First Encounter with Postal Service (1)

  Prologue

  To this day, I still feel like it's all just a dream. I've been hesitant about whether or not to write down everything I experienced and saw, until one of the people involved in this matter passed away, and only then did I finally muster up the courage to record it all as it happened.

  Even if this thing is so bizarre that perhaps no one believes it, please believe me that this thing really happened, only at that time you may be in love or sleeping soundly. Okay, my story starts from about a year ago around this time, my life was still calm and peaceful, just like yours, just like everyone else's, working, sleeping, living like a small citizen, but that thing changed me, although it's too late to regret now. I once told this story to several familiar friends, they told me that there are only two possibilities for this story, one is that you're crazy, and the other is that it can only happen in stories.

  My name is Luo Ze. As for occupation, at least half a year ago I was still a postman.

  Because I wasn't interested in studying since childhood, after graduating from high school, I found a job that was just enough to make ends meet in the county. I worked as a mailman at the post office. This is a poor county in Chengde, and my assigned route was to deliver mail to the mountainous areas of this county. I'm sure everyone has seen those green bicycles on TV - yes, my first ride was one of those bicycles. Whether it was a Flying Pigeon brand or not, I don't know, but when I rode it, basically everything except the bell was making noise. The harsh conditions can be imagined.

  At that time, there were five of us who were recruited as postal workers together. Everyone's situation was basically the same, and doing this job belonged to the three-no personnel: no insurance, no allowance, and no wife. Which girl would look up to a poor mountain postal worker? Moreover, the transportation in this impoverished county is very inconvenient. Although there are so-called village-to-village highways, unfortunately, the continuous mountains still block the traffic, so the postal workers became a link between the big mountains and the outside world.

  On my first day of work, the director handed me a map. The map was worn out and had been used for generations, so it could be considered an antique by now. There were many lines drawn on it in all directions. The director's surname was Wang, he was a man in his 40s with a rugged face, not known to smile or joke around. As soon as I entered the post office, I heard my seniors calling him "Wang Baozi" behind his back. Now he looked at me and said: "Luo Ze, can you understand it?"

  I took a closer look, and on it was scribbled in black ink like a landscape painting. I suppose even an immortal would have trouble deciphering it, but for me this job was just too important, so I nodded my head. Wang Pangzi seemed very pleased with my response, smiling as he nodded his head. And just like that, my life as a mail carrier began.

  Every day, I rode that old bike, traveling through the deep mountains. Sometimes the places to deliver mail were too far away, and at night, I would stay overnight in a desolate village. This kind of life probably lasted for about a month. Finally, when I was overjoyed to take the contract to the director, I found that the other four people were standing dejectedly in front of the director's door.

  I was just about to knock on the director's door when Cao Laogen suddenly grabbed me. Cao Laogen is of the same age as me, and we were also recruited together, but he has become old before his time. At first glance, I always thought he was of the same age as my father. He usually speaks little and rarely talks, so we all call him Cao Laogen behind his back.

  He pulled me over, I was stunned, and looked at him with a bewildered face. He gave me a signal, then whispered in my ear: "If the director asks you to deliver a red envelope letter, don't go!"