The summer vacation is the peak season for internet cafes, whether they are legitimate or not. If you must ask about the difference, it's probably that legitimate ones are easier to find, while the illegitimate ones are harder to come across.
Hai Baihe decided to visit an underground internet cafe. These types of internet cafes don't even bother checking IDs, not to mention a young woman like her. The network administrator sat in front of his computer, engrossed in an 18+ movie without even looking up. "Five yuan per hour," he said.
"I'll take an hour," Hai Baihe paid the money, took a card, and found a computer in a corner to boot up.
Looking around, the internet cafe was filled with smoke. It was either elementary school students playing games or young adults watching explicit content. The smell of sweaty feet and body odor permeated the air. The weak air conditioning whirred, struggling to provide relief from the heat that was making her dizzy.
Ignoring the unpleasant smell, she accessed the largest gossip website in the country and posted a clickbait title: "Shocking! Mysterious creature spotted on the subway, definitely not photoshopped!" She uploaded the photo of the creature and refreshed the page after less than a minute. Numerous comments appeared, mostly consisting of "Is it real?", "OP is lying," "Definitely photoshopped," "Did you capture a dog?"
Hai Baihe minimized the page and started reading an interesting post-apocalyptic novel. Unfortunately, it was too short, only a few pages long. She closed it with regret and was about to check out celebrity gossip when a new email notification popped up in the top right corner.
The sender was a newly registered account with a string of random numbers as the ID.
790764245: [Where did you take this photo from?] Hai Baihe thought for a moment and replied, [Why are you so curious? Don't you suspect if it's real or fake?] 790764245: [I'm a fan of mysterious events, and I've had it analyzed. This is not photoshopped.] Hai Baihe: [No comment.]
790764245: [Name your price, just tell me the location.] Hai Baihe ignored him for the time being and went back to the post, reading through the comments again. One user, who had posted several educational posts about reptiles, commented, "It doesn't resemble any known reptile species." This ignited the curiosity of the onlookers, and everyone started speculating if it was an alien.
Hai Baihe found this line of thinking interesting and pondered over it for a while. It didn't seem impossible.
At that moment, 790764245 sent another message: [100,000 yuan. Tell me which subway station in Haicheng you took this in.] Hai Baihe was taken aback. In such a short time, the person had already pinpointed her location. She wasn't pleased. [Are you investigating me?] 790764245: [Don't be angry. I'm interested in all things mysterious. I can buy this information for 200,000 yuan. How about that?] Hai Baihe bit her finger. [500,000 yuan. Payment first, then I'll tell you the location. No negotiations.] 790764245: [Deal.]
Hai Baihe took a deep breath. 500,000 yuan wasn't a huge amount for her, but it wasn't a small sum for most people. She had only wanted to test if the person was genuinely interested or just playing around, maybe even a bored reporter looking for a story. But someone willing to pay 500,000 yuan for such information... either they were a genuine fool or they
knew something.
She hesitated, and 790764245 said, [I have one condition. After payment, you must forget about this matter. It will no longer concern you.] Hai Baihe became even more certain that there was something fishy going on behind this. She decided to turn the tables. [I only want the money. Account: xxxxxxxxxxx, I'll let you know the location once the payment is received.] After a few minutes, 790764245 messaged her again: [Payment has been made.] Hai Baihe quickly opened a website she regularly donated to for medical expenses for children with deformities. Every donation she made would be publicly announced on the website. She scrolled to the top of the announcements, where it showed: [Lily-chan donates 500,000 RMB to this organization, representing the sincere gratitude of the benefited children]. "Lily-chan" was the username she had randomly registered earlier. The speed of the transaction was astounding.
Hai Baihe licked her lips, suddenly excited about what might unfold. She messaged 790764245: [Haicheng Subway Line 17, Wanghai Tai Station. The photo was taken yesterday at around 3 PM.] 790764245: [Noted.]
Hai Baihe thought for a moment and tentatively asked, [Can I sell you any future information?] She clicked send but received a message that the account didn't exist. In just a minute, the person had already deleted the account.
She returned to the post, only to find that it had been deleted as well.
She leaned back in her worn-out chair and let out a long sigh.
On August 30th, Hai Baihe packed her things and prepared to return to school. Hai Youyu entered with several bags, saying, "I bought some food for you. Let's bring it together tomorrow and share it with our classmates."
"Okay," Hai Baihe dragged her words, sharing food with classmates seemed to be the best way for parents to build relationships. Since primary school, Hai Youyu would nag about it at the beginning of each school year.
Today was a workday, and Hai Baihe was afraid of getting stuck in traffic during rush hour, so she planned to leave early. As she passed by Wanghai Tai, she noticed a sign on the construction site that said "Construction Suspended." Her heart skipped a beat, and goosebumps rose on her arms. She quickly turned down the air conditioning by one notch.
"Patience," she told herself. This matter wasn't as simple as it seemed.
When she arrived at school, she didn't have time to think about it anymore. She had to collect new books, coordinate with her roommates for a meal, and Zhang Qihang came to see her, saying that the compensation negotiations with the school had been settled. They would reimburse her for medical expenses, directly deposited into the account she used to pay tuition.
Moreover, she was already a senior this year. She had completed all the required credits and was mainly focused on her internship.
She had to intern under a professor, although the pay was meager—800 yuan a month, barely enough to buy two lipsticks. But it had to be done.
Not only did she have to intern, but she also had to remember to write her thesis. Hai Baihe was incredibly busy, shuttling between the lab and the library.
