Chapter Summaries

Hesta joined Eucali for a hiking trip organized by the Drama Club, after Lin Jiao warned her to keep her distance from Ksenia’s roommates. At the gathering point, Hesta found that the Mountaineering Club was joining too, including Ding Jiali.

• Lin Jiao told Hesta to keep her distance from Ksenia’s roommates, whom she described as creepy.
• Hesta and Ding Jiali discovered they were both going hiking with the Drama Club, but Hesta declined his offer of a ride.
• Hesta and Eucali took the night bus to the City Hall gathering point and bought breakfast.
• Ksenia greeted Eucali and talked with Hesta about the weather and the hike.
• Hesta noticed Ding Jiali arrive with a girl from the Mountaineering Club.

Eucali and Hesta traveled to Bianchun Mountain for a hike, where Eucali stayed behind to accompany an elderly Drama Club teacher while Hesta hurried ahead. Hesta reached the resting area near the summit and spotted Ksenia in her bright yellow raincoat.

• Eucali and Hesta rode with the Drama Club and Mountaineering Club to Bianchun Mountain in the autumn rain.
• Ding Jiali approached Eucali while Hesta was buying trekking poles, but left to follow his companion when she walked off alone.
• Eucali slowed on the steep trail and chose to stay with Teacher Wu, while Hesta ran ahead toward the main group.
• Hesta reached the resting area near the summit and spotted Ksenia by her yellow raincoat.

Hesta joined Ksenia and her friends in the rain, then took their group photos and waited for Ksenia to rest. Ksenia invited Hesta along a quieter mountain path, and they talked as they walked.

• Hesta sat beside Ksenia, who suffered a coughing fit before sharing persimmons with her.
• Ksenia teased Hesta about her presentation and asked whether she had meant to call Ksenia's name at City Hall.
• Hesta took several group photos, quietly watching Ksenia through the camera.
• After the others headed toward the summit, Hesta waited while Ksenia rested and photographed plants and snails.
• Ksenia led Hesta along a scenic mountain path and revealed that she had studied physics and now researched meteorology.

Ksenia told Hesta about her cloud research and the aircraft experiment she planned to conduct at Songxueyuan, while explaining how illness had kept her studying from home. She also described how Teacher Chen helped her complete her undergraduate studies, leaving Hesta quietly recalling a recent class.

• Hesta asked Ksenia what she was researching, and Ksenia explained how her team studied cloud formation and planned to use two aircraft to measure cloud layers.
• Ksenia said she would travel to Songxueyuan the following week and might spend the next year in its laboratory preparing for the experiment.
• Ksenia told Hesta that poor health had kept her at home while she attended Industrial University classes remotely.
• Ksenia teased Hesta for assuming she studied literature, history, or philosophy, and Hesta apologized for being narrow-minded.
• Ksenia explained that Teacher Chen had helped her complete her undergraduate studies from a village after they met in the northern border mountains, and Hesta recalled the previous Friday's class.

After Ksenia and Hesta reached the summit, Ksenia reunited with her friends while Hesta withdrew to sit alone. Eucali later told Hesta how Teacher Wu had helped her on the trail, and Ding Jiali arrived with Mei Sinan, who was knocked over by Jiali’s backpack.

• The group noticed Ksenia was missing, then spotted her and Hesta approaching from another trail and hurried to meet them.
• Ksenia told Hesta that she had taken Teacher Chen’s familiar route for the first time, then returned to the crowd and was welcomed by her friends.
• Hesta sat alone at the summit, while Ksenia left her food and wipes before going back to her companions.
• Eucali told Hesta that sixty-eight-year-old Teacher Wu had caught up with her and accompanied her along the trail.
• Ding Jiali arrived with Mei Sinan and swung his backpack toward him, knocking him onto his back.

Mei Sinan reunited with Hesta and struggled to find a chance to talk with her while everyone gathered at the inn. As the group prepared lunch, he decided that giving Hesta his song would only disturb her, while Ksenia quietly reflected on the photos she had reviewed.

• Ding Jiali helped Mei Sinan up after his fall, and Eucali and Hesta registered their names at the monument.
• Ding Jiali introduced Hesta to Mei Sinan, who was surprised that she remembered his violin playing at Wenhui Building.
• Hesta asked Mei Sinan whether he had hurt himself, then left with Eucali to help at the inn.
• Mei Sinan watched Eucali cook and Hesta carry water, then listened briefly to the song he had written for Hesta and decided not to give it to her.
• Ksenia let others look through the group photos, then slowed on the path as she recalled that she had looked good in every summit photo.

