Chapter Summaries

Hesta suspected that Orange Town followed rules similar to those aboard the Ascending Bright, and she studied old rule clippings to interpret the town through the ship’s rules. She concluded that residents were encouraged to leave home and socialize during the day, while the meaning of the town’s elevators and its day-and-night divide remained unclear.

• Unable to sleep, Hesta received Ding Yuqing’s messages and arranged to meet her at Hope Center the next afternoon.
• Hesta returned to the Ding family home, collected Ding Yuqing’s scrapbook of Ascending Bright clippings, and copied the rules into her notebook.
• Hesta considered whether Orange Town was a larger passenger liner and whether its residents’ homes corresponded to the ship’s cabins.
• Hesta reasoned that her home was likely safe from surveillance, though the adults in the household might affect her score.
• Hesta annotated the daytime rules, concluding that they encouraged residents to leave home and socialize while keeping them away from the Fourth Deck before becoming Guardians.
• Hesta wondered whether elevators represented transportation in Orange Town and what the rules’ distinction between daytime and nighttime meant.

Hesta studied the Night Activities guide and reasoned that security checks gave Arbiters the power to act at any time, while nighttime outings offered both danger and rewards. As she prepared to explore Orange Town and pursue the clues Anna had left behind, Xu Ruyi gave her folded banknotes.

• Hesta marked the Night Activities guide and concluded that Arbiters could initiate security checks whenever they chose, making them a source of danger for passengers.
• Hesta noted that nighttime activities encouraged outings despite the risks, and wrote down questions about activities, identities, and security checks.
• Hesta reflected that her identity in Orange Town would change as she became more involved, and felt excited to enter the game herself.
• Xu Ruyi checked that Hesta was ready to go out and pressed several folded banknotes into her hand.

Hesta and Ding Yuqing spent the afternoon at Hope Center, then cleared up a misunderstanding about Xu Ruyi’s money and Hesta’s visit to Madam Kaja. After Ding Yuqing gave Hesta a hair removal device, Hesta spent the evening preparing a complaint letter to the school supervisory team.

• Xu Ruyi asked Hesta to keep Ding Yuqing company and gave her money for an outing, but Hesta and Ding Yuqing spent the afternoon at Hope Center instead.
• Ding Yuqing questioned whether her mother had arranged their visit, and Hesta handed her the money Xu Ruyi had given her.
• Ding Yuqing confronted Hesta about secretly meeting Madam Kaja, and Hesta explained that she had sought chess advice and arranged a divination appointment.
• Ding Yuqing gave Hesta a hair removal device she had won in a raffle.
• Hesta finished drafting a complaint letter to the school supervisory team, emailed it, and prepared a handwritten copy to submit at school.

Hesta exchanged emails and messages with Ligo and Tulan about her life in District 14 and her newfound awareness of her body. Their discussion led her to consider how irrational rules could test obedience, bringing to mind Ligo’s expulsion and the Risk Passengers aboard the Ascending Bright.

• Hesta read Ligo and Tulan’s advice to endure her host-family situation and focus on completing the observation period.
• Hesta told them she had begun noticing her armpit hair after using a hair-removal device, and the three discussed why it had suddenly become noticeable to her.
• Tulan used an example about Office No. 2 issuing a rule on which foot to step with first to explain how an arbitrary instruction could make an ordinary habit feel significant.
• Hesta considered how senseless rules could identify obedient Listeners and thought that Ligo would be easy to mark because of her expulsion from District 3.
• Hesta remembered the Risk Passengers aboard the Ascending Bright and the four voyage regulations that had nearly destroyed them.

Hesta reflected on the rules governing Risk Passengers and arranged to meet Eucali for lunch, then spent the morning interacting warmly with the Ding family. The chapter ended with Hesta and the sisters chatting comfortably at breakfast, while Ding Jiali enjoyed the renewed warmth in the household.

• Hesta considered how the Ascending Bright’s rules demanded Risk Passengers surrender their power, then accepted Eucali’s invitation to meet for lunch the next day.
• Hesta encountered Ding Jiali in the morning and learned he planned to help at his club, where core members had to complete a twenty-kilometer hike.
• Hesta told Ding Yuqing that the hair-removal device had left her skin red, and Ding Yuqing explained how to use it more safely.
• Ding Xueyang offered Hesta unopened packs of prep razors, and Hesta agreed to look through them.
• Ding Jiali listened as Hesta and the sisters chatted comfortably, enjoying the warm atmosphere at breakfast.