Finally, when she had a weekend off, not working, Muge asked her to go shopping. She reluctantly declined, saying, "I can't. I have to go home and work on my thesis."
Muge didn't buy it. "Come on, can't you work on your thesis with me at the library? Be honest, are you
going on a date?"
"Alright, you caught me. I'll do some work this afternoon, and someone invited me for dinner tonight."
"Who? A junior from the Finance Department next door?" Since they had entered their senior year, they were now only referred to as "senior students" by the juniors. Muge looked a bit sad at the thought. "May-December romance!"
"No way! I've been really focused lately," Hai Baihe said, even though she was passively uninterested in others due to her lack of attraction to them and her busy schedule. But no matter what, she had become much more restrained recently.
Muge teased, "Bring me breakfast tomorrow morning!"
"Sure, darling," Hai Baihe blew her a kiss and happily went downstairs.
As she reached the entrance of the women's dormitory, she noticed Ni Xuexuan and Li Wenheng talking under a tree. Li Wenheng had given her something, and Ni Xuexuan accepted it with a beaming smile. Their shadows merged under the sunlight, hinting at a happy ending.
How nice, Hai Baihe thought. Regardless of what happened during her time traveling, returning to reality unchanged was the best thing that could happen.
After returning to her apartment, she checked the refrigerator. Besides alcohol and beverages, there was nothing else. She sent a WeChat message to Liang Xiao, asking if she should buy anything.
Liang Xiao replied, saying there was no need, and asked what she wanted to eat. He would bring it over later.
Hai Baihe responded with just one word: you.
Liang Xiao replied with an emoji patting its head.
Hai Baihe reminisced about her trip to Huyang Township. Liang Xiao didn't even know the phrase "seductive cheap tramp" back then. Since they started competing in wordplay, his repertoire of emojis had become increasingly diverse.
Since she didn't need to prepare, Hai Baihe went to her study to work on her thesis. But before that, she had to write a literature review. After completing that, she would propose a thesis topic to her advisor. Only after it was approved could she begin writing the actual thesis. Hai Baihe was still stuck at the first step.
Struggling through the vast sea of research papers and journals for an agonizing afternoon, she was startled when the doorbell rang. She jumped up eagerly to answer it.
Liang Xiao carried two bags and smiled when he saw her. "I came a bit early. I thought you weren't home."
"I'm working on my thesis today," Hai Baihe squatted down to give him slippers. "The struggles of a graduate student."
Liang Xiao couldn't help but give Hai Baihe a longer look. In their previous two meetings, she had been wearing makeup, but even without it, in her casual home attire and natural face, she looked beautiful. He reached out and pinched her cheek. "Rare to see you without makeup."
"Because I'm confident even without it," Hai Baihe wanted to say that it was because she had forgotten to apply makeup, but it wouldn't be good if he thought she wasn't serious enough.
But it seemed that Liang Xiao didn't think too much about it. "You look great. Where should I put the groceries?"
"Today, the kitchen is all yours," Hai Baihe stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. "I still have a bit of reading left." She indicated with her thumb and index finger that it was only a little bit left.
Liang Xiao chuckled. "No problem, you go ahead. I'll let you know when it's ready."
"Love you, Mr. Liang." Hai
Baihe blew him a kiss and went back to her study to continue reading.
Paleontology was a relatively niche field, and finding a job after graduation would undoubtedly be more difficult than in popular disciplines. But Hai Baihe had chosen it solely to uncover the truth about her origins.
Her dream had begun when she was very young. At that time, she was still a child and didn't know what those creatures were besides herself. She couldn't even differentiate between big and small. Later, while browsing a toy store, she saw a familiar-looking model. She bought it, and the shopkeeper told her that it was a model of a Canglong.
Canglong, a marine reptile from the Cretaceous period, a top-level predator that became extinct alongside dinosaurs.
From that moment, she knew what she should study.
The pursuit of one's origins seemed to be an unending human instinct. We search for our biological parents through DNA, we seek answers about where we come from in philosophy—from the personal to the collective, from the past to the future—it never stops.
So even if she wasn't particularly talented in her studies, she persisted. If nothing unexpected happened, she would continue studying until she had the opportunity to uncover the truth.
Unknowingly, she finished reading the latest research paper, stuck a sticky note for reference, and marked the important parts with a highlighter for later review. She was fully engrossed and didn't notice that Liang Xiao had entered the room once and had been leaning against the door, watching her the whole time.
"Wow, when did you come in?" she exclaimed, surprised.
Liang Xiao smiled and said, "A while ago. You're so diligent. Your grades must be excellent, right?"
Hai Baihe felt a bit disheartened. "Not really. Although I have some strengths in other areas, my intelligence is average. If I want more opportunities, I have to work harder."
She seemed glamorous, coming from a well-off family, with outstanding looks and numerous suitors. But the money she got from the demolition of her old home in Haicheng was nothing compared to the wealthy and influential people in the city. She was just comfortably middle class. However, compared to others, she considered herself extremely fortunate.
Even though she didn't have a mother and her true identity was a mystery, her father's love was enough to make up for everything (if only he stopped nagging her about having children). The money was mostly sufficient, allowing her to dress up beautifully. While her studies were challenging, they were still going well. She had good friends, had slept with many handsome men, and her sex life was harmonious.
Hmm... come to think of it, she seemed to be missing a fantastic boyfriend to be considered a winner in life. (????)