The rain poured down as if someone were dumping water from the sky, soaking Jiangcheng City completely.
Lin Feng wiped the rain from his face, squinted at the order on his phone—Apartment 2801, Building 7, Splendid Gardens. The note said: "If it's not here in twenty minutes, you get a bad rating. No excuses from the delivery guy. Rain is not a reason."
He gritted his teeth, tightened his grip on the electric bike's handles, and charged into the downpour.
Rainwater seeped through the seams of his cheap raincoat, running down his neck and making him shiver. This order was already three minutes late. Judging by the note, a bad rating was certain. One bad rating meant a fifty-yuan fine. Five hours of work today, gone.
Lin Feng was twenty-two, grew up in an orphanage. After high school, he worked on construction sites, washed dishes, and finally found that food delivery offered flexible hours and slightly better pay. He rented a fifteen-square-meter room in the city's outskirts for six hundred a month. What was left after food went into savings—though he himself wasn't sure what he was saving for.
Maybe just so he wouldn't have to take orders on a stormy night like this.
At the gate of Splendid Gardens, a security guard stopped his bike. "No delivery people inside. Leave it on the rack here, call the resident to come get it."
"Brother, the rain's too heavy. It's inconvenient for the resident to come down. Let me just take it up. Five minutes, tops." Lin Feng offered a pleading smile.
The guard glanced at him and waved his hand. "Hurry up."
Lin Feng hugged the food bag, dashed into the building. The elevator was on the 28th floor. He waited three seconds, then turned and sprinted for the stairs. Climbing 28 floors was nothing for someone constantly on the move like him. Faster than waiting for the elevator.
He knocked on the door of 2801. A woman in a silk nightgown took the food with a frown, rainwater from the plastic bag dripping onto her pristine floor.
"Six minutes late," she said coldly.
"Sorry, the rain was really heavy, on the road—"
"Enough. No excuses." The door slammed shut.
Lin Feng stood outside, hearing faint complaints from inside—"That delivery guy was soaked through, filthy"—and smiled bitterly. He turned and headed downstairs.
By the time he got back to his rented room, it was already eleven at night. He took off his dripping clothes and turned on the tap—only a thin stream of yellowish water came out. The water was off. The landlord had posted a notice yesterday: pipe maintenance tonight.
Lin Feng sighed, pulled out a half-empty bottle of mineral water from under his bed, wiped himself down roughly, and collapsed onto the bed. His phone showed today's earnings: 87.5 yuan. After deducting bike charging fees, phone bill, raincoat wear and tear, net profit less than sixty.
His stomach ached with hunger. He got up and rummaged around, finding only half a pack of expired crackers. Forget it. Sleep. You don't feel hungry when you're asleep.
The next day, the rain stopped, and the sun was unusually bright.
Lin Feng completed fifteen orders in the morning. At noon, he spent eight yuan on a bowl of plain noodles at a small noodle shop. In the afternoon, while delivering, he passed through the old city district and saw a crowd gathered at an alley entrance. An old lady was selling old wares from a street stall.
"Genuine antiques, all passed down from ancestors." The lady looked about seventy. A blue cloth was spread on the ground, displaying some old coins, books, and jade pieces.
Lin Feng was about to walk past when the corner of his eye caught a pale green jade pendant. He couldn't say why, but he stopped.
The pendant was palm-sized, carved with simple cloud patterns, edges slightly chipped, looking dusty. But looking at it, Lin Feng's heart inexplicably skipped a beat.
"How much for this?" he asked, squatting down.
The old lady looked at him. "Three hundred."
"Thirty." Lin Feng bargained out of habit. He only had a little over two hundred on him.
"Young man, this is old jade. Look at the coloration—"
"Fifty. That's all I have." Lin Feng pulled out a crumpled fifty-yuan bill.
The old lady hesitated, then took the money. "Alright, since you seem sincere."
Lin Feng took the pendant. It felt warm and smooth to the touch, not as rough as it looked. He pocketed it, and the slight guilt from an impulse buy was quickly replaced by an inexplicable sense of steadiness.
Back in his room that night, he took out the pendant for a closer look. Under the light, it glowed faintly, and the cloud patterns seemed clearer than during the day.
Lin Feng filled a basin with water to wash the dust off the pendant. The moment the jade touched the water, something strange happened—
The surface of the pendant shimmered with a barely visible light. The water in the basin seemed to become clearer. Not seemed—it actually became clearer, with a faint green tint.
Lin Feng rubbed his eyes, thinking he was tired and seeing things. He picked up the pendant, and the shimmer on the water's surface disappeared.
"Must be an illusion," he muttered, placing the pendant on the bedside table and falling asleep.
In the middle of the night, Lin Feng woke up thirsty. Groggily, he reached for the water bottle, finding it empty. Remembering the basin of water used to wash the pendant, though it felt a bit gross, he was too thirsty. He took a sip.
The moment the water entered his mouth, he froze.
This water... why was it so sweet and clear? Not the blandness of mineral water, nor the astringency of tap water. It was an indescribable crisp sweetness. After swallowing, his throat felt cool, and even his tired body seemed to lighten.
Lin Feng turned on the light, stared at the basin of water for a long time, then looked at the pendant beside it.
His heart began to pound.