Lately, I'd been worrying about how all this might unfold. When I saw the online edition of the World Weekly go live ahead of schedule, with everything neatly compiled and summarized point by point, I found it deeply unsettling.
There was no mention of the demolition office, though. It seemed the interview Reporter Yuan had done with us hadn't come in handy.
The lengthy feature didn't name the reporter, either. It had been published under the World Weekly's name.
The comments below were predictably explosive. Once the article made its way onto social media, people started talking about it all over again.
When things like this weren't organized into a list, people didn't think much of them. But once someone put them all together, people began exclaiming over how many strange things had happened lately.
All sorts of supernatural-themed accounts and religious groups jumped on the bandwagon. Some pseudoscientific types blamed it on climate change, shifts in magnetic fields, or changes in cosmic radiation. The rest of the internet tried to fit everything into a movie plot. There was no way to tell how many people were genuinely worried and how many were just there for the spectacle.
I didn't know whether to feel relieved or anxious.
When I got to the office, Director Ma wasn't there. I didn't know if he'd gone to talk to the media or returned to the city's publicity department.
The five of us were in the office, so it was inevitable that we'd discuss the World Weekly article.
I also messaged Wu Ling to ask what she thought.
Wu Ling was calm about it. She didn't seem to care much, and she wasn't worried about a reporter keeping tabs on Greenleaf.
The five of us gathered our things and headed to Workers and Peasants