Soul Patch

Chapter 47 Struck by Lightning

The next day, as soon as it was time to leave work, Wenjie went to line up to clock out.

Since the system came out, he seems to be getting more and more eager to leave work. He left the office area feeling a little guilty.

"Wenjie, in such a hurry to go on a date?" Bai Yu asked, glancing at Wenjie as he stood in the elevator.

"Uh...yeah," Wenjie glanced at Bai Yu and casually replied.

"Oh, young people should date, but don't let it affect your work!"

Behind the two, Director Wang's confident voice rang out.

"Hello, Director Wang, the elevator is here. This way, please..." Bai Yu ignored Wen Jie and made way for Director Wang.

When Bai Yu's colleagues heard what he said, they all bowed and greeted Director Wang, making way for him as he entered the elevator first.

A group of people left in the elevator, leaving Wenjie frozen in shock.

Wenjie thought bitterly to himself: Bai Yu must have done it on purpose!

Wenjie waited for the next elevator, then squeezed onto a bus after leaving the office building. He endured the sardine-packed bus ride for twenty minutes.

Someone took out their phone and actually put their hand into their pants pocket...

It's truly speechless!

Wenjie looked at the person's innocent face and actually believed that the person had done it unintentionally.

Once, Wenjie reached into his pocket to take out a pen, but couldn't find it for a long time. He only realized he had taken it from the man next to him when he saw the man staring at him.

By the time he arrived at Lianhua Department Store, it was almost seven o'clock. The department store was slated for demolition and was only open until 7:30.

Wenjie led the stairs to the basement and asked the old man at the entrance for directions to the secondhand computer repair shop.

The old man paused for a moment, then raised his hand and pointed to the right with a gloomy expression.

Wenjie thanked the old man and stepped to the right.

Then the old man behind me added, "Hey..."

Wenjie assumed the old man was on the phone and ignored him.

He wandered around for a long time but didn't see any used computer repair stalls.

He went to a stationery shop. The shop owner was a plump middle-aged woman. She was so fat that she was wearing tight clothes and looked like she was having trouble breathing.

"Excuse me, miss, could you tell me where I can get my used computer repaired?" Wenjie asked with a smile.

The chubby boss kept cracking sunflower seeds into his mouth and casually tilted his chin to her left.

Upon hearing this, Wenjie looked at the stall on the left side of the stationery store. However, it was covered by a large piece of cloth, completely obscuring what was inside.

"Hey beautiful boss, has the computer repairman finished work and gone home yet?" Wenjie was starting to regret arriving late; coming on the first shift would obviously mean missing his turn...

"He didn't come today!" The plump proprietress spat out the sunflower seed shells with a "pfft," chewing on the sunflower seed kernels as she spoke.

not coming?

"Then...did he come yesterday?" Wenjie asked, puzzled.

"Here I am, here I am! You're still asking questions! I'm done for the day, move aside so I don't delay you from cleaning up the shop."

The plump proprietress tossed the sunflower seeds in her hand into the bag and squeezed her large body toward Wenjie.

Wenjie stepped back a few paces to make room for her. He was a little surprised; this plump proprietress walked surprisingly fast despite her large frame, rolling over like a ball of flesh.

"Thank you," Wenjie said, a little disappointed, and turned to walk outside.

As I passed the old man by the door, he slowly spoke:

"Is there no one here? Young people are always so impatient. You ran in before I even finished speaking..."

Wenjie didn't look up, and gave a dejected "hmm".

"Here you go!" The old man patted Wenjie on the shoulder with something that looked like a rolled-up piece of paper.

Wenjie stopped, puzzled, and looked at the old man.

He handed over a stack of rolled-up newspapers, and Wenjie hesitantly took them.

He glanced at the old man, then looked down at the newspaper, as if he had realized something. He quickly spread out the newspaper and searched through it.

Then his gaze was drawn to a news item in the M City news bulletin:

A sudden thunderstorm struck in clear weather, killing a resident surnamed Zhang instantly and injuring two other residents.

Wenjie quickly looked down and when he saw that the deceased Mr. Zhang made a living by running a computer repair shop in Lianhua Shopping Mall, he was so shocked that he let go of the newspaper and it fell to the ground.

He bent down to pick up the newspaper, his hand trembling slightly as he held it. He looked helplessly at the old man beside him and asked incredulously:

"died?"

"I saw it by accident!" The old man at the door shook his head and sighed. "It's eerie! I've heard stories of people being struck by lightning and dying for years. Old Zhang was smiling and saying goodbye to me yesterday when he left..."

The old man mumbled something afterward, but Wenjie didn't hear a word he said.

He walked forward listlessly, his mind in turmoil.

Why was he struck by lightning and killed?

Is it...

Because he interfered with the system's operation through human intervention, thus disrupting the objective laws governing the development of things.

Wenjie clutched the newspaper in his hand, his mind wandering between the system and this C-level mission!

How did Zhang Qian's father manage to manipulate the system?

That video?

Did that video subtly influence my subconscious?

Could it be understood this way: after the system is bound to oneself, one's subconscious influences the system's operation to some extent?

Yes! That's exactly it!

Otherwise, why would the butterfly cord be retained when exiting the system?

That's because the butterfly knot was deeply imprinted in his mind.

That was the deepest imprint in his subconscious, the most painful scar...

……

Before he knew it, Wenjie had walked quite a distance and had completely forgotten that he was supposed to take the bus home.

Having already walked several stops, he checked the map and saw that he still had four stops to go before getting home. Four more stops wouldn't make a difference, so he decided to walk back.

As Wenjie was walking, just as he was about to go to the mall to find something to eat, he saw two familiar figures.

He recognized the man at a glance: Professor Liang Bin.

The woman looks a bit like Qin Fen at first glance.

Of course it couldn't be Qin Fen; Professor Liang Bin and Qin Fen are already divorced.

She couldn't possibly go shopping with Liang Bin, and besides, Qin Fen was locked up in a prison on the outskirts of the city.

Upon closer inspection, Wenjie recognized her: it was the artsy woman who had taken the subway to meet Professor Liang Bin that day.

However, now that the girls are dressed fashionably, the artistic vibe has been greatly diminished, and they do bear a resemblance to Qin Fen.

Wenjie originally thought that Professor Liang Bin and Qin Fen were on different paths. Professor Liang Bin devoted himself to academic research, while Qin Fen focused on her career, which led to their eventual parting of ways.

But after going around in circles, Professor Liang Bin still prefers this type of woman.

The woman, dressed smartly, walked out of the Guiyou Building arm-in-arm with Professor Liang Bin. She was carrying a bunch of bags and packages.

The two hugged and laughed as they walked toward the nearby Orange Crystal Hotel.

For some reason, Wenjie felt a little sad.

This should have been Qin Fen's life, but it was taken over by another woman.

(End of this chapter)