Once We Lived in Nanjing

Ban Xia found it hard to understand.

BG4MXH said this was a complex physics problem.

The word physics sounds complex.

Complex physics problems, that's complexity squared, Ban Xia knew with her toes that she couldn't figure it out.

So she simply stopped thinking about it.

Let her toes stay comfortably in the slippers then; she had already been too hard on her toes by traveling all day, wouldn't it be too much to ask them to ponder problems?

It's time to wash her feet.

She bent her knees, pulled off both socks, tied them into a knot, and with a slight aim, she tossed them—they hit the target right at the head of the bed!

Ban Xia put on her slippers, dragged the washbasin out from under the bed, pulled the bare towel from the hook behind the door, and then carried the basin to the dark living room to pour hot water.

In October, when the weather was still hot, she didn't need much hot water to wash up.

Next, she scooped several ladles of clean water into the bathroom, carried half a basin of water back to her room, first placed the basin on the floor, then sat on the edge of the bed.

She touched her hair, twisted it, smelled it, hesitated for two seconds wondering if it was oily enough to fry eggplant with.

Nope.

Alright, then no washing hair tonight.

Ban Xia used a hair tie to wrap her hair into a bun at the back of her head, revealing her slender neck like a ballet dancer, then bent down to fish out the towel and wrung it dry for washing her face.

Ban Xia's skin was very fair, fair enough to make her teacher envious.

The teacher often pinched her face, studied it for a long while, then asked, "Girl, why can't you tan?"

In front of the fan, the girl wiped her body, and after she finished, the blowing air felt especially cool.

She pulled the collar of her nightgown, blowing air into it.

Finally, washing her feet, Ban Xia soaked both feet in the water, bent down, and slowly massaged and rubbed.

From her knees down, gradually squeezing to the tips of her toes, then from the tips around to the heels, her insteps and toes still soft and pale, but the soles had a rough layer of calluses. In this world without other forms of transport, Ban Xia could only rely on her bicycle and her legs; when her teacher was still around, she'd often kneel in front of Ban Xia to massage her feet. The teacher's fingers were slender and strong, and very skilled, gently pressing from the soles upward to the calves, helping her to flex ligaments and relax muscles, until the girl's feet turned red from the hot water.

The teacher always said, surviving in this world, living relies on a pair of feet.

Having feet is great; they can run and jump.

Ban Xia had seen with her own eyes her teacher take off one of her feet, then lean it against the wall and tap on it.

That calf had no muscles, no veins, no skin and bones, it was made of metal and plastic framework, the teacher called it a prosthetic limb.

Where did the teacher's original foot go?

She said it was vaporized.

Even though one foot was artificial, the teacher was still agile, Ban Xia had never seen anyone as capable as her teacher, who was also a very young woman.

Ban Xia leaned back on the bed, grabbed the plastic lamp from the bedside.

She turned on the lamp, closed her eyes, the faint light passed through her eyelids into her pupils, landing on her retina, and in the darkness, Ban Xia saw a dark red circle.

She knew that was the color of light through blood vessels, opened her eyes, and the bright LED light pierced into her eyes, Ban Xia instinctively squinted, the dark red circle turned into a white halo.

Closing her eyes again, the light lingered on her retina, the aperture still present but gradually dissipating. She opened her eyes again, and the light shot straight into her pupils.

Ban Xia repeatedly opened and closed her eyes, the dark red edge on the retina becoming clearer. It rolled and twinkled in front of the girl, eventually breaking away from the dark background to form a red eyeball.

Ban Xia abruptly opened her eyes and touched her forehead.

There was a bit of sweat on her forehead, unsure if it was from the heat.

BG4MXH said he needed to figure out the cause of all this, that it was critical to all actions. Only by understanding the reason behind the world's impending destruction could they possibly pull it back from the brink.

Is this really possible?

BG4MXH said it was possible because the humans of that era possessed immense power.

Yet in the girl's eyes, didn't the Civilization with such great power still get destroyed? Ban Xia's world and BG4MXH's world were the same, only in different eras. If humanity hadn't been destroyed, she wouldn't be living here alone.

Ban Xia didn't know the real reason for the world's destruction. If she knew, she would have told BG4MXH long ago. Surely someone in the world must have known how it ended, but now they are gone. With only vague memories of the apocalypse, could BG4MXH possibly uncover the real truth behind the doomsday?

Ban Xia silently thought, slowly lifting her leg and then letting it fall, gently tapping the surface of the water.

With a "slap!" her foot met the water, lifting a trail of droplets.

Are these efforts really meaningful?

Can history that has already occurred be changed?

BG4MXH himself is already dead, having perished in the upheavals and disasters of the past twenty years, along with all his family, friends, and those he relied upon. Ban Xia is effectively talking to a ghost, speaking to a spirit lingering in the electromagnetic world.

Can ghosts and spirits alter their own destiny?

If they really can change the future and alter the history as they experienced, preventing humanity from a fate of destruction, what would the world become?

Would it instantly revert to a bustling city full of life?

What would she become?

Would she still exist?

Would the Ban Xia who loves singing, is skilled in archery, can catch fish and cook but still struggles through life still exist?

Would all her experiences, all her memories, vanish in a blink?

Would another Ban Xia replace the one lying here?

The girl thought silently.

In BG4MXH's words, this is a complex physics problem.

Ban Xia thought with her toes, knowing well they couldn't figure it out.

But in that other world at the other end of the radio signal, there are 6.5 billion people. Let them ponder this issue. With such an unimaginable number, Ban Xia believed there must be heroes who can save the world. She lazily lay on her bed, turning her head to look at the wooden photo frame on the windowsill, which emitted a dim green glow and contained a tiny painting of an old comrade cleaving a steel behemoth with a bolt of lightning.

Who is that person?

He's so powerful, surely he can save the world, right?

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(Author's casual conversation: Next is a friend's recommendation time, recommending a book for novice fishermen, a theme of conquering the Otherworld, "The Otherworld Conquest Handbook.")