Banxia removed her headphones and turned her head to look around. In the night, her eyes shone like a cat’s.

“Uncle Huang—what are you doing coming to my place in the middle of the night?”

The girl got down from her chair.

“You should be sleeping…”

She suddenly remembered that weasels were nocturnal creatures.

It was natural for it to be awake at night.

Uncle Huang slipped through the door crack and scurried to stop at the girl’s feet. This old yellow weasel had lived many years—it was already there when the teacher moved into Building 11 with Banxia. The teacher had said weasels only lived for about a dozen years at most, and Banxia had known it for seven years already. She didn’t know how much longer it could live. Over these years, Uncle Huang’s fur had lost its luster, and its teeth were no longer sharp. The girl seriously doubted whether it could still catch mice on its own.

At least lately, it kept coming to her for food.

“Uncle Huang!” Banxia crouched down in front of it. The weasel raised its head, its pitch-black little eyes staring straight at the girl like two buttons.

“Want something to eat?” She extended her index finger and poked Uncle Huang’s forehead, making the little creature step back. “Come on, call me daddy! Call me Daddy and I’ll give you food.”

Uncle Huang whimpered and curled its tail pitifully.

Recently, Banxia had been letting Uncle Huang come upstairs to chase away mice, with notable success. Although Uncle Huang was old and frail, hard of hearing, with poor eyesight and a muddled mind, it still maintained the aura of being a natural predator of rodents. This was the deterrent power bestowed by nature—even an old tiger is still a tiger, not a cat.

When it sat there, Shuke and Beta had to walk around it.

Even Zheng Yuanjie would be useless!

Looking at Uncle Huang’s small, moist nose, Banxia thought to herself that they were all mice.

Uncle Huang was also a mouse.

It was a yellow sausage mouse.

But why did mice have to make things difficult for other mice?

“Alright, alright, stop whining, I’ll go get you something to eat.” Banxia scratched Uncle Huang’s fur and got up, walking barefoot into the living room.

Uncle Huang huddled on the floor, motionless.

A few minutes later, the girl returned with food. She placed it in front of Uncle Huang, but the latter showed no interest in the food. Even when Banxia put the jerky right up to its mouth, it remained unmoved. Uncle Huang stayed curled up, inching closer to Banxia’s slippers.

Banxia was a bit surprised.

“Hmm? Not eating? It’s your favorite jerky!”

She poked Uncle Huang’s face with the jerky, once, twice.

Uncle Huang didn’t even glance at the food. It closed its eyes and turned its face away, trembling slightly as it curled up by Banxia’s feet.

What was wrong with it?

The girl gently stroked its ears, moving from ears to spine. The weasel quietly huddled on the floor. Banxia’s fingers parted the thick fur to reach its warm body. Uncle Huang’s body was shivering. The young girl found a louse in its fur, crushed it with her fingernail, then furrowed her brow.

Uncle Huang was afraid. It had come to her not for food, but seeking shelter.

It wasn’t afraid of her.

Banxia raised her head to look at the ceiling, then turned to peer out into the dark window.

So what was it afraid of?

The next day.

Early in the morning, Banxia set out and found the time capsules at the designated location. Surprisingly, she had seen this pile of rusty tin cans before. She couldn’t remember exactly which day she had passed by Crescent Lake and spotted them. The capsules were half-buried in dried mud, and she couldn’t tell what they were at first glance. It wasn’t until today when the girl arrived at the shores of Crescent Lake and dug them out that she realized these were the time capsules.

What was inside the capsules?

Banxia used a small cart to haul all five capsules back, then eagerly opened them.

“Dad! Mom! Got another big discovery today!”

She took out the items one by one.

Gauze.

Bandages.

Syringes.

Tape.

Scissors.

Pliers.

Knives.

An awl.

And a bottle of medical alcohol that had been stored for a full twenty years—a dark brown plastic bottle, unopened and tightly sealed. Banxia picked it up to examine it. The label on the bottle showed: Net content 500ml, concentration 95%, manufacturer Yangzhou 90 Medical Equipment Co., Ltd., production date May 17, 2019, valid for two years.

