopped again at another station. The front door opened, and a man got on.

Xu Mo looked up at the man and was instantly shaken to his core.