The next day was an eight-hour power outage day.
Power outages on the second day of the new year had already become a tradition of The Federation, but because of their late return the night before, Liang Qiao hadn't prepared in advance. She opened the cabinet to check their supplies and pulled out the last two packs of self-heating noodles.
Halfway through making breakfast, movement came from the bed. Chu Hui received a call, asking hoarsely who it was.
"Happy New Year… mm… got it…"
"I'm with Liang Qiao, not going…"
"Who cares about you, go play by yourself. I drank a bit too much yesterday, no energy."
"Even if it is, it's normal life between a couple. What's it to you?"
After a few exchanges, he seemed to have woken up a bit more, his voice becoming clearer as he sneered: "Who's really the pathetic one here? At least I didn't go find my ex-girlfriend six times and get slept with six times."
"…So this is your seventh time now. Quite the program you've got. How about I sign you up—wait until Mom's birthday and get on stage to perform what it means to throw yourself at someone. You'd definitely take first place, no one could compete with you at all."
"Yes yes yes, I don't understand again. You have your own rhythm, Rhythm Bro."
"Get lost. Nobody wants you but somebody wants me. Liang Qiao just came back from the Old Third District the day before yesterday, I need to keep her company."
"We'll talk later."
"No."
The call ended.
After a moment of silence, dragging footsteps sounded, followed by the sound of water in the bathroom. Soon, a warm body leaned against her from behind. Chu Hui lowered his head to gently kiss her neck, his arms circling her waist and lightly interlocking in front of her.
Liang Qiao didn't mind, continuing what she was doing. But just as she tilted her head slightly, the kiss found its opening, spreading from behind her ear to the corner of her lips. She paused, lowered her eyelashes, and indulged him with a lingering kiss.
The corners of Chu Hui's lips curled up slightly. In that position, he nestled into her embrace, secretly opening one eye to look at her, feeling somehow triumphant.
And he had every right to be. Who would have thought back when they first met that it would come to this? Seventeen-year-old Liang Qiao was colder and harder than she was at twenty-one, standing in formation in her uniform—no one who passed by would spare her a second glance.
Too distant, toward everyone, like a silent shadow that could slip away at any moment. But now that shadow had become an embrace belonging to him alone, even carrying a hint of gentleness in every gesture.
The more he kissed, the less it felt like enough. He only wanted to cling to her endlessly, until Liang Qiao pinched his chin to end the kiss and said, "Eat."
He immediately put on a pitiful, innocent look and asked, "Can't you eat me first?"
She remained unmoved, casually pinching his cheek before turning around to carry two plates of breakfast out of the kitchen.
…
They hadn't been lying around at home for half a day when Chu Hui received another call from Chu You. The other party had already arrived at Landu, and between the lines, he was asking Chu Hui to come pick him up at the no-fly zone.
Liang Qiao had heard a little about his Alpha brother, but only that he was a high-ranking official in the Haiti Management General Administration, stationed year-round at key island districts, three years older than Chu Hui.
Chu Hui went back and forth with him for a few minutes, trying to refuse but failing. After hanging up, he wore a face full of resentment and buried his head hard into Liang Qiao's embrace without saying a word.
Liang Qiao stroked his hair and said, "It's been a long time since you've seen each other, after all."
"It's been a long time since we've seen each other too," he said, tilting his head up to look at her. "Don't you want me to keep you company?"
Liang Qiao said, "The break is still long."
Chu Hui let out a humph. "Then don't let me out of bed tomorrow."
Liang Qiao touched the suppressant patch on the back of his neck and asked with a hint of implication, "…Are you approaching your Heat cycle?"
Chu Hui lifted his head to look at her, seemingly dissatisfied with her reaction. They stared at each other for two seconds before Liang Qiao belatedly realized what was going on and said, "…It's because I've been away too long."
Chu Hui lowered his head again.
After lying there for about ten minutes, he finally got up reluctantly to change clothes—Chu You had come over for a meeting, and there would probably be a celebration for his smooth graduation as well. If they headed over now, they might not be back until tomorrow. He clung to Liang Qiao as she walked him downstairs, and before 0916 arrived at the dormitory building, they lingered together for a good while longer.
"I'm off. I'll message you later."
He said goodbye to her, and at the last moment hooked his arm around her neck to plant a firm kiss.
Liang Qiao watched 0916 disappear around the corner, but she didn't turn to go upstairs—the weather was lovely today, with warm sunlight and a gentle breeze. She opened her Terminal, and a twice-hidden chat window popped up, displaying a specific time and place.
At six in the evening, Liang Qiao boarded the Skyrail heading to the lower district.
