The Double
Are you satisfied with your life?
Would you be willing to trade lives with someone else...
1
"Owen, listen to me—whatever you do, don't go out today at noon, do not leave that kitchen! Otherwise, you'll find yourself in very, very big trouble..."
That morning, I was woken up by a phone call. A man fired the question at me without preamble: What year, month, and day was it today? Though I thought it was odd, I answered truthfully. Then he said those words to me.
For a chef, noon was the busiest time of day. Why would I leave the kitchen to go outside?
"Who are you?" I yawned. "What kind of joke is this at this hour?"
"I'm not joking! Listen, at twelve-thirty! No matter what happens outside, don't get involved. Whatever you do, don't get involved..."
"Who exactly are you?"
"Well, you might not believe this, but I'm... oh, someone's coming, I'll call you back. Remember what I said—do not go out at noon!" The man hung up in a hurry, leaving me thoroughly confused.
"Who was it?" Vivi had also been woken up.
"No one, wrong number." I didn't know how to explain, so I brushed it off.
2
Three years ago, I came to this city to make a living. Later I met Vivi, and we became a couple. I was a chef, she was a waitress. We went to work together during the day and came home together at night.
Vivi and I shared a dream: to one day open our own dumpling shop. As fellow Shandong natives, we both loved dumplings, and we wanted every migrant from Shandong to be able to taste authentic home cooking. So over the past few years, we'd been working toward that goal.
That morning, we headed to work as usual, the phone call already forgotten.
We worked at a fairly large hotel. Every mealtime rush, the place was packed upstairs and down.
While I was busy in the kitchen, someone came to tell me that "Porky" had shown up again and was harassing Vivi.
Porky's real surname was Zhang. He was the boss of a company nearby—fat, oily, and pig-like, which was how he'd earned his nickname.
The guy used his money to throw his weight around, groping and bullying people left and right. Pretty much every waitress at our hotel had suffered from his wandering hands.
And now he was targeting Vivi!
I stormed out of the kitchen, infuriated...
3
Originally, I only wanted to pull Vivi away, but that jerk wouldn't let go, clinging to her. That really set me off, and I punched him, giving him a black eye.
He naturally wouldn't take that lying down and tackled me. Vivi tried to break it up and got shoved down, cutting her hand on broken glass, bleeding immediately...
Seeing Vivi hurt, I got frantic, grabbed her and rushed to the hospital. Just then, the man from the morning called again! He hissed urgently: "You just got into a fight with Porky, didn't you? And now you're taking Vivi to the hospital? Listen to me—don't go! Whatever happens today, you cannot go outside..."
"Who the hell are you? Why should I listen to you?" I was exasperated.
"I am... I'm you, five years from now!"
"What? You, five years from now?" I laughed in spite of myself. "Did a comedian send you?"
"Owen, I really am you, five years from now!" He sounded dead serious. "If you go out now, you'll definitely get into a car accident!"
"A car accident?"
"Yes, a car accident! And this accident will only be the beginning of your misfortune... Hey, what are you doing?" The man suddenly let out a startled exclamation, and then a different voice came through the receiver: "I'm sorry to disturb you. This is a psychiatric hospital, and this patient made an unauthorized call. You don't need to take anything he said seriously..."
Well, that figured—the guy didn't sound right to begin place!
4
I loaded my bicycle and pedaled Vivi to the hospital. On the way, Vivi asked about the phone call, and I told it to her like a joke, making her laugh too.
"Why didn't you ask him what our lives will be like in five years—whether we're married, whether we have a boy or a girl... and whether we have our own dumpling shop?"
"I wish he'd known."
Suddenly, a car darted out from beside me. I'd been chatting and wasn't paying full attention, and I crashed right into it...
The car was dented, but fortunately Vivi and I were fine. When I got a clear look at the vehicle, my brain exploded—it was a luxury sports car, probably worth millions. Even a tiny scratch would cost a fortune to repair...
"Hey, how are you riding that thing?" The driver was a young man—clearly a pampered rich kid.
I panicked and apologized profusely. The guy was surprisingly reasonable. Seeing Vivi's hand was bleeding, he told us to go to the hospital first and deal with the rest later. We exchanged contact information, and I continued taking Vivi to get treated.
Vivi asked nervously if we'd have to pay a lot. I lied and said it was no big deal, a few hundred would sort it out. She didn't know cars, so she believed me.
"If you go out now, you'll definitely get into a car accident!" While Vivi was getting her wound treated, I waited outside. Suddenly, the man's words came back to me. I couldn't resist pulling out my phone and calling him back. Strangely, the number was now disconnected.
Was it a prophecy, or a coincidence?
I stared at my phone, a chill running through me...
5
After dropping Vivi at home, I went back to the hotel. I wanted to ask the boss for a pay advance—I'd been working there for years, so it shouldn't be a problem, right?
I was naïve. What feelings does a capitalist have? Not only did he refuse the advance, he fired both me and Vivi.
In this city, rent and living costs were no joke. Two people losing their jobs at the same time—the consequences were obvious! Not to mention the accident still hadn't been settled...
After I begged and pleaded, the boss gave me one last chance.
Porky was a major client of the hotel, spending lavishly every year. If I could earn his forgiveness, I could keep my job.
Under the circumstances, I had no choice but to swallow my pride and go find him.
Zhang had taken a beating and was furious. He'd gone home and gotten drunk. When I arrived, he'd just thrown up a mess.
He pointed at the vomit and sneered, "Lick it clean, and I'll forgive you!"
In that moment, I really wanted to tear his face off!
But I didn't dare. Reality no longer allowed me to act impulsively!
When I just stood there, he had his thugs beat me—pushing my head to the ground, stepping on it, shoving vomit into my mouth...
Never in my life had I suffered such humiliation!
6
However it went, Vivi and I managed to keep our jobs.
This experience taught me just how small and insignificant people at the bottom of the ladder were. To those rich folks, we were nothing but ants.
When Vivi saw my bruised and swollen face, she held me and sobbed. I smiled and comforted her, telling her everything would get better—we'd have our own dumpling shop someday, and nobody would push us around anymore...
But when would that day come? I didn't know myself.
That night seemed darker and longer than ever before...
7
A few days later, I gathered myself and went to deal with the accident.
At a luxurious villa, that rich kid received me. His name was Joey—the only son of Jansen, a business tycoon in the city. I'd guessed he was no ordinary person, but I hadn't guessed just how extraordinary.
Joey's car had already been repaired, costing over a hundred thousand. When I saw the bill, I nearly fainted!
I was entirely at fault for the accident, so naturally I had to foot the bill. But over a hundred thousand—where was I supposed to get that kind of money?
I stammered and asked if I could pay in installments.
"Actually, I have a better proposal," Joey said.
"What proposal?"
"Are you satisfied with your life?" Joey smiled slightly. "If given the chance, would you be willing to trade lives with someone else?"
"Trade lives?"
"Yes!"
"I... I've never thought about that..."
"What if the person you'd be trading with was me?" Joey said something astonishing.
"What?" I froze. "Mr. Joey, are you joking?"
"I'm not joking," Joey uncrossed his legs, leaning forward seriously. "Owen, I want to trade lives with you!"
8
I was stunned.
A rich kid born with a silver spoon wanted to trade lives with a nobody like me?
This was the most outlandish thing I'd ever heard in my entire life!