Chapter 3
My whole body aches and hurts. I slept in a bad position last night, and I feel terrible today.
Seeing that his alarm was about to go off, Zhou Xiaoming jumped up and went to the bathroom.
After gulping down a large glass of water, Zhou Xiaoming stretched his muscles on the yoga mat, then took a shower, packed his bag, and went out.
She arrived early, so she didn't have to squeeze into the elevator. She took out the breakfast she bought on the way and sat comfortably at her workstation to eat.
Xiaoming's work is quite busy, and she basically has no time to slack off. Even so, her colleagues still cause her trouble.
The boss called her from the office: "Xiao Zhou, go find Xiao Zheng. What's going on? He's not at his workstation, and we can't get through to him on the phone."
Zhou Xiaoming works at a small internet company, where his job is half operations and half his role as the boss's assistant.
When she joined the company, based on her painful experience of endless overtime at her previous job at a large company, she created the persona of a single mother, divorced, raising her child.
The requirements are a 9-to-5 job with weekends off, no overtime, and a salary that's about right.
The boss liked her, and since it was a startup and her position was newly created, she was hired smoothly.
She wasn't busy when she first joined the company, and she slacked off for two months. As the company's performance improved, her workload increased, and slacking off gradually became a luxury.
Fortunately, she was good at her job, and after the company's business stabilized, she had time to slack off again.
The boss was very generous, giving her a raise, and she is quite satisfied with her current job.
Xiao Zheng is a junior colleague of the boss, the company's most handsome employee, and a very unrestrained young person.
So, Zhou Xiaoming called another young man from the company to go to Xiao Zheng's place to find him. They knocked on the door for a long time before Xiao Zheng finally opened it.
What came into view was a fair chest covered in red marks. Xiao Zheng, who opened the door wearing only his underwear, had messy hair and sleepy eyes.
Even with this appearance, Zhou Xiaoming couldn't help but sigh that having a good foundation is an advantage. Look at this tall guy of 185 cm, with abs and pecs. He's not sloppy, he's lazy. No wonder he can party every night without a girlfriend.
"Brother Zheng, the boss is looking for you. Call him back quickly and get to the company right away."
While handling the company's business affairs, Xiao Zheng is also the boss's personal assistant. When the boss's child is sick, taking the child to the hospital for treatment is also part of his job.
Compared to the previous company, this company is a shady operation, but shady operations have their advantages. The company doesn't require clocking in, doesn't track attendance, doesn't set KPIs, and even team building activities are held on weekdays.
This isn't the first time Xiao Zheng has slept until late morning and forgotten to go to work, but the boss has always let it slide.
Sigh, I hope this company can hold on for a few more years, and it would be even better if it could hold on until I've paid enough social security contributions.
Around 4 PM, Zhou Xiaoming finished his work for the day and started browsing video websites on his phone.
The page features a news item that reads: "The first case in the country of conjoined twins being successfully separated via surgery."
With tears in her eyes, the mother gave a media interview.
Two twins, Zhang Moumou and Zhang Moumou, both under the age of three, have been cared for by their mother, Wang Moumou, for many years, remaining devoted to them despite the abandonment of her family.
The surgery was a success today; a bright future awaits them.
Zhou Xiaoming quickly glanced at the news and then saw another news item: in her city, a factory on a certain street organized a fire drill in the morning, and a fire broke out in the afternoon.
Despite the scorching summer heat and the raging fire, fortunately, it was handled properly, resulting in no casualties and minimal economic losses.
The factory owner and workshop director gave media interviews, thanking the employees for their heroic firefighting efforts and promising to reward those responsible.
The chubby, bald boss and the tall, thin workshop foreman looked like two ascetics.
Yingjie, the administrative assistant at the next workstation, leaned over and said, "This boss is really lucky! I also suggested to our boss that the company should conduct a fire drill in a few days."
Zhou Xiaoming asked her, "Our company is on the 13th floor, so it must be difficult to conduct a fire drill."
"Try negotiating with the property management; there's no problem with that. They wouldn't dare disagree."
That's true.
Zhou Xiaoming left work on time and rode his bike back to his apartment in twenty minutes.
I bought this one-bedroom apartment several years ago. It was bought with money I had saved up over the years after graduation and with some of my extra income from fixed deposits.
After dinner, I washed the dishes, went for a walk outside, and came back after washing up. It was just past eight o'clock.
After playing a few games, Zhou Xiaoming turned off his computer, turned on the desk lamp, and lay on his bed to watch his favorite live streams.
She has a favorite PUBG streamer who she watches every night.
When I turned on the live stream, I heard several voices. Looking at the bottom left corner, I saw that it was a rare four-player squad.
After watching the comments for a while, I realized that the top-ranked player had asked me to play with him and also invited the second and third-ranked players to join.
She liked this streamer because he had a nice voice, spoke standard Mandarin, was skilled, and never swore or told dirty jokes.
She started following his live streams during her student days, watching him find a partner, get married, and have children. Now his child is in kindergarten, but Zhou Xiaoming still doesn't have his fan badge.
Seeing the like icon in the bottom left corner, she clicked it and quietly started watching the live stream.
