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墨書 Inktalez
The conversation in the horror group seemed to have come to a halt, as if the crowd had suddenly dispersed. No one continued the discussion after Ziya's question. Bored, she decided to exit the group chat and took a closer look at her forum. There was a strange message: "Just wanted to say goodbye, Luo Daoming." Confused, she muttered under her breath and clicked to shut down her computer. A flash of brownish light flickered across the screen before it went dark.
With something weighing on her mind, that night was destined to be sleepless for Ziya. Her thoughts were a chaotic jumble, filled with noisy voices and various faces, along with ghostly images that overwhelmed her senses. The night slipped away silently, and morning arrived amidst a cacophony of sounds. The first thing she did upon waking was to try to piece together the fragmented remnants of her dreams, which were now barely recognizable.
Feeling dizzy, she lazily went through her morning routine of washing up and having breakfast. As she stepped into the elevator, everything appeared red... Wait, upon closer inspection, it wasn't red at all but rather a dark brown! It was just the elevator in her residential complex. Inside were two people; a neighbor lady glanced at Ziya and smiled warmly.
"Ziya, long time no see! You look even more beautiful."
"Good morning, Auntie," Ziya quickly pulled herself out of her wandering thoughts and smiled back, revealing a faint dimple.
Today she decided to stand her ground and not let her father, Liu Haoming, drive her. She wanted to take the bus filled with all sorts of colorful lives. Today marked Ziya's first official day reporting to the News Agency. She changed out of her usual student attire but still wore her hair in a high ponytail and carried a stylish handbag. She donned a simple yet elegant top paired with casual denim shoes.
Qin Nannan had arrived early at the entrance of the News Agency, eagerly watching for someone’s arrival. Buses came and went, private cars drove off, but that person still hadn’t shown up. He couldn’t help but mutter to himself: "Could she really be taking the bus? Why hasn’t she appeared yet?" When a bus finally came into view, he casually glanced at it without bothering to guess if she was on board. The bus stopped, its doors swung open, and a fresh-faced Ziya stepped out.
"Hey! You look lively today," he greeted as they walked side by side toward the entrance of the News Agency.
"Not really," Ziya replied sulkily, casually scanning the area outside the building. Wasn’t that Stone Lion standing firmly in place? The absurdity of her dream made her want to laugh.
"What are you laughing at?" Qin Nannan noticed her smirk and shot her a curious glance.
"I'm not laughing; who’s laughing?" Ziya immediately returned to her cold tone while keeping an eye on Stone Lion above them.
"Do you want me to go take a look?" Qin Nannan asked softly, noticing her apparent curiosity about Stone Lion.
"Uh, Ziya suddenly remembered in her dream that Qin Nannan went to see the Stone Lion but was reprimanded by the security guard. She quickly shook her head and said, 'No need.'
As she spoke, they had already reached the entrance, where staff members were clocking in and out. The scene was somewhat reminiscent of her dream. Ziya focused on the faces of those staff members; although they all appeared unfamiliar and indifferent, when they noticed her smiling slightly at them, they politely returned her smile.
Ziya chuckled to herself, realizing that dreams are always different from reality. As the saying goes, dreams are the opposite of reality, and it was indeed true. Just as she thought of this, a strange voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Hey! Who are you looking for?"
Ziya's face paled as she exchanged a glance with Qin Nannan, silently thinking: Oh no! Didn't we avoid getting involved with the Stone Lion today? Why are we being questioned just like in the dream?
"Hi! We're here to work," Qin Nannan quickly stepped forward to make small talk.
The security guard, Fox Ning, showed no sign of relaxing his questioning tone despite their attempt to be friendly. "You must be students! This isn't a place for you to play around."
"We..." Qin Nannan suddenly felt like snapping back but was stopped by Ziya.
"I’m an intern here, and he is too. We reported last Sunday," Ziya quickly interjected, explaining to the rather plain-looking man who seemed older than half of them.
Beauty's charm couldn't compare to the boys' fists; the security guard immediately softened his demeanor and apologized, "Oh! I'm sorry; this is just a routine check. Please forgive me. My buddy had an accident yesterday, and today is his shift. I'm filling in for him, so I didn't recognize that you had already reported."
Upon hearing this, Ziya hurriedly asked, "Who had an accident?" Meanwhile, Qin Nannan casually pressed her fingerprint on the scanner without paying attention to Ziya's loud conversation with the guard.
"He should have been working when you arrived; Sunday was on duty here. His name is Luo Daoming..." The guard continued speaking to Ziya while feeling displeased with Qin Nannan's careless actions.
As soon as Ziya heard the name, she gasped. Why did it sound so familiar? Luo Daoming... wasn't that the name that had appeared in her computer's forum just last night? What a coincidence! Just then, Liu, who was there to greet them, appeared at the door.
Liu's eyes had dark circles under them today, likely from a sleepless night, but she still seemed in good spirits. Upon entering, she spotted Ziya and Qin Nannan in the Guard Room. As she reached for the fingerprint scanner, she offered them a polite smile in return.
"You two are here early!" The three of them walked into the lobby together, which made Ziya feel an odd sensation. It was hard to pinpoint what was off; perhaps she was just being overly sensitive or it was related to that dream. Taking advantage of Qin Nannan and Liu's distraction, she pinched her own arm hard. A sharp pain surged through her, and she sighed in relief, knowing this was reality.
The green potted plant at the entrance had a soothing hue that was pleasing to the eye. The staff in the lobby were busy with their tasks, and when they saw Liu enter, they nodded politely with forced smiles that barely masked their fatigue. After observing their smiles, Ziya felt a wave of discomfort wash over her; how hypocritical those stiff grins seemed.
"Today, I'm assigning you both a mentor. He might be retiring soon, so I hope you can learn something useful from him," Liu said as she settled them on the sofa in her office. She walked over to the trash can beside her desk and spat casually while continuing to speak.
Ziya found herself zoning out again. When Liu mentioned who would be mentoring them and that he was about to retire, she instinctively associated that person with Lao Ran.
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