HLM – Chapter 2 Old Wang Has Gone Mad

After a refreshing night’s sleep, Wang Bo got up with the alarm, washed up, and headed out to work, beginning another day of toil.

At the entrance of the apartment complex, he once again ran into Brother Liu and his son. In the mornings, Brother Liu didn’t sell roasted sweet potatoes—he switched to selling vegetables. When he saw Wang Bo, he greeted him warmly again, “Off to work, Xiao Wang? Don’t want to buy something? Come take a look—Brother Liu’s got everything here!”

Wang Bo smiled bitterly. “Brother, I’m a programmer, not a chef. What would I buy vegetables for on the way to work?”

Brother Liu raised a fresh, green cucumber and said, “I’ve got more than just vegetables—fruits too. Look at this cucumber, so green and lively. Buy a couple! You stare at a computer all day. Eating cucumbers helps replenish vitamins—it’s good for you.”

Wang Bo thought about it and agreed. Winter fruits were expensive, and he was too stingy to buy them anyway. So cucumbers would have to do. He picked out four small ones, and just as he paid, Brother Liu’s son looked at him and said, pretending to be innocent, “Uncle Wang, I’ve learned a few more lines of ancient poetry. Want to hear them?”

Wang Bo playfully pinched the kid’s cheek and leaned in close, whispering, “First of all, let your big brother correct you—last night you misquoted that poem. It’s a famous line from Yuefu Poems · Long Song Walk: ‘If you don’t work hard while young, you’ll end up doing hard labor when grown.’ Also, I’ve got to head to work now, so no time to listen to poetry. But you can recite it to your dad—he’ll praise you for learning a new poem. Might even give you a reward!”

With that, he grabbed the cucumbers and swiftly made his escape.

Not long after, Brother Liu’s loud voice shouted from behind, “Hey you little rascal! Who taught you that messed-up poem? You dare mock your own father? I’ll beat your butt till it blooms!”

“Ahhh! Ahhh!” the brat replied in an even louder voice.

Armed with cucumbers, Wang Bo squeezed onto the subway and fought his way to the company. He had just clocked in when a woman’s voice rang out behind him: “Xiao Wang, are those cucumbers your breakfast? There are rules here—no eating during work hours. Did you forget?”

Wang Bo flinched instinctively. That voice—he knew it all too well. It was his direct supervisor speaking.

Turning around, sure enough, it was that woman—his infamously temperamental boss. Her real name was Huang Lianxiang, which sounded elegant and refined. But due to her menopausal mood swings, constant scolding, and her sallow complexion, the staff secretly nicknamed her “Yellow-Faced Woman.”

Seeing that she had spotted his cucumbers, Wang Bo quickly picked the nicest one and offered it up politely. “Boss, would you like one? I brought an extra.”

The Yellow-Faced Woman gave a cold shake of the head. “Forget it. How can anyone eat during work hours? Besides, I don’t like cucumbers.”

Wang Bo blurted out instinctively, “Got it, Boss. I’ll make sure to eat them after work. But are you sure you don’t want any? Cucumbers are great—you don’t have to eat them, you could use them…”

Several colleagues nearby who were waiting to clock in burst into laughter.

The Yellow-Faced Woman’s face turned even yellower. She glared fiercely at Wang Bo and gritted her teeth: “Xiao Wang, what do you mean by that?”

Cold sweat trickled down Wang Bo’s back. He stammered, “Boss, you misunderstood me! I meant cucumbers can be sliced and used as a facial mask—for skincare! I didn’t mean anything else…”

“Then what did you mean?” the Yellow-Faced Woman snapped, her expression downright ferocious.

Wang Bo dared not say another word. He lowered his head and gave an awkward smile, hoping silence would survive the incoming volcanic eruption.

But then, a sudden chill hit his heart—he remembered the test device he had brought home last night. In the rush to get to work, he had completely forgotten to bring it back!

