“2019?”

When Ban Xia heard this year, her first reaction was that someone’s brain had short-circuited.

Either his brain had short-circuited, or her brain had short-circuited, but one of them had short-circuited.

When was 2019?

Ban Xia counted on her fingers – she was 19 years old this year, and in 2019 she hadn’t even been born yet. Back then, there was only one moon in the sky, right? Xuanwu Bay was still just a lake, Purple Mountain was still just a mountain, and this world was still bustling with people coming and going.

It sounded like something from the last century.

Just as dead people can’t be brought back to life, dead cities can’t either. When a great civilization that had existed for ten thousand years is destroyed, it’s like a sandcastle – once it collapses, it can never be restored.

In those years, Ban Xia was too young to understand her teacher’s pain. The teacher would often caress the skeletal remains of steel and concrete buildings by the roadside, asking her, “Can you imagine? We used to have powerful industry – we could build such tall buildings at a speed visible to the naked eye.” She would often start crying while talking about it.

Perhaps people of the old era – and the teacher was from the old era – always had such sentiments.

People always find it hard to let go of the old things that accompanied their growth.

That’s what Ban Xia thought.

But Ban Xia wasn’t a person of the old era. Although she was born at the end of the old era, she grew up in the post-apocalyptic age. Of that glorious city, Ban Xia had only vague memories. The corpse of human civilization was what she was accustomed to – this six-thousand-square-kilometer corpse lying quietly on the earth, turning into pale bones over the long years.

Nanjing was slowly sinking into the ground, gradually returning to nature’s embrace. On a larger time scale, the hard earth was soft and flowing, covering and wrapping the uninhabited Nanjing, pulling it bit by bit underground. If someone could fast-forward time tenfold, they could see with their naked eyes the process of the city being swallowed. The teacher once said that some ancient cities had layers upon layers underground, city upon city, with new cities built on top of old ones.

If you had a long blade and cut them vertically, you would see these shale-like fossils of civilization.

The Earth was faithfully recording history.

A thousand years later, Nanjing would be completely buried – not just Nanjing, but all cities in this world would be buried. By then, Earth would return to how it was before humans ever came, with animals running and jumping in grasslands and forests, never knowing that dozens of meters beneath their feet slept in a once-glorious city.

The teacher cried about this, probably grieving that from now until the end of the universe, no one would remember humanity’s existence.

What desolation that would be.

“In 2040, I’m the only person left in the whole world.”

These words startled Bai Yang.

Even if it was nonsense, it was frightening enough.

This year was 2019, only twenty years from 2040. In twenty years, only one person would be left in the whole world?

He was just eighteen years old, and given the normal life expectancy in the 21st century, he would have no problem living another twenty years. The same went for his parents, Young Master He, Brother Yan, the teachers, and classmates at school – living another twenty years shouldn’t be a problem for any of them. So where were they? Where had everyone gone?

Even the greatest natural disaster, even a nuclear war, couldn’t possibly wipe out all of humanity in just twenty years, right?

“BG4MSR, this is BG4MXH, let’s stop the jokes here, you don’t need to make up more stories. I don’t blame you for not showing up last time… or maybe you did show up, but we didn’t meet, I don’t know what went wrong, and I don’t want to pursue it anymore. I need to rest now, have a good dream tonight, 73, OVER.”

Hearing that he wanted to end the conversation, the girl immediately became anxious.

“BG4MXH! BG4MXH! This is BG4MSR, I can prove I’m in 2040! I can prove I’m in 2040! Don’t leave yet! OVER!”

The channel was silent for a long while, and when Bai Yang’s voice sounded again, Ban Xia finally felt relieved.

“BG4MSR, what did you just say? You can prove you’re in 2040? OVER.”

“BG4MXH, yes, yes, yes, I can prove it to you! OVER.”

“BG4MSR, then how will you prove it? OVER.”

Bai Yang was curious too. Hearing her say this, he wasn’t in such a hurry to go to sleep anymore. Could she tell him the lottery-winning numbers or college entrance exam answers?

Such obvious nonsense, and she could provide proof?

Maxwell and Einstein would both have to climb out of their graves in anger.

“BG4MXH, I’ll go find proof right now! Please wait for me a moment, you must wait for me! OVER.”

Ban Xia put down the microphone, took off her headphones, sat in her chair, and looked around, her gaze sweeping across the desk, the bookshelf, and all the furnishings in the room.

She got up and ransacked the room, scratching her head in anxiety.

What could prove what she was saying?

What could prove she was living in 2040?

Ban Xia suddenly realized she was helpless. Every stone and grain of dust in this world was undoubtedly in 2040, but Ban Xia couldn’t prove this to the person on the other end of the radio waves. She had no physical evidence, no witness testimony and the radio didn’t have a camera or display – it couldn’t transmit images, couldn’t even send a photo.

How could she make him believe her?

Even an old newspaper from over a decade ago would do, but she didn’t even have that.

What should she do?

What should she do? What to do, what to do, what to do, what to do, what to do?

Ban Xia sat back in her chair, put on her headphones, and Bai Yang was already speaking:

“BG4MSR, this is BG4MXH, have you found any evidence? OVER.”

“BG4MXH, this is BG4MSR, I… I…”

Ban Xia held the microphone for a long time, not knowing what to say.

She released the mic, and Bai Yang’s voice came through the headphones.

“BG4MSR, you can’t find any evidence, right? OVER.”

Bai Yang thought to himself, why go to such lengths? Why insist on being in 2040? For a lie that couldn’t even fool a three-year-old, why still try to find evidence?

This girl’s behavior and thinking were quite strange, and somewhat frightening when you thought about it.

Could she have some mental issues?

Hysteria?

Imagining herself living in a future where all of humanity was extinct?

Bai Yang knew there was a group called survivalists – they firmly believed the world would eventually face a great catastrophe, so to prepare for major disasters or the end of the world, they liked to stockpile large amounts of food and equipment at home for emergencies. They were extreme hoarders and shelter enthusiasts. Could this girl be a deeply obsessed doomsday survivalist? Living in daily fantasies of being in the post-apocalyptic world?

If so, she really should see a doctor.

Bai Yang thought his luck wasn’t very good – he finally managed to connect with someone else, but the person wasn’t quite normal. Next time he’d have to try a different channel.

He wouldn’t come to 14255 anymore.

“BG4MSR, this is BG4MXH, I’m going offline now, 73, OVER.”

“I’ll find evidence tomorrow!”

“BG4MSR, what did you say? You can find evidence tomorrow? OVER.”

“Yes, I’ll find evidence for you tomorrow, evidence that can prove what I’m saying is true, so… please, I beg you, will you come online again tomorrow night? Wait for me on this channel?”