Qiū Huà Bǐ had been playing for nearly an hour.
His laptop sat open on the desk, the game filling the screen. He had already lost two rounds, won one, and started another without giving himself time to think about it. His headphones were on, though the volume was lower than usual. He wasn't listening to music. He simply didn't feel like hearing anything else.
His character was surrounded by enemies. He moved the mouse, pressed several keys in quick succession, and watched the screen flash as another attack landed.
For a moment, it helped...
Then his character died.
Qiū Huà Bǐ stared at the screen.
"..."
He leaned back in his chair and let out a long breath.
He could have started another round, but his eyes drifted towards the calendar pinned beside his desk. The dates were marked in his handwriting, with the exam schedule sitting in the middle of next week.
Qiū Huà Bǐ closed his eyes.
He had exams next week.
He looked at the laptop again, then at the calendar.
A few seconds passed before he sighed and rubbed his forehead.
"Violet would be mad."
The words came out before he had properly considered them.
He paused.
Why would Violet be mad?
It wasn't as though she had any authority over his study schedule. They weren't even in the same university. Besides, he was perfectly capable of deciding when to study and when to play games. He had never needed anyone to supervise him.
Qiū Huà Bǐ looked at the game still running on his screen. Then he frowned.
Why did he care whether Violet would be mad?
He sighed again and gave the table a small, irritated knock with his knuckles.
A faint crack travelled across the wooden surface.
It was no longer than a fingernail, so fine that it could easily have been mistaken for a scratch. Qiū Huà Bǐ didn't notice. His attention had already returned to the laptop, where the game was waiting for him to continue.
He was about to reach for the mouse when the doorbell rang.
Qiū Huà Bǐ glanced at the door.
Who was it now?
He pushed his chair back and walked over, still wearing his headphones around his neck. When he looked through the peephole, he found Violet standing outside with Chūn Lěng Fēng beside her.
Qiū Huà Bǐ's expression changed.
He rolled his eyes before opening the door.
"What?"
Violet didn't answer immediately. She held out a plate of cut fruit, and Qiū Huà Bǐ accepted it out of reflex.
"Eat."
He looked down at the plate. Then back at her.
"Drink warm water..." Violet's gaze moved past him and settled on the laptop, which was still displaying the game's interface. She looked at it for a moment before continuing, "...and sleep early."
Qiū Huà Bǐ followed her gaze.
His eyes widened slightly.
"I was about to—"
He stopped.
Violet waited.
"I wasn't really going to..."
His voice grew quieter with each word. By the end, he was looking at the plate rather than at her.
Forget it.
He had no idea why he was explaining himself.
Violet raised a hand and patted his shoulder.
"I understand."
Qiū Huà Bǐ glanced at her.
She wasn't smiling at him, nor was she giving him the sort of look that suggested she intended to lecture him. She simply stood there, waiting for him to accept what she had brought.
That somehow made it harder to argue.
"Fēng Fēng and I are heading to the Yè manor," she continued. "We'll give both you and Yī gè some space. You have exams next week, so focus on those."
Chūn Lěng Fēng, who had been standing behind her, leaned slightly to look at the fruit in Qiū Huà Bǐ's hands.
"Those look good."
Qiū Huà Bǐ shifted the plate away from him.
"They're mine."
"I wasn't taking them."
"You were looking."
"Am I not allowed to look?"
Violet glanced between them.
"Lěng Fēng."
Chūn Lěng Fēng straightened. "Yes?"
"Don't start."
He closed his mouth.
Qiū Huà Bǐ looked at the two of them, then back at Violet. Something about her words had caught his attention.
"You're going to the manor?"
"Yes."
"With him?"
Violet looked at Chūn Lěng Fēng, who was now examining the corridor.
"Yes."
Qiū Huà Bǐ gaze returned to the fruit.
He didn't know what he had expected her to say. Perhaps that she was going to stay. Perhaps that she would come back later. Neither possibility had been something he had consciously considered until she mentioned leaving.
Violet reached up and adjusted the headphones resting around his neck.
"Ace your exams, okay?"
Qiū Huà Bǐ nodded.
"And leave the Specialists and their problems to me."
He looked at her again.
She said it as casually as if she were asking him to buy something from the convenience store on his way home. There was no grand declaration in her voice, and she didn't wait for him to respond.
Qiū Huà Bǐ lowered his eyes to the plate.
"...I know."
"Good."
Violet stepped back. Chūn Lěng Fēng followed her, though he turned around once.
"Huà Bǐ."
Qiū Huà Bǐ raised his head.
"Don't forget to eat the fruit."
Qiū Huà Bǐ rolled his eyes.
Seriously.
"I know."
"And drink warm water."
"I heard her."
Chūn Lěng Fēng nodded, apparently satisfied.
"Then study hard."
Qiū Huà Bǐ stared at him.
"Go."
Chūn Lěng Fēng laughed and turned away.
Violet gave Qiū Huà Bǐ one last look before following him down the corridor. He remained at the door until they reached the end, then closed it.
For a while, he stood there holding the fruit.
Eventually, he returned to his desk.
The game was still running. His character was waiting in the middle of the screen, surrounded by the same enemies he'd been fighting earlier. Qiū placed the fruit beside his laptop and sat down.
He looked at the calendar again.
Next week.
With a quiet sigh, he closed the game. Then he thought of something.
Wait. Wasn't he supposed to stay mad at Violet?
What happened?
The crack in the table remained beneath his hand.
He still hadn't noticed it.
Nán Xuě had apparently decided that she would not be leaving Factor IV hungry.
The meal in front of her had been prepared with enough food to feed several people, and she was making steady progress through it. She had barely stopped since sitting down. Every time someone thought she might finally be full, she reached for another dish.
Across from her, Mù Xiāo Xiāo was eating mangoes.
