The sudden shout startled Song Ge, too.
Tong Xiangyu woke to find Song Ge standing by the bed. She let out a breath of relief. “Sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing to me?” Song Ge asked. “What were you dreaming about?”
“What happened at school.”
“Like what?”
“…Falling out of the school building.”
Song Ge thought she’d said jumping. “You’re a real coward.”
Tong Xiangyu thought, You think everyone’s as brave as you? She was sleepy and wanted to go back to bed, but when she saw Song Ge dressed in long sleeves and pants, she grew wary and sat up at once. “Where are you going?”
Song Ge thought, I’m not going anywhere. I already came back.
“Nowhere. Are you hungry?”
Tong Xiangyu was, of course. She’d either thrown up or had diarrhea after eating the night before, and now her stomach felt painfully empty. But when she thought of the food Song Ge had at home, she forced herself to shake her head. “I’m fine.”
“Why are you trying so hard to tough it out?” Song Ge said. “You think I only have compressed biscuits and sausages?”
Tong Xiangyu corrected her. “Those are starch sausages.”
“Same thing.”
“They’re not the same at all…”
Song Ge took the bag of snacks out of the cabinet.
Tong Xiangyu’s eyes widened. “Where did you get all this?” Even through the bag, it was obvious these weren’t things someone like Song Ge would buy.
“The landlady gave them to me.” Song Ge put the bag on the bed and leaned against the table, making up a story on the spot. “Her daughter comes over all the time and loves snacks. The landlady was worried her daughter would eat mine and get sick, so she bought a bag to keep here.”
“Then they’re for her daughter. I can’t eat them.”
“You’re silly. Just buy her more later.”
Tong Xiangyu had never been called silly before. But after a moment, she decided Song Ge was right. She could replace them with even better snacks later.
“Take a look,” Song Ge said. “See if there’s anything you can eat.”
“I can eat anything.”
“Right. And then you get diarrhea.”
“I didn’t get diarrhea because I ate your food last night.” Now that there was food around, Tong Xiangyu felt much better. She still insisted, “I got scared yesterday. That’s all.”
“Want me to get you biscuits and dried meat?”
Tong Xiangyu immediately opened the bag and started looking for something to eat, pretending not to hear Song Ge.
Song Ge smiled at the sight.
Tong Xiangyu heard her and sneaked a glance upward.
Sunlight poured through the half-window and fell across Song Ge’s face. Her expression was half a smile, half a smirk.
Song Ge wasn’t strikingly beautiful. She had a straight nose and a mouth with a thinner upper lip and fuller lower lip. She was a little thin, with a sharply defined jawline and skin that wasn’t especially pale but was clear and healthy. Her short hair was neat and practical, her bangs brushing her eyebrows. A small mole sat on her thin right eyelid. When her eyes were lowered, it was visible; when she looked up, it disappeared into the crease.
For a girl, Song Ge was tall, though her build was on the slender side.
Tong Xiangyu couldn’t imagine how someone as thin as Song Ge had managed to hold her twice when they escaped from school.
There was something unusual about Song Ge, too.
She wasn’t gloomy, as people said. On the contrary, seeing her now made Tong Xiangyu feel safe. It was as if there was nothing to worry about or fear. Even if the sky fell, Song Ge would just keep eating and sleeping.
Tong Xiangyu thought, When Dad sends someone to get me, I’ll make sure Song Ge comes along. I’ll give her lots of nice things to thank her for saving me.
“Why are you looking at me?”
Tong Xiangyu had been lost in thought. She quickly looked away, her ears turning red with embarrassment. “Sorry.”
“Do good students like you go around saying ‘sorry’ all the time?” Song Ge asked. Then she heard something. She turned toward the window and straightened up. She took a newspaper from the table and used tape to cover the window.
Tong Xiangyu noticed the room grow darker. She turned to watch Song Ge and asked, “Why are you covering the window?”
“Nothing worth looking at.” As Song Ge taped the corner of the window, a bloodied arm flew into view and slapped against the glass. Her hand jerked, but her voice stayed calm. “We’ll just wait for rescue.”
