Once We Lived in Nanjing

It was half-past eleven at night.

Bai Yang was panicking.

For the first time in all these days, the other person wasn't online at the usual time, and there had been no contact for nearly an hour; no one in channel 14255 was responding to calls.

The girl hadn't shown up as promised.

This morning, Bai Yang had asked his father to pay a visit to Hongshan Forest Zoo, for if there was any expert on tigers in Nanjing City, they would certainly be at the zoo. The staff in the lion and tiger garden dealt with them daily and could tell from the way a tiger's butt stuck up what kind of excrement it was about to pass, so acting under the guise of his son wanting to intern at the zoo, the father cozied up to the keepers. He fully utilized his cab driver's knack for striking up conversations, claiming that his son was a graduate of veterinary science from Nanlin Agricultural University and was about to work at Hongshan Zoo. When the zoo staff heard, they were like, "Isn't this an alumnus? Isn't this our junior?" And so they shared everything they knew, holding nothing back.

At the same time, Bai Yang also called Zhao Bowen. Old Zhao reached out to professors in animal science at Nanjing Forestry University, who then contacted Beilin Ecology Institute, and with one phone call from Beilin Ecology Institute to Harbin's feline center in Donglin, everyone unanimously recommended contacting the Cat Alliance (CFCA). The experts at CFCA enthusiastically organized a conference call for Old Bai.

Zhao Bowen leaned back in his chair, tactical retreat: "What does it mean to have friends all over the world?"

In one day, they had contacted half of the nation's feline animal research experts.

Therefore, with a thick stack of information, Bai Yang sat down at the desk, ready to give Ban Xia a comprehensive crash course on the theoretical knowledge.

At ten forty in the evening, Bai Yang made his usual calls:

"CQ! CQ! CQ! This is BG4MXH, do you copy? If you hear me, please respond, OVER."

Based on past experience, as soon as Bai Yang released the hand mic, there should be a girl's crisp voice coming through: "BG4MXH! This is BG4MSR!"

But not tonight.

Bai Yang glanced at the clock on the desk and thought she might have been held up by something; he decided to wait a bit longer.

That wait turned into nearly an hour.

Bai Yang's psychological state went from puzzled to anxious to frantic.

"CQ CQ! BG4MSR? BG4MSR?"

"BG4MSR?"

"BG4MSR?"

This had never happened before—a long period of time with the girl not being online. As he waited and waited to no avail, a knot formed in Bai Yang's stomach, and he immediately called his father over.

His father instantly made a phone call to Wang Ning's home.

Wang Ning, who already enjoyed a retired life, had a very healthy daily routine and was supposed to be asleep by eleven. Roused by Old Bai's call, he had yet to even start cursing when his expression changed.

Rolling and scrambling out of bed, he put on his pants and jacket and ran out.

"What's the rush in the middle of the night, Old Wang?" his wife, who was awakened, shouted from behind.

"The girl's in trouble!"

Old Wang also yelled.

The girl?

What girl?

Mrs. Wang was stunned, sitting up abruptly.

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"No news at all? Can't get in touch? How long has it been?" Wang Ning, on the phone, hurriedly stuffed money into the taxi driver's hand, pushed open the car door, and bolted out, not even paying attention to the driver rolling down the window and calling out to him from behind.

"Hey—! Hey—! Come back!"

"Don't need change! Keep it all, driver!" Wang Ning was already far ahead, turning back to shout.

The driver, holding the money in his hand, was a little bewildered.

"Hey, you didn't give enough money."

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"Old Bai, I'm already downstairs at your building," said Wang Ning.

"I see you," Bai Zhen replied, standing on the balcony with his phone; he looked down, "The one behind you holding a rolling pin, that's your wife, isn't it?"

"What? My wife..."

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At midnight, total silence reigned, except for the brightly lit hall of the amateur radio emergency command center dedicated to reversing the future and saving the world.

Bai Yang was still calling on the channel.

Desperate.

With every second that passed without contact, the consequences seemed more severe, and the endless static noise in the headphones was like a bottomless abyss; his calls were like stones thrown into the water, not causing the slightest ripple.

But in his urgency, all he could do was panic; even with Old Dad bringing Uncle Wang over, there was nothing they could do. Not to mention Uncle Wang, even if he brought everyone in the world into this room, they would still be powerless.

"Don't worry, Xiao Yang," Wang Ning consoled him, "Maybe she's just fallen asleep; she might have gone to bed early today."

"No," Bai Yang shook his head, looking very anxious, "We had agreed that we have work to complete tonight, how could she go to sleep?"

"Maybe she was too tired today."

"Yes, it's also possible that we could get in touch with her tomorrow," Bai Zhen nodded, "Your fretting here is of no use."

"Impossible." Bai Yang kept pressing the send button on the handheld radio, "We have to do something, is there no other way to contact her?"

