That year, I was thirty-seven, living alone on the edge of the city. Or rather, what used to be the edge of the city. Skyscrapers stood like abandoned building blocks, jutting crookedly from the cracked earth. The asphalt roads were long since fractured, revealing the yellowish-brown soil beneath, like so many desperate mouths, gaping uselessly.
I hadn't seen rain in a long time.
Old Wang's suspicion began when he noticed three missing days of attendance records on his paycheck for three consecutive days. He was an honest man, having worked diligently at the company for nearly ten years, never being late, leaving early, let alone being absent. He went to the HR department, where a young girl, fiddling with her newly acquired smartwatch, casually said, "The system is upgrading, there might be some data delays. I'll help you verify it later."
The old server room hummed, the sound of the fans like a dying beast gasping for breath. The mottled paint on the walls bore witness to countless silent days and nights. Uncle Li, in his drab work uniform, held a portable hard drive in his hands as if it were a precious treasure.
Today was "Forgetting Day."