A phone call

August 12. Overcast.

Qin Manjiang picked up the glasses on his bedside table and put them on, then turned to check the time. Seven thirty in the morning.

Although the curtains were drawn, not a trace of morning light seeped through. It looked like an overcast day.

He got out of bed and turned on the television. The morning news was playing.

He picked up his phone and sent the class representative a message.

"Still not feeling well. I need more time off."

Soon, he received a voice message from the class representative, who was also up early:

"Qin Manjiang, if you keep missing classes, you'll fail every course this semester. You should really..."

The voice was gentle, but Qin Manjiang didn't listen to the rest.

He wasn't particularly fond of his name.

His father had chosen it. The man wasn't educated and had never left their little riverside village in his entire life. Apparently, Qin Manjiang had been born at dusk, and the old village chief, struck by poetic inspiration at the sight of the crimson river, had recited, "A ray of setting sun spreads across the water; half the river emerald, half the river red." That had inspired Old Qin. If half a river looked that beautiful, he decided, his son deserved at least a whole river.

At the old village chief's suggestion, Qin Quanjiang-"whole river"-had become Qin Manjiang-"full river."

Qin Manjiang was grateful for that, too. At least Old Qin hadn't impulsively named him Qin Sese after the poem's "emerald."

But later, Old Qin had drowned in the river he had depended on all his life. After that, Qin Manjiang hadn't liked his name very much.

"It's fine. Please keep requesting leave for me as usual. I'll figure out what to do about failing my courses."

Qin Manjiang sent his reply.

Then he put down his phone.

As an ordinary child from a farming family by the river, Qin Manjiang had experienced only two major events in his otherwise unremarkable first twenty years:

One was getting into university-and a highly ranked one at that, Fucheng University, which wasn't too far from home.

The other was Old Qin's death.

Old Qin had been an easygoing country man. Although he had lost his wife early in life, he had always been cheerful and carefree. Qin Manjiang simply couldn't believe he would kill himself just when his son had gotten into university.

But his younger sister had told him herself that Old Qin had committed suicide. She had watched him slowly walk into the river at dusk, just like the dusk on the day Qin Manjiang was born. The water had swallowed his body, and he had soon vanished. By the time someone found him downstream, he was a bloated corpse floating in the water. An examination confirmed that the body was indeed Old Qin's.

With his own sister having witnessed the suicide, there should have been no reason for doubt or further investigation.

Yet after Old Qin's suicide, his sister's mental state had remained strange. She was aggressive, constantly staring at everything around her with eyes full of malice and fear.

After examining her, the doctors concluded that Qin Manyi suffered from several mental illnesses, the most severe being persecutory delusions. Left unsupervised, she would pose a serious danger to society.

Qin Manjiang hadn't followed the doctors' advice to send her to a psychiatric hospital. Instead, he had moved out of his university dormitory and rented an apartment in Fu City to look after her.

Even so, Qin Manyi had completely lost consciousness a month earlier. She had been rushed to the hospital and had yet to wake up.

That was also why Qin Manjiang now skipped classes every day.

He needed money. Although graduating from Fucheng University all but guaranteed a reasonably well-paid job, he couldn't afford to wait.

Every use of the medical equipment keeping Qin Manyi alive cost a fortune. He needed a great deal of money.

She couldn't die like this.

Not as his sister, and not as the direct witness to Old Qin's suicide.

Qin Manjiang picked up the remote and raised the news broadcast's volume a little, then headed into the bathroom. He had just squeezed toothpaste onto his toothbrush, not yet putting it in his mouth, when his phone sounded again.

This time, it wasn't the class representative. It was a phone call, and the class representative didn't have his number.

Sure enough, after drying his hands and going over to pick up his phone, Qin Manjiang's eyes brightened slightly at the caller's name.

Everyone had friends, and Qin Manjiang had one too. Birds of a feather might flock together, but this particular friend of his was genuinely from a wealthy family.

He had covered almost all of Qin Manyi's initial treatment costs.

