Chapter 36
The light didn't "brighten" up; it was like cheap paint being diluted with water, slowly seeping into the darkness. Shi Ye was awakened by a rustling sound and... a slight chewing sound.
She opened her eyes. The guest room curtains weren't fully drawn, letting in a pale, grayish light that barely illuminated the room. Lin Xiaoyu was already awake, sitting cross-legged on the other side of the bed, clutching her rabbit-shaped pillow, holding her phone in one hand, and taking something out of an open snack bag on the bedside table with the other. It seemed to be…bear-shaped cookies?
Seeing Shi Ye wake up, Lin Xiaoyu's eyes lit up. Her cheeks were still puffed out as she mumbled, "Sister Shi Ye, you're awake! Are you hungry? I have cookies!" She held up a bag of snacks, which contained children's cookies of various shapes.
Shi Ye struggled to sit up, feeling as if he had been run over by a truck, his head spinning. "What time is it?"
"It's 4:30!" Lin Xiaoyu glanced at her phone. "It's still not fully light. Senior is outside; it seems like she hasn't slept at all." She lowered her voice and leaned closer. "Sister Shi, was there a power outage last night? I think I vaguely heard you talking, and the TV was on? Did you watch a horror movie?"
Shi Ye looked into her clear, innocent eyes, which were filled with a thirst for gossip, and was momentarily speechless. What should she say? Should she say that the TV turned on by itself and there was a pixelated version of her, Shi Ye, pointing to herself? Should she say that the computer had come back to life and written a distress message?
"Yes, the power tripped." She chose the simplest and most harmless explanation. "It was fixed later."
"Oh." Lin Xiaoyu nodded, clearly accepting the explanation, and her attention returned to the cookies. "Sister Shi, do you want some? This chocolate flavor is delicious."
Shi Ye shook her head, threw back the covers, and got out of bed. The wound on the sole of her foot still hurt a little when it touched the carpet, but it was much better than last night. She changed back into her wrinkled cartoon cat pajamas (the loungewear Lin Xiaoyu brought was too big) and planned to wash up.
The sight in the living room made her pause for a moment when she opened the guest room door.
The lights weren't on—the power hadn't been restored since the outage last night. But the living room wasn't dark, because Qi Jin had drawn all the curtains, letting in the hazy, grayish-white light of the city before dawn, which was barely enough to make out what was happening.
Qi Jin was still sitting on the sofa, her posture almost unchanged from when she left last night, except that she now held a glass of water. She had changed back into her usual shirt and trousers, her hair neatly tied back, and the bandage on her forehead was perfectly aligned. Apart from the faint dark circles under her eyes, it was almost impossible to tell that she hadn't slept all night, nor that she had looked disheveled last night.
Hearing the door open, she turned her head and her gaze fell on Shi Ye.
"You're awake." She put down her water glass. "How's your foot?"
"It's alright." Shi Ye walked over, his gaze sweeping over the still-black screens of the TV and laptop. "The power... is still not back on?"
"Hmm." Qi Jin stood up. "I checked the electrical box and emergency power supply. The wiring is fine, but it won't start. I've already contacted the property management and an electrician. They'll come over after six." She glanced at Shi Ye's bare feet. "Go wash up first, I'll find you a pair of shoes."
She walked to the storage cabinet in the entryway and took out a brand new pair of women's soft-soled slippers, still with the tags on... off-white, with a little bit of velvet.
Shi Ye looked at the slippers, which were clearly not Qi Jin's style, with some confusion.
"The samples the brand sent us before, we've been keeping them." Qi Jin explained naturally, placing the slippers beside her feet.
When I put them on, they fit perfectly. The soft soles comfortably enveloped my injured foot.
"Thank you," she said.
Qi Jin nodded, said nothing more, and turned to walk towards the kitchen. "I'll go make coffee."
Shi Ye quickly washed up in the bathroom. Her reflection in the mirror showed a pale face, dark circles under her eyes, and messy hair. Combined with her childish pajamas, she looked utterly wretched. She splashed cold water on her face, trying to wake herself up.
When she came out, the aroma of coffee was already filling the air. Lin Xiaoyu, carrying a rabbit plushie, sidled into the living room and sat on the armrest of the sofa, sipping a cup of... hot milk? that Qi Jin had handed her. There was also a small plate of cut fruit in front of her.
"Sister Shi, the coffee you made smells so good!" Lin Xiaoyu said proudly, then pointed to the fruit, "You cut it, and it's so sweet!"
Shi Ye looked towards the open kitchen. Qi Jin stood with her back to them in front of the coffee machine, the morning light outlining her tall and slender figure. Three cups of coffee sat on the island counter, and the toaster hummed softly.
This scene... has a strangely warm feeling to it. If you ignore last night's thrilling events and the appliances malfunctioning.
Shi Ye walked over and picked up one of the coffee cups. It was black coffee, without sugar or milk, with a rich, bitter aroma.
