Chapter 3: Severing Ties

  The room was in a mess, and all of Li Qi's things were gone. She had actually moved out during the time when Xu Mo was not around, without even notifying him.

  He let out a sigh, having expected this outcome, but not expecting it to come so soon. He took out his phone, wanting to make a call to ask Li Qi about it, but the other party had already added his number to the blacklist, blocking him, clearly determined to cut ties with him completely.

  His belongings were originally not many, Li Qi walked away, and the entire room suddenly became empty. Then he looked at the bed, which was also empty, leaving only a sheet and a quilt.

  His eyes suddenly narrowed, "Looks like I have to buy a quilt. Otherwise, in this weather, one quilt is not enough for me to get by."

  But he reached out to touch his wallet, and his expression turned gloomy again. In the past two years of doing odd jobs, although he didn't earn much money, he spent even less, so he still had some savings. However, as he became more and more down on his luck, Li Qi became increasingly overbearing, and all the money they earned was kept by her. This time when he left, she naturally took the money with her.

  There were only a few dozen yuan left in Xu Mo's wallet. He sighed again, "I'd better find a part-time job and earn some money as soon as possible. But tonight..."

  He didn't take off his clothes, but wrapped himself in a quilt and lay down. There was no heating in the room, and before long, he felt a chill creeping over him, and he couldn't help shivering under the covers.

  His body felt cold, his mind became clearer and clearer, and the drowsiness was driven out of his body. How could he sleep? He curled up his body, tucked the quilt in tighter, but the wind seemed to blow from inside the quilt, blowing outward, taking all the warmth away, making the air around him feel like an ice cellar.

  At this time, the four limbs were cold, and only a little temperature was left in front of the chest. A faint "sasa" sound came from outside the window, the wind started to howl, blowing against the window glass, and snow began to fall again.

  He thought of his own situation and felt like crying, but he desperately held back, his mind was in a mess, with only one thought: won't I just freeze to death like this?

  Then, from somewhere, a sense of conviction emerged, and I told myself: No, I won't die, absolutely not.

  After a while, he couldn't bear it anymore and sat up from the bed, moved his numb hands and feet, looked out of the window, and saw that the snow was getting bigger and bigger under the pressure on the branches. When the wind blew, the branches made a "cracking" sound, as if they were about to break at any moment, which entered his ears.

  He struggled out of bed and stood on the floor, thinking: I'll exercise a bit until I warm up, then go back to sleep.

  After doing intense exercise for over ten minutes, a warm sensation began to rise from my body, and even tiny beads of sweat started to seep out. Feeling warm now, I returned to bed and fell back asleep.

  Before long, the warmth gradually dissipated, and he was frozen awake again in a daze. He let out a helpless sigh, moved around a bit, and fell asleep once more.

  At this time a strange idea suddenly flashed through his mind: if he could keep the state of exercise when he was quiet, it would be good, at least he wouldn't feel cold.

  But this idea only flashed through my mind, and I didn't think deeply about it. Then I thought: wait until tomorrow, I'll borrow some money from my classmate to buy a quilt, and return the money after earning it, that's all. If not, I can also borrow a quilt from him.

  This night was a series of tosses and turns, he never slept well. He exercised more than ten times, but after lying down, it didn't take long for his body heat to dissipate completely, and he was frozen awake again.

  The second day dawned, and the snow still hadn't stopped. He got up from bed. Having exercised all night, his stomach was hungry, and he even felt a bit dizzy. Originally planning to have breakfast, he took a look at his wallet and then restrained himself, going to his classmate's place on an empty stomach.

  He has been struggling for two years and hasn't made any friends in the city except Li Qi, only one university classmate.

  That classmate's name is Wang Zhen. During university, their relationship wasn't very good. After graduation, because they were in the same city, their contact with each other increased.

  Wang Zhen and his girlfriend lived nearby, about two or three miles away from where he lived. He didn't take the bus either, braving the wind and snow, opening his legs to walk there, walking for over ten minutes before arriving at the destination.

  It was a weekend, so Wang Zhen didn't have to go to work, and it was also snowing outside, so he hadn't gone out. Seeing him come over was quite unexpected, and he invited him in. His girlfriend was also at home, she glanced at Xu Mo, greeted him, and then didn't say much else.

  The house they rented was not too big, it was a studio apartment format, the twenty or so square meters of space inside was partitioned off into a bathroom and toilet.

  There was no heating in this house either, but both of them were wearing thick down jackets, so they didn't feel cold.

  Wang Zhen invited him to sit down in the room, smiling and asking: "How did you find time to come here? These days have been quite busy, I originally planned to go see you all, but didn't have the time. By the way, how is Li Qi doing? Why didn't she come with you, has she been well lately?"

  He hesitated for a while, but didn't know how to respond. He had originally planned to ask him for money, but in front of his girlfriend, he didn't know how to bring it up, so he just mumbled a few words and brushed it off. After a moment, he tentatively said, "The weather changes suddenly, it's gotten cold all of a sudden."

