Blue Star, 2021, on a certain day, the weather in Yucheng, located in the south, was exceptionally sweltering. It was exactly 5:00 PM when Wang Tie Niu, who had already clocked out of work on a certain app, was the first to rush out of the office.
“Those who aren't enthusiastic about leaving work have a problem with their brains,” Wang Tie Niu always believed this. With this thought in mind, he quickly reached the elevator, glanced at the crowded elevator, and without any hesitation, dashed towards the stairs.
Despite already being in his thirties, Wang Tie Niu descended the stairs without a trace of middle-aged composure. He took two or three steps at a time, leaping down several steps in large strides, quickly going from the third floor to the basement level. He headed straight for his Volkswagen Bora, starting the engine, putting on his seatbelt, shifting gears, releasing the handbrake, stepping on the gas pedal—all in one fluid motion. He once again was the first to drive out of the parking lot.
Not far from the office, there was a traffic light. While waiting for the light to turn green, Wang Tie Niu calmed his breathing. Early summer in Yucheng was already extremely hot. He had just rushed out of the air-conditioned office into the car, and his body was slightly damp with sweat.
He picked up his Huawei phone, connected it to Bluetooth, opened Cloud Music, selected an electronic music track, and turned up the volume to deafening levels. He casually rolled down the window, hoping to catch some breeze, and tapped his foot along to the music.
With a glance out of the corner of his eye towards the left lane, he noticed the tire brand and then the length of the car body—a “7 series.” Wang Tie Niu twitched his lips, hesitated for a moment, and then rolled the window back up.
By this time, the traffic light had turned green. Following the rhythm of the electronic music, Wang Tie Niu slammed his foot down on the gas pedal. He then watched as the BMW 740 in the left lane roared away with a deep, steady rumble, leaving only its taillights behind. With a wry smile, Wang Tie Niu silently released the accelerator and drove towards home in a fuel-efficient manner.
As he neared home, a Porsche Cayenne changed lanes without signaling, heading towards Wang Tie Niu’s lane. Wanting to refuse, Wang Tie Niu looked at the Porsche’s emblem and was forced to slam on his brakes. Furious, Wang Tie Niu wanted to overtake the Cayenne and do the same, but he was powerless. By the time he wanted to catch up, the Cayenne had already driven off. He could only mutter a curse starting with the letter “C” under his breath and park his car in the underground garage of his apartment complex.
Back home, he checked the time: 5:20 PM. There were no messages, no phone calls, no overtime, no dinner appointments, and no social engagements. Wang Tie Niu silently changed clothes and took a shower.
He had a mild case of OCD and always showered immediately upon arriving home. After showering and blow-drying his hair, he looked at his reflection in the mirror. He was 5 feet 8 inches tall, of average build, neither fat nor thin, with no muscles. His skin tone was neither dark nor light, and he had no scars. He wore thin glasses, and his features could only be considered slightly intellectual. He looked like the most ordinary person.
After tossing his clothes into the washing machine, Wang Tie Niu started preparing his dinner: egg and meat stir-fry with noodles and vegetables. While single, he always had lunch at the company canteen and dinner and weekends were a haphazard affair at home. Apart from when he had a girlfriend and ate out at restaurants, Wang Tie Niu had been living this way since graduating from university and joining the workforce ten years ago.
He had lost both parents at a young age and was raised in a social welfare institution, so he didn't learn any advanced culinary skills. He could only say that he wouldn't starve. Besides, he didn't have any particular desire for gourmet food. He was guided by the principles of saving money and being healthy, focusing on a balanced diet and filling his stomach. He lived a simple, ascetic life in terms of food.
After finishing laundry and the dishes, it was 6:30 PM. During this time, his phone and WeChat remained silent. After work, he was forgotten by everyone. After all, after years of saving money and avoiding social gatherings, the consequence was that he was forgotten by everyone. Since he never went out to socialize with them, others wouldn't bother calling him anymore.
Wang Tie Niu had attended Yucheng University in his hometown for four years and, unlike his other classmates, did not go to a first-tier city to work. Instead, he stayed and developed his career locally.
