Since leaving the reformatory and moving in with Neil, Zoe seemed to have become a completely different person—happier, and adjusting to the comfortable life that society had seemingly forgotten him. He followed the community’s regulations and applied for several service jobs, but unfortunately, none of the places needed someone like him.
Zoe’s appearance was beyond reproach—a handsome young man with striking eyes like morning dew on fresh leaves and a smile as bright as the dawn. No employer could refuse someone with such looks, and service jobs often preferred people with good appearances. However, applying for a job, whether as a server, factory worker, or even a cleaner, required a clear background. Whenever Zoe’s resume was reviewed, all the employers fell silent and then gave him the same response.
“Please take your resume back. We will call you when a suitable position becomes available.”
So Zoe took his resume home and waited, but after a month, there were no calls informing him that he had been hired. A suitable job! He only wanted to be a server; did it really require a special match? And what was he unsuitable for? But without even a high school diploma and with such a tarnished background, who would be willing to hire him? This meant he would never find a suitable job.
He couldn’t keep living in Neil’s house forever. Even if Neil didn’t ask him to leave, he couldn’t shamelessly stay with someone who wasn’t even a relative. Neil had no obligation to take care of him. Once it was time to leave, he would become a person with no place to go, forced to spend the insurance money left by his parents and then end up on the streets like a homeless person, quietly dying.
Sitting absentmindedly and thinking about his uncertain future, Zoe sighed as he gazed into the vast expanse of the night sky, which was completely covered by clouds, with not a single star in sight, just like his uncertain future. He only wanted to be an ordinary person, to enjoy a normal life as it quietly went by. But why did his life always seem to encounter unpredictable upheavals like a soap opera without a happy ending?
He wished each day could pass simply, with a stable job to go to in the morning and return home in the evening, living peacefully without causing trouble to anyone, like a well-behaved cat sitting in the sun waiting for nightfall to fulfill its duty of keeping mice away from the house. He wanted to be someone with even the smallest responsibility, living happily in his own little house, without caring about the complexities of the world. Was such a life truly so difficult?
Whenever Zoe was seen sitting sadly by the window looking out at the street, Neil would come and sit beside him to comfort him.
“You’ll find a job soon. Don’t worry. Just sleep.”
Zoe would only look at him and nod slightly without saying anything. Tonight, Neil was going out for work again. Zoe didn’t know what Neil’s job was, but he left at 8 a.m. and returned at 5 p.m. If there was a phone call, he would leave immediately and sometimes not return until one or two in the morning. Just like now, after talking to Zoe for a bit, Neil received a phone call, smiled, waved to Zoe, and quickly went out the door. Zoe didn’t want to ask about Neil’s job because he felt he shouldn’t be curious about someone else’s business while staying in their house.
Having been at Neil’s home for over a month, Zoe had explored every corner except Neil’s bedroom. The house was spacious, but there were no photos hanging on the walls or bookshelves. Perhaps Neil had put them in his bedroom. Zoe was curious to see what Neil’s younger brother looked like and if he truly resembled him as Neil had said.
With Neil gone, Zoe was alone in the empty house. While there are usually some lingering spirits in most places, Neil’s house was an exception—there was no trace of coldness or sudden appearance of white shadows, even outside around the house. Zoe couldn’t explain this. It was actually quite comforting to be here; without seeing any vengeful spirits, he wasn’t afraid they would discover he could see them, or be haunted or feel the urge to control them. However, being alone for a long time was also very boring.
At that moment, the wall clock showed eight o’clock. He couldn’t fall asleep. With some free time, Zoe decided to take another round to observe the house more closely, of course, without intending to enter Neil’s bedroom. The house was quite large for one person, making it feel very empty and desolate. But perhaps because Neil wasn’t home often, the quietness of the space didn’t seem to matter. On the contrary, a large space made resting more comfortable than a cramped one.
Apart from the two bedrooms and the living room, the attic had a large telescope, a favorite of Neil’s for stargazing, though he rarely used it due to his busy schedule. This was Zoe’s favorite place. Whenever he couldn’t sleep, he would climb up to the attic and look at the night sky through Neil’s telescope.
Next to the telescope, there was a wind chime, just like all the other wind chimes hanging around the house. This was a detail Zoe had only just noticed. Each wind chime had a sound-amplifying part shaped like an inverted bowl in the center, with a metal pendulum hanging inside. When the wind blew, the pendulum would strike the bowl and produce a sound. Normally, a small piece of paper, called a “wish paper,” was attached below each wind chime. 
But in Neil’s house, none of the wind chimes had pendulums, only the wish papers, so they didn’t make any sound when the wind blew, which is why Zoe never heard them.