Zhuang Wei was jolted awake by a series of ringing noises. He felt exhausted, as if he hadn’t rested at all. Rubbing his eyes, Wei still felt not fully awake. He turned over in bed, hoping to drift back to sleep.
However, the annoying ringing resumed, growing louder and louder. With determination, Wei reached out and silenced the alarm on the bedside table.
Yesterday morning, rumors circulated that someone had seen a large licker near the warehouse. In response, a group from the Mo organization went to inspect the underground warehouse. Nie Ge, possibly feeling indebted to Rong Duanmu, decided to join them.
Anyway, Wei didn’t want to get involved in this.
Last night, when Nie Ge found Wei, he mentioned that he had previously followed Rong Duanmu’s suggestion to extract some tissue samples from Rong Duanmu’s body. The results revealed that the virus in Rong Duanmu was not the usual kind; instead, it was identical to the virus found in the mutated licker.
Could it be possible that…. A thought rose in Wei’s mind. Could the licker seen in the warehouse actually be….
Shocked by this thought, Wei opens his eyes immediately.
To his surprise, he doesn’t see the cramped single room in the safety zone. Instead, he finds himself in an apartment that feels both familiar and strange. Wei blinks and suddenly sits up in his bed.
Instinctively, Wei’s first reaction is to find his gun, an item that has become indispensable in his life. However, there is no such thing in this room.
Wei looks around. The furniture and surroundings are just like those in his room in California. It’s not the penthouse he bought with Fei Han; instead, it’s the apartment in the city center that he rented during graduation season to make job hunting easier.
The curtains are tightly closed. Wei hesitates for a moment, then puts on his slippers and walks to the window.
The sunlight, blocked by the curtain, falls on the floor in a narrow golden line. Swallowing hard, Wei draws the curtain open.
The bright morning sunlight dazzles his eyes. Outside the window is a busy street, workers in the office building across the street have already cleaned the floor-to-ceiling windows.
For a moment, Wei wonders if he is still dreaming.
So…he really is back, back to the day before the Resident Evil outbreak?
Suddenly, the handphone on the bedside table vibrates, indicating a new message.
Wei looked at the screen of the handphone, it showed ‘April 12th, 1996’.
What a joke, bringing him back to the past just before his death. Could God really have listened to his wish?
Wei tries to recall what he did in April five years ago, but he can’t. He opens the message.
This is a reminder about his onboarding, informing him that he should start at 9:00 am on Monday.
Monday… Wei stared at the screen, if he’s correct, that’s today!
He has lived too long in the world after the Resident Evil outbreak. Returning to the normal world, he finds it hard to adjust.
Wei gets dressed and gathers his documents, making it to the company’s building on time.
Just as he remembers, the onboarding process doesn’t take long. HR informs him that his staff card will be ready by Wednesday and connects him with his direct supervisor, Wilson, who will show Wei around the building.
Wilson is a middle-aged man with a full beard. He is not very tall, but has a cheerful personality. He warmly welcomes Wei as soon as they met. Wei has a good impression of him in his previous life. As they leave the glass office together, Wei’s hands start to sweat.
If everything goes smoothly, when they reach the coffee machine in the corner, he will soon meet Fei Han.
After Wilson and he turn the corner, a phone call interrupts Wilson’s introduction. Wilson gestures to Wei and walks away to answer the call.
From his experience in his previous life, Wei already knows that Wilson won’t be able to accompany him due to a sudden meeting.
Just as Wei expected, Wilson returns and tells him, “Sorry, Wei. I really wanted to accompany you on a tour of our company, but I have an important meeting that came up unexpectedly.”
As Wilson said this, Wei unconsciously held his breath, his eyes eagerly looking towards the corner by the coffee machine. Just then, someone smiled and said, “If you’re so busy, maybe I can give our new colleague a tour.”
Wei’s heart races like a runaway horse, threatening to leap out of his chest at that moment.
He swallows hard and finally summons the courage to look towards the young man who just arrived.
The young man smiles at Wei, the corners of his eyes curving slightly downward like a crescent moon. He extends his hand to Wei and says, “Nice to meet you, I’m Fei Han.”
For Fei Han, this is clearly the first time meeting Wei. But for Zhuang Wei, it’s the reunion he has longed for thousands of times.
Wei knows he should be more cautious, but his hand is already extended, “Nice to meet you, I’m Zhuang Wei.”
Their hands meet in a slight handshake, then separate, exactly as Wei remembers.
This is the English translation of my work, "落雪", I started translating from the latter part of the story (after Wei's rebirth). If there is interest, I'll consider translating the first part.
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