As the first light of dawn broke, Alex woke up from his dream. Even though he was awake, he didn't want to open his eyes because once he did, it meant he had to face those troublesome matters that gave him a headache.
In recent days, whether in his dreams or in reality, he was constantly confronted by people who would curse and scold him. The words they used were as harsh as they could be, and the insults that went as far as to curse his entire ancestry seemed mild in comparison.
But every time he heard such abuse, Alex would just laugh at himself inwardly. He thought, "I don't even know who my ancestors are. What's the use of you cursing them?"
Moreover, he wasn't the one who had swindled their money. He just happened to work in the same office as that conman. Now, the conman had disappeared, and there were rumors that he had died abroad. Since they couldn't find him, why were they coming after Alex?
If there was any connection between him and those people, it was that every time the conman swindled them, he would say, "My colleague here also knows about this. You can rest assured. We are such a big commercial bank. How could we possibly cheat you out of such a small amount of money?"
But those were the words of a conman! How could they believe a conman? They deserved to be cheated.
The problem was that these words had shifted the blame onto Alex, and in a very malicious way. Just think about it. The two of them were in the same office, wearing the same kind of clothes, carrying the same type of briefcases, and sitting at desks of the same style. They both looked like they were decent people.
Moreover, on the left chest of their clothes and on their briefcases, there was the same logo - G&S Commercial Bank's New York Branch. The logo with a gray background and black letters was very eye-catching and gave people a sense of security.
But did Alex really know what that conman was up to? Hell no!
Most conmen don't let others see through their tricks. Alex's colleague was no different. If someone had seen through his scam, then Alex wouldn't have been in a situation where he couldn't go home and had to hide in a rented room in the urban-rural fringe area, getting himself drunk every night before falling asleep.
But he still had to go to work. He didn't know if those people were still waiting outside the company gate today, ready to vent their anger on him. Among these people, the one Alex was most afraid of was that old lady.
The old lady had silver hair that fluttered in the wind like a wild mess. It was hard to tell if she was an excellent actress or if she was truly enraged. Anyway, every time she saw Alex, she would first point at him with trembling fingers, then gasp for breath as if she couldn't get enough air. Finally, she would grit her teeth and curse him with the word "bastard" before falling straight backward.
At first, Alex was really scared by her. Later, when he saw that there was always a middle-aged man standing behind her who happened to catch her every time, he felt more at ease.
However, Alex was still afraid of these people. The silver-haired old lady was standing up for her son-in-law, and there were also some retired old men and women who had been directly scammed by the conman. So, every time they saw Alex, they would hurl all kinds of spittle, snot, phlegm, and tears at him.
Just thinking about these things made Alex shiver.
But he still had to go to work, sneaking around like a thief.
After cursing that conman colleague in his heart again, Alex slowly opened his eyes.
The moment he opened his eyes, Alex was immediately stunned. Then, he blinked a few times to confirm whether he was really awake or had entered another dream.
After confirming several times, Alex realized that he was awake, not in a dream, but... reborn!
This room was one that Alex had lived in for more than three years, and he had left many memories here, both good and bad. So, he had a very deep impression of it.
Moreover, most importantly, the conman had been Alex's roommate back then, and he had also lived here for more than three years. And at this moment, the conman was sitting on the opposite bed, concentrating on reading a newspaper.
"Tom, Tom Johnson, is that you?"
The man across from him didn't say a word and continued to read the newspaper intently. This made Alex think for a moment that he was still in a dream.
"Tom, Tom! You're still alive?"
The man was still reading the newspaper, but he replied to Alex with a hint of annoyance, "What nonsense are you talking about so early in the morning? Why don't you get up quickly? Something big has happened."
Something big had happened? Could it be that someone had seen through his identity as a conman? No, if he had been reborn, then at this moment, this man wasn't a conman yet, but just a security guard.
"What big thing has happened?"
As Alex spoke, he tried to keep calm, got out of bed, and walked over to the washbasin. He looked at himself in the mirror.
Sure enough, the person in the mirror was dashing and heroic. There were no puffy eyes, no wrinkles, and most excitingly, his hair was back.
This was what he looked like when he was young. The lost time had come back, and Alex felt an inexplicable sense of excitement in his heart.
Using his fingers as a comb, he tidied up his slightly fluffy hair. Then, he looked up at the calendar hanging on the wall and realized that he was back at the age of 22.
As for that conman, the man across from him should be 24 years old at this time.
"They bombed our embassy brazenly and actually claimed it was a mistake. I've seen a lot of shameless people, but I've never seen such blatant shamelessness before," Tom said with a look of indignation.
Oh, it was this matter. Alex had participated in the protest activities back then, so he wasn't surprised.
It was this Tom, though. His behavior at this moment was a bit unexpected. What had his attitude been like back then? Alex couldn't remember it at all.
"The weak always get bullied. That's been the case for thousands of years. Didn't someone once say that the highest realm of martial arts is when you sit there and no one dares to show their teeth at you? So, the nation should strive for self-improvement, and a strong country is the real deal," Alex said.
As he was speaking, Alex noticed that Tom's face looked strange, so he asked him what was wrong.
Tom said angrily, "What's wrong? It seems like you're not even angry at all! This is a bombing of an embassy, and people died! What's with your attitude? Also, what did you just call me? Tom? Do I look that old?"
Alex smiled, picked up a towel, and said, "What's the use of being angry? Are we going to bomb them back? It's better to focus on our work and do our jobs well. Use our work as a spear and then strike them hard later."
Tom was getting anxious and was about to say something when Alex added, "As for calling you Tom, look at yourself. At your age, you already have a pompadour hairstyle. You look very much like a great man. It's not unfair to call you Tom."
Tom touched his head, smoothed his hair back, and then smiled sheepishly.
"What are you smiling for? Don't we have to go to work?"
When he heard this, Tom quickly put down the newspaper, got up, and started to get ready.
By this time, Alex had already finished washing up. He glanced around and then walked straight to the clothes rack and took down his uniform.
While getting dressed, Alex glanced at the newspaper that Tom had placed on the table between their beds. On the front page, there was a shocking headline, "NATO Brazenly Bombs Our Embassy in Yugoslavia."
The Financial Times was a newspaper that Alex and Tom read almost every day. However, the reason they read it was mainly for the stock market information printed in the middle seam of the third and fourth pages.
Tom had gone to the company's reception room early in the morning to get the newspaper. If he went too late, the receptionist would distribute the newspapers to each department.
"Oops, I was so focused on the news in the newspaper that I forgot to buy coffee and bagels."
"Let's buy them on the way and eat them in the car. It's your turn to buy them today, right?"
Tom looked at Alex with a bit of confusion and said, "You were the one who got the newspaper yesterday and bought the sandwiches on the way back. The meat filling wasn't fresh, and we both had diarrhea for a whole day. How could you forget that today?"
Alex smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Come on, let's go. If we're late, there won't be any coffee and bagels left either."