Harold Watson had difficulty walking and earning money was not easy, so he had to budget every penny carefully. He couldn't bear to take a taxi home, so he took the bus with Summer Watson, and they still had to transfer to the subway.
Today was Saturday, and the bus was crowded. When Summer helped Harold onto the bus, there were no vacant seats at all.
At the front of the bus sat a boy playing an online game, around thirteen or fourteen years old. He was originally looking down at his game, but his view was suddenly blocked by a cane. The boy looked up in surprise, first noticing Harold's empty trouser leg, then taking in Harold's appearance.
The boy closed the game and stood up, saying to Harold, "Uncle, come sit here!" His voice was changing, a bit rough.
Harold didn't insist on standing and thanked the boy before sitting down. Summer stood by Harold's injured leg, while the boy stood near Harold's other leg, leaning against the iron pole and continuing his game.
Curious about the game, Summer peeked a few times. Seeing her gaze, Harold assumed she wanted to play too. "Sunny, study hard. When you get into university, I'll buy you a gaming console!"
Summer laughed and shook her head. "I don't want to play."
At that moment, the boy's game was interrupted by a phone call. He answered and said, "Daniel, have you found the internet cafe? Hurry up, I'm supposed to get married to my in-game partner today! Okay, call me when you find it."
After hanging up, he returned to his game. Before finishing, another call came.
He hesitated a few seconds, then answered, a bit impatiently: "Mom, I said I have a make-up class today, I'm on my way to the teacher's. Yeah, don't worry."
The boy's lies were smooth and practiced—clearly a kid used to fibbing to his mother.
Summer looked at the boy's dark eyes and suddenly felt a throbbing pain in her head. Instantly, a chaotic scene flashed in her mind—
A fire had broken out in an internet cafe, the flames fierce. The owner shouted for everyone to escape. Panic-stricken, people ran toward the stairwell.
In the chaos, one boy was pushed from behind, tumbling down the stairs and trampled by the fleeing crowd.
A foot, then another foot…
The scene froze on the boy's dying face, his horrified, painful eyes locked on a certain direction, evoking pity in anyone who saw it.
"Wutong East Station, arrived."
The bus stop announcement snapped Summer back to reality, shattering the images in her mind. She stared at the boy—his face matched perfectly with the one she had just envisioned.
Summer's heart surged with shock.
What had she seen?
Was it imagination?
Or a premonition of what was about to happen?
The boy, hearing the stop announcement, stuffed his phone into his pocket and turned to leave. Summer suddenly grabbed his arm from behind. The boy turned, confused: "Miss, what are you doing? I've arrived at my stop."
Summer looked at the boy's youthful yet slightly handsome face, then the image of his dying self flashed again. She sighed inwardly and said softly, "Little brother, I sense that your fate has been afflicted by fire energy recently. If you want to survive, do not go to the Starry Sky Internet Cafe."
Hearing this, the boy thought Summer was mentally unstable. He glanced at Summer and Harold, thinking this family was pitiful—a crippled father and a naive daughter, living such a miserable life.
With a hint of insincere pity, he said, "Thanks, sister!" Then he hopped off the bus and soon disappeared.
Harold told Summer, "We'll get off at the next stop and take Line 3 of the subway."
"Okay."
—
After getting off the bus, the boy received a call from his buddy Daniel Lee.
Daniel said, "Damn, it's a holiday. Our usual internet cafe is full. The one across, Starry Sky Internet Cafe, still has spots. Want to go?"
Hearing "Starry Sky Internet Cafe," the boy suddenly froze. Her warning on the bus echoed in his mind, sending chills down his spine.
How did that girl know he was going there?
Daniel didn't hear him respond and shouted in the phone, "William Tang? Did you hear me?"
William Tang took a deep breath and asked, "Which internet cafe did you say?"
"Starry Sky Internet Cafe. It's old, expensive too—ten bucks an hour! Even a robbery isn't this pricey!"
It really was Starry Sky Internet Cafe!
"Let's just go there? You're rich enough anyway!" Daniel was about to book two computers when William said, "Forget it, Daniel. Let's try another place. I remember a new one nearby called DuoLe. Let's check it out today."
After hanging up, William couldn't help looking back at the bus stop.
The bus had already left, but something made him uneasy.
He bought two bottles of water and entered the internet cafe. Daniel had already set up the computers.
Sharing a bottle of water with Daniel, William logged into the game and said, "I met a crazy girl on the bus. She said my fate is afflicted by fire energy and warned me not to go to Starry Sky Internet Cafe if I want to survive."
Daniel froze, then laughed uproariously. "I told you to change cafes. You didn't really believe her, did you?"
William thought he was crazy too.
"Ridiculous!" He flushed and murmured, "That cafe has been around for years. Its environment is worse than this one, I couldn't stand it anyway."
"Right, right!"
William married his in-game partner in front of friends, happily distributing candy. He took a sip of water, then heard someone shout, "Fire! So much smoke!"
Daniel turned sharply, shouting, "Where's on fire?"
Someone replied, "The street behind, looks like near Starry Sky Internet Cafe!"
Hearing this, William's face went pale. Daniel's expression also revealed shock and doubt.
He looked at William, noticing his reaction—he seemed to have seen a ghost. Daniel instinctively licked his lips and whispered, "No way… Starry Sky Internet Cafe is really on fire?"
William rubbed his face and said, "Let's go check it out!"
When they arrived at Starry Sky Internet Cafe, the fire hadn't been put out yet. Fire trucks were spraying water inside.
A crowd had gathered around a tree, watching. William and Daniel walked closer and saw a boy lying on the ground, blood coming from his nose. He was barely alive, his expression twisted in agony.