The Falling Incident

The glasses-wearing lady saw that most of us had finished our drawings, so she went around the room, one by one, to examine them. After each look, she would tell us what our psychological state was and how we could improve it. When I heard the women, who seemed to be in their thirties, gape in surprise and cover their faces saying "It's so accurate!" I couldn't help but shiver. Come on, ladies, you look like that and are still pretending to be cute?

She came over to my desk, staring at the chaotic drawing I had made. After a long pause, she looked at the hanging rope I had drawn on the tree and gently asked, "Is this a swing?"

I looked at her, not sure how to answer, so I just smiled and said, "Yes, it's a swing, but sometimes it's used for hanging."

She was stunned but still pointed at the house I drew on the paper and softly said, "This house represents a place where people grow. It reflects your inner sense of security. The person you drew in the house represents your self-image and the integrity of your personality. But you've drawn snakes surrounding the house, which suggests that you feel threatened by the outside world and lack a sense of security. You're afraid of being hurt."

Damn, that was spot on? I was really surprised. Then she pointed at the tree and said, "The tree symbolizes emotions, reflecting how people perceive their environment. You must have been hurt in terms of emotions, and..." She paused for a moment. "If you ever need to talk, come to my office. Don't lock yourself in a small space."

What? And what's this? She didn't finish what she was saying—teasing me? I was about to ask her, but just then the class ended. She didn't give me the chance and walked away. The large classroom quickly emptied, and I was left sitting by myself, staring at the paper in a daze.

The "House-Tree-Person" test she mentioned was something I didn't understand at the time. It wasn't until many years later that I found out it's a famous psychological test that analyzes people's mental states through images drawn from their subconscious. It's remarkably accurate. If you're interested, you can try it out. It's quite interesting. Unfortunately, because of my pride, I never took her up on her offer to talk. By the time I thought about it, she had already transferred in my second year.

Before I knew it, the weekend arrived. On Saturday night, I received a phone call from an old high school classmate named Dong Shanshan. She was one of the more outgoing girls in our art class, and I never knew she was studying in Harbin. How did she even get my new number? She said we hadn't seen each other in almost half a year, and invited me to her school for a visit. I thought about it for a moment—half a year had passed since I'd last seen her, and I had nothing else planned for the day—so I agreed.

The next Sunday morning, I took the bus to her school. She was studying in a school located in the northern part of Harbin, across the Songhua River. It was a somewhat remote area, but it was also known for being a university district, with many universities clustered there, sometimes called Harbin's "University City." It was already winter, and the bus windows were covered with a thick layer of ice. I could barely make out the view outside. Couples were walking hand-in-hand, window-shopping. I couldn't help but curse, "These damn lovebirds."

Looking back, I think I was just envious—an old saying comes to mind: "The grape's sour when you can't reach it." Half an hour later, I arrived and got off the bus. I looked around and was immediately taken aback. Damn, this campus was huge! Over a dozen buildings with everything you could possibly need. I thought about my own school, which only had two buildings, and couldn't help but sigh. Life really wasn't fair.

I called Dong Shanshan to let her know I had arrived, and not long after, I saw a familiar figure walking toward the gate. At first glance, I could tell—high school and university really were on completely different levels. She had become pretty. No, scratch that—she had learned how to dress well. She walked toward the gate, but didn't seem to notice me, walking right past me. This girl really needed glasses.

No matter what, seeing an old friend again lifted my spirits, so I whistled at her and called out, "Hey, little girl, didn't see the big guy? Give me a smile, hi~."

She turned around in surprise, seemingly not recognizing me at first. She walked up to me and said, "Cui Zuofei, what happened to you? I almost didn't recognize you."

Honestly, my current appearance—a mess of blue hair, a shabby down jacket, and a ridiculously long little finger nail—made me look like one of those small-time thugs from the streets. It was a far cry from my high school self. It was as if I had become someone entirely different. Typical "bad boy" vibes.

I could only smile bitterly and say, "What, can't you tell? This is the latest, hottest look of 2006. Mix-and-match style, get it?"

She laughed, hearing my familiar high school tone, and said, "Alright, enough of that. Have you run into some problems? Come on, let's grab a bite."

