Lu Fen didn't sleep well the whole night.
His mind was a jumble — one moment it was the urn bursting into flames, the next it was Qian Feng's pale white face, then it was his mother calling out "Son." He tossed and turned and only dozed off toward dawn.
When he woke up, his phone showed 7:30 AM.
He lay there without moving, staring at the ceiling, running through yesterday's events in his mind. Qian Feng had suffered social death. He had received one hundred thousand yuan. His mother's nursing home fees were covered. As for the "one month of lifespan" the system had mentioned — he didn't feel any physical change. He just felt hollow inside, like something was missing.
He got up, got dressed, and felt the money in his pocket.
He had ninety-five thousand left. Yesterday he had withdrawn five thousand to pay the nursing home — out of that five thousand, forty-eight hundred was left. He had paid fifteen hundred, so the remaining thirty-three hundred was still on him. He pulled the money out, counted it once, counted it again, confirmed it was correct, and tucked it back into his pocket.
He went out.
There was work at the crematorium today. He had to clock in.
---
When he arrived, Old Liu was already in the cremation chamber. He saw Lu Fen, said nothing, and handed him a cigarette.
Lu Fen took it, lit it, and squatted next to him to smoke.
When they finished, Old Liu said, "Heard about what happened yesterday."
Lu Fen didn't respond.
Old Liu glanced at him. "Qian Feng's store. Didn't open today."
Lu Fen still didn't respond.
Old Liu stood up and walked inside. After two steps, he turned back and said, "His brother-in-law is Wang Dazhi."
Then he went in.
Lu Fen stayed squatting, turning that sentence over in his mind.
Wang Dazhi.
The developer who had framed him and sent him to prison. Qian Feng's own brother-in-law.
He took the last drag of his cigarette, stubbed it out, stood up, and went to work.
---
Three people to burn today. An old man, a middle-aged man, and a child.
The child's casket was the smallest. When it was pushed in, the family outside wailed heartbreakingly. Lu Fen stood next to the furnace, listening to the cries outside. His face showed no expression.
When you've been in this line of work long enough, you've heard so much crying that you go numb.
But today was a little different for him. When that child's casket was pushed in, a sudden image flashed through his mind — a child's face, three or four years old, wearing little braids, smiling at him.
He froze.
Who was that?
He couldn't remember.
The image was gone as quickly as it came. He tried to grab it but couldn't. He stood there blank for a few seconds until Fatty Zhou next to him shouted, "Lu Fen! What are you spacing out for? Add coal!"
He snapped out of it and went to add coal.
---
At lunch, he ordered an extra dish.
Normally it was two steamed buns with pickled vegetables. Today he ordered a plate of shredded potatoes and added an egg. The cafeteria lady gave him a look but didn't ask. She served him.
He squatted behind the back door with his food box, eating slowly, chewing each bite deliberately.
The egg was pretty good. He hadn't had one in a long time.
Halfway through, his phone rang. An unknown number.
He answered. The voice on the other end said, "Lu Fen?"
The voice sounded familiar, but he couldn't place it.
"It's me, Lame Li."
Lu Fen's chopsticks stopped.
Lame Li. The loan shark. Right after Lu Fen got out of prison, he didn't have the money for his mother's nursing home fees, so he had borrowed three thousand from Lame Li. They agreed on one month to pay it back, but interest had compounded to twelve thousand. Lu Fen had paid back ten thousand and still owed two thousand. Lame Li had been hounding him for it. Last month he had even shown up at the nursing home to cause trouble and scared Lu Fen's mother.
"Heard you came into some money recently?" Lame Li's voice had a smile in it, the kind that didn't sound like good news.
Lu Fen said nothing.
"That thing with Qian Feng — was that you?"
Lu Fen still said nothing.
The other end waited a few seconds, then laughed. "Alright, don't admit it. Doesn't matter. I'm just letting you know — you still owe that two thousand. With this month's interest, it's three thousand. I'm sending someone to pick it up in three days."
The call ended.
Lu Fen looked at his phone for a few seconds, turned the screen off, and continued eating.
The egg had gone cold. A little fishy. He chewed, his eyes fixed on the distance.
Three thousand.
He had thirty-three hundred in his pocket right now — actually, with the ninety-five thousand left from yesterday, he had ninety-eight thousand, but after withdrawing five thousand, he had ninety-three thousand left. Three thousand was nothing.
But he remembered the day Lame Li came to the nursing home.
His mother was sitting in the sun outside the door. Lame Li brought two guys with him, banging on the wall and shouting, "Pay back the money!" His mother got scared, tried to run inside, fell, and scraped her knee. Nurse Zhang came out and cursed at them, and only then did they leave.
Lu Fen wasn't there at the time. He heard about it later from Nurse Zhang.
He had wanted to go and fight them then. But he thought about his mother's nursing home fees and didn't go.
Now he had money.
Three thousand was nothing.
But he didn't want to pay it.
---
While working in the afternoon, he kept thinking about this.
He had asked around about Lame Li. The guy specialized in lending money on the outskirts of town. He kept a few thugs under him and liked to pick on the weak. When it came to collecting debts, there was no low he wouldn't stoop to — splashing paint, gluing locks shut, showing up at people's homes to cause trouble.
He knew where Lu Fen's mother's nursing home was.
Lu Fen thought about this as his hands kept working. Shovelful after shovelful of coal into the furnace. The flames leaped up, baking his face.
He stared at the fire for a long time.
