I, an Electrician, Actually Became a Savior

Zhang Shuai, a twenty-five-year-old overweight electrician from a rural background, possessed a fake license and worked through low‑paid jobs arranged by his friend Wang Qiang. He was electrocuted while installing live wiring at He Qing’s barbecue restaurant because she refused to turn off the power. The shock left him in a state of false death: fully conscious but unable to move or speak. In the emergency room, doctors found no vital signs and prepared a death certificate. Director Chen insisted on another defibrillator attempt, and the shocks gave Zhang Shuai an intoxicating pleasure. After several jolts, his heart restarted and he sat up shouting, “Don’t stop, I want more!” The medical team was stunned. He thanked Director Chen and promised to treat him to a meal.

In the ward, He Qing and Wang Qiang discussed compensation. Wang Qiang demanded twenty thousand yuan for lost work, trauma, and nutrition. He Qing called the electricians incompetent, gave five thousand yuan, and left. Zhang Shuai kept one thousand and gave the rest to Wang Qiang to reduce his debt. Later, a nurse checked his vitals; her gaze lingered on his crotch. After she left, Zhang Shuai overheard the nurses’ station. They laughed about his erection during defibrillation and his demand for more shocks, with one nurse saying Dr. Liu had seen how much he had, and another joking about fat men not being big. Humiliated, Zhang Shuai changed into his own clothes and left the hospital unnoticed.

Back in his rented apartment, Zhang Shuai found his physical endurance improved—he could do more push-ups and sit-ups than before. Then an intense hunger struck. He cooked all the egg noodles in the kitchen, but after eating the whole pot, he was hungrier. He went to a hot pot and barbecue buffet restaurant, paying sixty-nine yuan for unlimited food. He piled his table with over a hundred meat skewers, fried rice noodles, grilled meat, hot pot ingredients, and drinks, finishing everything in minutes. Still unsatisfied, he took another portion of two hundred skewers and more dishes. The waitress Huang Dan, astonished by the quantity—she collected a dozen empty plates and piles of skewers—estimated he had consumed at least five jin of meat plus dozens of other items, enough for six or seven normal people. Fearing he might collapse from overeating, she reported to manager Yang Wan. Yang Wan, concerned about restaurant liability, prepared to approach him on health grounds.

During the meal, Zhang Shuai realized that no amount of food could satisfy his hunger; everything was digested instantly without providing fullness. He connected this change to the electric shock and also recalled the pleasurable sensation of the defibrillator, now craving electricity. The story ends with Yang Wan walking toward his table. Zhang Shuai, transformed by the accident, faces an uncontrollable appetite and a mysterious connection to electricity, uncertain how to survive with his altered body and his inability to continue as a real electrician.