Once We Lived in Nanjing

The next morning.

Bai Yang yawned languidly and flopped down on his desk, having devoted his energy to the radio station lately, chatting with BG4MSR and discussing with Dad Wang Uncle the ways and approaches to Time Slow Delivery and reversing the future, staying up until late every night before he had to go to school the next day.

So, every morning he arrived at school, he'd sleep. Every time the teacher walked past his seat, a tap on the shoulder with a textbook was necessary.

A tap and Bai Yang would wake up, and after a while, he formed a conditioned reflex, evolving a teacher detection system which relied on acoustic radar tracking, constructing behavioral models of the teachers in his mind, and as soon as he detected a teacher crossing by, he would sit up straight with a jolt. After the teacher had crossed by, he'd continue to doze off.

Hence, his state during class was always like this:

Left side, acoustic radar tracking normal! Telemetry signal normal! Teacher movement normal!

Right side, acoustic radar has detected a target!

Telemetry signal normal! Teacher movement normal!

Teacher stage one and two separate!

Teacher jettisons the fairing!

Teacher's solar panels unfold!

The room burst into vigorous applause — as a general rule, this indicated that Bai Yang was muddled with sleep, dreaming.

The system worked only sometimes: when excessively weary, his brain would ignore the radar's alert, and he would be captured by the homeroom teacher repeatedly. During a break, Teacher Liu called him to the office, questioning, "Bai Yang, what's going on with you these days? Why are you always sleeping in class? Haven't been staying up late reading novels or playing games, have you?"

Bai Yang: "No, rest assured, teacher, I definitely haven't, ah ah ah— hmm—"(yawning)

The teacher, frustrated with his lack of progress, tapped the office desk sternly with his knuckles, indicating that if he continued to sleep this way, he'd slip from Nanjing Aviation to Nanchang Aviation.

From Nanjing Aviation to Nanchang Aviation.

"Nanchang Aviation is fine," Bai Yang thought to himself, "What's wrong with Nanchang Aviation? Isn't it still aviation?"

He was too tired.

"Little Bai Yang! Little Bai Yang!" Someone nudged Bai Yang.

Lying on the desk asleep, without looking up Bai Yang knew who was bothering him, and he shrugged the hand off his shoulder, "Can you not disturb my sweet dreams? Boss, I'm really tired here."

"Want something to eat?"

"No thanks," Bai Yang said.

A few seconds later, the crisp sound of chewing rang out near his ear. That son of a gun, He Leqin, didn't give him anything to eat after all and was eating loudly himself.

This asshole just didn't want him to sleep well.

"Lately, you sleep even more than I do. Did you know someone in class started calling you 'Sleep Tyrant'?" He Leqin said, "After all, not everyone can doze off leaning back in their chair with their mouth wide open."

"Get lost!"

Bai Yang didn't want to recall those socially suicidal scenes.

In Chemistry class, leaning back against the chair, facing upwards, saliva dripping from the corner of his mouth, his sleeping posture was like a poisoned death scene from an ancient martial arts film.

The Chemistry teacher named it "Heavenly Dog Eating the Sun."

"You don't understand a thing, I'm busy every night."

"Busy with what?"

"Busy saving the world," Bai Yang said, "The safety and well-being of countless people are on my shoulders. Do you know how much pressure I'm under? How could I possibly sleep well at night?"

Daytime as usual in class, nighttime saving the world.

If a classic overly-enthusiastic teenager heard about this setup, they'd tremble with excitement. How stylish and awesome that would be, walking in the world, one of a kind, even needing the 8848 for the phone, otherwise unworthy of their identity.

But why was Bai Yang not excited at all?

He had read many novels, comics, TV series. Shouldn't the normal course of action be like this: the only male protagonist who knew the truth sitting alone in the back row by the window of the classroom, smiling with a bit of mockery and helplessness at the classmates still worried about their studies, at the teachers still preparing for classes, at the oblivious masses, turning his head to look out at the verdant leaves outside the window, his gaze distant, his silhouette profound—

Why didn't he play this script?

Is the Chinese version of high school students saving the world different from the Japanese version?

"Good grief, you're the Underwear Superhero who goes out to fight for justice in the middle of the night?" He Leqin slapped Bai Yang on the back.

"Yes, yes, yes, I'm the Underwear Superhero who goes out to fight for justice in the middle of the night," Bai Yang nodded, "Next time you see in the news about a guy wearing underwear on his head capturing pickpockets, outsmarting thieves, fighting against robbers, and daring to help the fallen elderly, that'll definitely be me."

"What's this Underwear Superhero?" Suddenly, a girl's voice interjected, crisp and clear.

It was Yan Zhihan.

"Not suitable for children, not suitable for children," He Leqin pressed her forehead, pushing her back, "This is a topic not suitable for children!"

"I'm here to collect homework!" Yan Zhihan broke free, "Little Bai Yang hasn't turned in his homework yet, 45 sets of Gold Exam Papers!"

Bai Yang pulled out his papers from his backpack and glanced at them, his heart sinking.

Finished—forgot to do them.

I did half of this test paper last night during evening self-study, then completely forgot about it when I got home.

He halfway reached into his bag, then stuffed his hand back in.

