The next morning, just as the eastern sky began to pale with the first light of dawn, a faint morning glow filtered through the gaps in the curtains and into the room. He slowly opened his eyes, feeling the arrival of a new day. After a simple stretch, Hu Yuan quickly flipped out of bed, put on his athletic gear, and stepped quietly out of the door to begin his daily morning routine—jogging a lap around the residential complex.
The crisp morning air rushed to meet him, carrying a slight chill and a faint floral fragrance that put Hu Yuan in a refreshing frame of mind. Adjusting his breathing rhythm, he set off with brisk, powerful strides along the winding paths of the neighborhood.
About half an hour later, Hu Yuan finished his lap. Beads of fine sweat dotted his forehead, but his spirits were exceptionally high. Back home, he headed straight to the bathroom for a hot shower, washing away the sweat and instantly feeling his whole body relax.
Afterward, Hu Yuan chose to sit in meditation—a cultivation practice originating from ancient Taoist texts that he had mastered entirely through personal insight without any teacher. Closing his eyes and concentrating his mind, time drifted slowly by in the quiet until, more than half an hour later, he slowly opened his half-closed eyelids. His morning exercise had thus come to a successful conclusion.
Stepping into the kitchen, Hu Yuan prepared a simple yet satisfying breakfast for himself: a cup of warm milk, two slices of whole wheat bread, and a boiled egg. Sitting on the sofa, he enjoyed the warmth and comfort of the food while using his fingertips to scroll through Weibo trending topics on his phone to catch up on the latest current events.
After finishing breakfast, Hu Yuan changed into a neat business suit, put on his backpack, and headed out for the company. He had several important clients to visit today, so as soon as he arrived at the office, he immediately plunged into tense and busy preparations. Then, he set off for the agreed-upon locations to communicate with clients, introduce product solutions, answer questions, and so on. Time slipped away imperceptibly, and after a few rounds of travel, evening fell in the blink of an eye.
When Hu Yuan emerged from the office of his last client, the sun was already slanting westward, and the horizon was dyed with a brilliant sunset glow. He let out a long sigh, bringing this grueling day of high-intensity work to an end. Afterward, he hurried to the subway station, joining the surging tide of evening commuters. Managing to squeeze onto the train, Hu Yuan was tightly surrounded by the crowd, finding it difficult even to turn around. As the train swayed, he could barely keep his footing, secretly hoping he would get home soon.
After a series of transfers, Hu Yuan finally reached his stop and got off. By this time, night had completely fallen, and the streetlights on both sides of the road cast a dim, yellowish glow, reflecting mottled tree shadows on the ground. Dragging his heavy and weary steps, he walked toward home step by step.
When he reached the familiar supermarket at the corner of the street, his pace slowed involuntarily. He paused for a moment, silently debating whether to step through those doors. As the image of his somewhat empty refrigerator flashed rapidly through his mind, he realized he needed to buy some food.
Entering the supermarket, Hu Yuan strolled leisurely between rows of neat shelves, his eyes sweeping over the dazzling array of goods. He first stopped at the deli section, gently lifting a roasted chicken with an alluring color and a mouthwatering aroma. The skin of the chicken was roasted to a golden, crispy perfection, emitting wave after wave of irresistible fragrance. Next, he moved to the produce section, carefully selecting a few bright red tomatoes and some tender, fresh cucumbers. After checking out, Hu Yuan returned to his apartment with a light step.
Hu Yuan gently pushed open the apartment door, quickly put down his backpack, placed the groceries in the kitchen, and walked toward the bathroom. The bathroom mirror reflected his somewhat haggard face. He stood there quietly, gazing into the mirror as if trying to peer through the thin glass to probe the hidden emotions deep within his heart. After a moment, he took a deep breath, his chest rising and falling slowly, and then let it out just as slowly. After repeating this a few times, his initially taut nerves gradually relaxed, and his mood began to calm down.
Leaving the bathroom, Hu Yuan turned and walked into the kitchen. Arriving at the sink, he placed the fresh tomatoes and crisp cucumbers he had just bought under the faucet, carefully scrubbing each one to ensure they were thoroughly washed.
After washing the vegetables, Hu Yuan picked up the roasted chicken. Skillfully tearing open the skin with his hands, the tender and juicy meat was immediately revealed. Next, he placed the tomatoes, cucumbers, and the torn chicken onto three separate plates, picked them up steadily, and walked toward the coffee table in the living room.