"Yours." Qi Jin didn't even turn his head. He placed the two slices of toasted bread on a plate and pushed it in front of her. The bread was toasted perfectly, with slightly charred edges and a thin layer of butter on it.
Shi Ye looked at the plate of bread, then at the empty counter in front of Qi Jin. "And you?"
"I've already eaten." Qi Jin picked up his cup of coffee and took a sip.
Shi Ye didn't believe it. She checked the time; it was only 4:50. When had Qi Jin "eaten"? In his dream?
But she didn't say anything, and silently picked up a slice of bread and took a bite. It was warm, crispy, and the salty aroma of butter mixed with the scent of wheat. It tasted great.
Lin Xiaoyu, holding her milk cup, looked at Shi Ye, then at Qi Jin, blinked her big eyes, and suddenly asked, "Senior, Sister Shi Ye, did you two... have a fight last night?"
Shi Ye almost choked on the bread.
Qi Jin turned his head to look at Lin Xiaoyu, his expression unchanged: "Why do you ask that?"
"Because the atmosphere was weird," Lin Xiaoyu said honestly. "You seemed very tired, and Sister Shi Ye also looked preoccupied. And..." She hesitated for a moment, "Sister Shi Ye seemed to have had a nightmare last night and was talking in her sleep."
Shi Ye's heart tightened. Was she talking in her sleep? What did she say? Did she reveal about the system and the Honkai Impact 3rd?
"What did I say?" she asked, trying to remain calm.
Lin Xiaoyu tilted her head and recalled, "I couldn't hear clearly, just a few words, something like 'Don't come any closer,' 'code,' 'Help'... It sounded pretty scary."
Shi Ye breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, no crucial information had been leaked.
Qi Jin glanced at Shi Ye with a deep look in his eyes, but did not ask any further questions. He simply said to Lin Xiaoyu, "She was frightened last night."
"Oh..." Lin Xiaoyu accepted the explanation and then perked up again, "By the way, senior! Professor Wang said the preliminary results for my design competition will be out next week! If I make it to the finals, I might need more materials and a live presentation. Could you come and support me then?"
The topic changed quickly, but it successfully dispelled the slightly awkward atmosphere from before.
"It depends on the schedule," Qi Jin said, his tone softening. "If I can get in, I'll try my best."
"That's great!" Lin Xiaoyu cheered, then, as if remembering something, her face suddenly flushed and her voice softened, "Um... if I make it to the semi-finals, could I... invite someone to come and watch?"
Shi Ye and Qi Jin looked at her at the same time.
Lin Xiaoyu's face turned even redder, her fingers unconsciously tugging at the rabbit's ears: "It's...it's the person I said I liked before..."
Oh. Shi Ye remembered. Lin Xiaoyu confessed her feelings, and the other party said she needed to think about it.
"Did he agree?" Shi asked.
"I haven't officially agreed yet..." Lin Xiaoyu hesitated for a moment, "but he said he would seriously consider my invitation! So I think if I can make it to the semi-finals and perform well, maybe... he'll make up his mind!"
Her eyes sparkled, filled with a young girl's aspirations and fighting spirit.
Qi Jin was silent for a moment, then asked, "Do you need me to help arrange seating?"
"No need, no need!" Lin Xiaoyu quickly waved her hand. "I'll do it myself! I want to rely on my own strength!" She clenched her fist. "I must perform well in this competition!"
Seeing her vibrant energy, Shi Ye felt a little less gloomy. At least, in this crumbling world, there were still people striving for their simple passions and dreams.
"Keep it up," Shi Ye said.
"Yes!" Lin Xiaoyu nodded vigorously, then looked at Qi Jin, "Senior, you have to do your best too! Catch that bad guy who hurt you!"
Qi Jin's lips curved into an almost imperceptible smile: "Okay."
The coffee was finished, the bread was gone, and the fruit was all gone. The sky outside the window brightened a bit more, transitioning from grayish-white to light blue.
Qi Jin's phone rang. She walked to the living room window to answer it, her voice low and the content unclear, but judging from her slightly serious expression, it was probably about the progress of the investigation into last night's incident.
Shi Ye was clearing away the cups and plates, while Lin Xiaoyu was helping to wipe the table.
"Sister Shi," Lin Xiaoyu said softly while wiping, "I think you really care about me."
Shi Ye paused for a moment.
“Look, she remembered that you don’t like coffee with sugar, she remembered to toast the bread a little crispier, and she even prepared slippers that fit you well.” Lin Xiaoyu counted on her fingers, “And she definitely didn’t sleep last night, she was waiting outside the whole time. I got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and saw her sitting on the sofa through the crack in the door, not moving at all.”
Shi Ye didn't say anything, but simply placed the clean cup on the drain rack.
“So, Sister Shi,” Lin Xiaoyu put down the rag and looked at her seriously, “no matter what you’re worried about, give her a chance. She’s really a good person.”
Looking into her sincere eyes, Shi Ye felt as if a small pebble had been thrown into the stagnant water of his heart, creating a shallow ripple.
“I know,” she said softly.
