Did You Check In at the Station Today?

Pei Shuning felt like he’d had terrible luck lately. One day, an electric scooter clipped him and knocked him over. Another day, a crab pinched his hand while he was shopping at the grocery store. And most absurd of all, he stepped on a nail on a road he’d walked hundreds of times, even though the cleaner swept it at the same time every day! After gritting his teeth through wound debridement and a tetanus shot, he thought numbly, I’m tired. Let it all go to hell! The next day, his grandfather hurried over from their hometown to look after him, bringing three huge bags full of love and… a little Taoist priest? Pei Shuning was anything but calm. Hey! This is the New China. Superstitious nonsense is forbidden, young man! Not many days later, before Pei Shuning could even feel relieved that his bad luck seemed to be getting a little better whenever he was with the little Taoist, he discovered in horror that he’d apparently awakened a superpower! His power was terrifying. Drawn by the spirits of the dead, Pei Shuning entered their dreams and repeatedly witnessed crime scenes. He even experienced what it felt like to drown. Scared out of his wits, he called the police as soon as he woke up. The sharp-eyed officers invited him to work at the station. Pei Shuning: I’ve got a steady government job now! * Gradually, Pei Shuning realized that he seemed to have met Shen Guanfu before, and not in this life. Pei Shuning: ...Uncle, have we met in a past life? Shen Guanfu: That’s a pretty old-fashioned pickup line. Get online more often. Later: Pei Shuning: No, Uncle, we definitely met in a past life, and probably more than one! Shen Guanfu rubbed the back of his neck, his voice low. Still calling me Uncle? A sunny, guileless, easily startled puppy of a bottom in the early chapters, growing clever, steady, and straightforward later * A haughty, aloof, sharp-tongued top at first, later deeply devoted, more action than words, and completely wrapped around his wife’s finger