Cheng Xiaoshu and Eucali talked while the kitchen was quiet, sharing stories about their education and families. Eucali hoped to find work as a tutor or translator and eventually return to school, while Cheng Xiaoshu reflected on her own family circumstances.

• Cheng Xiaoshu asked Eucali about her schooling, and Eucali explained that she had studied through high school and knew several languages.
• Eucali said her mother had fought against relatives who wanted to limit her daughters’ education and marry them off early.
• Eucali began to explain why she had not continued studying, but stopped herself before revealing where she came from.
• Cheng Xiaoshu said she admired Eucali’s strong-willed mother for protecting her daughters’ choices.
• Cheng Xiaoshu and Eucali compared their family circumstances and admitted they envied aspects of each other’s lives.
• Eucali said she wanted to find work first and return to school once she had earned money.

Cheng Xiaoshu and Eucali discussed how reaching the top of the mountain had not made life as different as Cheng Xiaoshu expected, before joining the others for a late lunch. At the table, Hesta rejected an unwanted drink, while Ksenia watched her from across the gathering.

• Cheng Xiaoshu told Eucali that studying felt like climbing a mountain, but reaching the summit had not changed things as much as she had imagined.
• Eucali found Mei Sinan sitting alone in the courtyard and sent him to help carry water.
• Hesta noticed girls glaring at Eucali during lunch, and Eucali guessed one of them might be Ding's girlfriend.
• A Drama Club member tried to make Hesta drink, but Hesta refused and another girl dragged the would-be toastmaker away.
• Eucali offered to help Hesta refuse future drinks, and Hesta threatened to slam the next person's head onto the table.
• Ksenia watched Hesta laughing with Eucali, and Hesta noticed her gaze before Ksenia looked back down at her cup.

As the club prepared to leave the mountaintop, Hesta searched for a chance to say goodbye to Ksenia while Ksenia listened to her companions gossip. After they joked about Hesta and Eucali being romantically involved and teased Ksenia about Hesta, Ksenia angrily walked away.

• Hesta waited with Eucali in the inn courtyard and tried to find a moment to speak with Ksenia before they left.
• Ksenia watched Hesta from across the crowd but remained surrounded by her companions.
• Ksenia's companions discussed the Mountaineering Club's story about Ding Jiali, his girlfriend, and Mengmeng.
• Ksenia's roommate joked that Hesta had caused the day's romantic confusion, and another companion suggested pretending Hesta and Eucali were a couple.
• When the companions teased Ksenia about hiking with Hesta and continued making jokes, Ksenia rebuked them and walked away.

Hesta said goodbye to Ksenia after their mountain outing and kept the photograph Ksenia gave her. Back in the city, Hesta spotted Molly’s car, chased it down, and went with Molly to her apartment, where their conversation was left to begin.

• Hesta caught up with Ksenia on a mountain path and said goodbye before leaving with the group.
• Ksenia gave Hesta a photograph of herself by the stream, and Hesta promised to see her next week.
• On the bus ride back, Hesta looked at the photograph while Eucali slept beside her.
• After reaching City Hall Square, Hesta spotted Molly’s car and ran after it until Molly stopped.
• Molly brought Hesta to her apartment on the twenty-first floor and told her to put on shoe covers or remove her shoes.

Hesta visited Molly, who offered her paperwork to move into a school dorm and explained that the investigation committee had largely sided with Zuo Wentao. Molly outlined two possible ways to proceed, and the chapter ended with Hesta asking whether Molly had disliked her when they first met.

• Molly told Hesta that several students had disappeared after the school year began and that police suspected the cases were more complicated than they seemed.
• Molly gave Hesta a document that would let her apply for a school dorm room instead of staying with her host family.
• Molly explained that seventeen of the twenty-two committee members had ruled that Zuo Wentao had done nothing seriously wrong, while only two supported Hesta.
• Molly presented Hesta with the options of appealing to the Municipal Education Bureau or restarting the investigation with a newly drawn committee.
• On the drive back, Hesta asked Molly whether she had had a problem with her when they first met, and Molly denied it.

Hesta returned home from the mountain and learned that Ding Guisheng had heard about her sanitary-pad incident at Industrial University. Eucali warned her about Ding Jiali, while Mei Sinan stayed behind on the mountain and Ding Jiali pressed him about a girl he liked.

