Early the next morning, before the sky had fully lightened, the phone on the bedside table buzzed nonstop, as if it were hounding him to death.
Without even opening his eyes, Wen Ning fumbled outside the covers for a while before finally grabbing his phone and groggily swiping to answer.
"Hello?"
The person on the other end was so loud that Wen Ning's eardrums rattled.
"Is that Wen Ning? It's Broom Star!"
Wen Ning's brain was still foggy, but those words hit him like a bucket of cold water over the head. His eyes snapped open.
Broom Star?
Oh, crap. Had Feng Dema stirred up trouble again?
He sat up, lowered his voice, and asked tentatively,
"What is it, Broom Star? Something wrong?"
There was silence on the other end. Then Broom Star suddenly spoke again, his tone so complicated it sounded as though he were holding back some huge revelation.
"You have no idea."
Wen Ning's heart sank. Something really had happened.
"What trouble has Feng Dema caused?"
"Trouble?"
Broom Star paused.
"If only he'd caused trouble."
Wen Ning was a little baffled.
"Then what's this about?"
"He's seriously impressive."
Broom Star's voice carried an excitement that was hard to describe.
"That Feng Dema you sent over is seriously impressive!"
Wen Ning looked incredulous.
"Huh? What happened?"
For a moment, he couldn't process it. He sat on the bed with his phone in hand. A guy like Feng Dema, impressive?
Broom Star began pouring out the story in a rush.
"As soon as he arrived—good heavens! Every desk and chair in our Misfortune Department got replaced! They're all made of yinwood from the Yellow River!"
Wen Ning froze for a moment.
"What wood?"
"Yinwood from the Yellow River! The kind that's been sitting at the bottom of the river