Chapter 2: Chaos

Li Xinyi's answer plunged me into self-doubt.

“Ah, have you forgotten? Yesterday you were harassed by several men and I... happened to save you.”

Chen Xingyi felt a bit guilty but more anxious—not because he feared Li Xinyi wouldn't believe him, but because his only memory was what was written on that slip of paper. If the content was false, what else could he trust?

“I... don’t recall any such thing. You must have mistaken me for someone else.”

“Have you ever been in a car accident?”

“What?” Li Xinyi retorted, her tone tinged with irritation.

She took the words of this strange boy before her as some bizarre attempt at flirting.

“Sir, if there’s nothing else, I’ll return to work.”

Without leaving Chen Xingyi any time to explain, she turned and went back to her post.

Watching her retreating figure, a fountain of questions began to gush through Chen Xingyi’s mind, causing his head to throb faintly once more.

Had he come to the wrong place? Was it merely someone with the same name?

Clinging to a last shred of hope, he took out the slip of paper he’d left on his bedside table that morning and again asked the receptionist to confirm the address.

“Ah! That's right, this is the place. There isn’t another convenience store with that name anywhere nearby,” the receptionist replied.

“Is it possible that there’s another employee here named Li Xinyi?”

“Sir... what exactly is your business?” The receptionist looked at Chen Xingyi with some annoyance, evidently regarding him as some sort of troublemaker.

Feeling embarrassed, Chen Xingyi apologized and left the convenience store in a fluster.

“Maybe I got the name wrong, or perhaps the address was written incorrectly,” he muttered to himself.

The spring breeze was gentle.

Standing outside the store, he took out the slip of paper again, studying it repeatedly before letting out a sigh.

“Time to go to the hospital and get my bandages changed.” Fortunately, the hospital was not far from the convenience store; a walk of just over ten minutes brought him there.

To avoid another mistake, Chen Xingyi stood in front of the hospital, carefully scrutinizing it while trying to recall its appearance.

“Hey! You’re the boy who was in the car accident the day before yesterday, right? Here to have your bandages changed?”

A slightly plump but warmly smiling nurse called out to him from the doorway.

Chen Xingyi was bewildered, for he had no recollection of her, and could only respond absentmindedly.

“You’re here so early.”

She led Chen Xingyi up to the neurology examination room on the second floor.

“Wait at the door for now. You’ll be next once the patient inside is done.”

Chen Xingyi nodded.

Inside, a man and a woman sat before a doctor wearing reading glasses, who seemed seasoned and experienced. They questioned him anxiously. The man listened to the doctor’s words, casting worried glances at the woman beside him. It looked as though her condition was quite serious.

Chen Xingyi stood at the door, idly surveying his surroundings.

He wondered if he would remember this place tomorrow.

Soon, the man helped the woman out of the examination room, her eyes still glistening with tears, evidently in a bad state.

“Next.”

The nurse inside called out.

Chen Xingyi snapped back to attention and entered. The room was simply furnished, with an old-fashioned computer. The doctor sipped tea from a mug while instructing the nurse about the previous patient’s condition.

“Hmm... Hello, we met yesterday, didn’t we?” Chen Xingyi said as he sat down.

“Yes, yes... You’re the boy who had the car accident and hit his head!” the doctor replied after glancing at him.

Driving? The slip of paper only mentioned an accident; he hadn’t realized he was the one behind the wheel, and that the crash was so serious. What a stroke of bad luck.

“Ah! Yes, that's right.”

“How are you feeling now?” The doctor looked at Chen Xingyi, then at the patient record on the computer.

“I don’t know. I can’t remember most of what happened yesterday, just a few bits and pieces.”

“Anything else? How’s the rest of your body?”

“Nothing else bothers me.”

After a brief exchange, the doctor took another sip of tea and pondered for a moment.