"What's up?" Yan Zhihan asked.

"Zhihan, Zhihan, do me a favor," Bai Yang whispered, "just say I didn't bring it."

The girl opened her mouth in surprise, "No way, you forgot to do it?"

Bai Yang nodded.

"Not even a bit?"

"I still have a page left, didn't do any of the big questions."

Yan Zhihan thought for a bit, "Then wait."

She quickly ran back to her seat, pulled a paper from the stack under her desk, then hurried back and slid it under Bai Yang's desk.

"Hey, hey, hey, Zhihan! How can you show partiality?" He Leqin witnessed the entire sinful transaction and protested indignantly, "When I didn't finish, you were all impartial, but when little Bai didn't finish, you turned a blind eye? You even let him copy, how can you do this!"

"Are you guys the same?" Yan Zhihan rolled her eyes, "You're a habitual offender, pampering you will only make you more arrogant, little Bai is a first offender, deserve a chance."

"You're just biased."

"I'm not!"

"You don't give me as much love as you give little Bai." He Leqin said, "My heart is broken."

"Go die!"

Bai Yang quickly copied the answers; he felt that there probably isn't another protagonist like him in the whole world who, although carrying the heavy responsibility of saving humanity, is hunched over his desk doing math homework early in the morning.

But how precious is this life? Noisy students, the jokester He Dasha and Zhihan laughing and causing a ruckus, along with the clean and clear morning light sneaking through the door cracks, landing on the lectern. Bai Yang thought, if the apocalypse happens years later, and he reminisces upon these diamond-clear and brilliant days, would it all seem like a distant lifetime ago?

He Leqin is still the same old He Leqin, Yan Zhihan is still the same old Yan Zhihan, everyone is still the same as before. But Bai Yang is no longer the Bai Yang of the past; he understands this quiet and peaceful life is just the afterglow lingering in the sky after the sun sets, no one knows how long it will last, no one knows when the everlasting night will fall, after the sun sets it will not rise again, knowing the truth is painful, the pain lies in realizing it's too late to cherish that light once you wake up to it.

·

·

·

Bai Yang rapidly finished copying the math paper and handed the two papers to Yan Zhihan.

Then he put away his pen, sat up straight, and looked around left and right as if nothing happened. He felt a bit like a thief because cheating was unethical, clearly his moral standards were higher than He Leqin's. He Dasha could copy all the homework for six subjects without batting an eyelid, simply because no one would copy for him.

"Next time you save the world, take me with you," He Leqin said, putting his arm around his shoulder, "as your partner."

"What? You also want to be Underwear Superhero?" Bai Yang gave him a sidelong glance.

"I'll be Thong Superhero!" He Leqin said, "Better view!"

The bell for class rang.

The first lesson in the morning was English.

After English class, it was Chemistry.

And after Chemistry, school was dismissed.

That was Bai Yang's direct feeling about the morning's classes.

Even though every second of this precious normal life was one second less, Bai Yang truly couldn't focus his energy on textbooks and problems; every second, a voice echoed in his mind, saying studying in class is pointless, everyone present will die, all their actions are meaningless. At these times, Bai Yang would want to stand up and scream that there's no point in class anymore, the apocalypse is coming! Run for your lives!

At the same time, he also realized that those high-school heroes who save the world in novels and animations are deceiving; the fantasies of teenaged boys should not be taken seriously. As the only person who knows the truth, his mood must be heavy, painful, and agonizing. When the real world faces a great crisis, no matter what needs to be done, showing off is definitely the last thing on the list.

After school, He Leqin and Yan Zhihan invited him to go out for lunch.

The three chatted idly while walking along the road behind Biao Ying Gate out of the old town.

Cars and horses were bustling along the way. There was no sun today. Under the gloomy clouds, the city was still bustling. As they walked, Bai Yang looked up and saw the tall and majestic grey walls of the Biao Ying Gate standing in front of him.

Three broad archways would allow for eight lanes of traffic.

On the pedestrian walkway under the city gate, a long line of tourists approached, with men, women, old and young in colorful clothing, led by someone wearing a bright yellow hat, holding a small flag in one hand and a megaphone in the other. They were noisy and chatty as they squeezed through, and Bai Yang, along with his friends, had to press against the wall bricks to let the troop pass through.

Bai Yang leaned against the cold, hard inner wall of the city gate; the gray-black bricks felt rough. He watched the large group of out-of-towners brush past, wondering if twenty years from now, that girl from BG4MSR would also pass under this gate.

As his hand brushed the bricks while making his way through the crowd, would that girl touch the same place?

Bai Yang subconsciously looked at his hand; he felt like he could see a delicate hand overlapping with his, both passing through the same space at different times, like through souls, through the air. Suddenly, a shiver ran through him.

He turned sharply.

"What's wrong?" He Leqin and Yan Zhihan, who were ahead, stopped and asked.

"Little Bai?"

The travel group had walked far ahead. Bai Yang gazed blankly at the backs of the crowd, searching.

Was it an illusion? In that moment, was there a tall, young woman walking past, humming a tune, wearing a white shirt and long denim jeans, with a bulging backpack brushing past his sleeve?