Hesta helped Ding Jiali walk to school, filed complaint letters, and registered for numerous clubs before discovering a hidden Archipelago Poetry Society sign-up. She then visited Eucali’s new home, where Eucali was preparing food.

• Xu Ruyi noticed Shi Yimiao was barely eating, and Ding Xueyang explained that the child had stayed up late.
• Hesta walked to school with Ding Jiali, then delivered complaint letters to the supervisory group and the Principal.
• Hesta registered for the chess club and fifteen other clubs while exploring the recruitment booths.
• Hesta found the Archipelago Poetry Society’s concealed registration spot behind the banners asking why people read and write.
• Hesta brought grapes to Eucali’s new home and found Eucali cooking with the door ajar.

Hesta visited Eucali’s new apartment and shared an awkward dinner with her before explaining how a teacher had thrown her out of class over a sanitary pad. Eucali introduced Hesta to menstrual cups and explained how she used and cared for them, leaving Hesta considering the alternative to pads and tampons.

• Hesta looked around Eucali’s simply furnished apartment and noticed the dried flowers Yu Xuekun had given her.
• Hesta and Eucali shared pumpkin grilled in butter, struggled to keep their conversation going, and laughed at the awkward silence.
• Hesta told Eucali that a teacher had thrown her out of class for hanging a sanitary pad on a hallway hook.
• Eucali said Hesta had not been wrong and suggested she would get an answer, then brought out two menstrual cups to show her.
• Eucali explained how to fold, wash, and sterilize menstrual cups and said they were cheaper than tampons because they could last five to ten years.

Hesta visited Eucali in Orange Town, where their conversation ended warmly despite Hesta’s lingering concern about her. Later, Yu Xuekun explained Hesta’s poor score and assigned her to defend her actions and clarify her supposed contact with dangerous groups.

• Eucali showed Hesta the public-benefit brochures she had studied and described how well she was settling into life in Orange Town.
• Hesta offered to help Eucali if she encountered trouble, but Eucali insisted she would tell Hesta if anything happened; they waved goodbye as Hesta’s bus departed.
• Feeling disappointed after the visit, Hesta canceled her plans to explore downtown and went back to her room to sleep.
• Yu Xuekun told Hesta that her score had fallen because of the corridor incident and alleged contact with dangerous groups.
• Hesta argued that hanging sanitary pads had been a deliberate challenge to unfair standards and said she had stopped engaging with Lin Jiao’s survival club.
• Yu Xuekun asked Hesta to prepare her argument for the next session and said she would further verify Hesta’s claim about the survival club.

Hesta asked Yu Xuekun about Eucali’s finances and learned that Eucali was saving much of her reimbursement money. Yu Xuekun then reviewed Hesta’s progress, including a higher host-family harmony score, and explained how evaluations could shape a retired Quicksilver Needles’ future career.

• Hesta asked Yu Xuekun about Eucali’s wellbeing and finances, and Yu Xuekun explained Eucali had housing and monthly support but appeared to avoid spending her allowance.
• Yu Xuekun showed Hesta Eucali’s reimbursement forms, which suggested Eucali had paid for exam-prep workbooks herself and had not used much of her allowance.
• Hesta asked Yu Xuekun to keep their conversation private, and Yu Xuekun agreed before discussing Hesta’s recent evaluation.
• Yu Xuekun praised Hesta for building friendships and managing everyday tasks, and Hesta described plans to explore local places alone and with friends.
• Yu Xuekun told Hesta her host-family harmony score had risen by fourteen percentage points and explained that the score could influence her future placement.
• Yu Xuekun cited Ava Morgan’s rise to executive officer of Nia Province as a rare success, then told Hesta that every retired frontline Quicksilver Needles had faced a similar adjustment period.

Hesta learned that retired Quicksilver Needles had to undergo the same assessment process, then tried to shop for a week of supplies on Eucali’s tight budget. After Xu Ruyi criticized most of the food she bought, Hesta invited herself to Eucali’s home for another meal and received an immediate welcome.

• Yu Xuekun reminded Hesta that their next meeting would be recorded for AHgAs’s assessment, and Hesta said she understood.
• Hesta bought a week’s worth of groceries and household supplies from a list, spending less than forty Robbie.
• Hesta told Xu Ruyi the shopping was for a social practice assignment, and Xu Ruyi criticized the food’s high carbohydrates and salt and lack of nutritional balance.
• Xu Ruyi said the household spent over eight hundred Robbie a week on food and sent most of Hesta’s purchases to the neighborhood committee.
• Hesta messaged Eucali to ask about another weekend meal, and Eucali immediately replied, “Sure. Welcome.”

