Chapter Summaries

Hesta and Ding Yuqing visited Ding Xueyang and her sick daughter, Shi Yimiao, at the hospital, where the child revealed she wanted to become a pirate like Masaki. On the ride home, a driver made strange remarks about Hesta people, and Hesta invited a rattled Ding Yuqing for a walk before mentioning Madam Kaja’s invitation to play chess.

• Shi Yimiao clutched Hesta’s ship-in-a-bottle toy and said she wanted to become a pirate like Masaki.
• Hesta carried the sleepy Shi Yimiao back to her hospital bed, and Ding Xueyang told Hesta that her daughter had asked her to stay all weekend.
• Hesta and Ding Yuqing rode home with a driver who made disparaging comments about fake Hesta people before staring at Hesta’s red hair.
• Ding Yuqing got out of the car shaken, and Hesta invited her to take a walk downstairs.
• Hesta told Ding Yuqing that Madam Kaja had invited her to play chess next Wednesday and that she had nearly booked a fortune-telling session.

Ding Yuqing warned Hesta that Miaomiao had predicted she would have terrible luck and advised her not to go out over the weekend. As they walked through the rain-washed district and heard violin music at Wenhui Building, Hesta considered what to ask Madam Kaja on Wednesday and offered to ask why she had never answered Ding Yuqing.

• Ding Yuqing told Hesta that Miaomiao had predicted bad luck for her and advised her to stay in the hospital over the weekend.
• Hesta asked about Madam Kaja's divinations, and Ding Yuqing explained that Madam Kaja only answered people who asked the truly correct question.
• Hesta and Ding Yuqing walked to Wenhui Building and stopped to listen to violin music that evoked the image of a surging, mournful river.
• After buying water and orange gummy candies, Hesta suggested asking Madam Kaja why she never accepted Ding Yuqing's questions.

Hesta arranged for the piano in the attic to be tuned, hoping it could return to Xu Ruyi’s life, while Ding Yuqing recalled her mother playing music when the family lived in Songxueyuan. The chapter left Ding Yuqing in a good mood as Ding Guisheng returned home and the tuning continued.

• Ding Yuqing told Hesta she intended to leave school eventually and find her path in the real world.
• Hesta saw Ksenia and her friends leaving Wenhui Building with Mei Sinan, then learned that Xu Ruyi’s piano was stored in the attic because Ding Guisheng disliked hearing her practice.
• Hesta arranged an urgent visit from a piano tuner, and she and Ding Yuqing watched the woman begin work on the old piano.
• Hesta received a call from Industrial University's supervisory team about Zuo Wentao’s unjustified expulsion of a student.
• Ding Xueyang reported that Miaomiao’s fever had gone down, and Ding Yuqing tidied the living room while the piano tuner worked upstairs.
• Ding Guisheng returned home shortly after ten in the morning.

Ding Yuqing confronted Ding Guisheng after he learned she had hired a piano tuner, and his anger escalated into violence. Hesta intervened and forced him to sit down, while the terrified Tuner watched from upstairs.

• Ding Guisheng criticized Ding Yuqing's brother-in-law and argued with her about their family.
• Ding Guisheng heard piano music and learned that Ding Yuqing had hired a tuner for the attic piano.
• Ding Guisheng threw a teacup and a chair at Ding Yuqing and smashed items in the living room.
• Hesta rushed to Ding Yuqing, then caught Ding Guisheng as he reached for her and forced him into a chair.

Hesta restrained Ding Guisheng after he became violent over the piano and had him taken to the hospital. There, Xu Ruyi urged everyone to stop discussing the piano, while Hesta apologized and warned that Ding Yuqing had narrowly avoided injury.

• After the tuner left, Hesta pinned Ding Guisheng down and ordered Ding Yuqing to call an ambulance.
• At the hospital, Ding Jiali blamed Ding Yuqing for escalating the argument, and Xu Ruyi checked whether she had been hurt.
• Ding Yuqing said the argument had been about the piano, and Hesta clarified that she had arranged the tuning without telling her.
• Xu Ruyi asked Hesta not to discuss the piano, calling the silence a family rule, but Hesta questioned why everyone had to accommodate Ding Guisheng.
• Hesta apologized to Xu Ruyi and said she would explain herself to Ding Guisheng, then warned that Ding Yuqing had avoided injury only by reacting quickly.
• Ding Yuqing sat holding the food bag and watched her sleeping father, realizing he seemed more human asleep than awake.