After setting the food down, Hu Yuan turned and went back to the kitchen. This time, his target was the bottle of Erguotou with the yellowed label deep inside the cabinet.
Hu Yuan gently unscrewed the cap, and in an instant, a rich and familiar aroma of liquor rushed into his nose, instantly pervading the entire space. He closed his eyes, inhaling the scent intoxicatingly as if he were standing inside a fragrant wine cellar.
Opening his eyes, Hu Yuan slowly poured the white liquor into the wine glass before him. The liquid in the cup was clear and transparent, resembling a tranquil pool of water. As he poured, the liquid level inside the glass steadily rose, shimmering with delicate ripples and a captivating glow.
Hu Yuan stared at the glass of wine in his hand, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes. He softly murmured to himself, "Tonight, let the mellowness of this wine help me shake off the heavy pressure and deep fatigue of work. I will temporarily forget those troubles and truly enjoy this beautiful moment of my own life." With that, he raised the glass and took a sip. The spicy taste instantly spread across his mouth, but it immediately transformed into a warm and comforting sensation that slid down his throat into his stomach, leaving behind a lingering aftertaste.
Hu Yuan walked slowly over to the sofa and plopped down. His somewhat weary body seemed to be swallowed up by the soft cushions of the couch.
Hu Yuan slowly raised the glass to his lips, taking another small sip of the white liquor. The fiery liquid slid down his throat into his abdomen, instantly bringing a wave of burning heat. Yet, aside from the stimulating taste inherent to the alcohol itself, he also tasted a trace of indescribable bitterness. This bitterness was a true reflection of his inner state at the moment—filled with helplessness, loss, and bewilderment.
With every swallow of wine, Hu Yuan's thoughts gradually drifted back to the past. He began to recall his four-year career of hard-fought struggle, the joys and tears he had experienced flashing before his eyes like scenes in a movie. There were cheers of triumph and sorrow after setbacks; there was the sincere and deep friendship among colleagues, as well as the ruthless and merciless backstabbing in workplace competition...
In the river of memories, Hu Yuan couldn't help thinking of the dreams and pursuits he had once harbored. At that time, he was full of passion and infinite longing for the future. Yet now, after the washing and baptism of time, had those beautiful visions gradually vanished without a trace like footprints on a beach with the rise and fall of the tide?
Just as Hu Yuan was so immersed in past memories that he couldn't extricate himself, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind: "Isn't there still that garlic sausage I bought the day before yesterday in the fridge?" In an instant, the craving for delicious food poured like a spring into his long-parched heart. Thus, he set down his unfinished glass of wine, sprang up from the sofa, and headed straight for the kitchen.
Hu Yuan retrieved the garlic sausage from the refrigerator, attempting to tear open its outer packaging with his bare hands, but to no avail. With no other choice, he took out a kitchen knife, preparing to gut the sausage. Perhaps because two taels of baijiu were already in his belly, his hand actually trembled slightly. In a moment of excessive force, the blade not only sliced through the packaging but also mercilessly cut his left index finger. Blood immediately gushed out, looking particularly startling under the dim kitchen light. He stood dazed for a second, then quickly reacted, tossing the knife aside and pinching his injured finger tightly with his other hand.
Blood welled up from between his fingers, bringing waves of stinging pain and annoyance. He hurriedly quickened his pace toward the first-aid kit in the corner of his desk, urgently hoping a bandage would stop the bleeding quickly. However, when he reached to open the kit, he unexpectedly found a few beads scattered across the top.
These scattered beads were originally part of a string of prayer beads cherished by his adoptive father, which he had carefully kept after the string broke. He carried a nostalgia for the past, intending to find time to restring these beads himself. To him, these beads were more than just a simple memento; they carried countless precious memories and deep emotions. Every single bead contained a story and a period of time, as if his adoptive father's warmth was still by his side.
Hu Yuan carefully cleared away the beads resting in the groove on the lid of the first-aid kit. Yet, fate seemed to play a trick on him as a trace of blood from his finger inadvertently stained two of the beads. Panicking in his heart, he hastily grabbed a tissue, trying to wipe the blood off the beads. Just as Hu Yuan was flustered and busy, the accident happened. One of the beads suddenly broke free from the wiping tissue and floated gently into the air, as if it had gained a life of its own.
