Lin Mo woke up at 7:43 in the morning. He stared at the ceiling. Then he closed his eyes. His first class was at eight. He had twenty minutes. There was absolutely no reason to panic. He turned over. Five minutes later, his phone rang. “Lin Mo!” Xu An's voice exploded through the phone. “Wake up!” Lin Mo pulled the blanket over his head. “I'm awake.” “You're definitely not awake.” “I am.” “You sound like a ghost.” “That's because I'm a university student.” “Get up!” Lin Mo sighed. His peaceful morning had officially been ruined. By the time Lin Mo reached the classroom, there were three minutes left. His hair was slightly messy. His shirt wasn't properly tucked in. And he was carrying a piece of bread in his mouth. Xu An stared at him. “You look like you escaped from somewhere.” “I almost did.” “From where?” “My bed.” Xu An shook his head. “You're hopeless.” Lin Mo sat down. Gu Wen was already there. He glanced at Lin Mo. Then at the bread. Then at Lin Mo again. “Breakfast?” Lin Mo nodded. “Half.” “You only ate half?” “The other half is in my pocket.” Gu Wen paused. “Why?” “For later.” There was a brief silence. Then Gu Wen laughed. Lin Mo frowned. “What's funny?” “Nothing.” “You're laughing.” “I know.” Lin Mo decided not to investigate. The professor entered the classroom. Everyone became quiet. For the next forty minutes, Lin Mo did his best to remain conscious. He failed. His head slowly lowered. Then— Tap. Something lightly struck his forehead. Lin Mo opened his eyes. Gu Wen was holding a pen. “Don't sleep.” “I wasn't sleeping.” “You were dreaming with your eyes closed.” “That's an advanced studying technique.” “Really?” “Yes.” “What's the advantage?” “You can learn while unconscious.” Gu Wen stared at him for several seconds. Then quietly turned back toward the professor. Lin Mo smiled. He liked this classmate. Not because Gu Wen was particularly interesting. Not because Lin Mo had any special feelings toward him. Simply because Gu Wen never made him feel like he needed to pretend to be someone else. That was rare. After class, Lin Mo received a message. Unknown Number: Are you Lin Mo from Jiangcheng University? Lin Mo stared at it. His first thought was: Scam. His second thought was: Definitely scam. He deleted the message. Three seconds later, another one arrived. Wrong person? Lin Mo blocked the number. Peace restored. He put his phone away. “Who was that?” Gu Wen was walking beside him. “Scam.” “How do you know?” “They asked if I'm Lin Mo.” Gu Wen looked confused. “But you are Lin Mo.” “Exactly. Too suspicious.” Gu Wen laughed. “You have strange standards.” “They've kept me alive.” At lunch, Lin Mo discovered something far more important. The cafeteria had changed its menu. His favorite noodles were gone. He stood in front of the counter in silence. The auntie behind the counter looked at him. “Student, what would you like?” Lin Mo looked at the empty space where his noodles were supposed to be. “What happened?” “They're changing the menu.” “When?” “Today.” “For how long?” “Maybe a week.” Lin Mo's expression became solemn. A week. Seven days. One hundred and sixty-eight hours. This was a crisis. He ordered rice instead. Then sat down at the table with the expression of someone who had just lost a close friend. Xu An looked at him. “Why do you look like that?” “My noodles are dead.” “It's food.” “Please respect the deceased.” Gu Wen sat down beside them. He looked at Lin Mo's untouched lunch. “Not hungry?” “My life has lost meaning.” Gu Wen silently pushed his side dish toward him. “Eat.” Lin Mo looked at it. Then at Gu Wen. “You're a good person.” “I've been told.” Lin Mo picked up his chopsticks. Five minutes later, he was eating normally. Xu An watched him. “Your grief disappeared quickly.” “Food helps.” That afternoon, nothing happened. And that was wonderful. Lin Mo attended his classes. He went to the library. He finished half of an assignment. He played games for two hours. He bought snacks from a convenience store. He returned to his dorm. He showered. He lay on his bed. And smiled. This was the life he wanted. No dramatic encounters. No dangerous schemes. No mysterious secrets. No protagonists. No villains. Just ordinary days. Lin Mo reached for his phone. There were several notifications. One was from the university group chat. Another was from Xu An. Another was from Gu Wen. He ignored all three. Instead, he opened his game. “Tonight,” he announced to himself, “I will finally reach the next rank.” Three hours later, he was still one rank below. Lin Mo stared at the defeat screen. Silence. Then he whispered: “Life is cruel.” His phone suddenly vibrated. This time, it wasn't a message. It was a news notification. A large business company had announced a major change in its management structure. Lin Mo glanced at the headline. His expression froze. The company name was familiar. Very familiar. It belonged to the Shen family. Lin Mo sat up. For the first time that day, he wasn't sleepy. He opened the article. There was a photograph. A young man stood beside several senior executives. Cold expression. Black suit. Sharp eyes. Shen Yichen. Lin Mo stared at the screen. He remembered the novel. This was supposed to happen much later. Not now. His fingers slowly tightened around the phone. Then he relaxed. “It's none of my business.” He closed the article. Opened his game again. And continued playing. Because Lin Mo had made a promise to himself. He wasn't going to follow the plot. He wasn't going to interfere. And most importantly— He wasn't going to become curious. Unfortunately, the moment he put down his phone, another notification appeared. This one was from Gu Wen. Gu Wen: Are you free tomorrow? Lin Mo stared at it. He typed: Lin Mo: Why? The reply came quickly. Gu Wen: I want to ask you for a favor. Lin Mo's fingers stopped above the screen. He had a bad feeling. A very bad feeling. He slowly typed: Lin Mo: What kind of favor? The reply arrived. Gu Wen: Nothing troublesome. Lin Mo stared at those four words. Then sighed. Whenever someone said nothing troublesome... It was almost always troublesome.

The Day Nothing Happened