Hesta comforted Ding Yuqing as she faced the pain of her mother choosing her marriage over her, then agreed to let Yuqing take credit for hiring the Tuner. Later, Hesta stayed with Shi Yimiao at the hospital, where the child introduced her to Masaki, who she said lived in a glass bottle.

• Hesta asked Ding Yuqing about her father’s relationship with Ms. Xu, and Yuqing defended her father while describing her mother’s fear of divorce and concern for appearances.
• Ding Yuqing told Hesta that her mother repeatedly chose her marriage over her daughter, and Hesta comforted her as she cried.
• In the taxi, Ding Yuqing asked Hesta to say that she had hired the Tuner so the piano tuning would not be dismissed as a one-time favor.
• After Shi Yimiao’s fever broke, Hesta stayed with her at the hospital while Ding Yuqing took Ding Xueyang home to shower.
• Shi Yimiao told Hesta that her friend Masaki was in a glass bottle and had Hesta introduce herself as Jane.

Hesta read Shi Yimiao pirate picture books at the hospital and spent a quiet evening with her and the Dings. On Sunday, Hesta asked Eucali if she could keep coming over for meals, and learned Eucali planned to visit the hospital the following Sunday.

• Hesta accepted Shi Yimiao's ship in a bottle and read her several books from the Masaki series.
• Shi Yimiao fell asleep on Hesta's lap while they read, and Ding Xueyang and Ding Yuqing returned to the hospital room with supplies.
• Ding Xueyang got Miaomiao ready for bed as Hesta listened to her tell Miaomiao a bedtime story.
• On Sunday, Hesta told Eucali she planned to visit the hospital after lunch and asked if she could come for dinner regularly.
• Eucali invited Hesta to come whenever she wanted, but suggested Saturday because she needed to visit the hospital on Sunday.

Eucali told Hesta about hostility she had faced amid rumors exploiting Hesta people, and Hesta urged her to accept help for her jaw pain. At the children’s hospital, Hesta found Ding Xueyang and Shi Pingchuan arguing over a missing enamel cup, which Hesta helped locate.

• Eucali told Hesta that her jaw pain had worsened and explained that she had hidden her red hair while delivering translation work to a neighbor.
• Eucali told Hesta that people had mistaken her for someone pretending to be Hesta, and Hesta gave her a doctor friend’s contact information.
• Eucali agreed to contact the doctor if necessary, and Hesta left the bus after one stop to walk toward the hospital.
• Hesta heard Ding Xueyang, Shi Pingchuan, Ding Yuqing, and crying Shi Yimiao arguing at the hospital, then learned Ding Xueyang could not find her dark blue enamel cup.
• Hesta told Ding Xueyang where the cup was, and Shi Pingchuan took Miaomiao downstairs while Ding Xueyang apologized to Hesta.

Eucali told Hesta about her jaw pain and Tulan’s advice that stress might be causing it, while the two exchanged messages about family arguments and the homes they lived in. Hesta overheard a violent argument between Ding Xueyang and Shi Pingchuan, and the chapter ended the next morning when she found the cook in the kitchen.

• Eucali messaged Hesta about Tulan’s diagnosis of possible temporomandibular joint disorder and her advice to manage stress and seek massage therapy.
• Eucali hurt her jaw by forcing her mouth open, then messaged Hesta, who said Shi Yimiao had vomited on her belongings and that she was overhearing Ding Xueyang and Shi Pingchuan arguing upstairs.
• Eucali and Hesta discussed how arguments affected their families, and Hesta said that in her home, nothing changed after arguments ended.
• Hesta heard something break upstairs, followed by silence and Ding Yuqing going upstairs.
• The next morning, Hesta found yogurt and nuts on the table and saw the cook walk out of the kitchen.

Hesta declined Shi Pingchuan’s invitation to go fishing and reflected on what she had seen of Ding Xueyang’s household before attending a poetry society gathering with Lin Jiao. On the way, Lin Jiao told her she had withdrawn the complaint against Zuo Wentao, and Hesta asked whether doing so would cause any harm.

