Tao Xiu felt like his world was falling apart. Right before work, his door broke.

He opened it thrice in a row, and it led to the same unfamiliar room each time.

It was dark and quiet, as if the curtains were drawn and the lights were off.

The owner must still be asleep or already at work.

Tao Xiu could only make out a small patch of luxurious indigo carpet under his feet.

A rich, strange, cold scent wafted over, making him dizzy.

But that wasn’t important. What was important was that he was going to be late!

This was the first time he’d ever been late for work!

He couldn’t bother trying to fix the door right now.

Tao Xiu twitched his lips, slammed them shut with a smack, and rushed out of his apartment in a panic, only to experience a morning rush hour even worse than the evening one.

When he arrived at the botanical garden, a group of guests was already waiting.

Tao Xiu quickly opened the garden doors and then started all the machines.

Once everything was done, he set the automatic ticket machine’s price to half off, 2.5 yuan instead of 5, as compensation to the guests for being late to open.

After the guests finally started entering, Tao Xiu was about to breathe a sigh of relief when his phone buzzed. It was a call from the Xiaguang Road Police Station.

He quickly answered, and the police officer who’d taken his statement yesterday’s voice sounded somewhat grave: “Mr. Tao, about the person who was following you yesterday, do you have any more information?”

Tao Xiu paused, then answered truthfully, “No, I don’t. I don’t know him at all.”

The officer continued, “We looked into him. That guy has a criminal record; he was documented a few years ago for breaking and entering, then he just vanished without a trace.”

“For some reason, he’s talking crazily now. But, judging from his confession, it’s highly likely he has accomplices. Mr. Tao, we’ll continue investigating, but you should also be careful lately. Contact us anytime if you have any issues.”

Tao Xiu frowned slightly, his delicate brows furrowing, and he said earnestly, “Thank you, I understand.”

After hanging up, Tao Xiu rested his chin on his hand, staring blankly at his computer.

He simply couldn’t figure it out.

Encountering a stalker was normal, but he didn’t understand how an ordinary, law-abiding citizen like himself could attract a whole group.

It seemed that besides hiring botanical conservators, he’d temporarily need to hire a security guard.

It wouldn’t be good if this started affecting his guests.

So, Tao Xiu typed up a second job posting on his computer, clicked “publish” on the recruitment platform, then changed into his work uniform, put on rubber gloves, and headed to the plant area with his toolbox.

Today, the botanical garden is still operating normally.

The white roses in the central area continued to sway with unusual allure under the sun.

If anything was slightly out of place, it was again seeing the young man from yesterday.

However, today he didn’t approach him or even tour the garden.

He just sat hunched in a corner, hugging his knees, occasionally glancing in Tao Xiu’s direction.

Despite the police’s recent warning, Tao Xiu didn’t sense any malice, so he didn’t wildly speculate about his guest. After all, his botanical garden had plenty of repeat customers, and everyone had their way of relaxing.

Soon, it was time to go home.

Tao Xiu, preoccupied with the door, unusually took a taxi back to his apartment.

As soon as he entered, kicked off his shoes, and shed his coat, he grabbed his toolbox and stood in front of the utility room door.

After tinkering and rattling for a while, he silently tried chanting the name of a flower shop, then deftly pushed the door open.

Tao Xiu: “.”

It was still that unfamiliar, dark room.

The area illuminated by his light was still that small patch of indigo carpet.

Ah, this door was indeed completely broken and couldn’t be fixed for now.

Suddenly, a cheerful, hurried pattering sound came from the deep darkness.

The pattering quickly grew closer, as if something was running towards him.

Tao Xiu quickly slammed the door shut with a bang.

Although this door was one-way, if someone was on the other side, their perspective would be: a door appearing out of thin air, a person emerging from it, and then the door vanishing into thin air again.

He always chose the destination carefully to avoid being seen and causing a commotion.

He just hoped the person on the other side hadn’t seen him.

Tao Xiu sighed softly, deciding to eat dinner first.

Just as he turned, he involuntarily stopped, his eyes wide.

“Bang—bang, bang”

Someone was knocking on the door from the other side!

Tao Xiu blinked blankly: So, the one-way door had become two-way because it was broken?

The person on the other side could see…

He felt a dull ache in his temples: A door appeared out of nowhere in the room—the person on the other side must have been terrified, right?

He couldn’t fix the door right now, and it wouldn’t be unreasonable for the person on the other side to demand compensation.

After a long moment, Tao Xiu pinched his brow, beginning to think of a suitable excuse.

He took a deep breath and reopened the door: “Um, sorry, I don’t know what’s wrong with this door. It just opens right into your place. Since I’ve lost a utility room too, could we maybe not call the police first and sit down to talk? I’ll try my best to meet any compensation demands you have—”

“Arf!”

With a thump, a huge, fluffy, red-eyed Samoyed, the size of a person, burst out of the door and enthusiastically knocked him over.

Tao Xiu fell backward onto the ground, seeing stars.

When he came to his senses, he found a giant white dog head warmly burrowing into the side of his neck, purring contentedly, shamelessly endearing itself.

