Don’t Close Your Eyes At Me

Chapter 64: The Past

“Mr. 001, despite your high rank and the fact that you almost became my immediate superior, and only by just a small margin,” 021 turned around and continued stiffly, “but I have to remind you that you are currently BEING PUNISHED.”

She specially emphasised the last two words.

After she was done, she turned to You Huo and said, “You too.”

Qin Jiu nodded: “Thank you for reminding me, but if I remember correctly, there seems to be no rule that says: Invigilators who are being punished cannot stop home in between punishments?”

After he saw done saying that, he even asked 922 and 154: “Is there?”

922 was still recovering from the shock of “his boss inviting Invigilator A home” and his mind had gone offline.

154 said: “No.”

154 would always be on his boss’s side. Thinking that his answer might not be enough, he turned and repeated it to 021: “There are indeed none.”

“…………”

021 glared at him.

Of course, there aren’t any damned rules like that. Because there hasn’t been an invigilator like your boss before. You should know that too, okay?

She was determined to argue back. In any case, everyone was already aware that she didn’t like 001.

But the frustrating thing was that the amnesiac Invigilator A had a good relationship with him. If her attitude was bad, it might affect her image.

So, she could only hold back and change her words: “Examinees cannot enter the invigilators residence for no reason. This is clearly written in the rules. I’m afraid you must have forgotten about this.”

Qin Jiu indeed forgot about it.

He “oh”ed and then said unhurriedly: “If there’s a reason then it’s okay.”

Your uncle’s the reason.

021’s could almost no longer maintain her cold expression: “The place of residence for the next three days for the punished examinees have already been arranged. If you have a problem with it, go and talk to the system. After the punishment, it is your business if you want to go home. I have no authority on that.”

When she was done, she entered the building accompanied by the clack of her high heels.

***

The twin towers looked like ordinary commercial buildings. On the first floor, there were three elevator doors.

Each door had a different indicator light; red, white and blue.

922 who was still absentminded subconsciously stood before the elevator with the red light and was glared at by 021.

“Wrong one.” 154 pulled him over to stand before the elevator with the blue light and reminded: “Boss didn’t violate the rules in the living quarters. He is considered as an examinee for these few rounds.”

You Huo heard this and internally understood———

Those three elevators cannot be used randomly. They were probably divided acording to on one’s identity.

The one with the blue light was for examinees.

The one with the red light was for invigilators.

Then what about the one with the white light?

For NPC’s? Rest stop owners, drivers and servers?

You Huo was a little curious.

Two successive “dings” sounded in succession in the hall.

The door to the elevator with the blue light before them opened, and the door to the elevator with the red light next to it also opened.

Two people came out one after the other.

The one ahead was a young man. He was dressed meticulously and could be comparable to that of 154.

Seeing that there were others in the hall, he stopped for a moment before nodding: “Good evening.”

It may be because of Qin Jiu’s presence, he nodded at a larger angle to demonstrate respect.

When he looked up, he would occasionally secretly glance at 021. His expression was serious, but you could see his ears slightly tinged red.

Following behind him was a middle-aged man.

His hair had not been taken care of and was messy like a birds’ nest. On his chin were some stubble. He probably hadn’t shaved in days.

The moment she saw him, 021 froze.

Afterall, this person was also one of the earlier group of invigilators. He similarly knows Invigilator A.

It is said that he was once very powerful, and his age seemed to have no effect on him. He was however later injured and, since then, his physical abilities plummeted such that he was now ranked 1006.

This was also something that was determined taking into consideration his performance in the earlier years.

If they only considered the past two years, he would likely be ranked towards the end.

021 internally wondered why people who normally were difficult to run into on a normal day kept appearing today. It really made things difficult for her.

Fortunately, 1006 was an old bird.

With half-opened eyes, he looked over, raised his hand and mumbled out a “Hi”. He probably didn’t even see them properly.

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He then turned around and left.

021 breathed a sigh of relief.

She held the door open and ushered them in: “Hurry in.”

As she said that, 078 had just returned. He managed to get onto the elevator in time.

There were no buttons inside the elevator to select the floor. It went up by itself.

You Huo glanced around.

Qin Jiu explained: “The floor it stops at is random.”

You Huo: “What’s the difference?”

He thought Qin Jiu would say “difficulty” or the like, but the other party instead said: “The difference between good luck and bad luck.”

