On the last day of June, at 5:01 AM, Wen Qian was woken up by a sound.
Wolf howl? Whistle? Scream? The shriek of a microphone?
She then opened her bedroom door and heard more sounds, but her roommates' doors were closed shut.
At this time everyone was still sleeping, so Wen Qian went downstairs to check what it was, confirming it was the wind.
A huge wind.
Wen Qian's heart sank as she remembered this was the very beginning of her dream.
The wind.
Wen Qian stood at the door struggling to open it with one hand. She used more strength with both hands to pull the door open.
The moment the door opened, the gust blew in and fully woke Wen Qian up. The windows downstairs were left open with only the net curtains closed, now connecting with the hallway window, letting a strong wind inside.
Wen Qian closed the door. Now fully awake, she sat on the sofa browsing her phone.
She opened social media and saw Anshi's big wind was already trending. Many people said they were woken up by the wind sounds, describing it as terrifying. The weather app also sent out a strong wind warning.
Some expressed shock. Others described it as magical. And some started making jokes.
The strong wind lasted two hours before subsiding.
In the meantime, Wen Qian washed her face, brushed her teeth, went back to her room to put on noise-cancelling earbuds, and searched online for windbreaker jackets and other items to purchase.
When Wen Qian came back downstairs, she met her roommate who was also discussing the big wind. They were woken up early but with extra morning time stayed in bed playing on their phones instead of getting up.
The other three rooms faced outside windows for observation while hers did not get any natural light.
But the whole building was enveloped by the wind sounds from inside out, and Wen Qian said she was woken up by it too.
Luckily, the wind occurred when most people were still sleeping, so it didn't cause too much damage.
It was still very windy outside, and Wen Qian struggled to open and close the downstairs door.
Stepping outside, the door area wind was still strong too, and the slender Wen Qian felt she was being pushed to walk.
So she turned around and went back in.
In her dream, it seemed like she was hit by things flying in the wind.
Should she not go out today? Call in sick?
Give up perfect attendance?
Still should go. This time she chose to take a taxi there.
Taking a taxi got her to work safely.
Her colleagues who came in also chatted about today's weather, most seeming to be woken up by the wind sounds like her, while the few deep sleepers were clueless about it.
Wen Qian glanced at the small calendar on her desk, turned on her computer, and started working, entering into a work state where she temporarily forgot about other things.
In the morning when the boss came, Wen Qian responded well to all the tasks that needed handling and received praise.
But right after, Wen Qian put in her resignation.
The boss was very shocked, asking if she was dissatisfied with the company or felt it was too busy.
Wen Qian firmly shook her head, citing personal reasons.
By noon, Wen Qian had typed out and submitted her resignation letter to HR.
In a month, at the end of July, she could leave this job.
Her apartment lease was up at the end of August, and Wen Qian planned to rest in Anshi for half a month after resigning before going back home.
After submitting it, Wen Qian felt much more relaxed, even though she was still working, her mindset had started becoming more carefree.
The countdown would start from now.
Wen Qian had complicated feelings, not towards the job itself, but rather her dream coming true.
It coming true meant everyone's days would become more difficult; if not, her own behavior would become a joke.
Her previous unease had finally settled down.
Other than the morning wind sounds, today was no different than normal.
After finishing a day of work, Wen Qian turned off her computer and sprawled back in her chair heaving a sigh of relief.
Today after work, Wen Qian didn't directly head home, but went to a lively neighborhood district instead.
It was the place closest to Wen Qian where she could hang out, the intersection of several metro lines, very busy with people coming and going.
Upstairs and downstairs were filled with many people out shopping and eating. Wen Qian bought a cheap milk tea and walked while drinking it.
She didn't plan to shop around. Coming out here to wander was a whim. Usually in this city she rarely went out shopping. Each time buying things was pre-planned with a budget in mind.
This time coming here was more to experience the lively atmosphere, which would likely become hard to come by later.
Finding a place to sit, Wen Qian opened the posts she previously made, which had all sunk away unseen on the various platforms.
Right, who would believe what she said? Without harming herself, it seemed there was no way to warn others.
Wen Qian put on earbuds, no longer looking at her phone, just wandering around aimlessly.
For dinner she bought some deep fried food, saving her the trouble of cooking when she got home.
On her way home seeing an overpass, Wen Qian went up again to take a look. There were still people selling things, but she didn't see the granny who previously sold hair clips.
Standing on the overpass blowing some wind, Wen Qian looked at the cars and headed home.
That night Wen Qian dreamed that it rained. She walked alone in the rain but couldn't find shelter anywhere. Suddenly she started chopping down trees and building a lean-to shed.
The next morning on July 1st when Wen Qian woke up, she forgot what the shed looked like in her dream. Only remembered herself being very busy in it, still feeling tired waking up.
Her resignation was gradually found out by more colleagues. Those closer to her thought she found a better opportunity somewhere else, even secretly asking if the new place had better benefits.
But Wen Qian said she hadn't found a new job yet, and they didn't believe her.
After all in this day and age, finding a job wasn't hard, but finding a good job was very hard. The economy wasn't good. Having no job would only make one more anxious.
But Wen Qian didn't care about any of that. She was a single person; as long as she was fed no one else starved.
Co-workers weren't friends. After leaving they basically wouldn't cross paths again. Wen Qian only needed to do her job well.
Work was now on a countdown, and Wen Qian's hoarding period had ended too. She lived each day very carefreely, occasionally browsing new recipes.
Recently Wen Qian had developed an interest in cooking, not the home cooking she knew before, but dishes with many complex steps that were time consuming to make, which she hadn't eaten herself yet.
She bought cookbooks, studied cooking videos. Having the space, she even considered batch cooking a week's or a month's worth of meals at a time, then taking them out to eat when needed without having to cook daily. If using a firewood stove to cook at her hometown, making one meal a day from scratch herself would probably feel tedious.
Luckily Wen Qian had stocked up on a lot of disposable meal boxes. She just needed to prepare and portion out the food then store it away.
In July the highest temperature was 36°C (97°F). Back at her apartment after cooking up batches, she had no appetite left; it was too hot.
Wen Qian made herself a noodle and meatball soup. She didn't want to eat rice.
At this time Wen Qian remembered she seemed to have forgotten to stock up on one thing: bulk buys of ice pops.
How could sizzling summer days lack something cooling?
