The alarm clock didn't go off.
When Lu Shi opened his eyes, it was already bright outside. He lay on the creaking iron bed and stared at the crack in the ceiling for five minutes, his mind going blank.
This is the 1096th day of his retirement.
It's been three years. Three years is enough time for a normal person to forget a lot of bad things, but he is different. Those things he remembers in his mind will never be cleared away in this life.
When I turned over and sat up, my left shoulder blade started to hurt again. This is an old problem. It hurts on cloudy days, hurts when the weather changes, and sometimes it hurts even without it. Lu Shi gritted his teeth and rubbed it, then touched the bottle of safflower oil from the bedside, poured some of it and rubbed it in his palms to warm it, then slapped his shoulder.
"Hiss——"
The pain made him gasp.
On the table was the retirement medal, made of copper and polished to a shine. This thing was the only thing he brought out from the organization. Not only was he reluctant to throw it away, but it was useless even if he threw it away. People who should come to him would still come to him.
He turned the medal over and saw a serial number engraved on the back, S-0791.
