The sun hung in the sky as if it had never disappeared. After several months, it reappeared high above, and when the first person noticed this unusually bright morning, excited screams and shouts echoed throughout the neighborhood. Many people were jolted awake from their dreams, initially thinking someone in the neighborhood had died. As they groggily opened their eyes and saw the faint light penetrating through tightly drawn curtains, they were first stunned and then rushed to the windows. When the curtains were pulled open, the warm, radiant light filled the entire room instantly, creating an almost surreal feeling of returning to life.
Qin Huai was woken by the noise outside. He first glanced at his phone, lighting up the screen; it was still not yet five in the morning. Then he noticed that the light in the room was different from usual. Turning to the balcony, the light seeping through the tightly closed curtains told him that this morning was different. He, too, joined everyone in pulling back the curtains that had shielded them from darkness for months, rediscovering the warmth of the sunlight.
Shouts, cries, and even joyous roars of apparent rebirth filled the neighborhood. Even though people had always trusted the government and life had gradually returned to normal despite the haze, nothing compared to the excitement of facing sunlight free of any haze, which made the dark past seem even more profound.
As soon as the curtains were drawn, blinding light flooded the room, forcing Mu Nan, who had already been woken by the noise, to sit up in bed. The strong light was jarring after the darkness, and he instinctively squinted his eyes. Qin Huai quickly moved to shield him from the intense sunlight and said with a gravity that contrasted with the outside jubilation, "Nan Nan, the haze is gone."
Mu Nan looked up at Qin Huai against the backlight, smiled, and reached out his hand. This time, he was no longer alone. Even though he was still afraid, he had found more courage to live.
Mu Nan knew that when the haze disappeared, the toxic spores that had claimed countless lives also vanished, leaving no trace behind. While others were busy celebrating and experiencing rebirth, he was focused on asking Qin Huai for help to remove the plastic tape that had been sealing the window gaps.
Although the windows in their home had been newly replaced, and Mu Nan had supervised the installation to ensure they were airtight, Qin Huai had later taped all the window gaps for extra precaution. Even though Mu Nan felt that it was impossible to maintain complete airtightness given the need to go outside occasionally, he still went along with Qin Huai's precautionary measures to ease his mind. Now that the sun was out and the haze was gone, the tape was no longer necessary.
As people realized the significance of the sun's return and the haze's disappearance, most of them stayed at home, carefully monitoring their phones to see if the haze had cleared in their areas or elsewhere. They were also concerned about whether the outside environment was safe and if the virus had dissipated along with the haze.
With the sun just out and the haze just gone, and given that the government had no predictive abilities, they couldn't announce that the disaster was over without conducting thorough research. Therefore, today's emergency announcement was to continue staying at home and not to venture out prematurely. Even though the haze had cleared, the crisis might not be entirely over.
Fortunately, people had grown accustomed to staying indoors and didn't mind an additional day or two. Most people couldn't afford expensive protective suits, so if the toxic gases had truly vanished, it would be ideal to be able to go outside freely. No one wanted to remain in a sealed suit, especially in the current heat.
As Qin Huai and Mu Nan were peeling the tape from the windows, a broadcast announcement echoed throughout the neighborhood, advising everyone to remain at home and not to become complacent just because the sun had emerged and the haze had dissipated. Amidst the repeated broadcast messages, a heart-wrenching cry suddenly pierced the silence from downstairs. The initial excitement of seeing the sun had faded, leaving the neighborhood once again quiet, making the sudden cry stand out even more, startling Mu Nan.
Looking out the window in the direction of the sound, Mu Nan saw a girl in white with long hair kneeling on the ground in the small garden below their building, crying uncontrollably. A few community workers in protective suits were jogging towards her and soon pulled her towards the building. Whether the girl had lost her strength to cry or was simply too devastated to resist, the workers quickly managed to get her inside. The neighborhood fell silent again, but the community chat group began to buzz with discussions. Most of the conversation focused on whether the girl, who had emerged without any protection, would be infected. If she wasn't, it might mean that the toxic spores had vanished along with the haze.
Few people seemed to care about why the girl had come out crying.
Mu Nan knew who the girl was. Although he wasn't clear about her exact name, he had seen her name, Nana, mentioned in the group before. Her parents were divorced, and she lived with her mother and grandfather. Two years ago, her mother fell ill and passed away, leaving her to depend solely on her grandfather. Nana was a senior in high school this year, and during the heavy rains in April, which coincided with the joint exams, the school had not relaxed its strict schedule. The haze that followed had kept the school closed for the exams.
Naturally, the exams could not be held this year due to the severe haze and widespread deaths. Everything was in a race against life, and the exams became a secondary concern. Nana's grandfather had fallen ill during the peak of the haze, and with hospitals overcrowded, even if he had been conscious and able to eat and talk, he might not have been admitted due to the severe conditions.
Eventually, Nana's grandfather passed away at home, from difficulty breathing to death, all within a single night.
It was said that on that night, Nana had knocked on every door on their floor, but no one dared to open. No one had the ability to help her.
Faced with the loss of her only family and unable to get help, Mu Nan could barely imagine how desperate the girl must have been that night.
Mu Nan remembered Nana vividly because the next day, the funeral home's vehicle came to take her grandfather away. The girl, who was perhaps just entering adulthood, cried and screamed in despair. She ran after the funeral vehicle, begging them not to take her grandfather, even though he was already a lifeless, cold body.
No matter how much she chased and pleaded, she received no response, just as on that night, only deep despair.
After that night, Nana was taken to an isolation point but was later brought back. Even though she had been exposed to the haze while chasing the funeral vehicle, she remained in good health with no signs of infection.
Perhaps today's heart-wrenching cries were about the lingering despair that she could not shake off, and perhaps there were feelings of indescribable regret and guilt. No one knew how many lonely, silent nights she had spent regretting that if only she had kept her grandfather from going out in the rain.
Seeing Mu Nan still staring at the empty garden, Qin Huai gently covered his eyes with his hand and put his arm around his shoulder. "Don't look anymore. If it upsets you, just look at me, okay?"
On the day Nana's grandfather was taken away, Mu Nan had watched from above, though it was foggy and he could only vaguely see the red taillights of the funeral vehicle. Despite living on the seventeenth floor, the girl's cries and desperation were clearly heard. At that time, Mu Nan had sat on the floor, leaning against the glass of the balcony, expressionless, watching below.
Although Mu Nan didn't cry, his calm, tearless eyes pained Qin Huai even more.
Qin Huai didn't know what Mu Nan was thinking at that moment, but he knew that Mu Nan must have been contemplating something so heavy that even he couldn't bear it. That hollow, almost despairing gaze was as if he had experienced such despair himself.
Coming back to the present, Mu Nan looked up and saw the concern in Qin Huai's eyes, so he smiled and said, "Brother, should we start preparing to go to B City? I've been there once before for a competition, but we were always accompanied by teachers and didn't have any freedom. This time, many places might still be closed, so we might not be able to enjoy ourselves."
Qin Huai sighed silently but smiled and said, "If you want to have fun, I can take you to some famous tourist spots. You can have the entire place to yourself; wouldn't that be something special?"
Although the end of the world seemed to be approaching, they had prepared as much as they could. A few more days wouldn't matter, after all. Whether those ancient landmarks would continue to exist after global earthquakes remained uncertain. While there was still a chance, it would be good to leave behind some memories of what they had witnessed.