It seemed very concerned about the young man seeing its teeth and tongue, so its long snout was tightly closed, and it only gently rubbed its warm nose against the young man’s cheek.

Tao Xiu: “???”

He knew he was unusually popular with small animals, but a random dog liking him this much was a bit exaggerated!

Tao Xiu laboriously pushed the big dog away, rubbing the back of his head as he sat up cross-legged.

He twitched his lips and looked at the big dog: “So you were the one knocking? Where’s your owner?”

He couldn’t exactly negotiate compensation with a dog.

The big dog sat on the ground and tilted its head.

Its unusual red eyes sparkled, and its giant white tail wagged obediently and rapidly against the floor—it looked like it was begging for food.

Tao Xiu walked around it and peered into the room: It was still pitch black and eerily silent. The dog’s owner probably hadn’t returned from work yet, and it seemed a bit hungry.

Tao Xiu looked helplessly at the dog: “Even though I don’t have dog food at home, I have things you can eat. Wait here, I’ll go prepare it.”

He still had some beef and broccoli at home. Raw meat usually has parasites, so it would be better to steam it before feeding it to a pet.

The dog’s red eyes instantly lit up. It happily rolled on the ground once, then obediently sat back down.

Tao Xiu couldn’t help but smile. He got up, casually closed the door, and walked towards the kitchen.

Half an hour later, he left the kitchen carrying a ten-inch plate filled with steamed and cooled beef and broccoli.

He went to the utility room, reopened the door, and carefully placed the plate on the other side.

He even laid his tablecloth underneath to prevent the dog from getting the carpet dirty while eating.

Somehow, as he reached his arm in, he felt the temperature in that room was much lower than in his own home.

The dog squatted in place, tilting its head, curiously watching Tao Xiu’s actions.

Once everything was set, Tao Xiu’s eyes curved, and he ruffled the dog’s head: “Good boy, go eat.”

Only then did the dog happily leap into the room in an arc, and Tao Xiu closed the door.

Still not home so late, the room’s owner was likely a workaholic who had to work overtime.

To be so busy and still take such good care of such a big dog, they must be a very kind person.

He decided to try his best to meet the other party’s request for compensation during negotiations.

Having made this decision, Tao Xiu turned again towards the kitchen—besides what he gave the dog, he still had a steak left.

He could fry it for his own dinner.

…

Meanwhile, behind the utility room door.

There was only a pair of scarlet dog eyes in the bottomless darkness.

Seeing that the young man had closed the door, it finally opened its horrifying, monstrous fangs and let out an “Awooo!” inside.

A short while later, two more pairs of equally scarlet eyes shot out of the darkness and crouched in front of the plate.

But they and the Samoyed froze: Was this food not quite right? It wasn’t like yesterday’s!

They all looked at the Samoyed.

Samoyed: “Awooo~”

It didn’t know either!

Did good food need to be exchanged for something?

They did help clean up yesterday…

But that room was very clean now, what should they exchange it with?

Samoyed: “Awooo~”

Wait, did that handsome and kind young man say he wanted to meet their “owner”?

Three pairs of scarlet eyes simultaneously looked in one direction in the darkness.

…

After dinner, Tao Xiu, as usual, watched his drama, then washed up and went to bed.

His bedroom was comfortably furnished, with a small south-facing balcony.

The balcony had a sofa and a small tea table, adorned with various cute succulents.

Inside, the floors were entirely covered with soft carpets, and all his furniture was carefully chosen – each piece quite expensive and incredibly comfortable.

Before sleeping, Tao Xiu leaned against the pillows on his bed and scrolled on his phone for a while.

In between chatting with his friend, he, with a “nothing to lose” attitude, searched for keywords related to fixing doors.

Not much useful information came up, but he did see a blogger share that after their furniture broke and they just left it, it suddenly started working again after some time.

Tao Xiu thought to himself, if only his door could be like that too.

As he scrolled, he started feeling sleepy—he seemed to be getting tired easily lately.

His friend’s message came through again. They had planned to meet at a bar this weekend, and his friend asked if Saturday worked for him.

Tao Xiu yawned and replied, “Okay.”

Then, his friend, for perhaps the umpteenth time, tried to set him up with his junior colleagues: “Tao, you wouldn’t believe it, ever since you visited me at the hospital once, a bunch of guys and girls, both in and out of my department, have been asking about you. Of course, I know you don’t like any of them, but seriously, wouldn’t you consider dating someone you don’t dislike?”

“It’s so lonely drifting by yourself.”

Tao Xiu smiled and swiftly typed: “No thanks. I’m fine. Good night.”

He truly was fine. He already had countless connections to this world and was quite content.

For an ordinary person like him, dating is a challenge. He needs to work hard and establish a career before he is qualified to date and give his partner a better life!

So, he absolutely couldn’t be late tomorrow again!

Thinking this, Tao Xiu promptly returned his phone to the bedside table, turned off the light, and closed his eyes.

…

In a silent, deep night.

The utility room door quietly opened from the inside.

A Samoyed, with a horrifying, gaping maw, happily trotted out, carrying a thick, dark blue tentacle in its mouth…