Suddenly, the voice spoke in his mind —
[New mission issued.]
[Target: Lame Li. Inflict social death in a public place.]
[Cost: 3 months of lifespan.]
[Accept?]
The shovel in Lu Fen's hand stopped.
Three seconds later, he continued adding coal.
---
After work that night, instead of going back to his rented room, he went to the chess card room where Lame Li usually hung out.
He knew the place — he had gone there once before when he came to pay back the money. It was on the second floor of a bathhouse, thick with smoke, a dozen tables of gamblers.
When he walked in, Lame Li was playing mahjong at a table in the back. Two guys stood next to him, tattoos on their arms — clearly his thugs.
Lu Fen sat down in a corner and ordered a bottle of water. One yuan. He drank it slowly, his eyes fixed on that table.
Lame Li was having good luck tonight. He had won several hands in a row and was all smiles. The people around him flattered him — "Brother Li, you're amazing," "Brother Li, your luck is incredible."
Lu Fen watched, memorizing the faces of the people around him.
After a couple of rounds, Lame Li stood up and went to the bathroom. Lu Fen waited a few seconds, then followed.
No one was in the bathroom. Lame Li was standing at a urinal. He heard footsteps and glanced back, but didn't pay attention.
Lu Fen stood next to him, also facing a urinal.
Lame Li finished, shook off, zipped up, and turned to leave. Lu Fen suddenly spoke: "Lame Li."
Lame Li turned back and recognized him. He froze for a second, then smiled. "Oh, Lu Fen? What a coincidence?"
Lu Fen said, "I have that three thousand."
Lame Li's eyes lit up. "Great. You want to pay it now?"
Lu Fen said, "But I'm not paying it."
The smile disappeared from Lame Li's face.
Lu Fen looked at him and said, "You came to the nursing home last month. You scared my mother."
Lame Li stared at him, his eyes narrowing. "So?"
Lu Fen said, "So I'm not paying that three thousand. If you want to come collect it, I'll be waiting."
Lame Li laughed. This time the laugh was different. Mean. "Lu Fen, did you forget how you knelt and begged me to lend you that money?"
Lu Fen said nothing.
Lame Li stepped closer, leaned in, and lowered his voice. "You're just a furnace stoker. An ex-con. Who are you trying to act tough with? Three thousand. I'm sending someone to pick it up in three days. If you don't pay, I'll go sit at that nursing home. Every day. Let's see how your mother handles that."
He patted Lu Fen's shoulder and left.
Lu Fen stood there, looking at himself in the mirror.
The funeral character "奠" on his forehead looked a little red under the light.
He stood for a while, washed his hands, and went out.
---
Outside the bathhouse, it was already dark.
He stood at the entrance, lit a cigarette, and smoked.
The voice spoke in his mind again —
[Time remaining for mission: 71 hours.]
[Current progress: 0%.]
[Exchange for target's information? Cost: 1 day of lifespan.]
He smoked, staring at the streetlights in the distance.
A stray cat crept out from a corner — so skinny you could see its ribs. It glanced at him, meowed, and ran toward the trash can.
Lu Fen stared at the cat for a few seconds.
Then he stubbed out his cigarette, turned, and started walking back.
After two steps, the voice spoke in his mind again —
[Notice: Total lifespan burned has reached 1 month and 1 day. Memory loss has occurred.]
[Forgotten content: The weather on the day of your father's burial.]
He stopped walking.
He stood there, blank for a few seconds.
Then he kept walking back.
---
When he got back to his rented room, it was nearly ten o'clock.
He opened the door, didn't turn on the light, and sat down on the edge of the bed. He pulled out his phone and scrolled to the deposit notification. He looked at it again.
One hundred thousand.
He thought of Lame Li's face. Thought of him saying, "I'll go sit at that nursing home."
Then he thought of the child's face that had flashed through his mind today in the cremation chamber — three or four years old, wearing little braids, smiling at him.
Who was that?
He couldn't remember.
He stared at his phone screen. On the screen were only those numbers.
One hundred thousand.
Enough to cover his mother's nursing home fees for several years.
He lay down, put the phone aside, and closed his eyes.
His mind was in chaos. Lame Li. Qian Feng. Wang Dazhi. That child. His mother calling out "Son."
The chaos swirled until he fell asleep.
---
The next morning, he was woken by knocking on the door.
Thump thump thump. Very loud.
He sat up. Didn't move.
A voice shouted outside: "Lu Fen! Open the door!"
A woman's voice.
He froze for a second, then walked over and opened the door.
Standing at the door was Tu Su.
She was wearing her dark blue work uniform, sleeves rolled up to her forearms, revealing that scar. In her hand she carried a plastic bag containing two fried dough sticks and a bag of soy milk.
When she saw him open the door, she looked him up and down. "Were you dead asleep? I've been knocking forever."
Lu Fen stood in the doorway, looking at her, saying nothing.
She didn't wait for him to speak either. She shoved the plastic bag into his hand. "I was passing by anyway. Eat."
Then she turned and left.
Lu Fen looked down at the fried dough sticks in his hand. Hot. Still steaming.
He looked up. She had already reached the stairwell.
He wanted to say something. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
She had already gone downstairs.
Lu Fen stood in the doorway, looking in that direction for several seconds.
Then he looked down and took a bite of the fried dough stick.
Crispy. Fragrant.
He chewed as he walked back inside.
After two steps, he remembered something —
How did she know where he lived?
---