The visitor leaned forward, elbows rested on the knees, and the whole body assumed a hunched, crawling posture.
His neck strained forcefully, fists clenched and relaxed, clenched and relaxed three times.
Then he took a deep breath and slowly said, "I remember that night, around nine o'clock, my phone suddenly rang. It was a video call from a buddy I served in the military with."
"We served in the same year and retired together. We had a fairly good relationship. When the video call connected, and I saw his face, something felt off."
"Ahem..." At this point, the visitor cleared his throat, and simultaneously, his expression and body language started showing signs of intense discomfort.
Nan Zhubin carefully observed, contemplating whether to let the visitor continue recalling or to intervene in time.
The visitor continued, "He first exchanged a few pleasantries with me, asked how I've been doing since retiring. Then... he began to cry."
