On the first floor of Gao Lingwei's home.
"Sorry, Aunt Cheng, we're out of time," Rong Taotao said, his words muffled as he continuously stuffed spring rolls from a plate on the dining table into his mouth.
Gao Lingwei, beside him, clearly had no appetite. She gazed at her mother in a daze, wanting to say something but not knowing where to begin.
'In just three short days, is that nightmare finally coming true?'
Cheng Yuan's gaze shifted back and forth between Rong Taotao, who was wolfing down his food, and the silent Gao Lingwei. She reached out and gently patted Gao Lingwei's arm. "Always listen to your captain's orders. Don't be willful. Stay with Taotao, and whatever you do, don't fall behind..."
With a conflicted expression, Gao Lingwei stepped forward and gently pulled her mother into an embrace. She lowered her head, burying her face in her mother's shoulder and taking a deep breath, as if to commit her mother's scent to memory.