  "Yes." Wang Zhen smiled and said: "Yesterday my girlfriend was still complaining to me, saying that there was no heating in the house, and she was so cold that she couldn't sleep."

  His girlfriend turned around and interjected, "I didn't...", glanced at Xu Mo, as if suddenly realizing something, and stopped talking.

  Wang Zhen glanced at Xu Mo's clothes and said, "I'm wearing so many layers and I still feel cold. How can you wear so little and look like nothing's wrong? You're really resistant to the cold!" He reached out and touched Xu Mo's clothes, then laughed and said, "If I didn't know you, I would have thought you were a god from somewhere! But your ability to withstand the cold is probably going to make you an immortal or something! Haha!"

  Xu Mo vaguely felt that there was some sarcasm in his words, and when he looked at his face, his expression was serious, but not quite. He thought it was just his own imagination, so he didn't pay attention to it.

  After a moment, he asked again: "How's your recent work?"

  Wang Zhen sighed and waved his hand, "Don't mention it, I'm exhausted from working hard, but only get a few hundred yuan in salary. I can barely afford to eat. The landlord collected the water and electricity fees the other day, and also asked for rent. Although I paid the water and electricity fees, I didn't have enough money for the rent, so I still owe it now. The landlord is pressing me hard for payment. Originally, I was thinking of borrowing some money from someone to pay it first."

  He paused for a moment, then continued: "Like your family's Li Qi, as soon as she changed jobs, she got promoted. In just a few years, you guys will be able to afford the down payment on a house, haha!"

  Xu Mo's eyes suddenly dimmed, and a look of disappointment appeared on his face. Wang Zhen's words had completely dashed his hopes of borrowing money. He took a glance around the two-room apartment, but it didn't seem like they could even lend him a quilt.

  He lost the thought of speaking, and after a moment, he bid farewell and left. Wang Zhen smiled and invited him to stay: "Why not eat dinner before leaving?"

  His girlfriend suddenly gave him a sideways glance, "You haven't even bought groceries yet."

  "Then go buy it."

  "Give me the money." His girlfriend stretched out her hand to him.

  Wang Zhen slapped his forehead, suddenly enlightened. "I forgot, I just paid the water and electricity bills a few days ago, I don't have any money left." Then he turned to Xu Mo, "Right, yesterday I had two steamed buns left over, originally planning to give one each to my girlfriend and me. Since you're here, I'll give you mine, anyway, I'm not picky, skipping a meal won't hurt me."

  "It's useless." Xu Mo finally realized where the problem lay, left these words behind and walked out of the door without looking back.

  Wang Zhen didn't see him off either. After he left, 'bang' went the door as it was shut tight.

  Xu Mo walked down the stairs in a daze, and before he had gone far, he heard Wang Zhen and his girlfriend's voices coming from the room. First, his girlfriend asked: "Hey! When did I ever complain to you about not being able to sleep at night?"

  Wang Zhen smiled and said, "Of course you don't, I deliberately said that to deal with him." Then he snorted, "This person won't look for me without a reason, today he suddenly came over, maybe it's to borrow money, so in case, I'll first dispel his idea before saying anything else."

  His girlfriend smiled and said, "I didn't think you were so cunning."

  Xu Mo's heart skipped a beat as he stopped in his tracks and leaned in to listen.

  "Besides, lending money also depends on who you lend it to. He doesn't even have a job, what if I lend him the money and he can't pay me back?"

  His girlfriend continued: "Isn't there also Li Qi?"

  Wang Zhen said: "Li Qi is Li Qi, he is him, just a girlfriend, not his mother, why should she pay off his debts? The other day Li Qi even complained to me that she wanted to break up with him. If they were to break up, who would I go looking for?"

  His girlfriend laughed and said: "If he knew you were thinking like that, he'd probably hate you to death."

  “Hate me?” Wang Zhen suddenly let out a cold laugh, raising his voice. “I wish he would hate me! Li Qi told me about him in private, and he seemed like an intelligent person. But it turns out he's an idiot who can't even tell a lie. He hasn't been able to find a job for two years, and his life is already ruined. Maybe one day he'll starve to death on the streets like a stray dog. Hmph! The fewer friends like him, the better. Best if I didn't have any at all.”

  "Shh! Keep your voice down, he's still within earshot. Don't let him hear you." His girlfriend reminded him.

  Wang Zhen sneered: "I just want him to hear it. Sever the relationship completely, otherwise, who knows when I'll be dragged down." His voice rose again by a few degrees.

  Xu Mo stood outside the door, every word clear as day, and couldn't help but clench his fists. The impression he had of Wang Zhen's always smiling face now felt unbearably despicable.

  The unspoken oppression in his heart was almost about to erupt, wanting to scream and shout to vent the distress in his mind, but reason ultimately triumphed over impulse, and his expression gradually calmed down, he walked downstairs without a word, into the icy snow.

  Behind him, in the snow, two rows of neat footprints were left, those footprints were filled with deathly stillness, without a hint of life, just like his current life.

  At this moment, who would have thought that in such a life filled with suffering and despair, it was precisely when he had nowhere to turn that the world's first immortal was born?