• Shi Pingchuan invited Hesta on a weekend fishing trip, but she declined because she had classes and wanted to stay available to help Ding Xueyang.
• Shi Pingchuan dismissed Hesta’s concerns about Ding Xueyang’s workload and gave her a business card to pass to Hesta people seeking part-time work.
• Hesta heard Shi Pingchuan go upstairs to Ding Xueyang after breakfast and sensed that their previous night’s argument had ended.
• Hesta went to the cafeteria to meet Cheng Xiaoshu for the Archipelago Poetry Society’s newcomer event, but Lin Jiao came to take her instead.
• Lin Jiao warned Hesta that Zuo Wentao was well connected and said she had withdrawn Xiaoshu’s complaint; Hesta asked whether that would bring Xiaoshu any negative consequences.

Hesta attended the Archipelago Poetry Society’s first gathering and discovered that its members focused less on literature than on sharing and supporting one another. After impressing the group with her self-praise, she agreed to identify the other members’ strengths, and the meeting continued with personal concerns.

• Hesta questioned Lin Jiao about the society and learned that it was not solely a literary club.
• Lin Jiao led the members in timed introductions that challenged them to list their strengths.
• Hesta named more than fifty strengths, impressing the group with her confidence and quick thinking.
• Lin Jiao asked Hesta to observe and list the other members’ strengths at future meetings.
• Lin Jiao explained the society’s history, schedule, and membership rules.
• The members shared recent troubles and sadness, then listened and offered comfort.

Hesta joined the poetry club after negotiating permission to bring outside friends to its events. Before Yiti presented an account of Ava Morgan’s life, Lin Jiao asked Hesta why she defended Ava, and Hesta began explaining Ava’s influence in District 3.

• After the event, Hesta asked to bring outside friends to future poetry club activities, and Lin Jiao agreed to let her bring up to two people each time.
• Hesta joined the club, while Xiang Hanshan questioned Lin Jiao’s decision to make an exception for her.
• Lin Jiao told Xiang Hanshan that Hesta would leave eventually and would not return, and said she hoped Hesta would remember the club years later.
• Yiti prepared to present an account of Ava Morgan’s life, and Lin Jiao asked Hesta whether she defended Ava for public or personal reasons.
• Hesta said Ava was influential in District 3, and Lin Jiao argued that she would question a public role model’s reputation unless she knew the person personally.

Xiang Hanshan told Hesta how she and Lin Jiao founded a study club that helped struggling students, and how its success was lost when the school expanded it without its original safeguards. Hesta went home and told Ding Yuqing she wanted to be alone for the night.

• Xiang Hanshan explained that Lin Jiao had joined her 300+ Regression study club after faking her grades.
• Xiang Hanshan described how the club helped students cope with falling grades by giving them a supportive community.
• Xiang Hanshan warned Hesta that the Archipelago Poetry Society depended on members treating it as a spiritual home and asked her not to abuse her privilege to bring people in.
• Xiang Hanshan said the school had expanded the study club too broadly, causing it to lose its effectiveness and eventually dissolve.
• Hesta rushed home, asked Ding Yuqing if she had plans, and said she wanted to be alone that night.

Hesta investigated Yiti’s account of the Arbiter Court and learned how Ava had handled cases involving male wasteland immigrants. She found details of two cases, while the third remained to be examined.

• Hesta searched for information about Nia Province’s special court and discovered it was called the Arbiter Court.
• Hesta learned that Ava had served as the court’s first and only female arbiter from 4615 until the system was abolished in 4617.
• Hesta read how Ava helped William Albe secure his apartment and one-third of his in-laws’ savings after his wife died and he faced eviction.
• Hesta learned that Nikola Somose sued his former employment counselor after the counselor’s mistaken assumption about his gender steered him into nursing training.
• Nikola received a public apology and fifty thousand Robbie in compensation, then completed his nursing training and found a well-paid hospital job.

The chapter recounts Dominic and Sera’s successful challenge to the denial of their citizenship, a case that preceded the closure of Nia Province’s Arbiter Court. Hesta investigates Ava’s history but, wary that her searches are monitored, stops before contacting Ligo and is left wondering why people describe Ava so differently.

• Dominic’s relocation application was rejected because he had missed mandatory monthly meetings, and his first appeal failed.
• Ava advised Dominic and Sera not to file a second appeal or take their case to the Arbiter Court, but to sue the relocation office and police department instead.
• Dominic and Sera won citizenship, and the Arbiter Court shut down not long after their case concluded.
• Critics accused Ava of betraying the women’s groups that had helped her become an arbiter, while her remarks defended equal justice and criticized the Arbiter Court.
• Hesta found her AHgAs account had low clearance and decided not to ask Ligo to search internal files about Ava.
• Hesta remembered Molly and Avinash describing Ava in ways that made her seem like a different person.

