Life is impermanent

But then, a question occurred to Chi Bai, and he turned to Tang Hao.‘Do you speak Cantonese over there?’

Tang Hao cast a fleeting glance his way, a barely perceptible curve touching the corner of his lips.‘Yeah, what did you think it was?’

Chi Bai sighed inwardly.‘…Alright, I get it.’

A subtle difference, however, emerged in Tang Hao’s voice when he spoke Cantonese compared to his Mandarin; it possessed a strangely pleasant resonance.

Chi Bai scratched his head.‘But you don’t have an accent.’

Tang Hao simply replied, ‘I’m from the North.’

Chi Bai shot him a surprised glance, but just as he was about to inquire about his hometown, the lights abruptly flickered off.

Outside, the stadium loudspeakers blared a lights-out chime, seemingly pulled from some forgotten archive, momentarily transporting Chi Bai back to his school days.

Having been propped against the headboard, he now slid down completely, settling comfortably on the bed.Chi Bai couldn’t resist rolling from side to side, though the thin mattress offered little cushioning against the tables and chairs beneath, making it feel akin to sleeping on a hard plank.

Had he not been utterly exhausted that day, sleep would have surely eluded him.

****

He couldn’t speak for others, but when Chi Bai finally awoke, he felt utterly refreshed and invigorated.It had been an age since he’d enjoyed the luxury of waking naturally, unburdened by the tyranny of an alarm clock.

He sat up, casting a reluctant glance at the unmistakable bulge beneath the blanket, and pressed a hand to his forehead, unable to meet its gaze directly.True to his habit of deferring any difficult decision, Chi Bai resolved to address it with ‘cold violence’ – leaving it alone, certain it would subside on its own after a while.Probably.

A glance at his watch revealed it was only half-past six, still an hour and a half before the scheduled eight o’clock training.Chi Bai had initially considered heading for breakfast, but then the thought struck him that the meal might still be in preparation.Moreover, recalling his past unpleasant experiences of running to the point of nausea after eating, he decided it would be better to eat after the training session.

Suddenly, a thought pricked his mind, and Chi Bai scrolled back through the district group chat, carefully re-reading Lei Yi’s notification from the previous day.He then discovered the mealtime, which had entirely escaped his notice amidst the shock of the training announcement: ‘After training ends.’

Furthermore, the base would provide meals free of charge for the next seven days, after which contribution points would be required.

Chi Bai considered the contribution points he had amassed yesterday and concluded that this would pose no issue for him.

Yet, driven by his professional inclination to suggest optimizations, he resolved to mention a few points to Lei Yi when they next met.

Firstly, concerning the humid and stifling weather of Guangdong Province (TL Note: Guangdong Province, often referred to as Yue Province, is known for its humid and hot climate), cutting power at night was acceptable, but could they not cut the air conditioning? Fine, air conditioning consumed too much electricity, but then perhaps some fans? Even hand fans would suffice; he had nearly been roused from sleep by the heat last night.

Secondly, since contribution points would be deducted after a week, could there not be a card-swiping machine or similar device for direct deductions? He had observed Liu Yang meticulously logging contribution points in a group document yesterday, and surely, deducting them manually would prove incredibly cumbersome.

As his mind drifted through these various thoughts, that troublesome ‘thing’ unconsciously subsided.Chi Bai wiped a hand across his face, then surveyed the still-sleeping forms around him.He quietly slipped out of bed, intending to head to the washroom to freshen up.It was a rare occasion for him to rise so early, and the air outside felt refreshingly crisp, inviting him to perhaps take a short stroll.

Upon reaching the washroom, he discovered he wasn’t the only early riser.He didn’t recognize the others, so he simply offered a polite nod, considering it a sufficient greeting.

From his backpack, Chi Bai retrieved the toiletries he had brought from home and meticulously cleaned himself.Given his past disinterest in makeup or facial creams, he possessed no cosmetics or skincare products, which not only saved considerable space in his bag but also made his morning routine remarkably simple.

Chi Bai leisurely strolled onto the corridor, leaning against the railing outside his door to gaze into the distance.Were it not for the faint, intermittent howls of beasts echoing from afar — sounds unmistakably alien to a city — the scene before him would have been indistinguishable from those he’d witnessed every morning on his way to work.

The same towering skyscrapers, the same blazing sun; only the insistent blare of car horns was conspicuously absent.

Chi Bai sighed, lamenting the true unpredictability of life, a sentiment captured by the phrase ‘large intestine wrapping small intestine’ (TL Note: ‘dà cháng bāo xiǎo cháng’ (大肠包小肠) literally means ‘large intestine wrapping small intestine,’ a Taiwanese snack, used here metaphorically to mean ‘things are unpredictable’ or ‘what a twist of fate’).Would his former self, riding public transport, ever have conceived of a day when the world would be utterly transformed?

Perhaps, for he had always been well-read, and had fantasized countless times about traversing time and space to become a great hero, a savior of worlds.

Chi Bai raised an eyebrow, a wry smile playing on his lips.He had never imagined that when his dreams finally materialized, he would find himself longing for the tranquil normalcy of his former life.

The door behind him slowly creaked open, revealing a sleepy-eyed Tang Hao.His action of rubbing his eyes momentarily faltered upon seeing Chi Bai, before he casually offered a greeting and proceeded towards the washroom.

Chi Bai glanced at his watch: half-past seven.He had been standing there, lost in thought, for an entire hour.

A soft chime echoed in his mind.He opened his interface to find a private message notification blinking.Clicking it, he saw it was the temporary group Lei Yi had formed yesterday, now renamed to ‘Guangdong Province S City XX District Field Patrol Team.’

Within the group, Lei Yi had @-mentioned everyone, informing them that they would forego this morning’s training.Instead, at eight o’clock, they were to eat breakfast and then immediately head out to continue yesterday’s mission.

He then proceeded to assign each small team their designated area for the day.He had included a photograph, seemingly a mission map provided with the task itself, which he had edited to delineate eight major sections: the cardinal directions of North, South, East, and West, along with the four corners, totaling eight distinct zones.

Chi Bai and Lin Feng were assigned to search towards the coast today, a development that instantly dashed Chi Bai’s hopes.He had secretly wished they would continue in yesterday’s direction, allowing him a chance to swing by home and retrieve his razor and other forgotten essentials.

He had left it right there on the counter; how on earth had he missed it? Honestly.

Beneath Lei Yi’s message, replies of ‘Received’ began to trickle in, one after another, much to Chi Bai’s amusement.‘Even in the apocalypse,’ he mused, a chuckle escaping him, ‘we can’t escape the obligatory “received” confirmation.How utterly ridiculous!’