She had already finished one and was working on another, occasionally looking up to watch Nán Xuě reach for something else. The two women had developed an unspoken understanding over the course of the meal: neither was going to comment on the other's appetite.
Ān Bái, meanwhile, had taken to feeding himself with Mù Xiāo Xiāo's mango at remarkably short intervals.
Every five minutes or so passed with him slipping another piece into his mouth, chewing slowly as he watched Nán Xuě eat.
Ān Shēn looked at him.
"Is it inedible?"
Ān Bái glanced over. "Of course not."
"You've been eating the same thing for ten minutes."
"It's good."
"That's not what I asked."
"Then ask a better question."
Ān Shēn looked away.
Mù Xiāo Xiāo picked up another piece of mango.
Ān Tiān Qǐ sighed, rubbing her forehead.
"Let them eat. They've been like this all afternoon."
Nán Xuě swallowed and reached for her cup.
"This is so good."
She took another bite before continuing.
"Hey.., if you feed me like this every day, I'll gather intelligence on ET with just a little pay."
Ān Bái stopped chewing.
"Just a little?"
Nán Xuě looked at him. "You want to negotiate?"
"Naturally. Information has value."
"So does having someone who can actually get it."
Ān Tiān Qǐ gave a short laugh.
Ān Bái considered that, then nodded. "Fair enough."
Nán Xuě pointed her chopsticks at him. "See? We're gradually understanding each other."
"You haven't told us anything yet."
"I haven't been paid yet."
"You just said you'd do it for a little pay."
"Exactly. A little pay. Not no pay."
Ān Bái looked at her for a moment before returning to his mango.
"She's got a point."
Ān Shēn glanced at his brother. "You would agree with anyone as long as they let you eat."
"That's not true. Xiāo Xiāo let me eat, not her."
Mù Xiāo Xiāo looked at him.
Ān Bái put another piece of mango into his mouth.
"...Not entirely true."
Nán Xuě laughed, then returned to her meal.
She was eating with the sort of concentration usually reserved for someone who had gone a long time without a proper meal. It wasn't simply that the food tasted good. No one was counting how much she took, telling her to leave some for someone else, or watching to see whether she had earned the right to another serving.
She could ask for more, and there would be more.
It was an unfamiliar kind of ease.
Ān Tiān Qǐ, who had been watching the exchange while checking something on her tablet, pushed a glass of water towards Nán Xuě.
"Drink some water. You've been eating for a while."
Nán Xuě looked at the glass.
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me. Just drink."
Nán Xuě took a few sips before putting the glass down.
Ān Tiān Qǐ turned to Ān Shēn.
"Come with me."
He looked up. "Where?"
"We need to check on the information about Nán Lín."
Nán Xuě's chopsticks paused.
"Did you find something?"
"Not enough to be certain," Ān Tiān Qǐ replied. "We're following up on a few leads."
Nán Xuě set her chopsticks down.
"Can I come?"
"Not yet. We need to confirm what we have first. If there's something worth showing you, we'll bring it back."
Nán Xuě studied her for a moment, then nodded.
"Alright."
Ān Tiān Qǐ stood and took her tablet with her. Ān Shēn followed, though he paused to look at the remaining food.
His brother noticed.
"You want me to leave you some?"
"I wasn't going to take it."
"You were looking."
Ān Shēn gave him a flat look before leaving.
Nán Xuě picked up her chopsticks again.
"Your family talks a lot."
Ān Bái popped another piece of mango into his mouth.
"You haven't seen anything yet."
Far from Factor IV, two figures stood beneath the roof of an old pagoda.
One wore white, the other red.
The pagoda stood on elevated ground, its wooden structure preserved despite the years. Its roof curved upwards at the corners, and the carved beams beneath it had darkened with age. Beyond the open sides, the night stretched over the surrounding landscape. The stars were visible above the distant mountains, though a thin veil of cloud had begun to pass across them.
Neither figure spoke for some time.
Bái Wù Shí stood with his hands behind his back, looking towards the sky. The white of his clothing caught the faint light from the lanterns, making him appear almost indistinguishable from the pale stone pillars behind him.
Beside him, Ruǎn Qīng rested one hand against the wooden railing.
"I was expecting scallions omelette for dinner tonight. Second Elder really wants to punish us this time. The crash wasn't even our fault. Now we have to stand guard here? Doesn't this all seem suspicious?" Ruǎn Qīng grumbled.
Bái Wù Shí didn't look away from the stars.
"If I knew, I wouldn't be standing here waiting."
Ruǎn Qīng glanced at him.
"You could at least pretend to be patient."
"I am patient."
"You've been staring at the same part of the sky for thirty minutes."
"Because that's where I'm looking."
Ruǎn Qīng let out a quiet breath, neither quite a laugh nor a sigh.
A lantern near the entrance flickered as a breeze passed through the pagoda. Somewhere below, a night insect called from the grass. The sound was faint, but it carried clearly through the open structure.
Then a bell rang.
It was not the deep, resonant sound of a great temple bell. The note was delicate, almost like a small metal chime touched by a passing finger. It lingered for a moment before fading into the night.
Both figures turned.
Ruǎn Qīng lifted his head.
"That came from—"
"I know."
Bái Wù Shí had already stepped away from the railing.
The bell sounded again.
This time, neither of them spoke.
Ruǎn Qīng looked towards the far end of the pagoda, where the darkness gathered beneath the eaves. Bái Wù Shí's expression had changed, though he made no attempt to hide it.
After a moment, Ruǎn Qīng asked, "Should we answer? We were instructed to guard."
Bái Wù Shí looked towards the stars once more.
"We should find out who rang it first."
The bell gave a third, softer chime.
And somewhere beyond the pagoda, the answer was coming.