Line 23 was the longest route on the Landu Skyrail—an hour straight to the edge of the Federation capital. After exiting the station, she still needed to take fifteen minutes on the surface rail line before finally reaching the center of the lower district.
Perhaps because of the holiday, the lower district was more crowded than usual. People dressed in wildly different styles walked along the same street, the roadside lights dim, and men and women passed by her from time to time with ambiguous intentions, various pheromones mingling as they invaded her nostrils with obvious seductive undertones.
Liang Qiao deftly avoided those people, weaving through several streets and alleys before finally stopping in front of a shop with no sign. On the wall at the entrance, the word "inside" was scrawled crookedly—whether it was the shop's name or an invitation to enter was unclear.
She raised her hand and swept it above the word. A hidden camera recognized her palm print, and soon the heavy barn door slowly opened a narrow crack. A surge of raucous noise and dazzling light immediately rushed out to meet her, while a few old sliding robot trays whisked past her legs, delivering drinks to various customers' tables.
Thick smoke and the reek of alcohol assaulted her senses, but Liang Qiao's expression didn't change in the slightest. Silently, she threaded through the crowd and walked along the wall to a concealed elevator entrance.
The elevator descended to the third basement level.
Compared to the central district with its widespread power rationing, the lights here blazed brilliantly to the heavens, yet they still couldn't mask the shabbiness and cheapness that filled every corner. Excited shouts nearly pressed against her eardrums. Du Ling, who had come to receive her, glanced at the fighting cage wrapped in layers of crowd and said, "W is on today."
Liang Qiao vaguely remembered that alias—apparently the underground arena's rising star of the past year, who had fought 26 consecutive matches in a single day without a single defeat, earning fame in one fell swoop.
She gave an "mm" in acknowledgment without continuing the conversation. Du Ling, accustomed to her silence, led her into the waiting lounge and said, "Are you sure you want to go on today? What if you get matched against W?"
"It's fine," Liang Qiao opened the cabinet marked "L," pulled out clothes and changed into them. "I only have time today."
"But the stakes are higher today too. If you win, it's at least this much." She held up five fingers toward Liang Qiao and lowered her voice. "A big shot just happens to be visiting."
A big shot?
Liang Qiao frowned. Though she knew in her heart it was unlikely, she asked anyway just in case: "Do you know who it is?"
Du Ling said, "I heard it's someone from the Committee, surname Zhong."
Not Chu You.
As long as it wasn't someone she knew, she didn't care who the big shot was. She reached up to remove her Personal Terminal from her wrist, sending one last reply before wrapping the rough leather strap around her wrist in loops.
An explosive roar of cheers came from outside the rest area—the match must have ended. Du Ling swiped open a light screen to check and said, "W won again."
Good.
W didn't leave the stage, so newcomers could only challenge him. The iron door clanged shut after Liang Qiao ducked inside, and oppressive lights shone down from above.
A male… Alpha.
The pheromones were too mixed to distinguish whose scent belonged to whom. She could only roughly gauge their gender from their build—about the same height as her, also wearing the tournament-approved nano-mask to conceal their identity.
This was perfectly normal in the underground fighting pits. After all, no spectator cared who the two people in the cage actually were. As long as they could deliver sensory thrills, the audience would generously throw their money around.
That was exactly what Liang Qiao needed.
W had just won a match and was already in an excited, frenzied state. His bloodshot eyes were like a blade fresh from its sheath, locking onto her like prey.
There was no signal to start. From the moment they entered the fighting cage, the match had begun. After the door closed, the two each took two steps along the cage's edge. When W realized she wouldn't strike first, he clenched his fists and charged at her. Liang Qiao sidestepped the attack and raised her arm to block the elbow strike that followed.
The first wave of roars erupted from the audience, the iron cage vibrating faintly with it.
Defense and offense happened almost simultaneously, followed by a rapid exchange too fast to track. Liang Qiao ended her probing after three minutes. Dodging another raised knee, she delivered a heavy blow straight to his jaw. W staggered back a few steps before steadying himself, his gaze at her growing even more ferocious. But Liang Qiao showed no intention of pressing her advantage—she simply stood in her own corner, waiting for him to strike again.
Dodge, attack. These were the two most useful techniques Liang Qiao had learned in Langria, yet she wasn't using them to protect others as her instructor had taught. Instead, she was using them first in this sunless underground fighting pit.
The jarring contrast between the two experiences left her feeling dazed, even starting to doubt—was the person in uniform, celebrating graduation with classmates at the Ark Memorial Hall, truly the same person as who she was now?
She couldn't give herself a definitive answer.
