After they returned to the headquarters building, news of Fu Miaoxue’s rescue spread like wildfire.

When Du Lai had gone about recruiting people to save her, he had made enough noise that the whole city had heard about it. Now that Fu Miaoxue was back, even without any formal announcement, everyone knew it was thanks to Bai Youwei.

Her reputation had grown even further.

Everyone felt that Bai Youwei was certain to make it into the deciding tournament, because the number of remaining kings was now very few.

Bai Youwei occasionally overheard people talking excitedly about her affairs.

She found the phenomenon rather interesting—as though the doomsday crisis had already receded into the past, as though all the pressure had ceased to exist. Or perhaps it could be understood another way: all the pressure had come to rest entirely on her shoulders, while everyone else simply needed to go on living their lives as usual.

That was probably the one flaw of the base. Chu Huaijin had worked hard to build a place that made people feel settled and secure—and that sense of security, in turn, could lead people to grow complacent and let their guard down.

As for Bai Youwei herself, she didn’t feel any pressure.

She only felt excitement.

…

That night, she had a dream.

In the dream, she returned to her old home and was back in her wheelchair.

She wanted to stand up, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t rise. While she was struggling with the wheelchair, she heard the sound of an argument coming from outside.

She wheeled herself toward it, opened the door—the afternoon light poured in through the sitting room’s floor-to-ceiling windows, so bright it made her squint.

She narrowed her eyes and looked ahead. In the backlit glare, two silhouettes stood locked in furious argument. By the voices, they were her parents—yet no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t make out their faces.

“Can’t you think of this family even a little?!” The man stood with his hands on his hips in front of the woman, his indignation plain. “Is my request unreasonable? With Weiwei the way she is now, shouldn’t you, as her mother, be at her side?!”

The woman sat on the sofa, her voice cold, spine ramrod straight: “I am her mother—so what are you? Aren’t you her father? You came home three times in total last month. What gives you the right to lecture me?!”

“What am I supposed to do about that?! My work is just like that, you know perfectly well—!”

“You have no choice, but I do? Why is it always me who has to be the one to stay home with the child? Why can’t it be you? Your work is important—does that mean mine isn’t?!”

“Is your work entertaining various men?!”

“You bastard!” The woman erupted in fury. “I’d love to deal with only women! But men are the majority in the workplace! Don’t you dare use that to throw mud at me!”

“Fine, fine… let’s not argue about that. You always have an excuse for everything.” The man drew a deep breath and reined in his temper. “Today we’re only talking about the child. What exactly are your plans?”

The woman: “What plans?”

The man: “Your company—when are you going to step back from it? If you ask me, that company of yours can’t hold on much longer anyway. You’d be better off selling it.”

The woman went silent.

The man pressed again: “With the child in the state she’s in—what are you thinking?! Is a crumbling little company worth throwing away your family for?!”

“I haven’t done that.” The woman’s voice was calm to the point of coldness. “I’ve been doing my best to come home earlier, but asking me to give up the company entirely—I can’t do that. I’ve put so many years into building it, and it’s only just starting to turn around. I won’t give it up.”

“Then what about the child?” the man blurted.

“There’s a housekeeper.” The woman replied. “What—would you have me do nothing, and spend every day sitting by her side? Do you really think that would make her legs get better?”

“What kind of heart do you have in your chest?! The child ended up like this, and you can’t make even a small sacrifice?!”

“Why does it always have to be me making the sacrifice? Why can’t you quit your job and come home to be with her?”

“Without my income, how do we survive?!!”

“So now you want to make this about money?…”

Another round of argument began.

Bai Youwei wanted to scream: *Stop fighting! I don’t want to look at either of you! Both of you, get out of my sight!*

She wheeled herself toward them, wanting to stop the two of them, but somehow her body lost its balance and she lurched sharply forward and fell!

Bai Youwei jolted awake.

—