You Huo didn’t bother with giving him any more attention.

After a few seconds, he suddenly remembered something: “That guy earlier was also an invigilator?”

It was his first time seeing an invigilator like that.

021 really wanted to answer You Huo but she had to do her best to continue acting cold and aloof.

But the next second, she regretted not saying anything.

Because the one answering was Qin Jiu again.

“An invigilator who had just finished his punishment.” Qin Jiu said.

“What? Who?” 078 couldn’t keep up.

154: “Just ran into 1006.”

078 instantly understood: “Oh I think I saw him. I ran too quickly and didn’t have the chance to greet him. He was punished again?”

154: “Yeah.”

078: “Then he probably didn’t look good.”

154: “Yeah, quite haggard.”

078 glanced at You Huo. He deliberately tried to scare him: “Afterall, punishments can be very hard on you.”

He smacked his mouth a few times and glanced at You Huo again.

The other party was still indifferent.

“…………..”

078 felt that he had just blinded himself with his acting.

***

The elevator soon stopped.

The metal doors opened, but the four invigilators didn’t move.

“We’re here. You can get off. The punishment this time is to clean the examination centre.” 078 took out his phone and glanced at the time: “It is now 9:30pm. It’s a little late but I hope you can finish in one night. We’ll see you when you’re done.”

When he was done, the elevator door once again closed and took the four invigilators back down.

“What does cleaning the examination centre mean?” You Huo retracted his gaze from the closed elevator doors.

“Once an examination is over, some examination centres can get quite ugly and require some cleaning.” Qin Jiu said: “The system made this a punishment because the trouble you can encounter while cleaning won’t necessarily be less than the exam itself.”

When he was done, he stopped and then added: “With the exception of a destroyed examination centre.”

You Huo nodded.

The floor they were at was a large empty floor.

Right opposite the elevator was a large French window. A grey-haired old man sat by it with his head hanging low as he slept.

The conversation and commotion just now didn’t wake him,

“Look for him?” You Huo pointed at the old man with his chin.

Qin Jiu glanced around: “I guess so. I don’t see a second living being here.”

What do you mean I guess so………..?

You Huo: “You haven’t been here before?”

“I think you have a slight misunderstanding. Generally speaking, I abide to the rules and regulations quite well.” Qin Jiu said.

He walked over to the old man and snapped his fingers before him a few times.

Once he was done, he turned around and said to You Huo: “This is my first time.”

The old man was startled awake.

He looked up and said as soon as he saw Qin Jiu: “Why are you here again?”

Qin Jiu: “……….Who?”

Old man: “You.”

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Qin Jiu said peevishly: “You got the wrong person.”

The old man seemed to be a little confused.

His old eyes stared at Qin Jiu for a moment before murmuring: “Wrong person? Ah……That might be true. My memory hasn’t been good lately.”

The old man bowed his head in thought for a moment and then brushed through his hair with his fingers: “Forget it, don’t worry about it. Here———–”

He pointed at a metal panel in front of him: “Press your palm here. I need to register your violation information.”

Qin Jiu did as he was told.

The moment his palm was pressed onto it, several lines appeared on the screen.

Name: Qin Jiu

Examination ticket number: 86010-06141729-Gi

Associated examination ticket number: 86010-06141729-82

Past record: 12 times

The old man was instantly revigorated: “Twelve times! I knew I didn’t get the wrong person, it is you!”

Qin Jiu himself was stunned.

He turned to look at You Huo.

You Huo: “Let me tell you a joke. It’s my first time here.”

Qin Jiu: “…………..”

“Did you miss a digit?”

Qin Jiu stared at the information and rubbed his neck: “It’s associated with the old examination ticket number. It was probably from when I was an examinee.”

But twelve times………

You Huo: “Since you violated the rules just as the exam ended, you violated rules in twelve exams?”

“……..I guess.”

“It’s now a five-subject exam. How many subjects were there in your time? Fifteen?”

Before Qin Jiu could answer, the old man interjected: “What fifteen? It’s just five subjects. At most nine.”

Qin Jiu raised his eyebrow.

The old man said: “Put that eyebrow back down. I definitely remember you! Although my memory is getting bad and my body is old, I still remember you. You left a deep impression………”

It was indeed a deep impression.

As he got older, his mind and body gradually got duller.