Hesta and Eucali exchanged messages about their job searches and personal lives, while each faced loneliness and uncertainty. Eucali ended the night trying to preserve a cheerful picture of her new life, even as her tears revealed how precarious it felt.

• Hesta and Eucali chatted about their job applications and Hesta’s painful first attempts at using a menstrual cup.
• Hesta saw Xu Ruyi leaving late at night to visit the hospital because Miaomiao was sick and Yangyang was there alone.
• Eucali delivered a translated document to her neighbor’s family, where the daughter treated her rudely and paid her twelve Robbie.
• Eucali planned meals and decorations for Hesta’s Sunday visit, then wrote in her diary about her work and hopes while leaving out her painful encounter.
• Eucali cried over her diary and wondered why her long-desired home and city life still felt like an illusion she had to earn through suffering.

Hesta discovered that she had signed up for the Archipelago Poetry Society and faced a choice about attending its first event, which could damage her assessment score. On the way to Teacher Chen’s office, a red-haired young man crashed into Cheng Xiaoshu, breaking her glasses, and Hesta recognized him from Madam Kaja’s café.

• Lin Jiao told Hesta and Cheng Xiaoshu that the Archipelago Poetry Society was holding its first event the next evening and said Hesta had signed up.
• Cheng Xiaoshu identified the club as the Archipelago Poetry Society, and Hesta realized she had likely registered for it without understanding what she had joined.
• Hesta weighed skipping the event to protect her assessment score against her curiosity about the club.
• A young man charged down the stairwell, knocked Cheng Xiaoshu over, and broke her glasses as he tried to flee.
• Hesta blocked the young man and recognized him as the person who had strained the root of his tongue at Madam Kaja’s café.

Cheng Xiaoshu and Hesta confronted Teacher Zuo Wentao over their complaints about his conduct, after a red-haired student broke Cheng Xiaoshu’s glasses and fled. Hesta showed Teacher Zuo an email from the Principal’s Office confirming that the university’s Education Supervision Committee would contact her about the complaint.

• Hesta made a red-haired young man pay Cheng Xiaoshu for her broken glasses, and he hinted that he recognized Hesta as Madam Kaja’s guest before rushing away.
• Cheng Xiaoshu and Hesta went to Teacher Chen’s office and found Teacher Zuo Wentao waiting for them.
• Teacher Zuo confronted them with four complaint letters and threatened Cheng Xiaoshu’s student aid grant, while Hesta defended her and questioned how he had obtained the letters.
• Hesta received an email from the Principal’s Office and showed Teacher Zuo that the Education Supervision Committee would contact her about her report.

Hesta and Cheng Xiaoshu pursued their complaints against Zuo Wentao and gained Chen Beiyi’s approval to discuss menstrual shame in class. After Chen Beiyi left, Hesta took Cheng Xiaoshu to get new glasses and offered to cover the cost through her medical insurance.

• Zuo Wentao dismissed Hesta’s demands and left after she showed him her complaint and email to the Principal’s Office.
• Hesta explained to Cheng Xiaoshu why she had filed under her real name, and Cheng Xiaoshu noted that Molly had replied to the email.
• Hesta asked Chen Beiyi for time in her next class to discuss menstrual shame, and Chen Beiyi approved the presentation.
• Hesta accompanied Cheng Xiaoshu to get new glasses and offered to pay for the lenses through her medical insurance.

Hesta received an invitation to an event at the If We Stop Pretending cafe and went there hoping to see Madam Kaja. After arriving, she waited in the cafe’s unsettling second-floor dining hall for an appointment to become available.

• Three red-haired girls mistook Hesta’s natural hair and eyes for dyed looks, then invited her to an event at the If We Stop Pretending cafe.
• Hesta went to the cafe after her evening class and ignored two red-haired men who greeted her on the way.
• A waiter recognized Hesta, told her Madam Kaja’s appointments were full, and offered to add her if someone failed to show up.
• Hesta agreed to wait and sat at a small table in the back of the dining hall.

Hesta waited at Madam Kaja’s café at night, but Yu Xuekun’s divination warned her to leave. Outside, Hesta realized that every appointment she had been given with Madam Kaja had been at night, and Yu Xuekun fell silent before arranging to meet her the next day.

