Once We Lived in Nanjing

"Now, students, take out set 38, we have gone over this question before, do you remember? Look at multiple-choice question number five, does this type of question look familiar..."

The math teacher was discussing problems above, and all around the air was filled with the sound of flipping papers, fine chalk dust spiraled in the winter sunlight. Bai Yang rested his head on his hand as he sat at his desk, the tip of his pen touching the test paper, appearing to listen to the lesson yet also not listening. The classroom had no air conditioning on, and the index and middle fingers clutching his pen were somewhat stiff. After entering December, the temperature curve had slumped like a hibernating snake, never climbing above ten degrees. The autumn had been particularly short this year; the leaves of the French sycamore trees on Zhongshan Gate Street were still summer-like when they detached due to acidification but became wintery upon hitting the ground.

French sycamores are fifteen meters tall; in autumn, they were just as long.

Bai Yang's life had returned to normal for half a month now. Half a month earlier, Zhao Bowen took away his Icom725 amateur radio, analog repeater, motherboard, and all related materials, not sparing even a single piece of draft paper—all the work had been taken over by professional departments. The national machinery was set in motion, possessing resources and capabilities far beyond what a high school student like Bai Yang could match. He could imagine his old amateur radio being treated as a treasure in the top-tier electromagnetic quiet room by Uncle Zhao and his team, equipped with the most advanced surveillance and detection techniques, watched over by a group of experts all day. For an old and broken amateur radio, achieving such a status was indeed a great honor.

Thus, Bai Yang had become just another ordinary high school senior at South Airline-affiliated high school; he no longer needed to save the world, only to salvage his college entrance exam grades.

The tremendous pressure previously weighing on him vanished in an instant, and with it went the looming shadow of doomsday. People of Bai Yang's age always held a blind faith in national power, always thinking that in some unseen place there must exist methods to solve all problems. As long as the nation intervenes, everything will be perfectly resolved; any apocalyptic crisis would cease to exist the moment the professional departments took over.

Look at all the classmates sitting in the classroom, the teacher standing at the podium, the students outside on the playground, the cars on the road outside the school—all the countless people out there living normal lives, how could doomsday possibly arrive?

Now recalling, that girl existing alone twenty years in the future feels distant and vague like an illusion. Everything that happened seems like a dream. Bai Yang woke up from the dream; the world operates as usual, BG4MSR was just a person from the dream.

Just didn't know whether she received his photo or not?

Had Uncle Zhao successfully sent his photo to her?

Bai Yang pondered silently.

Could she coordinate well with those people?

He hoped Uncle Zhao could apologize on his behalf and explain everything; otherwise, remembering his broken promises made Bai Yang utterly uneasy.

"Bai Yang! Bai Yang!"

Bai Yang suddenly jerked awake.

The homeroom teacher, Mr. Liu, pointed at the test paper on his desk, "Turn the page."

Bai Yang hurried to turn the page but didn't know which page to turn to, so he stealthily peered at the neighboring group's paper.

"Senior year now, pay attention in class." The teacher raised his voice, "You don't have many months of lessons left. Cherish your high school life; push yourselves in this final sprint, getting into South Airline isn't a dream."

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"Little Bai Yang! Why have you condescended to wait for us to walk together again recently?" He Leqin draped an arm around his neck, grinning, "What about your grand plan to save the world? Is it completed?"

"No," Bai Yang said, "Others have taken over, my work is done."

"Didn't they award you a medal?" Yan Zhihan asked from behind, "After all, you saved the world. With such a great contribution, I think a recommendation to Tsinghua or Beijing University would be no issue."

"Then I'll give it a try, see if the state will consider my hard work and significant contributions, and reward me with a guaranteed spot at Tsinghua," Bai Yang lazily said, "It would be best if they also gifted me an apartment inside the Fifth Ring of Beijing, along with a job that's well-paid, less-demanding, and close to home, don't you think?"

"If we ever become rich, let us not forget each other!" He Laogong slapped his left shoulder.

"If wealthy, do not forget each other!" Yan Ge slapped his right shoulder.

"Go on, with your family being so wealthy, why bother studying?" Bai Yang brushed off their hands, "Let your dad spend money to get you into Harvard."

After evening self-study, Bai Yang, as usual, walked home with Yan Zhihan and He Leqin. The three chatted idly and sauntered along with no rush since Bai Yang wasn't in a hurry to get home to operate the radio. The streets were bustling with traffic from high school students heading home—biking, hailing cabs, walking; everywhere you looked were students in South Airline middle school uniforms. Bai Yang, He Leqin, and Yan Zhihan were just an inconspicuous part among the thousands of students in Nanjing City.

There was no apocalypse, no Super Space-Time radio, nor a black moon in the sky.

This was an ordinary world.

Bai Yang, with his backpack, entered the residential area and greeted Uncle Cai Dong at the security booth. He trotted up to the eighth floor, catching his breath while he fiddled with his keys to unlock the door.

As he swapped shoes and fumbled for the light switch in the entryway, his life was back to normal with neither parent staying up late because of the radio. It was eleven at night, they were asleep, and Uncle Wang no longer visited. The Reverse Future World-saving Amateur Radio Emergency Communication Command Center had long been inactive and might never be operational again. Under the bright lights, the living room was spotless—chaotic radios, repeaters, motherboards, and documents seemed as if they had never existed.

Those people had cleaned it up so quickly and so thoroughly that even if Old Bai and Old Wang wanted to go public now, to tell others about everything, they could find no evidence to prove it.

Bai Yang pushed open his bedroom door. His mother's groggy voice came from the bed, "Yang?"

"Yeah, I'm back."

"There's food in the kitchen," she said.

"Got it," Bai Yang responded, placing his backpack down and opening the rice cooker in the kitchen to find lukewarm stir-fried noodles that had stuck together—a familiar but still edible sight.

With his plate, Bai Yang returned to his room and sat on the chair. This was the life trajectory he knew best; everything seemed unchanged, yet something felt different.

He turned his attention to the shelf next to the desk, noticing a large empty space where something had long been placed, leaving a square imprint on the old wooden shelf.

Bai Yang fell silent, staring absently at the shelf.

That lightly shaded, sun-deprived imprint was the only evidence of a piece once taken from his life.

BG4MXH!

BG4MXH! Today I went to Xuanwu Bay again, saw lots of hibiscus, picked some to make tea.

BG4MXH, it's getting colder today, need to wear more clothes, I have a very thick quilted coat, is it cold over there where you are?

BG4MXH, programming is so hard, so so so hard.

BG4MXH, want a photo of me? Then you'll have to trade with yours! Fair exchange, get it?

BG4MXH! BG4MXH! BG4MXH! BG4MXH! BG4MXH!

Bai Yang jerked awake.

His mind was flooded with calls for BG4MXH.

He pulled out a pair of headphones from a drawer, plugged them into his phone, laid back on his bed, closed his eyes, and played music trying to scatter the muddled thoughts in his mind. In the deep quiet of night, his phone played Ren Xianqi's "Waves One by One".

"Lalalalala, lalalalala, lalalalalalala."

"I want you with me, watching the turtles swimming underwater."

"Lying slowly on the beach, counting each wave one by one."

"Don't be afraid, you won't be lonely."

"I will always be by your side…"

"Making you happy and carefree."