Without further ado, she hooked her arm around mine and led me to a small campus restaurant. As we walked, I noticed a few people looking at us oddly. I figured they must have thought we were a couple, but the looks weren't ones of envy. Instead, they seemed more like the kind you'd give when seeing a "good cabbage being grazed by a pig."

Damn it, so what if I hadn't washed my hair in three days? So what if my pants were dirty from two weeks of no laundry? Did they have to stare like that? If Dong Shanshan wasn't holding my arm, I might have gone off on them.

At the restaurant, after we ordered, she knew I liked to drink, so she ordered two bottles of beer for me. She leaned her chin on her hand, appraising me with a special look, and asked, "What happened to you? You're making me worried as your old friend."

I knocked back my beer in one go, sighed, and said with a bitter smile, "It's a long story."

I told her everything that had happened since I enrolled in the university, starting from the failed supplementary applications. She was initially interested, but as I went on, she gradually stopped laughing.

When I finished, I ordered two more bottles of beer. I noticed Dong Shanshan was looking at me with a peculiar gaze, like she was about to activate her "female comfort" instincts. It made me uneasy. She sighed and said, "It's really tough on you. You and she are both my good friends, but no one's at fault. Relationships are just like that, aren't they?"

I knew exactly what she meant. What else could I do? Should I get revenge on Du Feiyu? Yeah, right. I poured more beer and smiled bitterly. "This is my own doing. No one's to blame. It's fate."

Wait a minute, what did I just say? Fate? Was this really fate? Suddenly, I remembered something that my mentor had told me. A practitioner of Daoism would suffer from the "Five Defects and Three Shortcomings." Could this be coming true in my case?

But then again, according to the theory, the "defects" were things like being old without a spouse (widowed), or being a woman without a husband (widowed), or having no children (childless). The "three shortcomings" referred to money, life, and power, none of which seemed to apply to me. So why did I feel like I was being swept into this spiral of fate?

I had no answer.

What I did know was that I felt thankful to Dong Shanshan for listening to me. It was the first time I'd shared my worries with someone since I entered university, and it made me feel lighter.

I didn't want to think about it anymore. As we say in the Northeast, "Whatever happens, happens." After lunch, Dong Shanshan took me around her campus. As we wandered, I noticed a building under construction up ahead. It looked quite old, probably set to be torn down soon. Dong Shanshan explained that the old building was being demolished to make way for a new swimming pool.

It was a small thing, but as I turned to leave, suddenly there was a loud "AH!!" behind us. We turned around to find a construction worker had fallen from the seventh floor of the old building. My heart froze. We had just witnessed a tragedy.

Have you ever seen a dead body? I have. I wasn't scared the first time I saw one in high school, though. Back then, in the winter when it was still dark, I rode my bike to school early and passed by a bridge. That morning, I noticed a dark figure, like someone was swinging on the bridge. I didn't think much of it and went on my way. When I came back for lunch later that day, my dad told me that a woman had hung herself on the bridge.

At that moment, I felt a chill run down my spine.

Back to the present, I was still frozen in shock, standing alongside Dong Shanshan. A crowd of students and workers had gathered around. It didn't look good for the worker, as he had fallen while unloading glass. His body was unrecognizable, and many students, especially girls, ran away screaming, vomiting in the process.

Dong Shanshan, understandably shaken, ran off too. I patted her on the back to comfort her, knowing how hard it was for women to deal with such graphic scenes, especially after a meal.

After a while, she calmed down and stood up, telling me, "What's going on here? Two people have fallen to their deaths in half a month. Who would dare walk around here at night now?"

Two deaths? I asked her what happened, and she explained that the building had been under demolition for a while. The first worker had fallen from the seventh floor about two weeks ago, sending the campus into a panic. The second incident had just happened, and people were talking about it.

I felt a sense of unease creeping over me. I'd had a strange feeling about this building from the moment I first saw it. As Dong Shanshan continued talking, I turned around and stared at the second window from the left on the seventh floor. Something didn't feel right. It was hard to pinpoint, but I felt like something was off. Perhaps it was because of my background in "The Three Pure Books," but my intuition told me this wasn't just a coincidence.