His surname was Li, his given name Xijiu-the "western success" from "eastern accomplishment, western success." Li Xijiu even had an older brother named Wang Dongcheng. One brother had taken their father's surname, Wang, and the other their mother's, Li. That was probably why he had been able to run around with a wild riverside kid like Qin Manjiang since childhood.

The family business and everything else were left to his older brother, who had inherited their father's surname. His own main responsibilities were staying alive and spending money.

Only those who were content deserved happiness, and Li Xijiu was very content.

However, Li Xijiu was no longer in school.

It wasn't because he couldn't get into university. He had even gotten into Fucheng University, just like Qin Manjiang.

But he had been expelled shortly after starting his freshman year.

One evening, while jogging around the sports field, he had spotted a group of people fighting outside the wall. On a whim, he had climbed up and sat on top to enjoy the show.

He had been having a great time watching when someone shoved him-or perhaps his backside had simply slipped-and he fell off the wall, landing right between the two groups. They had been busy shoving each other, but when they saw this stranger, both sides assumed he was someone the other side had called in. So they all started hitting him.

How could a rich kid who had spent his childhood doing everything except studying put up with that?

He fought back without a moment's hesitation.

When the police arrived and checked everyone's injuries, it turned out that the two groups had mostly just been pushing and shoving. They had barely hurt each other.

Li Xijiu, on the other hand, had descended from the heavens and left their faces and bodies covered in bruises.

The incident was later singled out to make an example of him. His brother could have smoothed things over, but Li Xijiu no longer wanted to study anyway, so he had left Fucheng University without looking back.

In short, the guy was tall, handsome, and rich. Aside from not being particularly bright, he had practically no flaws.

Maybe not being particularly bright was a strength, too.

Still, no matter how much you miss me, isn't calling first thing in the morning a bit much?

Qin Manjiang answered:

"What's up?"

He asked in puzzlement, his mouth full of toothpaste foam.

"Brother Qin, I'm watching a movie!"

Li Xijiu sounded quite excited.

Qin Manjiang turned to check the time on the television. A movie this early?

"Okay, and?"

Qin Manjiang asked casually as he brushed his teeth.

"This movie's so interesting. Everyone's really immersed in it. The girl next to me is so scared she's crying, but her makeup hasn't even smudged! And she's painted her face so white."

Li Xijiu muttered.

"It's a big world. Some people are naturally pale enough to reflect light. That's normal."

Qin Manjiang wedged the phone between his right shoulder and cheek, struggling to free his hands to squeeze out some shampoo.

At that, he paused. What cinema was already open at seven thirty in the morning? And judging by Li Xijiu's mention of "everyone," there were quite a few people there.

"Good point." Li Xijiu seemed convinced, but soon exclaimed again, "Whoa! Brother Qin! This guy was sitting in the second row just now, and while I was talking to you, he moved to the row right in front of me. He's so fast!"

"It's a big world. Some people move fast. That's normal. You're not exactly slow yourself."

Qin Manjiang squeezed the shampoo onto his head and answered as he rubbed it in.

"True..." Li Xijiu's voice seemed a little quieter. After a while, he asked in confusion, "Brother Qin, the guy in front suddenly turned his head to look at me. Was I talking too loudly? Did he hear me...? He turned his head without moving his body at all. That's pretty impressive..."

"It's a big world. A few people with unusual joints are perfectly normal."

Qin Manjiang still didn't take it too seriously.

"You didn't call me this early just to tell me you're watching a movie, did you?"

"Huh?" Li Xijiu sounded astonished. "What do you mean, early? Isn't it past ten at night? I figured you'd be done with whatever part-time job you were doing, so I decided to watch a movie while I waited for you. Then we could get a late-night snack."

Qin Manjiang stopped washing his hair, his body stiffening. Just then, a clear announcement came from the television:

"Late last night, in the early hours of the morning, a fire broke out at a cinema at 36 South Sky Road in our city. No survivors have been found so far. The exact number of casualties is still under investigation..."

Qin Manjiang instinctively held his breath. He knew Li Xijiu wasn't someone who liked playing jokes.

