Once We Lived in Nanjing

Crescent Lake has aged.

As part of the Moat of the old Nanjing City, it is a very elongated body of water, and walking one full circuit around the lake is approximately three kilometers.

Under the blazing sun, Yan Zhihan held an umbrella for shade, carrying a package, and walked on the small path around the lake.

The girl couldn't help but feel uneasy.

What was wrong with her, doing such an outrageous task.

Xiao Bai had admonished her to find a hidden spot, lest the item be snatched away by others. But apart from the fishermen, who would want this thing? Would anyone else mistake this object as a millennia-old Ganoderma?

But she couldn't just carelessly throw it into the center of the lake because he would have to fish it back out later.

He actually planned to retrieve it?

Could it be that boys have such deep attachments to the things they've handled?

Yan Zhihan shook her head.

She cast her gaze upon the shimmering surface of Crescent Lake; the water was deep. Considering the extensive area, if she indeed threw the package into the water randomly, then nobody would ever find it again, and Xiao Bai would be distressed over the loss of his beloved girlfriend. Therefore, to find a place unknown to others but yet within reach was not an easy task.

Entering Crescent Lake Park from the main gate, Yan Zhihan turned right and walked clockwise around the lake. The lakeside vegetation was lush. Walking in the lush greenery, she didn't need an umbrella.

As she walked, she observed the surroundings. Crescent Lake was a park, and there were quite a few people who came here for strolls, so finding a spot along the lakeshore to hide the item for an extended period was difficult. It had to be hidden underwater, Xiao Bai must have thought the same, which was why he took waterproofing precautions.

However, the waters along the shore were not quite suitable, as they were shallow and easily visible to others.

Tired from walking, Yan Zhihan climbed onto a viewing platform by the lake and found a chair to sit down—such facilities existed in Crescent Lake Park, situated beside the lotus pond, similar to stadium stands with ten rows of seats going upwards. They were white plastic seats covered by white sunshades above.

She sat down on the chair, the plastic seat scalding hot from the sun.

Where should she hide this item in her hands?

Yan Zhihan craned her neck, looking around.

Across the lake was the grey-black ancient city wall, with buildings beneath it sporting red tiles and white walls. Some built along the lakeshore, some upon the lake itself. Her gaze swept back and forth, contemplating whether she could throw the package onto someone's rooftop—if not on the rooftop, then hidden underneath it? She gazed at them for a long time. What was that place for again?

Taking out her phone, she opened Amap; it turned out to be a restaurant.

Named "Night Shanghai Hotel Banquet Hall".

Could the package be concealed there?

Yan Zhihan smacked her forehead.

Throw the package into the water at the foot of that building!

That should be hidden enough, right?

And not far from the shore, if one needed to retrieve it, it would be manageable.

No sooner said than done, she hugged the package and followed the path around half of Crescent Lake, quietly arriving at the front of the Night Shanghai Hotel Banquet Hall; the main entrance of the building was on the roadside by the lakeshore, with the main body situated on a platform above the water, supported by pillars drilled into the lakebed. Yan Zhihan looked around, the restaurant door was closed, all around was silent, and sure enough, no one was out and about at this time of the day.

She descended the slope to the lakeside, tilting her body to look under the foundations of the restaurant. It was dark underneath.

An excellent spot for hiding something.

Usually, no one would come down here, not even those who cleaned the garbage could squeeze in.

Yan Zhihan made one final check around to ensure there were no people nearby, then she took a deep breath, and with a "hey!" like throwing a shot put, she threw the package into the water.

With a "plop", the package quickly sank to the bottom and disappeared from sight.

Yan Zhihan looked left and right, then pretending to be a passerby without a care, she opened her umbrella and quickly left the scene.

Back at the base of the city wall, she took out her phone again and sent a voice message to Bai using WeChat:

"I've thrown it into the water under the platform of the Night Shanghai banquet hall next to Crescent Lake! The third pillar counting from inside to outside! The package is right there!"

Mission accomplished.

·

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That very night.

Bai Yang turned on the computer and opened NetEase Cloud Music.

He plugged in his headphones and turned both the software and computer's volume to the maximum, then started playing the song "Blossoming Life" by Wang Feng.

Wang Feng's husky voice began to howl "How many times have I fallen on the road—," each note colliding with Bai Yang's eardrums and heart, his head thundering as if a subwoofer was pressed against each ear, the sound waves resonating and dancing within his skull, so loud that Bai wouldn't be able to hear someone banging a gong in his room.

Bai Yang hurriedly took off the headphones, he wouldn't last any longer if he continued to listen.

"BG4MSR, BG4MSR, Miss, you must listen clearly to every word I'm about to say, OVER."

Bai Yang clapped his ears, still ringing.

"Okay, I'm listening, OVER."

"Listen carefully, BG4MSR, I'm going to tell you the exact location of the time capsule, but only you are allowed to hear this information, I cannot, so I'll be blocking my ears," said Bai Yang. "Once the playback is finished, I'll ask if you understood. If you did, then say you understood and I'll delete the message of the time capsule's location; if not, say you didn't and I'll play it for you again, understand? OVER."

"Understood, OVER."

"There's one thing you absolutely must remember, you cannot reveal to me the exact location of the time capsule," Bai Yang cautioned. "I know it's in Crescent Lake, so at most, you can say it's in Crescent Lake, but you must never divulge more detailed information, no matter when or where, under any circumstances, got it? OVER."

"Understood, OVER."

"Alright, are you ready? I'm going to play the exact location of the time capsule for you now, OVER."

There was silence on the other end for a few seconds.

"I'm ready, OVER."

Bai Yang took out his phone, opened WeChat, and went to Yan Zhihan's chat page.

The voice message was still there, Bai Yang hadn't played it.

Bai Yang took a deep breath, put on the headphones, and momentarily, his mind was filled with the sound of Wang Feng.

"I want a blossoming life—! Soaring in the vast sky—!"

Immediately after, he grabbed the microphone, turned the phone's volume to the maximum, and moved closer to the mic to play the voice message!

Bai Yang couldn't hear anything, he felt like an empty cavity being filled with Wang Feng's penetrating voice, and in the midst of this gut-wrenching song, that crucial piece of information was transmitted from the phone to the radio, converted into a 20-meter shortwave, threading the desolate 14255 frequency, crossing twenty-one years of time, and reaching another pair of ears quietly listening.

At this moment, from ancient times till now, aside from Ban Xia, only the universe heard that sentence.

Looking a million years forward and a million years back, throughout the world, only Ban Xia alone knew the complete exact information of the time capsule.

Bai Yang held the phone in one hand and pressed the microphone with the other.

Wang Feng continued to sing, with tremendous power.

"I want a life that blossoms—!"

"Like standing at the pinnacle of the rainbow—!"

"Like traveling through the dazzling galaxy, possessing extraordinary strength—"