Chapter 1

Under the eager anticipation of countless citizens, the subway in Xinhe City finally began operation, relieving the daily commuting struggles of the working class who had to squeeze onto buses every day for work. Xiaohui was particularly pleased about this, as her home was far from her workplace. Taking the bus used to take over an hour, and to avoid being late, she had to wake up at around six in the morning, which was very exhausting. Now with the subway, she only needed about twenty minutes for the commute, leaving her with much more free time in the morning. Xiaohui was an ambitious person, and she certainly wouldn’t waste this extra time by sleeping in. Instead, she used the time to study and improve herself. As a result, she had a very regular routine for taking the subway to work: Every morning at 7:00, she would arrive at the subway station and stand by the last two carriages of the train. She discovered that these carriages were usually less crowded. Fewer people meant she wouldn’t have to squeeze in, and she could quickly find a seat to read a book. The same routine applied for the return journey after work. Sometimes, she could even take a quick nap on the subway to make up for the sleep she lost in the morning. This regular study routine greatly improved her skills at work, but it also caused a big problem. If something happened on the subway that disrupted her usual routine, she would become extremely irritable. Xiaohui soon felt the consequences of this. She worked at a mobile phone assembly factory, where she was assigned to an assembly line job. Anyone who’s worked on an assembly line in a mobile phone factory knows that during the lead-up to the launch of a new phone, the factory will often have to work overtime, leaving people exhausted. Xiaohui’s factory had received a large order from a domestic mobile phone giant, so she had to work late every day. Having to work late and wake up early the next morning made Xiaohui so tired that she didn’t even want to walk to work. Naturally, her temper also became much shorter. One morning, she walked into the subway with a tired face, quickly found a seat, and closed her eyes to pretend to sleep. Due to her exhaustion from overtime, she hadn’t read her book on the subway for several days but had instead used the time to sleep. She hadn’t slept for long before waking up, not because someone had woken her, but because the subway suddenly stopped moving. “What’s going on?” She rubbed her eyes, puzzled. “Why is the subway not moving?” Her question was quickly answered by the subway’s announcement: “Attention, passengers. Due to an accident at the next station, the subway will not continue until after half an hour!” “No way! Half an hour? How is that possible?” As soon as the announcement was made, Xiaohui, along with the other passengers, started to complain. “I have to get to work! If I wait half an hour, I’ll lose my perfect attendance for the month!” “Losing perfect attendance is bad enough, but my company fines me 100 yuan for being late once!” Despite the complaints, everyone had no choice but to wait, even though they ended up waiting for nearly an hour. After the subway had stopped for almost an hour, Xiaohui arrived at the factory late and was immediately scolded by her supervisor. Despite her repeated explanations that the subway had been delayed due to the accident, the supervisor, without hesitation, deducted her overtime pay according to the factory’s rules. “It’s so unfair!” Xiaohui immediately complained to her colleague after returning to her post. “I was late because of the subway issue, but the supervisor still deducted my overtime pay without mercy.” “How could this happen?” her colleague, Xiaomei, asked in confusion. “Doesn’t the subway you take always run on time? How could something like this happen?” “You guys don’t know the full story,” said Zheng Fang, another colleague, shaking her phone. “The news just reported that the subway stopped because someone jumped onto the tracks and committed suicide.” “Someone committed suicide by jumping onto the tracks?” Xiaohui and Xiaomei exclaimed. “Is that true?” “It’s definitely true. Look, the news even posted a photo of the deceased.” Xiaohui and Xiaomei took a look and saw that it was indeed true. They fell silent. “Still, I feel so wronged!” After work, Xiaohui and Zheng Fang took the subway home. As they were waiting for the train, Xiaohui was still fuming over what had happened earlier. “Because of someone I don’t even know committing suicide by jumping onto the tracks, I lost my overtime pay. It’s so unfair! Ugh! How can there be such stubborn people in the world? If you’re tired of living, just end it, but at least don’t drag others down with you!” “Xiaohui, what are you saying?” Zheng Fang’s face changed drastically. “How can you say something like that here?” “What’s wrong with that?” Xiaohui said, somewhat confused. “I’m talking about the person who committed suicide today. It’s not like I’m talking about you. Why are you getting so worked up?” “Because you’re talking about the person who committed suicide today, that’s why I’m so upset!” Zheng Fang said sternly. “Xiaohui, haven’t you heard that you shouldn’t say anything at the scene of an accident, especially anything about the deceased? If you do, it could cause a lot of trouble for you.” “Zheng Fang, when did you become so superstitious?” Xiaohui chuckled. “What’s wrong with talking about that person? Is he going to turn into a vengeful ghost and come after me? Besides, didn’t you just say it’s only forbidden to speak at a traffic accident scene? Well, is this a traffic accident scene?” “Even though this isn’t a traffic accident scene, it’s still related to the deceased!” Zheng Fang said. “Xiaohui, I suggest you sincerely apologize to the deceased. Otherwise, something bad might happen.” “Apologize? What a joke! That person is dead, and he didn’t even die here. What good is my apology?” Xiaohui remained firm in her stance. “Well, if that’s how you feel…” Zheng Fang gave up trying to persuade Xiaohui. By this point, the subway had arrived, and she needed to board the train, so she stopped talking and entered the subway with Xiaohui. Once inside the subway, they each found a seat. After sitting for a while, especially after the subway had been in motion for some time, Xiaohui started to feel something was off. How to explain it? She felt like someone was quietly staring at her. But when she looked up to where the gaze seemed to come from, she couldn’t see anything unusual. “How strange,” Xiaohui muttered. “Could it be that I’m so exhausted from overtime that I’m just imagining things?” But when she unconsciously glanced at the window across from her seat, a terrifying image almost made her heart leap out of her chest. A woman, her face covered in blood, was leaning against the glass, grinning at her!