Now he was really screwed. Wang Bo panicked. He thought to himself: The Yellow-Faced Woman is already furious—if she finds out I didn’t bring back her test machine, she’ll completely lose it! And what about that game, Lord’s Heart? He didn’t even know if it was still stuck—

Just as the thought crossed his mind, an unbelievable scene unfolded before his eyes:

A green, heart-shaped 3D crystal sculpture the size of a basketball suddenly popped out of his body! The heart-shaped sculpture quickly began to change—its color shifted from green to white, and it started expanding in all directions. The surface rippled and shifted until it transformed into a translucent crystal sandbox about one square meter in size.

The sandbox was rectangular, and within it were hills, rivers, flowers, trees, birds, beasts, insects, fish, and even a tiny castle no bigger than a sesame seed. Everything was made of sparkling, translucent crystal. It looked vivid and lifelike, almost indistinguishable from reality…

Wang Bo’s eyes widened in shock at the incredible sight. He completely ignored the Yellow-Faced Woman still berating him and pointed at the crystal sandbox in horror, shouting, “What the hell?! What the hell?! What the hell is this?! Everyone, look! What is this thing?!”

The employees nearby, who had been watching for drama, turned to look in the direction he was pointing. Then, their expressions turned just as horrified—but for a different reason. They realized that Old Wang was pointing right at the Yellow-Faced Woman’s plump, barrel-like waist…

“What the hell, has Old Wang lost it?”

“Shit, this guy’s done for. Is he mocking the boss’s thick waist?”

“Truly a real man… but damn, what a tragic way to die!”

The employees whispered and gossiped, trying to keep their voices down, but with so many people talking, their words still reached Wang Bo and the Yellow-Faced Woman.

The Yellow-Faced Woman was about to explode. Face twisted in rage, she screamed at him, “Xiao Wang, do you want to get fired?!”

Wang Bo didn’t respond to her at all. Still stunned, he kept pointing at the crystal sandbox in front of him and shouted to his colleagues, “No! I’m serious—look at this thing! What the hell is it? You guys don’t see it? This—this—this thing right in front of me, you seriously can’t see it?!”

Someone dared to joke, “We see it. What’s in front of you is Manager Huang, isn’t it? She’s your boss. How could you be pointing and calling her a ‘thing’ or ‘that’?”

Wang Bo stared at them in fear. From the expressions on their faces, he saw only pity and ridicule—no one looked shocked or surprised. Quickly, he rubbed his eyes hard and opened them again. The crystal sandbox was still floating there in front of him… and so was his boss, now with a terrifyingly contorted expression.

But at this point, Wang Bo had no time to worry about her. Cold sweat broke out all over his face and back. He looked at his colleagues in disbelief and asked anxiously, “You really can’t see it? Impossible! It’s floating right here—how can you not see it?!”

The employees stopped laughing. From Wang Bo’s expression, they could tell he wasn’t joking, faking it, or mocking the boss—he had genuinely seen something terrifying. His face and eyes radiated complete seriousness.

But there was clearly nothing there.

Someone muttered nervously, “Crap… could Old Wang have lost his mind?”

Another said urgently, “That’s totally possible. Didn’t someone recently die from overwork? Maybe Old Wang’s having a breakdown from all the stress. He’s been working overtime non-stop. Wasn’t he the last one to leave the office last night…?”

A wave of uneasy chatter broke out among the staff. Hearing their words, even the Yellow-Faced Woman began to panic. Forgetting to clock in, she grabbed her handbag and hurried into the office, slamming the door behind her.

Wang Bo knew he wasn’t mentally ill. But what the hell was this exquisite green crystal sandbox in front of him? Was it a hallucination? How did it appear? And how could he make it go away?

Just as he had that thought—make the sandbox disappear—the white crystal terrain rippled again. This time, it reversed its transformation completely: the sandbox shrank, its colors changed, and it turned back into a green, heart-shaped crystal sculpture, which then shot straight into his chest!