According to the label, this alcohol had expired, but fortunately, medical alcohol isn’t a complex drug. The reduction in concentration was due to evaporation. Banxia forcefully unscrewed the cap and took a sniff. It had been sealed underground away from light, so the evaporation was very limited.

The girl laid out all the gleaming weapons—knives, spears, swords, halberds, axes, picks, hooks, and forks—the complete eighteen arms of war—on the floor, then stood with her hands on her hips examining them.

Goodness, had someone sent her a complete set of orthopedic surgical instruments?

Were they expecting her to perform brain surgery on herself?

There was also a strange drawing. Banxia picked it up and looked at it more carefully. The picture showed a mustached little man wearing a red hat and blue overalls standing on a tall podium.

And a package of colorless, transparent crystals of unknown nature.

What was this?

White sugar?

Salt?

MSG?

Banxia touched it with her finger and tasted it with her tongue.

“Ptui ptui ptui ptui ptui!”

The girl’s features scrunched up entirely.

Meanwhile.

The trio of Bai Zhen, Wang Ning, and Zhao Bowen had gathered early at Bai Yang’s home. Zhao Bowen had asked for leave from the academy and arrived at four in the afternoon. Wang Ning had asked himself to leave and arrived at six. This time, they had to figure out whether what BG4MSR said was true or false.

The three waited restlessly until after ten at night. As soon as Bai Yang returned from evening self-study, they immediately followed him into the room.

“What’s the rush?”

“Hey hey hey, I’ll do it myself… I’ll do it myself! Don’t force it in!”

“Take it easy, you guys! Gentle!”

“One at a time!”

Before Bai Yang could put down his backpack, they had already started fiddling with the radio. These three fickle old men, who had abandoned the aging Icom725 years ago, mercilessly relegating it to storage, who would have thought that tonight, the three scoundrels would reunite here for its sake, fighting desperately to claim it for themselves—what kind of Mary Sue plot was this?

The story of three old toads and one old radio—

Twenty years ago, it was advanced and new, the darling of all, and three young men fell in love with it at first sight.

Twenty years later, it was old and in disrepair, a relic of bygone times, and three HAMs scorned it.

Until one night, it gained mysterious powers, radiating incomparable glory.

The three scoundrels came to their senses, pulled back from the brink, and the prodigal sons returned, abandoning WeChat, forsaking QQ, and launching a grand pursuit!

It fled, they chased, but it couldn’t escape.

Bai Yang thought to himself that he really could let his imagination run wild.

By eleven o’clock at night, he had connected with BG4MSR.

“…The drawing? I saw it,” the girl’s clear voice came through the headphones. “A mustached guy wearing a red hat and blue pants standing on a platform. BG4MXH, what drawing is this?”

“That drawing is called ‘Penguin and Mickey in Court,’ OVER.” Bai Yang answered.

“Oh… so that little man’s name is Penguin and Mickey?”

“No, that little man’s name is Mario, OVER.” Bai Yang said.

“Then where are Penguin and Mickey?” Half Summer asked. “Where are they?”

“They’re in court.”

Half Summer listed out all the items from the time capsules one by one, and passed the usual tritium tube verification method. At this point, Wang Ning patted Bai Yang’s shoulder, asking him to inquire whether the other party had found anything else besides the medical supplies and the drawing.

“BG4MSR, Uncle Wang wants me to ask if you found anything else besides the medical tools like pliers, scissors, syringes, medical alcohol, and that drawing, OVER?”

“Anything else?” The other party thought for a moment. “No.”

Wang Ning had Bai Yang confirm whether BG4MSR had received all five capsules.

“Did you find all five capsules? OVER.”

“Found them all…”

Wang Ning heard this and felt he had it figured out. Hehe, he’d caught a discrepancy.

“Wait, BG4MXH, there’s one more strange thing.” The girl suddenly said.

Wang Ning’s heart suddenly sank.

“What thing?” Bai Yang asked.

“A package of something looks kind of like sugar, but it’s not edible.” Half Summer said. “Wasn’t it put in there by you guys?”

“Little Yang, ask her about the color.” Wang Ning was a bit nervous.

“BG4MSR, what color is that thing?”

The other party replied without hesitation.

“White, or rather colorless and transparent!”