Pulling on his coat, Chai Ming gave his clothes a quick adjustment, making sure the man in the mirror showed few signs of looking disreputable.
Without fussing over anything else, he picked up the coffee cup on the table and drained it, then carefully surveyed his bedroom, looking somewhat weighed down and reluctant to leave.
In the semi-confidential staff residence where he lived alone because of the nature of his work, his personal belongings had already been sorted and stuffed into a suitcase, as though he were about to go on a long trip.
At this point, there seemed to be nothing left to do. Whether there had been time for it or not-
After looking around some more, he simply poured the water left in the kettle from making coffee last night into the potted plant.
He had bought the pothos on the windowsill the day he moved in. Although he watered it less and less often, its leaves only grew more luxuriant. Its vines had drooped down from the sill and crawled two or three meters along the foot of the wall, looking utterly carefree.
With a deep sigh, Chai Ming went into the living room and sat down alone, his face buried in his hands, only the tip of his nose showing between his fingers. He seemed especially exhausted.
The apartment was very quiet, until a sudden knock sounded at the door.
There had not even been the slightest sound of approaching footsteps. The knock was by no means particularly loud, yet for some reason, it startled the man so badly that he practically jumped to his feet!
There was no escaping it, after all. After taking a deep breath and composing himself, Chai Ming finally, as "calmly" as he could,
walked over and opened the door.