Hu Yuan stared dumbfounded at the sight, unable to believe his eyes. The floating bead seemed to have a consciousness of its own, flying at an astonishing speed toward the bleeding wound on his left hand and quickly adsorbing onto it.
Hu Yuan suddenly realized that the scene before him might represent an unknown danger. His heart accelerated, and all the nerves in his body tightened instantly. He quickly used his right hand to forcefully pull at the bead attached to his wound. However, no matter how hard he tried, the bead remained motionless.
Hu Yuan was burning with anxiety at this moment. While continuing to struggle and pull at the bead, he muttered curses under his breath, "What on earth is this damn thing!" As a result, a fine layer of sweat oozed from his forehead.
Just as he was caught in an internal conflict, debating whether he should harden his heart and cut off this section of his finger to save himself, the bizarre bead stopped its previous actions without any warning! For a moment, the entire scene seemed to freeze, and the atmosphere grew exceptionally heavy.
Hu Yuan couldn't help but guess silently: could it be that this bead stopped moving simply because it had drunk its fill of blood? Or did it understand the firm determination he had just expressed through his mumbling? He saw the bead slowly detach from the wound and float back up into mid-air.
It hovered there quietly, seemingly hesitant. After a good long while, the bead suddenly burst forth with a dazzling light, shooting straight toward Hu Yuan's glabella like lightning. This series of sudden changes happened much too fast and too violently; Hu Yuan didn't even have time to blink, and could only watch helplessly as that beam of light vanished instantly into his forehead.
Yet, astonishingly, although the bead had plunged right into his glabella, Hu Yuan felt not the slightest pain or discomfort. He instinctively reached out to touch his forehead, wanting to confirm whether any anomaly had appeared there, but after searching over and over again, he still found nothing. As for that mysterious little bead, it had vanished into thin air like a vapor, leaving behind absolutely no trace whatsoever.
When his mood finally settled down somewhat, Hu Yuan remembered that he still needed to find a bandage to wrap the wound on his hand. However, after going through such a thrilling ordeal, he had long lost the mood to deal with that garlic sausage.
Hu Yuan slowly sat back down on the soft, comfortable sofa, leaning his upper body slightly backward against the couch. His brow was furrowed tightly, and his mind kept replaying the bizarre scenes he had just experienced.
That bead! Why on earth did it display such bizarre properties? Could it be... that it wasn't an ordinary lifeless object, but some kind of existence with living consciousness? Once this thought popped up, it grew wildly like wild grass, occupying the entirety of Hu Yuan's mind.
To uncover the truth hidden behind this, Hu Yuan took a deep breath, mustered his spirits to stand up from the sofa, and walked back to the first-aid kit holding the remaining beads. Reaching out, he carefully picked up those beads one by one, bringing them before his eyes to scrutinize and inspect. Yet, no matter how he examined them, these beads looked as ordinary and unremarkable as when he first saw them, completely devoid of any anomalies.
Unwilling to give up, Hu Yuan picked up the blood-stained tissue and rubbed it gently. Yet, no matter how hard he rubbed, that wondrous phenomenon from earlier never appeared again.
Fraught with lingering doubt and a sense of loss, Hu Yuan dragged his exhausted body back to the sofa. Just as he sat down, a sudden wave of intense sleepiness swept over him violently, instantly drowning out every bit of his will to resist.
He only felt his eyelids grow incomparably heavy; every blink required a tremendous amount of effort. Although his inner self was still struggling hard to stay awake, he ultimately lost to this powerful wave of drowsiness. With no other option left, Hu Yuan gave up the fight, his body listing to one side as he collapsed limply onto the sofa.
Yet the moment he lay down, an invisible, immense force descended abruptly—like an unseen, giant hand that firmly seized him, dragging him unceremoniously toward some unknown direction. Hu Yuan felt the world spin, and the scenery before his eyes grew blurry, as if the entire world had turned upside down at that very moment.
Just a few seconds later, as that dizzy sensation gradually faded, Hu Yuan was astonished to find himself already inside a wondrous, entirely unfamiliar space filled with unknown mysteries.
An ancient and mystical aura permeated the surroundings everywhere, an aura that seemed to have precipitated the vicissitudes of countless ages along with deep secrets unknown to others. Hu Yuan could not help taking a deep breath, trying to engrave this unique scent deep into his memory.