"Where are you watching the movie?"

"South Sky Road!"

"What's today's date?"

"Huh?" Li Xijiu sounded utterly bewildered.

"Answer me seriously. What month and day do you think it is?"

Qin Manjiang's tone stunned Li Xijiu, but he soon answered obediently, "August 11, Brother Qin. What's wrong?"

Those words seemed to flip some kind of switch.

At that moment, the entire world seemed to become waterlogged. Everything around him began twisting unnaturally, and a faint but unmistakable sense of suffocation suddenly appeared.

"B-Brother Qin, everyone in the cinema suddenly turned to look at me..."

Li Xijiu's stammering voice came through the phone. This was the first time Qin Manjiang had ever heard fear from that guy.

Qin Manjiang took a deep breath. He hadn't noticed it himself, but the more inexplicably eerie the situation became, the faster he calmed down.

"Don't be scared. They're just a little strange. Don't do anything rash. Answer me first. Is your cinema at 36 South Sky Road? And what's the exact time right now?"

Qin Manjiang's explanation sounded like sheer lunacy. Most people wouldn't have believed him, but Li Xijiu did.

"Yes... 36 South Sky Road, the Threshold Cinema. It's August 11, ten thirty-one at night."

"Tell me, this isn't a joke, is it?"

"Huh? What joke? Isn't today..."

"..."

"Stay in touch. I'll figure something out."

"N-no, Qin, I have to hang up. I can't... stay here..."

Before he finished speaking, the call ended.

The disconnected tone sounded from the phone. The morning news was still reporting on the fire at the Threshold Cinema.

The fire had been extinguished, and firefighters were doing everything they could to search for possible survivors.

But judging by the extent of the fire shown in the footage, barring any unexpected turn of events, everyone in the cinema last night had met with one.

After drying his hair, Qin Manjiang reached for his glasses, then stopped with his hand in midair.

His thoughts and time itself seemed to pause for a moment.

Li Xijiu had given him those glasses before the university entrance exam.

Honestly, he and Li Xijiu were completely different in every way: family background, personality, interests, and how they dealt with people.

Li Xijiu was an utterly, blindly optimistic idiot. The only time Qin Manjiang had ever gotten drunk was when Old Qin died. Worried that the drunken Qin Manjiang would catch a chill, an equally drunk Li Xijiu had actually dismantled a tabletop and laid it over him. The restaurant owner had nearly beaten them both up.

"The Threshold Cinema has suffered severe fire damage, and the chances of survival for those trapped inside are extremely slim. As we can see, several charred bodies have already been brought out..."

Logically speaking, Li Xijiu was already dead.

With the place burned that badly, no one could have survived. Even extracting DNA to identify the bodies would be difficult.

But... he had received a call from him.

Li Xijiu was still alive at ten thirty on the night of August 11, and he could call Qin Manjiang, who was already in August 12!

Qin Manjiang took a deep breath.

Right now, Li Xijiu was like Schrödinger's Cat, in a superposition of life and death.

That made Qin Manjiang hesitate. If something was left undone, it could have two possible outcomes. Once someone acted, however, there could only be one final result. Human involvement directly affected the outcome.

Li Xijiu was still alive in last night, but if Qin Manjiang became involved and upset some delicate balance, or found him among the bodies being carried out, every unknown would collapse into a single outcome-his death.

Qin Manjiang rubbed his somewhat overgrown hair hard.

This bizarre, extraordinary incident wasn't even something he could ask the police to handle. He couldn't explain it.

But could he simply leave it alone?

Just then, his phone screen lit up. It was a text from Li Xijiu. The message was short, but unmistakably clear. Just two words:

"Save me!"

Qin Manjiang let out a long breath. All his indecision and doubts vanished, because he had clearly seen his friend's plea.

He washed his face with cold water. Rather than rushing straight to the scene of the fire, he finished watching the reports about it and read some of the information online, true or otherwise.

In silence, he sent Li Xijiu a reply:

"Hide. Stay alive."

"I'll bring you back."

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(End of chapter)