“Then download the map app.”
“I’m not downloading it. My phone’s dead.”
“You can charge it.”
The room had grown dimmer with the window covered. Song Ge went over and turned on the light. “You’re so noisy. Eat something.”
“I’m not eating.” Tong Xiangyu was annoyed that Song Ge was going back on her word. She looked at her. “You promised yesterday you’d download the map app and call my dad’s company! How can you go back on your word?”
“Fine. Let me ask you something. Have you considered that your parents might have turned into monsters?”
“Impossible!” Tong Xiangyu said. “My dad has more than ten bodyguards with him. The monsters couldn’t get near him!”
Then congratulations. He’ll be one of the hardest people to save.
But Song Ge only said, “Whether it’s possible or not, let’s just talk about it. Then I’ll give you my phone. If your parents are dead and have turned into monsters, what are you going to do?”
Tong Xiangyu was silent for a long time. Suddenly her pretty eyes reddened, her voice filling with tears. “Then I don’t want to live either…”
Song Ge watched Miss Tong’s tears spill over the moment she was asked. They soaked the girl’s palms. She wasn’t surprised. Tong Xiangyu was a delicate flower who’d never weathered a storm. Song Ge tossed her the phone.
Tong Xiangyu picked it up through her sobs, then noticed the map app was already installed.
She looked at Song Ge.
Song Ge didn’t look back. She returned to the stool, closed her eyes, and leaned against the wall to rest.
Tong Xiangyu opened the app and saw her father’s company in the search history.
Then she remembered what Song Ge had asked.
Suddenly, fear and hesitation welled up inside her. She couldn’t bring herself to tap the search result. After a long pause, she tightened her grip on the phone and looked at Song Ge. “After something like this, my dad’s employees must all be off work and back home.”
Song Ge asked with her eyes closed, “Then do you remember your home phone number?”
“I don’t.”
Tong Xiangyu said it with complete confidence. “So you have to take me home!”
Song Ge laughed in disbelief and opened her eyes. “Why should I?”
Tong Xiangyu felt safe around Song Ge, but they’d only known each other for a couple of days. She didn’t quite dare push her luck. Her voice softened. “Because you brought me here. Maybe if you hadn’t, my dad would’ve sent someone to rescue me from school already.”
That was nonsense. If Song Ge hadn’t taken her, she’d have been bitten in the classroom and turned into a monster.
Song Ge said, “You have a point.”
Tong Xiangyu’s eyes brightened. “So you’ll take me?”
“No.” Song Ge closed her eyes again. “You made a good argument, but don’t say it again. Stay here and wait for rescue.”
Tong Xiangyu pouted. She wasn’t happy about it. She opened the snack bag and took out a piece of chocolate. After half of it, she felt a little better. She twisted open a bottle of water and took two small sips, then opened a bag of cucumber-flavored chips. When she finished them, she tied the shopping bag shut.
There was only one bag. She needed to make it last.
Once she’d eaten and drunk her fill, Tong Xiangyu finally turned to the real question. “When are the rescue teams coming?”
Song Ge rested with her eyes closed, her voice lazy. “How would I know? They’ll have to figure out what kind of virus this is first. Otherwise they’ll just be sending people to their deaths.”
“Why is there a virus like this?” Tong Xiangyu asked. “I mean, why did it break out outside at the same time as it did at school?”
“It spread during the incubation period,” Song Ge said.
Tong Xiangyu said, “If this virus has an incubation period, isn’t that terrible? We’re a provincial capital. People come and go from all over the country every day, and there are even more international flights. If the virus can spread while people are still in the incubation period, then it could break out in lots of cities—or even lots of countries. What did the trending topics say yesterday?”
Song Ge was startled. She opened her eyes.
That was right. If people didn’t realize the virus could spread during its incubation period, it could travel anywhere before they knew what was happening.
But once the incubation period ended, the outbreak would begin.
There shouldn’t have been only one trending topic about Kecheng.
Wait.
Song Ge’s heart lurched.
What if there had been other trending topics before, and those had been buried, too?