• Hesta watched the café’s awkward second-floor servers for half an hour but did not find the young man she had met earlier.
• Hesta ordered three boxes of dried persimmons from Yu Xuekun and asked for a divination about whether she would see Madam Kaja that night.
• Yu Xuekun interpreted the Mingyi hexagram as a warning and called Hesta, insisting that she leave the café immediately.
• Hesta left the café and learned from Yu Xuekun that it was closed at night and only the upstairs restaurant was open.
• Hesta recalled that all her appointments with Madam Kaja had been scheduled at night, and Yu Xuekun offered to visit her at school the next day.

Hesta reconsidered the Ascending Bright’s safety rules and concluded that their real purpose was to keep ordinary passengers away from Deck 1 and below. The next morning, she questioned Yu Xuekun about Madam Kaja and learned more about the café that had drawn her attention.

• After returning home, Hesta reviewed the ship’s safety rules and realized the restrictions mainly protected the Adjudicators’ secrets on Deck -2.
• Hesta wrote down the Archipelago Poetry Society and Madam Kaja’s Café as places she had been warned not to approach.
• The next morning, Hesta asked Yu Xuekun about Madam Kaja because she was deciding whether to stay in Orange Town or go to Songxueyuan.
• Hesta showed Yu Xuekun the café’s business card and explained that its Hesta-themed restaurant and visitors with red hair and blue contacts made her uneasy.
• Yu Xuekun said Madam Kaja was a well-known former logistics entrepreneur who had retired to Orange Town about three years earlier.

Hesta learned more about Madam Kaja’s generosity and planned another meeting with her, while Yu Xuekun agreed to investigate what a “divination” meant. After returning to class and finding fewer students, Hesta confronted Lin Jiao about the club and said she would judge its atmosphere by watching what happened to the vandalized Ava bust.

• Yu Xuekun told Hesta that Madam Kaja had sponsored students, funded girls’ education, and declined City Hall awards, and Hesta concluded that Madam Kaja knew she was not a student.
• Hesta decided to return to Madam Kaja’s café and set her own available times for another meeting, while Yu Xuekun agreed to ask around about the meaning of a “divination.”
• Hesta left her contact information with the café server and warned that she would not return unless the café responded that day.
• Hesta returned to class and noticed that many of the missing students were girls, then attended Zuo Wentao’s class as usual.
• Lin Jiao asked Hesta why she seemed to be avoiding her, and Hesta said she was reconsidering whether the club’s atmosphere suited her.
• Hesta told Lin Jiao she would watch whether the Ava bust near the Wen Academy teaching building was vandalized again before deciding.

Hesta spoke with Lin Jiao about the Archipelago Poetry Society and considered attending its orientation. She then went to the children's hospital to help Ding Yuqing, where Miaomiao's crying left Ding Yuqing close to losing her temper.

• Lin Jiao invited Hesta to an upcoming club orientation and promised to explain the society's attitude toward Ava Morgan.
• Hesta agreed to think about attending and left the cafeteria feeling better after speaking with Lin Jiao.
• Ding Yuqing asked Hesta to take her sister home because Xu Ruyi had injured her back and Miaomiao was still hospitalized.
• Hesta found Ding Xueyang holding the sleeping Miaomiao, whose IV had been placed in her forehead after repeated attempts to insert it in her hands and feet.
• Miaomiao woke when Ding Yuqing took her and cried until the other children in the ward began crying too.
• As Ding Yuqing grew increasingly angry, Hesta took her hand and suggested they go outside for a walk.

Hesta postponed her plans to help the Ding family after Miaomiao and Xu Ruyi were admitted to the hospital. She returned with Ding Yuqing to bring supplies and Miaomiao’s treasured lighthouse ship, then found Miaomiao waiting in the corridor with Ding Xueyang.

• Hesta stayed with Ding Xueyang and Miaomiao, arranged an escort bed for Ding Xueyang, and offered to fetch supplies from home.
• Hesta checked on Xu Ruyi, agreed to bring Ding Yuqing’s toiletries, and asked Ding Yuqing to return home with her.
• Hesta and Ding Yuqing traveled home in the rain, where Hesta searched Ding Xueyang’s cluttered room for Miaomiao’s lighthouse ship.
• Ding Yuqing found the red ship model in a glass jar and packed it with the other supplies.
• Hesta and Ding Yuqing returned to the hospital, where they found Miaomiao waiting in the corridor because she wanted to see the model.