“You’re recovering well. You don’t remember anything from the accident yesterday, but today you recall a few details. That means you’re slowly improving. Rest at home and you should be fully recovered in about a week.”

The doctor’s words eased Chen Xingyi’s heavy heart considerably.

He then followed the nurse to have the bandage on his head changed and left the hospital.

The street was as lively as ever: bustling crowds, vendors shouting, and a ceaseless flow of traffic. All of it made Chen Xingyi feel a faint sense of belonging—perhaps it was the doctor’s reassurance, or maybe the beautiful weather.

Chen Xingyi wandered aimlessly through the streets, then checked his bank balance on his phone. The good news was he had enough to rest at home for a month; the bad news was, if he didn’t recover in that time, finding a job would be tough in his condition.

The sky shifted from orange to deep red, and before he knew it, afternoon had arrived.

Whether by fate or coincidence, he found himself once more at the convenience store, just as Li Xinyi was about to finish her shift.

They bumped into each other unexpectedly.

“Uh... sorry about this morning,” he said.

“Oh, it’s fine. I’d already forgotten about it.” She seemed to be in good spirits, her smile never fading.

“By the way, I forgot to ask you earlier—what happened to your head?”

“It’s a long story.” So I told her everything that had occurred during this period.

“That’s quite a condition. You really are unlucky. Be careful not to get lost,” Li Xinyi joked.

“So you mistook me this morning—maybe you just wrote it down wrong.”

“Yeah, I think so too...” Before I could finish.

Li Xinyi suddenly seemed to realize something. “Oh... so that’s what you meant by the car accident this morning... you—”

“Huh?”

“Just kidding. I’ve got to go. Don’t forget to stop by the store whenever you have time!” Li Xinyi waved, heading off in the opposite direction.

Before leaving, she didn’t forget to advertise the convenience store where she worked.

Night fell, and the streetlights took over from the sun, illuminating the city once again.

After spending almost the entire afternoon at an internet café, Chen Xingyi returned to his neighborhood. In the elevator, he ran into a couple who had just seen a movie and were still discussing the plot.

The girl pressed her chin and asked the boy, “What was the name of the movie we just saw? I want to watch it again; the plot was so hard to understand.”

“It was called ‘The Night the Comet Came.’ If I’d known, I wouldn’t have taken you to see it. What was supposed to be a nice date turned into a plot analysis. It totally ruined the mood,” the guy replied with a wry smile.

So engrossed were they in their conversation that they didn’t even notice Chen Xingyi behind them. When the elevator reached the thirteenth floor, Chen Xingyi stepped out and passed between them, startling them into awareness.

After a simple wash, he lay in bed and began to reflect on everything that had happened that day. He then picked up his pen and recorded it all, placing the note on his bedside table with the words “Read upon waking” written on it.

Soon, the world returned to its quiet state.

In his sleep, he dreamed of a girl in a white dress beckoning to him. The girl then turned away and ran into the distance. Though her face was unclear, some deep instinct urged Chen Xingyi to chase after her, yet the distance between them grew ever greater. Suddenly, the girl stopped, and, miraculously, Chen Xingyi found himself standing behind her. Just as he reached out to touch her, she turned around, revealing a terrifying, grotesque face, screaming, “I’m going to kill you!”

Ah!

The sudden nightmare jolted Chen Xingyi awake, his forehead drenched in cold sweat. He sat up, calmed himself, wiped the moisture from his brow, and glanced at his phone—it was already nearly ten o’clock.

He got out of bed, dressed, brushed his teeth and washed his face, then picked up the slip of paper on his bedside table and reviewed the events of the day before.

Aside from his encounter with the girl named Li Xinyi, he had some recollection of everything else—a good sign. Eager to share the news with the doctor, he hurried downstairs and headed to the hospital.

Just as he arrived and stepped out of the taxi at the hospital entrance, a clear, lively voice called out behind him.

“Hero... My savior!”

Chen Xingyi turned and pointed at himself.

“Me?”