Quarter past four in the afternoon.

Bai Youwei looked out the window. The sky was a flat, featureless gray — not a trace of cloud. The city lay still and quiet, as if someone had pressed pause.

Her wristband lit up without warning, and then a countdown began —

23:59…

23:58…

23:57…

Just as the inspector had said: once the fourth battle game’s results were tallied, the final battle would begin immediately. Its timer: twenty-four hours.

“Tan Xiao.” Bai Youwei turned and called out.

“Hm?” Tan Xiao, who had been playing a game on his phone, blinked.

“Has Shen Mo said anything about when he’ll be back?” Bai Youwei asked.

Tan Xiao looked blank and shook his head. “Uh… probably soon?”

“Go look for him in the western outskirts.” Bai Youwei said.

“But Mo Ge said I can’t leave you alone.” Tan Xiao put down his phone. “If something happens, someone needs to be here for you.”

“Are Cheng Laoshi and Xiaoxin not people?” Bai Youwei waved her hand with undisguised impatience. “Hurry up and go. If you find him, tell him to come back early.”

“Oh…” Tan Xiao got up and pulled on his coat. At the door, he paused and turned back to ask: “Really don’t need me to stay?”

Bai Youwei rolled her eyes. “What do you think?”

Tan Xiao hesitated. “…Seems like… no.”

Bai Youwei: “Then why are you still standing there?”

Tan Xiao scratched the back of his head and finally headed out.

Bai Youwei watched him leave, then let out a soundless sigh. She looked down at her light-sensing wristband again.

The countdown continued.

She gripped both sides of the wheelchair, pressed her arms down, and forced herself to stand upright. She held it for a brief, strained moment — then could hold no longer, and let go, dropping back down heavily —

Bai Youwei struck her own leg with a hard thud of her fist.

“Damn it. Of all times for this to happen…”

She truly didn’t want to admit it — that she could be this weak. That she couldn’t even overcome this simple psychological problem.

Less than a day left before the final battle. With her body in this state, how would she…how could she…

Bai Youwei closed her eyes. She couldn’t let herself keep thinking about it.

She breathed out slowly, turned her gaze to the sky outside the window, and tried to regulate her emotions — to clear away all the tangled thoughts crowding her mind.

After a long while, her mood finally settled.

Then she tried once more to stand. She focused on staying calm, telling herself over and over: I can do this. I can stand up. I can walk. My legs are fine.

And most importantly…

He loves me. He won’t leave me.

I’m not the same person I used to be.

The moment that thought took hold, a warmth rose through her body, filling her heart — like a small sun had taken up residence there.

Bai Youwei let out a slow breath, reached down and rubbed her knees gently, murmuring to herself: “I can do this, I can do this…”

……

Shen Mo didn’t come back for a long time.

Time passed. Tan Xiao still hadn’t returned either.

Outside, the sky had gone fully dark. Cheng Laoshi’s cooking had gone cold, been reheated once, and somehow gone cold again.

“Youwei… they still haven’t come back?” Cheng Weicai asked.

“Mm. You and Xiaoxin go ahead and eat.” Bai Youwei said uncertainly. “Maybe they got held up on the way. Let me go check.”

“How about you eat first.” Cheng Weicai said. “I’ll go outside and watch for them.”

“No need.” Bai Youwei shook her head. She gripped the sides of her wheelchair and moved toward the door. “You all eat. I’ll go look.”

She had just left the dollhouse when the front door opened and Tan Xiao came in, bundled in his padded coat, his face tight from the cold wind, his hair in disarray.

Bai Youwei glanced at the space behind him and her brow furrowed. “Where’s Shen Mo? He didn’t come back with you?”

Tan Xiao shook his head. “There’s trouble. Mo Ge asked me to come back and let you know — he’ll be back later.”

Bai Youwei’s frown deepened. “What kind of trouble?”

“All the subjects we had lined up — they all backed out.” Tan Xiao picked up a water glass from the table and drained it in one gulp, catching his breath before continuing. “We really are out of luck. Couldn’t recruit anyone in Shanghai, so we came all the way out here, and still can’t recruit anyone!”

—