Mysterious recovery

Corner coffee shop

  Even during the day, the office is lit by a stark white light.
 
    One partition after another divides most of the office area into small cubicles. In the middle of each cubicle, there is an unconnected desktop computer and a telephone. Everyone is busy, walking around. Some are typing, some are on the phone, and some are exchanging documents. Lu Xin's workstation is in the very center, and on the partition hangs the award pennant for the best employee.
    
     After handling all the busy work in the morning, Lu Xin straightened up and pinched his temples. Staying in this environment for a long time always makes one feel oppressed and stuffy. Not to mention there are always so many cumbersome things to deal with.
   
    " Lu Xin, are you busy now?"
    A voice rang beside Lu Xin.   Lu Xin looked up and found that it was Lu Cheng, a young newcomer in the office. He was dressed appropriately and had a short, energetic haircut. He had a sunny temperament. At this time, however, he was wearing a bitter expression and said, "The director arranged for me to sort out this batch of documents. But no matter how I sort them, I always can't get it clear. The time is almost up. Little Lu, can you... can you teach me?"
   "of course can"
  Lu Xin agreed with a smile: "I happen to be free now too!"

"Thank you,  Lu Xin. You are so kind!" The sunny young man was full of gratitude. He hurriedly came to Lu Xin's computer desk. One taught and one learned.

   From the surrounding cubicles, many dissatisfied glances were cast, along with some extremely low whispers.

"One's own work is already exhausting enough, and yet still teaching others!"

"Everyone has the same kind of work. Aren't they afraid that after teaching others, they will be kicked out themselves!"
 
    Under the dissatisfied gazes of many people, Lu Xin helped Lu Cheng organize the documents. In response to the other's words of thanks, he waved his hand.
   
   
   Although everyone in this oppressive office atmosphere is very tense, Lu Xin has always had his own principles in doing things. If he can help others, he will. The Red Moon incident has changed the world, but one still needs to have moral character.

"Lu Xin, come here. The director is calling you!"

Someone called from afar.

"Coming!"

  Lu Xin put down his coffee and got up to walk towards the director's office. Here, he saw the director who was so fat that his cheeks on both sides were about to droop. On the opposite sofa, there was also a short-haired woman wearing sunglasses and a decent suit.
 
   "Xiao Lu, here's a document. Now take it to the corner coffee shop on Qingjiang Road for me!" The director didn't waste any words and pointed to the document bag on the table. Delivering documents should be done by people from the administrative group or the miscellaneous affairs group. It's not his turn to do it. But Lu Xin still didn't refuse and nodded. "Okay!"

   Then he picked up the document, nodded to the director and the short-haired woman on the sofa, and walked out.

    As soon as he left the room, the director immediately put on a smiling face and said courteously to the short-haired woman, "Team Leader Chen, the thing you mentioned has been done. Don't worry, I won't ask too many questions or think too much. But that project you just mentioned to me..."

"Please rest assured, this project will not be given to you!" The short-haired woman stood up, gently pulled down her sunglasses, and said in a very gentle voice.
  
   The director was stunned for a moment, thinking he had misheard. And just then, he saw this woman's pupils. Her pupils seemed to be spinning and faintly reddish, as if they had turned into two red moons.

"Don't remember that I've been here, and don't remember arranging for him to do anything!" The short-haired woman said softly in a gentle voice. Then she put on her sunglasses and turned to leave. The director was in a moment of confusion. After a few seconds, he woke up as if nothing had happened and continued to be busy.
 
  Lu Xin was in the carriage of the circular high-speed rail, holding the handrail and feeling drowsy. Originally, where he got on the train was close to the starting station and there was still a seat. But when he saw a pregnant woman get on the train, he gave up his seat to her and stood on the train for half an hour.

    The lights in the carriage flickered slightly. The younger sister, holding a patched teddy bear in her arms, crawled along the top of the carriage.

   She hung upside down in front of Lu Xin and swayed back and forth like on a swing. Lu Xin stared straight ahead, pretending to be intently looking at the beautiful legs of an exquisite girl in hip-hugging shorts next to him. The younger sister had even more fun playing by herself and swayed more and more vigorously. There was a slight twisting sound in the carriage. Fortunately, the train was traveling very fast and was shaking. This twisting sound was covered up.

   "Brother, brother, look, that fat guy is so stupid..." While playing wildly, the younger sister suddenly pointed at a fat guy who was standing and sleeping while drooling, and smiled at Lu Xin.

"Don't talk to me..." Lu Xin still forced himself to look intently at the beautiful woman's legs and squeezed out an almost inaudible voice from between his teeth. "I can't look at you or talk to you outside. I'll be regarded as crazy..."