Hesta remembered Ava’s warning about justice and invited Ding Yuqing to a poetry club to help her relieve stress. During her recorded end-of-month consultation with Yu Xuekun, Hesta said she wanted to return to the combat ranks and felt lost while trying to redefine her value in the Habitable Zone.

• Hesta recalled Ava’s words about preserving oneself and remaining a friend of justice.
• Hesta invited Ding Yuqing to a poetry club activity and asked her not to tell Ding Jiali.
• Hesta attended her recorded consultation with Yu Xuekun and described the challenges of adjusting to life in the Habitable Zone.
• Hesta told Yu Xuekun she had no plans to live in the Habitable Zone long-term and longed to return to the combat ranks.
• Hesta explained that she felt lost while redefining her value and noted that people in the Habitable Zone still faced pain.

Hesta asked Yu Xuekun to consider returning her to the combat roster and submitted a dossier about a dangerous campus organization. Their discussion of Hesta’s school complaints ended in a clash over whether she should feel ashamed of placing sanitary pads in public.

• Hesta told Yu Xuekun that suffering in the Habitable Zone felt meaningless and asked to return to the combat roster after rest and rehabilitation.
• Hesta gave Yu Xuekun documents detailing the campus organization’s structure and her encounters with its members, explaining that she had gathered evidence because they might threaten public safety.
• Hesta asked whether a Quicksilver Needle monitored the organization and whether surveillance was shared with a third party, but Yu Xuekun did not answer.
• Hesta reported her dispute with teacher Zuo Wentao and said she had filed complaints after he expelled her from class.
• Yu Xuekun questioned Hesta about placing sanitary pads in public, and Hesta asked her to explain why women in the Habitable Zone were expected to feel ashamed of their bodies.

Hesta told Yu Xuekun that she had deliberately defied the evaluation rules because she wanted to do something meaningful, then went to Madam Kaja’s café for their appointment. While waiting, she met the middle-aged woman who had played chess with Teacher Chen and shared coffee with her.

• Yu Xuekun asked Hesta what had happened that week and challenged her for going off-script during the evaluations.
• Hesta said she disliked the rules and questioned whether a Quicksilver Needles’ required conformity amounted to civilization presuming to be considerate toward barbarism.
• Hesta left the consultation room and walked to Madam Kaja’s café for their long-delayed meeting.
• Hesta found the café empty except for the middle-aged woman from Teacher Chen’s chess game and made them both lattes.
• After they finished their coffee, the middle-aged woman took out a wooden box and asked Hesta to play chess.

Hesta played chess with Madam Kaja, who criticized her lack of intuition and reviewed her mistakes after beating her. Hesta confirmed Madam Kaja had read her hidden note identifying her as Jane, and left looking forward to another match.

• Hesta played a chess match against the middle-aged woman, who pressured her and criticized her slow play and poor sense of priorities.
• Madam Kaja defeated Hesta, then reviewed the game and advised her to keep practicing until she found her own chess style.
• Hesta took notes with her red fountain pen, and Madam Kaja shivered when she saw it.
• After waiting together in the empty cafe, Hesta left a note beneath a glass and walked away.
• Hesta watched from outside as Madam Kaja found the note, which read, “Thank you for your hospitality, Madam Kaja. I look forward to our next match. Jane.”

Hesta prepared a class presentation, helped Ding Yuqing arrange for a sturdier attic door, and witnessed the strain in the Ding household after Shi Pingchuan came home drunk. The next day, the Supervisory Group summoned her to discuss the incident she had reported and her two requests.

• Hesta reviewed her presentation manuscript with Ding Yuqing, who asked her to find a discreet, sturdier replacement for the attic door.
• Hesta and Ding Yuqing discussed Hesta’s upcoming presentation and the possibility of celebrating Miaomiao’s first period.
• Shi Pingchuan came home drunk, and Ding Xueyang took him to vomit while Miaomiao cried; Hesta accompanied Ding Yuqing upstairs.
• On Thursday, Hesta practiced for her presentation before a call summoned her to Wenhui Building.
• A man from the Supervisory Group told Hesta that they had verified her report and discussed her two requests, prompting her to ask what the catch was.