Her account nickname is a simple combination of numbers and letters. She has no profile picture, has never posted any content on her homepage, and has never commented or sent bullet comments to any videos. She has used this account for many years. She doesn't know her account level, doesn't follow any streamers, has never given anyone coins, and has never sent any private messages.
The whole thing is like returning after many years, and still being a blank slate.
All four male voices on the phone were quite nice; one of them had a clean, clear voice with a touch of magnetism, which put Zhou Xiaoming in a good mood.
These people chatted while playing the game. Even when they encountered cheaters and were wiped out, they didn't get angry. Instead, they discussed the impact of cheaters on the game and its history, remaining very calm.
She hadn't slept well for the past few days, and before 10 a.m., while watching a live streamer's intense battle on her phone, she drifted off to sleep.
Perhaps because she fell asleep to a sound she liked, she described the person in her dream based on the sound's imagery.
He and she sat in what looked like a university classroom. It was dimly lit, and there were only the two of them in the classroom. Zhou Xiaoming rested her elbows on the row of desks, propped her cheeks up, and turned to face him, smiling at him. She felt warm and sweet inside.
He took her other hand and gazed at her with a smile.
The two sat and laughed for a while before Zhou Xiaoming felt he had to leave and go find the restroom.
I didn't want to leave, and in my haste, I woke up.
She slept so soundly that night that her limbs felt a little disconnected from her brain. Like a drunkard, she staggered around, leaning against the wall after using the bathroom, then lay back down on the bed, turning off the bedside lamp as she did so, thinking to herself, "Sweet dreams, sweet dreams, more, more..."
In an instant, Zhou Xiaoming was transported back to the classroom. The boy was still sitting there obediently with a smile, and the two continued to gaze at each other.
Suddenly, the scene shifted to a handsome boy's face approaching hers, and his lips touched hers. She savored the soft touch of his lips, and then, as if the game had frozen, she remained in that lingering feeling until the boy's figure disappeared and the screen went black.
Zhou Xiaoming woke up refreshed a little after a good night's sleep. She had a wonderful dream last night, but she couldn't remember what it was about. She just woke up with a smile on her face and a sweet feeling in her heart.
After exercising and washing up early in the morning, I went out to buy groceries and breakfast, and then went to work early. What a wonderful morning!
Jiang Lan lay in bed, touching his lips and staring blankly at the ceiling. He dreamt of that girl, smiled at her all night, and then touched his lips before having a wet dream. He raised his hand to cover his eyes, feeling embarrassed by his innocent feelings.
After getting up to wash and air out the quilts, Jiang Lan was busy all morning. After having breakfast, she wrapped herself up tightly, got on her newly bought electric bike, and went out to deliver food.
After spending a little time registering and familiarizing himself with the rules, Jiang Lan quickly got the hang of it. However, his goal was to observe people, streets, and houses, so he only accepted orders sporadically and delivered them casually.
In the afternoon, the sky was a bit gloomy. He was waiting for the traffic light on the street when suddenly a loud roar came from afar. A gray sedan traveling at high speed hit pedestrians on the sidewalk, crashing all over the place. Several people who couldn't get out of the way were thrown into the air. Jiang Lan saw several puffs of blood mist burst out. The car came to a stop with a loud bang against the concrete guardrail. Bloody strips were still hanging from the chassis under the front of the car.
The scene was a mess, and heart-wrenching cries echoed everywhere.
Police cars and ambulances, flashing their lights and wailing, gathered around, and the man driving was taken away.
Jiang Lan breathed a sigh of relief, delivered the last overdue takeout order to the designated location, and went home.
Feeling very upset, Jiang Lan quickly ate dinner and then messaged her PUBG friend, asking if they could play squad mode.
My friend replied that he would be online at nine o'clock, and he finished tidying up the room just in time.
When he turned on voice chat, his friends asked him, "What's wrong with you lately? Did you break up with your boyfriend? You used to refuse to play mahjong when we needed one more player."
Jiang Lan's voice was a little hoarse: "Get lost! I haven't even been in a relationship, so how could I be heartbroken? Enough nonsense, just drive!"
His friends teased him, telling him to find a girlfriend to regulate his hormones and improve his menopausal symptoms, so he wouldn't be so moody.
Tomorrow is Saturday. On Friday afternoon, Zhou Xiaoming made an appointment with her badminton friend, Sister Wu, to play badminton together in the evening. She enjoys playing badminton and has become a regular badminton partner with Sister Wu, who works at a hospital. Sister Wu even introduced her to this job.
Zhou Xiaoming got home around 9 PM, tidied up, collapsed onto the bed, and opened his phone. [Huh? Another sweet four-player game?]
Hearing the voice, four handsome men appeared in his mind, each with broad shoulders, a slim waist, and long legs. Zhou Xiaoming snorted a few times, rolled around on the bed, and leaned against the headboard to watch the live stream.
The guy with the best voice tonight didn't talk much, and they only managed to get one chicken dinner after playing until after midnight.
After the streamer finished broadcasting, she wasn't very sleepy, so she opened a short video website and started watching videos.
After seeing a traffic accident report from the city's traffic police department and reading the comments, Zhou Xiaoming felt a bit frustrated. The netizens were right: if you're sick, don't drive! If you can't stop, crash into a dump truck or an overpass pier! Why did you have to crash into a pedestrian? You're clearly trying to make someone else die for you. You're a complete scumbag.
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