"Tsk, so boring!" The younger sister deliberately teased Lu Xin. Seeing that he didn't fall for it, she felt a bit bored.

"Then be careful yourself. The place you're going to this time has a problem!"
  
    As she spoke, before Lu Xin could ask further, she "giggled" and suddenly ran forward along the carriage. When passing by the fat guy who was sleeping while standing, she suddenly pinched the fat guy's face with her hand and then climbed away and disappeared into the distance.

    The fat guy woke up suddenly with a start and shouted, "Who's touching me?" The people around looked at the fat guy with no one within a meter around him, their eyes full of strangeness. Lu Xin also joined the onlookers and cast a look at the fat guy like he was looking at a mental patient.

   When getting off the train, Lu Xin found that he was already close to the outer wall. The buildings here have become somewhat dilapidated. One can see the wall that is more than ten meters high casting a deep shadow on the buildings. Although thirty years have passed and most of the wandering lunatics outside the city have been cleared up, people living in the city still dare not be careless. Every year, the focus of municipal work is to continue to strengthen and repair these tall walls.
  
  
  When he arrived at the corner coffee shop, he found that the environment here was very gloomy. In the surrounding old buildings and bungalows, it seemed that they were all empty and not a single person could be seen. There was a lot of garbage in front of the door, as if it had been blown over by the wind. It was unknown how long it had been since anyone had cleaned it.
 
   As he approached this place, for some reason, there was a feeling of oppression. Lu Xin subconsciously didn't like this place, but since he had already promised the director, he still walked in holding the document bag.

 
     "Observer No. 13 has entered the target area!" On a tall building not far from here, there are more than a dozen observers who have set up various instruments. Around the tall building, there are also some fully armed soldiers with live ammunition hidden in the dark, nervously guarding everything around.

   The short-haired woman was also among the office staff. She was holding a document in her hand with black printed words on it:
"Target code name: Corner Coffee Shop!"
"Action purpose: To test the potential and specific abilities of Observer No. 13 to become a psychic master!"
"Potential risk: The coffee shop has been confirmed as a first-level mental pollution area.
Specific manifestations are:
People approaching the coffee shop will be involuntarily attracted into it.

  People who have entered the coffee shop will die within three to five days. The causes of death are mostly suicide.
According to analysis, they should be polluted inside the coffee shop, resulting in serious depression!"
"..."
She put down the document in her hand and asked the people around her, "Is the preliminary support ready?"
The staff member nodded and pointed to the next room.
Through the glass partition between the two rooms, one can see a delicate girl wearing a foreign dress and sitting there like a puppet.

   When Lu Xin entered the coffee shop, he felt a warm and lively atmosphere. Outside on the street and in the room, it seemed empty and desolate. But in this coffee shop, it was filled with people, even giving a sense of overcrowding.

    Everyone had smiles on their faces. Some were having intimate conversations with their heads bowed. Some were sitting alone by the window, reading a book while drinking coffee. Some were squinting their eyes and enjoying a delicious sandwich attentively. A soothing and ancient piece of music was floating in the store. The sunlight spilled in from the window, making people seem to return to the world before the Red Moon disaster in a trance...

    
   Lu Xin walked through the crowd and came to the bar. He nodded to the waiter in the delicate apron behind the bar. "Someone asked me to deliver this document!" The director didn't say who to deliver it to specifically, so delivering it to the bar should be fine. "Thank you!" The waiter didn't care at all. He just thanked with a smile and then poured a cup of coffee and pushed it in front of Lu Xin. "This..." Lu Xin wanted to say that he didn't plan to stay and drink coffee. However, this coffee smelled quite fragrant and was completely different from the cheap coffee he drank at the company.

  
   "You've had a hard trip. This is my treat for you!" The waiter smiled, with a kind of kindness on his face that made people feel very comfortable. Lu Xin's heart relaxed a little, and for a moment he couldn't say anything to refuse.

    And then at this moment, his eyes froze slightly. Behind the waiter's exquisite apron, a thick and ugly tentacle suddenly stretched out in front of Lu Xin. At the top of the tentacle, the flesh slowly split open. Suddenly, a black soft object the size of a coin slipped into the coffee. Lu Xin looked down. The soft object looked like an egg or an eye. The black pupil was looking at him in the cup.

  The coffee instantly became even more fragrant. Every wisp had an astonishing allure.

  "No need, thank you!" Lu Xin politely refused as if he hadn't noticed anything. He turned and walked out. When he reached the door, he looked back. He saw that all the people in the store had stopped their actions and were looking at him in unison, woodenly, dullly.

  He quickly turned around, his body stiffening. He walked faster and faster.