Chapter 5: Coincidence
Sunlight streamed through the sliver of a gap in his curtains and splashed across Lin Yuan's face.
He scrunched up his nose, pulling his blanket up over his head with a mumble that was unintelligible to the room. Then, he remembered that he didn't have any deliveries until the afternoon.
"Five more minutes…" The room remained silent in reply.
A few seconds later, his eyelids flickered open. "…Right."
Yunnan. The cave. The lamp.
Then… Lin Yuan's eyes popped open wide. "The genie…" He sat bolt upright and looked around the room. The apartment looked exactly as it had the night before.
The old refrigerator in the corner hummed faithfully, the empty cup of instant noodles still rested on his bedside table, and his backpack sat leant against the wall where he'd left it. Nothing had changed, not really.
His eyes fell upon the brass lamp sitting innocently on his desk.
It was just as he remembered it the previous night; old, clean and utterly harmless.
Lin Yuan ran a hand through his messy hair and pressed it against his temples. "I must have really dreamed all of that…" He got out of bed and walked over to pick it up. It was still warm to the touch.
He stared at it for a long moment. "…Weird."
There was no blue smoke, no levitating, naked man and no booming voice declaring him his 'Master.' Just an old lamp. He chuckled to himself, shaking his head.
"I really need to get more sleep." After placing it back down, he yawned widely and stretched before reaching for the pile of dirty laundry by his bed. He'd been putting it off for several days, but it had now reached critical mass.
A faint, musty odour confirmed the laundry's recent complaints. "Alright. Fine." He sighed. "You win."
There was a communal laundry room on the roof of his apartment building, a facility which every tenant griped about until laundry day.
Lin Yuan chucked his clothes into a laundry basket and trudged up the stairs. Dark clouds had gathered, obscuring the sky, and the air felt thick with the promise of rain. A few of his neighbours were already tending to their clothes on long metal poles.
"Oh, no…" one of the middle-aged ladies groaned as she glanced at the sky. "It'll rain any minute," another man remarked, shaking his head. Lin Yuan looked up.
"…Seriously?"
Out of all mornings to finally decide to wash his entire wardrobe. He let out a short, breathy laugh. "If only it could wait another hour."
He wasn't wishing for anything. He wasn't praying to a god or deity; it was simply something people said.
He continued hanging his shirts on the line. Then…A light breeze tickled his skin. The dense grey clouds that had been gathering overhead began to part.
One by one, the patches dissolved until, within a minute, pieces of clear blue sky were visible above. Sunlight spilled across the rooftops.
"…Wow," the woman beside him breathed, her eyes wide. "That was fast."
The old man next to her, carefully hanging a pair of thick blankets, blinked in confusion. "I thought we were getting a storm."
"Me too," Lin Yuan replied, tilting his head as he looked upwards. "Huh."
Weather reports weren't always reliable, though.
Nothing out of the ordinary, then. He finished hanging his last shirt and walked back down to his apartment. By the time he reached the door, he had completely forgotten about the bizarre cloud formation.
Checking out of the guesthouse was straightforward. "Travel safely!"
The old couple waved as he left.
"Thank you for everything," Lin Yuan replied with a smile.
The old woman folded her arms across her chest. "So, if that lamp makes you rich…"
"I know," Lin Yuan said, chuckling.
"Dinner is on me."
"Not just dinner," her husband pointed a finger at him sternly. "You promised a very expensive dinner."
"I don't remember saying 'expensive."
"You certainly implied it."
"No, I absolutely did not."
The old man gasped dramatically. "My wife was right. You city kids always haggle."
Lin Yuan gave a small, polite bow. "I will remember."
"Good." The old woman's smile was warm. "And if that lamp is a dud…" Lin Yuan shrugged.
"Well, it was still a great trip."
For a moment, silence stretched between them before the old man nodded.
"That's the spirit."
Lin Yuan hoisted his backpack onto his shoulders and began to walk towards the train station. He didn't look back.
He had lost any expectation by the time he was riding home on the train, however.
It had only provided him with a bizarre souvenir; that was fine. A large portion of his train ride was occupied reading articles about antique furniture online.
Brass. Bronze. Refinishing. Authenticity.
They all seemed to give the same advice; 'Never violently scrub your expensive antiques.'
Lin Yuan chuckled to himself and tapped at the screen. "...Oops." He sincerely hoped his new lamp was not that expensive.
When the train pulled into Chongqing the oppressive heat and humidity greeted him and he cursed himself for wearing his jacket.
"... Already missing the mountains."
The midday sun beat down on him and he began to sweat just standing still.
As he was standing at a cross walk he looked up at the bright blue, clear sky and mumbled, "It would be nice if it rained."
He grinned. "Not enough to drown everyone... Just enough to cool things down a little bit."
The light turned green. Lin Yuan began crossing the street without a second thought.
Exactly three minutes later... A cool breeze swept between the buildings and one of his fellow pedestrian glanced up. "Weren't they saying it'd be sunny all day?"
Lin Yuan peered at the sky and saw a black mass forming at the edge of his vision, it was approaching far too quickly.
And a few minutes after that a downpour the kind only summer cities can provide started to fall. The people in the street screamed as they dashed to cover.
Shopkeepers hurried to pull awnings over their storefronts. Cyclists cursed as they searched for shelter.
Lin Yuan watched the water cascade down the street from beneath a convenience store's awning.
"... Well." He smiled. "How unfortunate."
The shopkeeper just shrugged, "Crazy weather these days."
Lin Yuan nodded, buying himself a bottle of water, and waited for the storm to subside. He never considered for even a second how just minutes ago he'd literally wished for such an event.
He was in his apartment and home was Small, quiet, and un-changed.
He set the lamp on his desk after putting the flashlight in the drawer and hanging up his backpack near the door was utterly uninteresting.
"If it had been a genie..." Lin Yuan smiled to himself. "...thanks for the weird dream."
Nothing happened. "Yeah, figured."
He flicked the light off and headed into the kitchenette to make dinner.
Behind him... The lamp stood there unmoving. And then... For less time than a blink... Beneath the engraving... A small golden light flickered before disappearing. The apartment grew still again.
Somewhere far beyond the young man's perception...
Something had already started to change. Lin Yuan simply hadn't noticed it yet.
But he would... Maybe Tomorrow.