Chapter 4: Nightmare

After the two of us finished our meal, we left the restaurant together.

It was already afternoon. The once-crowded streets had emptied out as if the ebbing tide had swept everyone away, leaving only a few scattered passersby.

Li Xinyi and I strolled leisurely down the street that had once given us so much trouble, the glow of the setting sun casting our shadows together on the pavement. To anyone watching, we must have looked just like a couple.

I wanted to imprint that moment in my mind forever, but reality rarely accommodates such wishes. All I could do was make a faithful record of the day’s events on paper, so I could recall them tomorrow. Still, I hoped that by tomorrow my memories would return, and I wouldn’t have to rely on words to remember her—this girl named Li Xinyi.

Just then, the ringing of a phone shattered the peaceful atmosphere. Li Xinyi stopped, pulled her phone from her pocket, glanced at the screen, then looked at me before walking a short distance away to take the call.

A few minutes later, she returned.

“It’s getting late. I’ll head home now. You can find your way back by yourself, right?” She tilted her head at me, half teasing, half genuinely concerned I might get lost.

“I’m just amnesiac, not stupid. Besides, I remember everything except things about you.” I felt a pang of disappointment as I said this.

Li Xinyi seemed to sense my mood. “Then the first thing you need to do when you get home is write down everything that happened today. I don’t want to have to introduce myself to you again if I see you tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

“And don’t forget to come to the convenience store for your interview at eight-thirty tomorrow morning.”

We exchanged WeChat contacts and parted ways, each heading in a different direction.

Leaving the snack street, I took out my phone and opened WeChat. Sure enough, there was a friend request—her profile picture was an anime girl playing guitar. I knew this was Li Xinyi. After adding her, I immediately checked her Moments. I’d thought someone as cheerful as her would frequently post about her life, but to my surprise, her feed contained nothing personal, just reposted job ads from the convenience store. I was a little disappointed.

“Are you on the bus yet?” Her message popped up unexpectedly soon.

“No, just waiting for a ride at the intersection.”

“Alright, be careful. Don’t forget the interview tomorrow!”

I replied with a simple “Okay,” and she sent nothing more.

I slipped my phone back into my pocket, ready to hail a cab. I was eager to get home and record the day’s events in detail, but I was also curious—if I lost my memory again tomorrow and had to rely solely on my notes, what would I think as I read them?

Humans are full of contradictions. I didn’t want to forget what happened today, but I was also deeply curious—if I did forget, would I still…

A taxi pulled up in front of me. I got in.

Since it was almost evening, the roads weren’t crowded, and the driver sped up. I stared out the window, watching the scenery, people, and buildings flash by in an instant. The sensation was strange, and I couldn’t help but compare it to my own fleeting memories. Lost in thought, I soon fell asleep.

When I woke, the driver called out to let me know we had arrived. Before I got out, he reminded me, “Take care of yourself, young man.”

Smiling, I paid the fare. Perhaps it was because of the nightmares I’d been having lately, but sleep never came easily. I stood outside for a moment, collecting myself, then pulled out my phone again and opened Li Xinyi’s profile. I wanted to tell her I’d gotten home safely—and perhaps find a reason to keep chatting.

As I waited for her reply, a figure suddenly rushed toward me. Before I could react, I was knocked to the ground, my phone flying from my hand.

“Watch where you’re going!” I shouted in annoyance, then bent down to look for my phone.

When I looked up, I saw nothing but black—literally. The stranger was dressed head to toe in black, with a cap pulled low and a mask covering his face, like a celebrity trying not to be recognized.

“No matter how much of a hurry you’re in, you should still watch where you’re going. What if you’d hit a child or an old person?” I grumbled, resigned to my bad luck as I prepared to leave.

But just as I turned away, he grabbed my shoulder with such force that it hurt. I shook him off.

“What’s wrong with you? If you’re not right in the head, go get help!”

I glared at him, but he didn’t get angry at my outburst. Instead, he stared at me in astonishment, and the air between us turned icy. We stared at each other in silence.

Just as I was about to leave again, the man finally spoke. Before I could process his words and turn, he had vanished. I chased in the direction he’d gone, but he was already nowhere to be seen.

What did he mean by that?

Back in my room, I took out paper and pen and wrote down everything that had happened that day. When I finished, I remembered the words the mysterious man had said:

“Be careful of Li Xinyi.” What did that mean?

Should I write it down as well? After several minutes of deliberation, I decided not to include it. After all, it was just some strange remark from a stranger.

So many odd things had happened recently—contradictory notes, this woman Li Xinyi, and that man’s warning. Maybe I was just avoiding reality, but I truly didn’t want to waste more energy thinking about it. Life is better when it’s simple, I told myself, folding the note and placing it back on the nightstand.

Late that night, the nightmares returned. But this dream was different—I saw the man in black again, the one who’d crashed into me. He was dressed the same, but this time he was holding a blood-stained knife, fleeing in panic from a house.

He ran straight toward me. As I tried to speak, he passed right through my body. In this dream, I was only an observer, invisible to him, but his clothes were soaked with someone’s blood.

The black coat made the crimson stains stand out even more. He staggered into the middle of the road, the knife slipping from his hand and falling with a clear, ringing sound.

He stopped there, motionless, for no apparent reason. Everything around us fell silent; my vision blurred. The moon was hidden behind clouds, darkness expanding until all became void.

Suddenly, in the distance, a light appeared and drew closer. It was a car speeding this way. By the headlights, I saw the man on the road again. This time, he saw me, too—he looked back, his hollow gaze unsettling me. I wanted to warn him about the car, to tell him to get out of the way, but no sound came from my mouth.

The car kept coming, faster and faster. Just as it was about to hit him, a sharp pain exploded in my head, as if a dozen steel needles were being driven into my skull. I fell to my knees, clutching my head, nearly passing out from the pain.

Suddenly, a voice cried out, “Run!” The car’s headlights shone directly into my eyes, and miraculously, the pain vanished. I squinted into the light, but to my astonishment, I found I had somehow switched places with the mysterious man. The car was now barreling toward me, and my legs were stuck as if in quicksand—I couldn’t move no matter how I struggled.

The car drew closer, like a starving tiger closing in on a wounded lamb. Just as its claws were about to reach my throat, time itself seemed to freeze. Everything stopped—even the falling leaves hung motionless in midair. Silence returned.

I looked back toward the source of the voice and saw the mysterious man. This time, he appeared unaffected by the frozen moment. He slowly removed his cap and mask, revealing his face.

He looked exactly like me.

…

The morning sun poured into the room, waking me. My head ached dully. The nightmare left me dazed. Was the mysterious man really me?

Impossible!

I lit a cigarette, letting the nicotine clear my head and pull me back to reality.

After a while, I picked up the note on the desk and reread the events of yesterday. There was so much written that the section marked “read upon waking” had been squeezed out.

It took a long time to read, but I learned everything that had happened with Li Xinyi the day before. I was certain: I had fallen for her. I didn’t know how I’d come to that conclusion, but the densely packed words were all about our day together—even down to the color of her clothes.

But today, as expected, I had forgotten it all. Would I fall for this stranger again if I met her today? That, I couldn’t know.

I got out of bed, washed up quickly, and checked the time—it was eight o’clock. I ordered a car in advance and dressed more formally than usual. It was only a convenience store interview, but as far as I could remember, it was my first ever. I wanted to take it seriously.