What he did before, why he came here, when he started watching over this place………All these things, the old man no longer remembered.

On the contrary, it was the examinees he met as he watched over this place over these years that he still had some impression of.

Qin Jiu was one who he had more of an impression of.

He could even remember bits and pieces.

Something like this was really not easy for him.

***

It was a rainy day. The scene outside the window was completely grey. Lighting flashed and thunder crashed.

The napping old man was woken from his slumber by the thunder and wasn’t able to fall asleep again.

He was staring out the window in daze when the elevator suddenly rang.

He turned around and looked over.

Two people stood inside the open elevator.

One was Qin Jiu. The other stood in the corner of the elevator but because of the angle, he never saw his face.

All he could see was the hand holding the railing, the white and clean shirt cuffs, and black military boots.

Qin Jiu raised his hand and greeted the old man: “Good afternoon.”

The old man said: “Why is it you again?”

Qin Jiu smiled: “Yeah, I’m here again.”

This examinee’s lazy demeanour really made others want to kick his ass.

Not only did the old man think this, the one inside the elevator thought the same.

The old man saw the military boots move. That person said to Qin Jiu: “Get out of the elevator and chat. Stop holding the door. I’m busy.”

“Why are you busy?” Qin Jiu asked back.

“………Meeting. Does it have anything to do with you?”

Qin Jiu grunted and said without answering his question: “Pretty good, you’ve improved.”

“Improved what?”

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Qin Jiu: “Will now answer questions. A bit more enthusiastic compared to last time. A definite change compared to last, last time.”

“……………”

The old man who heard this also felt his feet itch.

If he wore boots, he would have already kicked him.

Sure enough, he saw one of the military boots raise.

Qin Jiu just laughed, stepped aside and walked out the elevator.

He pressed the down button for the invigilator and when the elevator door slowly closed, he waved at the person inside: “Try harder next time Big Invigilator.”

The elevator descended.

Qin Jiu turned around and walked over to the old man. Familiar with how everything worked, he pressed his palm onto the panel.

With a beep, several lines appeared on the screen:

Name: Qin Jiu

Examination ticket number: 86010-06141729-82

Past record: 5 times

The old man couldn’t help but ask: “How many subjects did you do?”

“Five.”

The old man’s expression turned incomprehensible: “Are you coming here once for every subject?”

“Not exactly. I had to retake my exam twice, so I guess for seven exams, I came here five times.”

“Are you proud of that?”

Qin Jiu smiled again.

This examinee would often be smiling. When he spoke, he would smile. If he was too lazy to speak, he would be smiling.

But these smiles of his would be 80-90% filled with arrogance.

He probably isn’t a decent person inside and out.

In short, it made one gnash their teeth.

The old man said: “You should be on your last subject now? You’ll be leaving after this punishment?”

“Not necessarily.”

The old man choked on his water: “Isn’t this a five-subject exam?!”

Qin Jiu pulled out a card from his pocket: “Still have one left.”

The old man took a closer look. On the card were two bold words: Retake Exam.

“……………..”

Qin Jiu then said: “But it’s a pity it might not be used now.”

The old man asked curiously: “Why?”

“Because I drew a black card. Exam reformation.” Qin Jiu said: “If I base it on ranks, I just need to stay on C.”

Old man: “………..”

What do you mean just stay on C???

He sincerely believed that this examinee may be a psychopath.

He slammed down the control button.

In an instant, the French window disappeared. The thunderstorm outside blew in.

The place where the old man sat was just outside its range.

This place was the punishment sector. The punishment involves cleaning up an examination centre. The examination centre is chosen at random.

As long as the examinee climbs down from the opening left by the French window, the examination centre one finds themselves in when they reach the ground is the one they are required to clean.

The old man had always felt that the climbing process was probably the most terrible part of the punishment.

With such a tall building, not to mention climbing down, just standing on the edge and looking down can make people’s legs go soft.

He had seen plenty climb while crying.

The only exception was Qin Jiu.

This man had been training in the military for a long time and wasn’t afraid of anything.

Watching him walk towards the window, the old man couldn’t help but ask: “Why are you retaking exams all the time? Getting more points?”

Qin Jiu stopped at the edge. Raindrops slid down his handsome, sculptured face.

He smiled and said: “You guess.”

He then turned and jumped out.

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“Put that eyebrow back down.” – This made me laugh