Faced with this question, both Bai Zhen and Wang Ning just spread their hands.

It was obvious what they meant, was there any other method? The only way was the Icom725 radio on your desk, it was a godsend, a stroke of genius, it was the magic stone used to patch the sky by Nuwa, the fury of Gonggong that struck Mount Buzhou, a divine radio granted by the heavens to break through the frameworks of modern physics for super space-time communication, what else could you possibly hope for?

If even that cannot do the job, then mere mortals like us are even more helpless.

Bai Yang was helpless.

Bai Zhen was helpless.

Wang Ning was helpless.

All seven billion people across the globe were helpless.

Time was like a wall, keeping everything out of reach.

What could possibly transcend time?

"It's past midnight, it's getting late, why don't you go to sleep?" Bai Zhen took out his phone, glanced at the time and suggested, "We'll keep watch for you."

"I can't sleep with you guys in the room," Bai Yang refused, "I'll keep watch myself."

"But how long are you going to keep watch?" Wang Ning asked, "Until 2 a.m.? 3 a.m.? Until dawn?"

"I won't be able to sleep anyway."

Bai Yang sent the two out and shut the door to the room tightly.

The lights were on in the living room, and Bai Zhen and Wang Ning sat on the sofa, silent across from one another.

They didn't believe either that the girl with the call sign BG4MSR missed their appointment because she fell asleep. The struggle to survive in the Doomsday World was arduous and fraught with many dangers; it was hard to predict whether unexpected events or tomorrow would come first.

Was she attacked by a vicious beast?

If she had been attacked by that Bengal Tiger, then the odds were slim; at this moment, the girl's mutilated corpse might be getting torn apart by wild beasts, the remains left by the tiger being scavenged by other smaller animals.

The radio was still active in the room, voices futilely calling out, someone was still waiting for that girl, while downstairs her hollowed out and mutilated corpse lay face-up in the grass, being dragged back and forth, torn to shreds by a pack of stray dogs. On the girl's blood-stained face, her two wide-open eyes stared blankly up at the sky—such a cruel and terrifying scene appeared in both their minds.

"The righteous will have heavenly guidance, she should be fine," Wang Ning suddenly said.

Bai Zhen was startled and then nodded, "The righteous will have heavenly guidance."

"Why don't we go to Jiming Temple tomorrow to light some incense for her?" Wang Ning proposed, "To pray for Buddha's blessing."

"Would the Buddha bless someone twenty years from now?"

Wang Ning was uncertain if the Buddha would bless someone twenty years in the future; in a doomsday world, the Buddha himself might not be safe.

Bai Yang, wearing headphones, whispered.

"...BG4MSR, I had prepared plenty of materials for today, just waiting for your return to teach them to you. Do you know how much effort we put into this? I called Uncle Zhao, then he reached out to his high school classmate, who in turn reached out to his college classmate, and his college classmate's colleague. We contacted a whole round of top-notch experts in the country."

"We spent a lot of energy compiling these materials, even though the main work was done by my dad, but if they are of no use, then it's all for nothing."

"Miss, you are the hope of all mankind. 'Heaven burdens great responsibilities on those who can bear them, tests their resolve, exhausts their bodies.' You are destined to save the world; this is your fate. How can you be defeated by some minor difficulties? Brace yourself, there are still seven billion people waiting for you to save them."

"Become light! Hero!"

"Masked Rider! So fresh!"

"Avada kedavra—!"

"I tell you, Miss, my patience is limited, I can wait a maximum of ten more minutes for you. If it's 1 a.m. and you're still not here, I'm going to sleep."

"It's 1 a.m., I can wait a maximum of five more minutes for you."

"It's five past one, I can wait a maximum of three more minutes!"

"The last three seconds!"

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"Zero point nine! Zero point eight! Zero point seven nine, zero point seven eight, zero point seven seven nine..."

"Please just say a word to me."

"Anything is fine."

"Tell me you're still alive."

Bai Yang slowly collapsed onto the table, looking at the black handheld radio's plastic casing.

"Just say a word, is it that hard? Just a word."

"Then I'll just say one word." No sooner had he finished speaking than someone spoke through the headset, Bai Yang was stunned, "Wow—you finally finished talking, you can actually monologue nonstop for over ten minutes by yourself, that's impressive, I've never seen someone as talkative as you. I know it took a lot of effort to prepare enough materials, so thank you, and thank Uncle Zhao, and your dad, and thank your entire family. Also, I came back ten minutes ago, but you kept on talking nonstop, holding down the send button, preventing me from speaking. I was just waiting to see when you would finish, and it turned out to be now; big brother, you truly are a genius."

Bai Yang was stupefied.

The person on the other end had just finished saying so many words in one breath with rapid speed, then took a breath and paused.

"That counts as one word, right?"