“Lin Xiaoqiang! You’re late with the rent again this month! If you don’t pay up soon, you can pack your stuff and move under the overpass to join a class reunion with the homeless!”
A shrill soprano voice pierced through Lin Xiaoqiang’s flimsy wooden apartment door like an ultrasonic weapon, shaking his freshly made cup of cheap instant noodles so much that the broth rippled three times. With a resentful slurp, Lin took a sip of the remaining soup, savoring the faint, lingering saltiness that barely clung to his tongue. This was already the third day he had diluted the same packet of instant noodle broth with water. To save money, he had even picked out every last piece of dried vegetable debris from the packet to eat.
“Mrs. Cui, please! Just give me a few more days! This month… this month…” Lin shouted toward the door, his brain spinning as he tried to come up with an excuse that sounded even remotely plausible.
Suddenly, a commotion broke out next door, mixed with a man’s coarse shouting and Mrs. Cui’s voice rising even higher in fury.
“Wang Meili next door! What the hell are you doing again?! It was bad enough when you dyed my potted plants pink last time, but now you’re trying to turn my front door into macho pink?!”
Lin froze for a moment, thinking, “Macho pink? What kind of color is that?”
While he was still pondering, the argument next door abruptly escalated. A sharp scream was followed by the sound of shattering glass. Lin’s corporate-drone radar kicked in instantly—gossip alert! As the impoverished president of the community college Paranormal Research Club, his life sorely lacked excitement. Any unusual noise was more than enough to make him peek.
He cautiously opened his door just a crack and saw, standing in the hallway, a hot and curvaceous woman—his neighbor, Wang Meili. In front of her, the once-fierce debt collector now looked like an overturned strawberry ice cream cone, completely drenched in a shocking shade of pink from head to toe! Even the aluminum bat he had been waving around had turned into a bizarre, glowing neon pink.
The thug’s fierce expression had frozen stiff, replaced by an indescribable mix of shame and confusion. He opened his mouth, as if trying to say something, but all that came out was a garbled mumble, sounding something like, “My… my limited-edition Gucci bat…”
Wang Meili flicked her hand with a look of annoyance on her face. “So noisy! Disturbing people’s sleep—getting dyed pink is exactly what you deserve. You were starting to look like a disgusting cockroach anyway.” With that, she gave the thug’s shin a disdainful little kick.
The thug appeared deeply humiliated. Covering his pink face, he staggered away in defeat, his retreating figure looking absurd beyond words.
Lin Xiaoqiang stood there dumbfounded, his mouth agape wide enough to swallow a whole egg. He had known Wang Meili for a while and only thought she was a part-time model who occasionally made weird noises. Never had he imagined that this glamorous neighbor of his possessed such… a peculiar superpower!
While Lin was still processing the surreal scene, Wang Meili turned her head and locked eyes with his curiosity-filled gaze.
“What are you staring at? Never seen pink justice before?” Wang Meili folded her arms, her tone slightly annoyed, though her cheeks flushed faintly.
Lin quickly waved his hands, flashing a bootlicking grin. “No, no! I was just thinking… uh… your superpower is really… one of a kind!”
“Hmph!” Wang Meili snorted, clearly unimpressed with the compliment. “Still better than someone who can only hear a cat complaining about his single life.”
Lin’s smile froze instantly, as if struck by lightning. He stared in disbelief at the fat orange tabby cat lounging lazily on the balcony next door, grooming itself.
The cat, sensing his gaze, lifted its head and cast a scornful glance at him. Then, a crystal-clear voice echoed in his mind:
“What are you staring at, you hopeless single dog? Can’t even earn enough to buy me a canned treat, you useless human!”
Lin felt as though he’d taken an arrow to the knee—no, straight through the heart. He silently closed the door and decided he’d better just stick to his noodle broth for today.
The world, it seemed, was full of malice—especially for a superpower user as utterly useless as him.
45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP2FsO5w6rN
Superpower User’s Manual:
“Can hear the inner voices of animals within a 10-meter radius.”
Useful for:45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ761hkcGAv4
✓ Avoiding stepping on dog poop (provided the dog warns you)45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaY5ZUudOVy
✓ Pretending to be an animal whisperer to impress friends
Not useful for:45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpVnHwOibCP
✗ Understanding your girlfriend’s thoughts (wrong species, communication impossible)45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuPWTLdtvm0
✗ Losing sleep at night due to complaining cats
