A Small Trial Run

A Small Trial Run

"Hey, did you hear? A fourth-year Media Studies senior tricked younger girls by saying there were internships at a big company. When they got there, they found out they were expected to entertain clients over drinks. Some were even forced to take nude photos. Then last night, her roommate clearly saw her sleeping in bed, but in the blink of an eye, she vanished."

"I heard about it too. It stirred up all the girls in Building Two. Everyone searched the whole campus but couldn't find her. In the end, the police called the school and asked the administrators to deal with it. Apparently, someone handed all her dirt over to the police. There were two photos among it, like they'd been taken right in front of her, but the people in them looked as if they couldn't see the camera ahead of them. It's seriously creepy."

"Speaking of creepy, isn't Wumart Supermarket's midnight legend even scarier?"

"What midnight legend?"

"You seriously don't know? The school forum has already exploded over this. Every Monday and Wednesday at midnight, the Wumart Supermarket nearest the library always loses one bottle of Nestlé Coffee. But exactly 4.5 yuan shows up in the cash register. The two cashier aunties were scared out of their wits. They checked the surveillance footage and found that the coffee simply vanished from the shelf, yet there wasn't anyone in the footage."

"Wow, I've got goosebumps just hearing that."

A few chattering girls passed by Zhang Heng. He was fiddling with a Sony mirrorless camera he had bought not long ago.

Ever since discovering a month ago that his day had gained an extra twenty-four hours, he had conducted many experiments and basically mastered this ability.

He had only stumbled across the incident involving that fourth-year Media Studies senior by chance and used it as a small trial run.

In theory, if he prepared properly, he could even start the Third World War.

Of course, that would do him no good.

He could also carry a fire axe down the street in broad daylight and smash every ATM he came across. He would probably become one of the city's top hundred wealthiest people soon enough. Or he could simply steal one yuan from everyone's wallet and quickly obtain more than twenty million yuan with minimal impact.

But for now, he had no need for that.

For a second-year college student, thirty thousand yuan a year in living expenses was already enough. Any more than that, and he would have nowhere to spend it.

His family did not need his support. There was no need to mention his parents, who were happily engrossed in scientific research abroad. As for Grandpa, he had been among the first batch of college students after the college entrance exam was reinstated in 1977. After graduating, he became a senior engineer on a national water conservancy project. Now retired, he had a pension and a retirement home with a yard. He grew vegetables, played chess, and was quite satisfied with his current life.

Besides, after becoming familiar with his abilities, Zhang Heng would not need to break the law if he truly wanted to make money.

For instance, the Photography Club he had recently applied to join was holding a photography contest next month on the theme of urban impressions. A senior responsible for external relations had secured a decent sponsor. First prize was five thousand yuan, plus a Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM wide-angle zoom lens. Second and third place also came with three thousand yuan and prizes.

Zhang Heng had started late. He had only attended two classes and one lecture at the Photography Club, relying mainly on online videos and self-study. He had only just reached composition and exposure.

But his models were cooperative. Fleeting, brilliant moments that ordinary photographers might never encounter were everywhere in Zhang Heng's extra twenty-four hours. Those frozen plays of light and shadow were moving enough without any further embellishment.

Even though Zhang Heng's skills were still crude and he knew nothing about color temperature or depth of field, the city held an unusual charm through his lens.

Zhang Heng picked two photos he was fairly satisfied with from his nighttime collection and submitted them to the club for the competition.

He was not dead set on winning a prize. He mainly wanted to test how much he had improved during this time.

Ever since discovering a month ago that every day had gained an extra twenty-four hours, Zhang Heng had not become more relaxed. Instead, he had grown even busier.

At first, he had mainly been conducting various tests. For example, would something he touched remain outside the stopped time forever, or would it return to stillness after leaving him for a certain period? How far did the time stop extend? Was it limited to this city alone? To find out, he had specifically bought a plane ticket one Saturday and flown a thousand li away...

Most questions like these had been answered through experiments. As for the few that were difficult to verify, he had no solution for them yet.

After that, he needed to consider how to allocate those extra twenty-four hours.

First of all, sleep was essential. Midnight had originally been his bedtime.

The first time he experienced something like this, curiosity had been enough to keep him wandering the city for an entire day. But once he got used to it, that was no longer possible.

During the extra twenty-four hours, when everyone else was frozen, only the time on his wristwatch continued to pass. At the same time, all his physical needs still existed objectively. He still felt hungry, thirsty, sleepy, and exhausted after prolonged activity, just as usual.

"Interesting. Does that mean I age twice as fast as ordinary people too?" Zhang Heng looked thoughtfully at the person in the mirror. However, he probably would not get an answer to that question anytime soon.

In short, after solving the problems of food and sleep, he still had around fourteen hours left. That extra time was enough for him to do many things.

For example, reading. Perhaps influenced by his theology-minded parents, he had always been interested in all kinds of strange and unusual knowledge. Previously, limited by time, he could only read one book a week. Now, he had rearranged his schedule and set aside another six hours for reading on Mondays and Wednesdays.

The bright, spacious library became his private domain. He did not need to reserve a seat in advance, there were no more bizarre neighbors, and he could even wander freely among the bookshelves in pajamas and slippers.

An interesting book paired with a cup of iced coffee was enough for a pleasant stretch of time.

Besides that, Zhang Heng had taken up rock climbing again after abandoning it right after getting a membership card. He also added photography to his list of hobbies. He attended classes and studied during normal time, then practiced and reinforced what he had learned during the time that belonged to him.

He had not neglected the archery he had been practicing recently either. The coach in charge of him marveled at the speed of his progress every week and even hoped he would seriously consider developing in that direction.

Of course, Zhang Heng's favorite activity was still wandering the city at night. He basically spent at least two hours outside every day.

Countless secrets lay hidden beneath the metropolis late at night.

Using those frozen slices of time and the Sony camera in his hands, Zhang Heng silently observed and recorded every corner of the city. It was like watching one frozen short film after another. Most of the time, he was merely a quiet observer, but occasionally, he would step in and change scenes he did not particularly like.

Those changes had nothing to do with good or evil. Zhang Heng had no interest in playing God or the devil. He was simply enjoying the moments that belonged to him.

I'm curious—if everyone had an extra twenty-four hours every day, what would you do?