…
Each half of the match was bounded by 30 minutes. The moment the time was up, a sharp bell rang from above, the lights flickered, and both sides halted.
In reality, fights in the underground arena rarely lasted this long—plenty of people were knocked out within ten minutes. Take the previous match, for instance: from the moment Liang Qiao stepped onto the elevator to the time she finished changing, it had taken less than ten minutes in total.
The crowd was hooked, and the bets grew larger and larger. Liang Qiao walked out of the open fighting cage, took the water Du Ling handed her, and drank it in one go.
…
The cup was set down with a soft clink, barely noticeable against the melodious music. Chu You frowned at the person sitting across from him and said, "Eat your meal. Stop staring at that."
"You eat yours, don't mind me," Chu Hui replied, his brow furrowed as he kept his eyes fixed on the messages on his Terminal. "It's been half an hour already—why isn't she replying to me?"
"Only half an hour—" Chu You suppressed his irritation and said, "Didn't you say you weren't going to chase after her?"
"Chasing after her?" He deliberately put on an exaggerated expression and asked, "Then what do you call helping your ex-girlfriend use up the family's contraceptives for free? An experiment?"
Chu You tightened his grip on his utensils and gritted his teeth. "Shut up."
"You ask me to eat with you and then tell me to shut up," Chu Hui said, feigning confusion as he sent another message to Liang Qiao. "I'm not keeping you company tonight, by the way. At most, I'll drop you off at Sector South 3."
Chu You said nothing, letting out a short, measured sigh before picking up his silver fork to continue eating his vegetable salad. But even so, his younger brother wouldn't let him off the hook. "Keeping your figure won't get you anywhere—why not lower your pride? Say a few nice words and everything would be solved. If that doesn't work, use some unconventional methods. If you need them, I'll send you my private collection. I guarantee once you wear them—"
"Shut up—" Chu You couldn't hold back any longer and kicked him hard under the table. "I'm not interested."
"Fine, you've got the hardest mouth of anyone." He didn't push further—or rather, his attention was simply diverted elsewhere. Liang Qiao had replied to his message saying she'd be home tonight, even if it was just a simple "okay."
The melodious music reached its crescendo, and the soft lights swept across the room, gradually brightening into a harsh glare. The fighting cage was sealed shut once more, and the roar of the surrounding crowd rose higher and higher.
W had been locked in a stalemate with her for thirty minutes, and she had barely managed to land a single real hit on him. He no longer dared to underestimate her, standing at the edge of the cage, watching her warily.
But this time, it was Liang Qiao who made the first move. In the blink of an eye, she surged forward and closed the distance. W instinctively raised his arm to block, smoothly deflecting the first strike—but the next second, her forearm sliced in along his punching line, one hand shoving his wrist aside while the other clamped onto the back of his neck. Her knee shot up, driving into his ribs at an impossibly awkward angle.
Her speed and force had doubled compared to the first half of the match. The moment the blow landed, W's eyes flew wide in shock. He wanted to resist but had no recourse, forced to watch helplessly as she locked onto his shoulder line and twisted hard.
"Crack—" He was certain he heard the sound of bones shifting from deep within his body, so faint amid the surging roar of the crowd that it was like air being crushed.
One minute. The match was over.
…
After removing her mask and changing her clothes, Liang Qiao slipped away, hidden among the cheering crowd. An hour and a half later, she arrived at the dormitory building. Stepping into the elevator, she raised a hand and peeled off her jacket, which was steeped in a mix of various odors.
The first thing she did upon entering the house was to eliminate the scent. All her clothes were stripped off and tossed into the washing machine's deodorizing cycle, and she herself took a quick shower before changing into pajamas. Then she immediately folded the treated clothes back into the wardrobe exactly as they had been.
After finishing all of this, she finally lifted her clothes to check her waist—that W was no pushover, and she hadn't come out entirely unscathed, but all it had caused was a bruise beneath her ribs that hadn't even surfaced yet, easily passable as the result of training from the past couple of days. This was also her usual trick.
It should be fine—at least her timing was still precise. Hearing the sound coming from the entryway, she let her hem fall, stepped back a few paces, and sat down on the sofa, watching Chu Hui open the door and come in.
"I'm back," he said, and the first thing he did upon entering was to look for Liang Qiao. After changing into his slippers and carelessly tossing his belongings aside, he flopped into her arms in exactly the same posture as he had that morning, saying, "Exhausted. No one is more annoying than my brother."
He casually complained a few times before leaning in to kiss her, asking, "Was it boring being home alone? Did you miss me?"
Liang Qiao didn't answer. She half-embraced his waist, hoisting him up slightly, and naturally fell into a kiss with him.