Perhaps his luck had turned around. As an orphan with no social connections, Wang Tie Niu had joined a profitable state-owned enterprise. Even though it was a sunset industry, he still had a comfortable life. Although his salary wasn't high, his expenses were minimal.
He had been living this nine-to-five, monotonous life for over a decade. Wang Tie Niu, a non-smoker, non-drinker, and someone who didn't play cards or mahjong, had no social engagements, no friends, and no rich second-generation friends. He had bought this new district apartment with a small three-bedroom layout with a mortgage and a car in cash. In this third-tier city, he was considered to be someone with a home and a car. However, he was turning thirty and had no friends, no brothers, and no rich second-generation friends.
After showering and finally relaxing, Wang Tie Niu sat on the couch and scrolled through his phone. He glanced at his friend circle, which he had meticulously blocked and had no interesting content. Wang Tie Niu habitually started reading novels.
He wasn't fond of Douyin or Kuaishou, nor was he into anime. Novels and Hollywood blockbusters were the only leisure activities this ordinary middle-aged man enjoyed. He was about to find a book to pass the time as he was bored with reading, when a flash of light in the sky, which had not yet completely darkened, caught his attention.
Was it a meteor? Wearing his house slippers, Wang Tie Niu went out to the balcony and squinted at the place where the light had flashed away.
“It seems like it was a meteor, but it was very far away. I wonder where it landed. It was boring watching for a while,” Wang Tie Niu slumped back onto the sofa.
Just as he was passing the time through the endless cycle of finding and discarding books, it was 9:30 PM. He was about to brush his teeth and go to sleep when he saw a flash of light out of the corner of his eye.
“Could it be that a meteorite really fell near me? If it's big, I might be able to sell it for thousands or tens of thousands,” Wang Tie Niu became instantly excited. With a toothbrush in his mouth, he rushed to the balcony and saw the light finally disappearing into an undeveloped piece of land not far from his home.
He quickly finished brushing his teeth, couldn’t be bothered to change clothes, and in his house clothes and slippers, he ran downstairs. He had already planned his route while getting in the car. Due to excitement, he even failed to start the engine once. Finally, he managed to park his car on the edge of the unlit, undeveloped wasteland. Wang Tie Niu looked at the ten-foot-tall mound of dirt and hesitated.
This was an undeveloped area on the outskirts of the city. There were only sidewalks on both sides, and the streetlights were installed but not turned on. It was pitch black, and there were occasional shrubs on the mound. For Wang Tie Niu, who had never climbed anything before, this was an unprecedented challenge.
Looking at his strange outfit of home clothes and slippers, and thinking about the potential money he could get for the meteorite, Wang Tie Niu gritted his teeth and decided to go for it!
After a Herculean effort, Wang Tie Niu climbed to the top of the mound, using his phone as a flashlight. He gasped for breath and looked around. He was instantly discouraged. Under the dim moonlight, he could barely see a hand in front of his face.
It turned out that the burning meteorite crater he had imagined from watching too many movies was pure fantasy. Determined, Wang Tie Niu used his phone flashlight to search the mound, walking cautiously. Suddenly, he tripped over something, and his body lurched forward, causing him to fall face-first onto the ground.
A sharp pain in his waist made him scramble to get up, frantically retrieving his phone and shining it on the area where he felt the pain. After a while, he confirmed that he was not injured. He looked down at his muddy and disheveled appearance and realized the harsh reality that he wouldn’t be able to find the possible meteorite. He sighed slightly.
“It’s a good thing I didn’t step on a rusty nail, or I’d have to go to the emergency room tonight for a tetanus shot. Forget the meteorite, it might not even be a meteorite,” he thought. With this in mind, Wang Tie Niu drove back home.
After a long time of showering, washing clothes, and finally getting into bed, it was 11:30 PM. He was about to fall asleep when he felt a dull ache in his waist. He was unsure and checked himself repeatedly in the mirror, naked, until he finally lay down on the bed, exhausted, and fell into a deep sleep.
In his dreams, he didn't know that a mysterious metal thread, as thin as a hair, was gradually dissolving into his body.