Chapter 156
As night gradually fell, lights flickered on one after another in the residential buildings, like stars slowly appearing in the night sky.
A little girl of about six or seven, her hair tied into two horn-like braids, sat at a small table by the window. Holding a pencil in her tiny hand, she carefully worked through the homework her teacher had assigned that day, stroke by stroke.
"The National Meteorological Center reports that most parts of the country are experiencing high temperatures and dry conditions. More than thirteen provinces are facing moderate to severe meteorological drought..."
Peeling an orange, the man glanced at the weather forecast playing on the television and smiled at the woman sitting down beside him. "Here, honey, have an orange."
The woman in loungewear sat down, took an orange segment, and popped it into her mouth. "Why does your phone keep vibrating?"
"My middle school class group. They've been talking about a class reunion." The man picked up his phone and opened the group settings to mute the notifications.
The woman leaned over to peek at her husband's middle school group chat. Her eyes suddenly lit up, and she pointed at a photo someone had just sent. "Who's this? Was he your middle school classmate too?"
"Yeah, but he got into a fight later and transferred before finishing middle school at ours." The man enlarged the photo, regret in his voice.
"So handsome. Was he some kind of delinquent?"
"What delinquent? His grades were amazing. He was basically always in the top three of the grade, and he often took first place." The man pointed at himself and grinned. "Back then, I was always competing with him for first, but I rarely beat him."
The woman laughed and bumped her elbow against her husband's