The Double
Are you satisfied with your life?
Would you be willing to swap lives with someone else...
1
"Owen, listen to me—whatever you do today, do not leave that kitchen at noon! If you do, you'll be in very, very big trouble..."
That morning, I was jolted awake by a phone call. A man immediately asked me what year, month, and day it was. Though I found it strange, I answered him honestly. Then he told me the sentence above.
For a chef, noon was the busiest time of day—why would I leave the kitchen and go outside?
"Who are you?" I yawned. "Crack of dawn—what kind of joke is this?"
"No, I'm not joking! Remember, at twelve-thirty! No matter what happens outside, don't go out—don't get involved in anything, do you hear me?"
"Who exactly are you?"
"Well, this might sound crazy, but... I'm you, five years from now!"
The man hung up abruptly, leaving me completely bewildered.
"Who was it?" Vivi had woken up too.
"Nobody—wrong number." I didn't know how to explain it, 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 server—we went to work together and came home together every day.
Vivi and I shared a dream: to one day open our own dumpling restaurant. We were both from Shandong, and we both loved dumplings. We wanted every expat from our hometown to taste authentic home cooking, so for years we'd been working toward that goal.
That morning, as usual, we had breakfast and biked to work. As for that phone call—it had long since slipped my mind.
We worked at a fairly large hotel. Every day during the lunch rush, every table was filled.
While I was busy in the kitchen, someone came running to tell me that "Porky" had shown up again and was hassling Vivi.
Porky's surname was Zhang. He was a boss at a nearby company—fat and greasy as a pig, hence the nickname.
This sleazeball used his money to bully and harass people. Pretty much every server in the place had been groped by him at some point.
Now he'd set his sights on Vivi!
I was furious. I dropped my pan and stormed out...
3
Originally, I just wanted to pull Vivi away, but that creep wouldn't let go, clutching her arm. That pushed me over the edge. I threw a punch and gave him a black eye.
Naturally, he fought back, and we ended up in a full-on brawl. Vivi tried to intervene and got knocked down, her hand landing on a broken plate. Blood flowed immediately...
Panicking, I grabbed Vivi and rushed her toward 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! Today at noon, whatever happens, you must not go outside..."
"Who the hell are you? Why should I listen to you?" I was at my wit's end.
"I'm you—five years from now!"
"What? Five years from now?" I laughed despite myself. "Did a monkey send you?"
"Owen, I really am you from five years in the future!" he said seriously. "If you go out now, you'll definitely get into a car accident!"
"A car accident?"
"Yes, a car accident! And that accident is just the beginning of your troubles... Hey, what are you doing?"
Mid-sentence, the man let out a startled cry, and then a different voice came through the phone: "I'm sorry for the disturbance. We're from XX Hospital—this is one of our psychiatric patients. Please disregard whatever he said..."
Well, that figured—the guy had seemed completely unhinged!
4
I pedaled hard, carrying Vivi to the hospital. On the way, Vivi asked about the phone call, and I told her the story as a joke, making her laugh too.
"Why didn't you ask him what our lives are like five years from now? Are we married? Did we have a boy or a girl... and do we have our own dumpling restaurant yet?"
"If only he knew."
Suddenly, a car swerved out from the side. I'd been chatting and wasn't paying full attention—I crashed right into it...
The car was dented, but fortunately Vivi and I weren't hurt. When I got a clear look at the car, my head went boom! It was a luxury sports car worth hundreds of thousands—even a tiny scratch would cost a fortune to fix...
"Hey, how are you driving?" The driver was a young man who clearly came from money.
I panicked and could only apologize profusely. The guy was surprisingly reasonable—seeing Vivi's bleeding hand, he told us to go to the hospital first and sort out the rest later. We exchanged contact information, and I continued rushing Vivi to the hospital.
Vivi asked anxiously if we'd have to pay a lot of money for the damage. I lied and said it was no big deal, just a few hundred bucks. She didn't know cars and took my word for it.
"If you go out now, you'll definitely get into a car accident!" While Vivi was getting her hand treated, I sat in the waiting area. Those words echoed in my head, and I pulled out my phone to call the number back. Strangely, it was already disconnected.
Was it a prophecy, or just a coincidence?
I stared at my phone, a chill creeping over me...
5
After dropping Vivi at home, I went back to the hotel. I wanted to ask the boss for an advance on my pay—I'd been working there for years, so it shouldn't be a problem, right?
How naive I was. The boss had no heart to speak of. Not only did he refuse the advance, he fired both me and Vivi.
In this city, rent and living expenses were no joke. Both of us losing our jobs at once—the consequences were devastating! And the accident still hadn't been settled...
After I begged and pleaded, the boss grudgingly gave me one chance.
Porky was a big client of the hotel, spending a fortune every year. If I could earn his forgiveness, I could keep my job.
What could I do? I swallowed my pride and went to find Zhang.
Zhang, already nursing a grudge from being beaten up, had gone home and drunk himself silly. When I arrived, he'd just thrown up all over himself.
He pointed at the mess on the floor and sneered: "Lick it clean, and I'll forgive you!"
In that moment, I really wanted to rip his face off!
But I couldn't. Reality no longer allowed me the luxury of defiance!
When I didn't move, he called his thugs over to beat me. They pinned my head to the ground, stomped on me, and shoved vomit into my mouth...
Never in my life had I suffered such humiliation!
6
One way or another, Vivi and I kept our jobs.
This experience taught me just how small and insignificant ordinary people were. To the rich, people like us were no better than ants.
When Vivi saw my battered and bruised face, she held me and wept. I smiled and told her everything would get better eventually. We'd have our own dumpling restaurant, 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 any before...
7
A few days later, I pulled myself together and went to handle the accident.
At a luxurious villa, the rich young man received me. His name was Joey, the only son of Jansen, a local business tycoon. I'd figured he was well-off, but I hadn't imagined just how well-off.
Joey's car had already been repaired—the bill came to over a hundred thousand. When I saw the invoice, I nearly passed out!
I was fully at fault for the accident, so I had to foot the bill. But 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 idea," Joey said.
"What idea?"
"Are you satisfied with your life?" Joey smiled faintly. "If you had the chance, would you be willing to swap lives with someone else?"
"Swap lives?"
"Yes."
"I've never really thought about it..."
"What if the person you were swapping with was me?" Joey dropped a bombshell.
"What?" I was taken aback. "Mr. Joey, you must be joking."
"I'm not joking," Joey said, uncrossing his legs and leaning forward. "Owen, I want to swap lives with you!"
8
I was floored.
A silver-spoon heir, wanting to swap lives with a nobody like me?
This was the most fantastical thing I'd ever heard in my life!