But what kind of opportunity can she offer? An "opportunity" that involves being bound to a system, burdened with a bizarre mission, and possibly forcibly linked to the world?
Qi Jin returned after finishing his call, his expression now calm.
“The police have retrieved more surveillance footage and found a clear frontal view of the person who disguised himself as a cleaner to enter the parking lot.” She looked at Shi Ye and Lin Xiaoyu. “It’s not anyone Qin Ming’s men are known to be involved. Their identity is still being verified.”
"Not one of Qin Ming's men?" Lin Xiaoyu asked in surprise. "Then who could it be?"
Qi Jin shook his head: "I'm not sure. But after leaving the parking lot, this person got into a black sedan without license plates and drove around the main surveillance cameras. Very professional."
Things seem to have become more complicated.
"And what about your car?" Shi asked.
"It's been towed away and is undergoing a full inspection," Qi Jin said. "In addition, based on my description, the police found the car that rear-ended me. The driver was seriously injured and unconscious, and is still in critical condition. There was nothing in the car to identify him, and the car was also stolen."
The trail seems to have gone cold again.
Lin Xiaoyu was somewhat discouraged: "Then what should we do?"
“Wait,” Qi Jin said. “Wait for the driver to wake up, wait for his identity to be verified, wait for the vehicle inspection results.” She paused and looked at Shi Ye. “Also, wait for the electrician to come and see what exactly caused last night’s ‘power outage’.”
She deliberately added a subtle tone to the word "tripped".
Shi Ye understood what she meant. Last night's power outage was likely not an accident.
Just then, the doorbell rang.
It should be the property management or electrician who has arrived.
Qi Jin went to open the door. There were two people standing outside, one wearing a property management uniform and the other carrying a tool bag; they looked like electricians.
But Qi Jin didn't let them in immediately. She stood at the door and seemed to be whispering a few words to the people outside.
Shi Ye vaguely heard the property management staff say, "...Ms. Qi, it's not just your unit; the entire building experienced varying degrees of electrical abnormalities at the same time last night, but only your unit suffered a complete power outage, and the emergency power supply failed... We are currently investigating the cause, which may involve..."
I couldn't hear what was said after that.
Qi Jin stepped aside to let them in. The electrician began inspecting the electrical box and wiring.
Shi Ye and Lin Xiaoyu stood in the living room, watching the electrician work. Lin Xiaoyu muttered softly, "Is the whole building having problems? What a coincidence?"
Shi Ye's heart sank. The entire building? That meant the "abnormality" last night might have a wider impact than she thought. Was it aimed at Qi Jin, or... at the "point" she was in?
The electrician checked for a while, his expression growing increasingly puzzled. "Strange... the wiring is all continuous, and the switches are fine. The emergency power supply trigger seems to be... being interfered with by something, unable to receive the power outage signal." He scratched his head. "This kind of fault... is very rare."
Qi Jin stood to the side, his expression calm: "Can it be fixed?"
"It's possible, but you just need to reset the trigger and recalibrate it," the electrician said. "But the cause is hard to say. It could be a sudden voltage fluctuation, or... strong electromagnetic interference nearby?"
Strong electromagnetic interference? Shi Ye recalled the sharp pain in his head and the abnormality on the computer screen last night.
The electrician began to repair it. After a while, he pressed the switch.
Snap.
The living room lights came on.
Immediately afterwards, the TV's standby indicator light came on, the refrigerator started humming again, and the air conditioner vents began to blow out a gentle breeze.
Power has been restored.
Everything seems... back to normal.
The electrician checked again, confirmed there were no problems, and left with the property management staff.
The three of them were left alone in the apartment again.
The lights dispelled the pre-dawn gloom and revealed the weariness on everyone's faces.
"Senior, the power's back on!" Lin Xiaoyu said happily, then yawned widely. "Shall I... go back to sleep for a bit?" She looked at Shi Ye, "What about you, Sister Shi Ye?"
Shi Ye was also tired, but she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep.
“I’ll sit a little longer,” she said.
"Okay, I'm going then." Lin Xiaoyu hugged her Anxin Rabbit, wobbled back to the guest room, and closed the door.
Only Shi Ye and Qi Jin remained in the living room.
Under the lights, the dark circles under Qi Jin's eyes were even more pronounced. But she still stood straight, looking at the apartment now brightly lit, her eyes thoughtful.
“Shi Ye,” she suddenly spoke, “the ‘helper’ that was written on the computer last night…”
Shi Ye looked at her.
“What do you think,” Qi Jin turned to look at her directly, “if it really needs help, how should we ‘help’ it?”
Shi Ye had no answer to this question either.
She looked at Qi Jin's tired but still determined eyes, at this woman who, amidst the chaos, was still trying to sort things out and grasp every possible clue.
That little, deeply rooted thought in my mind seemed to be surfacing a little more.
“Perhaps…” Shi Ye heard himself say, “First, we need to figure out what it really is, and…”
She paused.
"And what exactly is the 'wrong' it's talking about?"
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