The floodwater had swallowed the entire first floor — even the ceiling was submerged.

Standing on the second floor, all one could see was a rectangular expanse of water at the base of the staircase.

Yan Qingwen crouched at the water’s edge gripping the rope. The others stood nearby, all eyes fixed on that rectangle of water.

Shen Mo had been under for a full minute. Aside from gently rocking ripples, the water’s surface gave nothing away.

Bai Youwei was burning with anxiety.

She wanted to pull the rope — but feared it would interfere with his movements underwater. Yet without pulling, with nothing but this expanse of dark, still water to go by, there was no way to judge whether he was safe.

Her eyes were unblinking on the water’s surface. Her lower lip was caught between her teeth. Her eyes kept darting to the rope in Yan Qingwen’s hand, willing it to show some sign of life.

But there was nothing.

Nothing happened.

As if sensing Bai Youwei’s burning tension, Yan Qingwen turned to look at her and said, “An ordinary person can hold their breath underwater for about one minute. Someone with professional training can reach around three minutes.”

What he was implying was that Shen Mo was almost certainly the professionally trained kind.

Bai Youwei said nothing in response and kept her eyes on the water, counting the seconds in her head.

The seconds ticked by, feeling like an eternity.

By the three-minute mark, she could wait no longer. She looked at Tan Xiao and said, “Go check on him.”

Tan Xiao, hearing this, began pulling off his shoes and clothing.

Yan Qingwen opened his mouth to stop him — he felt the timing was wrong. If there was real danger underwater, sending another person down would only add to the casualties.

But then he thought: if the person underwater were Lu Ang or Li Li, he would dive in even knowing there was danger.

He thought for a moment and said, “Let me pull on the rope first. If there’s no response, there will still be time to go down.”

Bai Youwei frowned and gave a brief nod.

Yan Qingwen reeled in the rope — one pull, two, three… On the fourth pull, the rope went taut. Completely still.

“What happened?” Bai Youwei asked, her voice tense.

Yan Qingwen’s face fell as he shook his head. “The rope is caught on something. If it’s caught, even if he’s pulling on it from below, we wouldn’t be able to feel it.”

The color drained instantly from Bai Youwei’s face. Her expression was so stricken it was hard to look at.

Tan Xiao cried out in alarm: “Then what are we waiting for? Get a rope tied on me and let me go down!”

Su Man paced frantically back and forth in the corridor, her whole mind in turmoil. “…There’s no more rope — the one tied to your guy is the only one we had!”

“Can we use bed sheets?” Zhu Shu suggested. “We do it like that in scripts all the time — tear bed sheets into strips and tie them together…”

Teacher Cheng said quickly, “Yes, yes — bed sheets, duvet covers, curtains, all of it will work. If you’re worried about the strength, just tie multiple knots!”

Yan Qingwen nodded. “No time to waste — go get the bed sheets now. Take all of them. Pull the curtains down too. I’m going in the water as well.”

Tan Xiao and Teacher Cheng and Pan Xiaoxin headed for the bedroom, calling to Bai Youwei as they went: “Youwei! Don’t worry — I’ll definitely bring Mo Ge back!”

Bai Youwei sat at the attic doorway, not saying a word. Her lips were pressed white together; her face was the color of snow.

Anyone could see that her emotions were on the verge of collapse.

Yan Qingwen wanted to say something to comfort her but found himself helpless. Right now nearly five minutes had passed — even a professional diver couldn’t stay underwater for five minutes without any equipment!

The odds were very high that something had happened to Shen Mo.

They were barely acquaintances. Yan Qingwen couldn’t say he felt deep grief or heartache over it — only the cold unease of knowing that the same could happen to any of them. What pressed on him more urgently now was: if they couldn’t go underwater either, how would they ever send summer’s visitor away?

On the other side, Tan Xiao and Teacher Cheng came back carrying armloads of bed sheets and duvet covers. Everyone was working in a frantic scramble, tearing the fabric into strips. Su Man and Zhu Shu were helping too.

The water’s surface suddenly erupted with a splash.

After a full five minutes, Shen Mo came out of the water.

—