• Hesta came home and found Xu Ruyi and Ding Yuqing cleaning up after Ding Guisheng’s gathering.
• Ding Guisheng repeated a joke about a female Industrial University student carrying a huge bag of sanitary pads, and Hesta revealed that the student was her.
• Ding Yuqing warned Hesta that teacher Zuo might retaliate over her complaint letter, but Hesta said he should be afraid of her instead.
• Eucali messaged Hesta to warn her about Ding Jiali, and Hesta asked Ding Yuqing about his former girlfriend before trying to leave for her room.
• Mei Sinan sat apart from the group on the mountaintop, and Ding Jiali teased him about thinking of a girl.

Mei Sinan agonized over pursuing a girl while Ding Jiali urged him to act with courage and shared his dubious dating strategy. On Monday, Hesta began the process of applying for campus housing and learned that graduate students were only eligible, not guaranteed, to get a single room.

• Ding Jiali questioned Mei Sinan about the girl he liked and encouraged him to take action instead of hesitating.
• Ding Jiali explained that he had rejected Mengmeng and claimed he used a fabricated girlfriend to appear more attractive to women.
• Mei Sinan thanked Ding Jiali for his advice but chose to think things over alone, then lifted his speaker toward the moon.
• Hesta submitted initial inquiries about campus accommodation after reviewing the documents Molly had given her.
• Hesta learned that graduate students could apply for single rooms, but they might still be assigned shared dormitories.

Hesta learned that Ksenia had once been a celebrated student who studied remotely because of her poor health, while Farn shared news about the Ascending Bright and Robogriye. Hesta revealed that the male passengers left at the northern outpost were already dead, having all died aboard the ship.

• A logistics department teacher misjudged Hesta's reason for asking about the graduate dormitory and warned her against being too proactive.
• Hesta found Ksenia's publicity board and photographed an old image of Ksenia in a wheelchair holding a trophy.
• Farn explained that Ksenia had been named a Person of the Year and had attended physics classes remotely with specially built equipment.
• Farn told Hesta that Gobelin had died after disappearing during a hunt and that Robogriye had returned to District 1 after falling gravely ill.
• Hesta said the supposed monks remaining at the Northern District 14 outpost had nothing to do with Robogriye anymore because they had all died on the ship.

Hesta told Farn that only one person had died aboard the ship, despite public reports claiming otherwise, but refused to explain further until Farn told her why she was investigating District 15. At the poetry club, Eucali joined the group and was welcomed, while Hesta continued considering how Zuo Wentao had shaped the audience in his class.

• Hesta told Farn that the ship’s reported survivors were not the people who had actually disembarked, then left without explaining more.
• Hesta met Lin Jiao for dinner, learned that Lin Jiao lived near Ksenia’s roommates, and heard that they had talked about her.
• Cheng Xiaoshu brought Eucali to the poetry club, where the members welcomed her and respected her reluctance to say where she was from.
• Hesta remained preoccupied after the club meeting, and Lin Jiao discussed Zuo Wentao’s methods with her on the way to the old Wen Academy building.
• Lin Jiao began telling Hesta a joke about someone trying to write down the truth of the world after dreaming it.

Lin Jiao and Hesta argued over Ava Morgan’s political legacy as they walked to Ava’s statue. Hesta was left confronting her grief and the fact that Ava was dead and unable to defend herself.

• Lin Jiao joked that Hesta’s earnest speech about menstrual shame would make people laugh because they did not understand its purpose.
• Lin Jiao told Hesta that anger would show her words had landed, while Hesta insisted she had not attacked anyone.
• At Ava’s statue, Hesta wondered how Ava would handle her situation, and Lin Jiao criticized Ava as a political opportunist who had benefited men rather than women.
• Hesta rejected Lin Jiao’s accusations as conjecture and called her extreme, while Lin Jiao argued that Ava’s limitations did not erase her achievements and that the living were the future.
• Hesta felt a surge of anger and grief as she realized that Ava was dead and could no longer defend herself.

Hesta left her disagreement with Lin Jiao unresolved, then learned Ding Jiali had come to persuade her to settle her dispute with Zuo Wentao privately. The chapter ended with Ding Jiali proposing that both sides apologize and let the matter drop.

• Hesta told Lin Jiao she believed the accusations against Ava did not hold up, and the two parted without resolving their disagreement.
• Walking home, Hesta reflected on how people had distorted Ava’s legacy and felt lonely for her.
• Ding Jiali waited for Hesta and warned her that Lin Jiao might be leading her astray.
• Hesta explained that Lin Jiao had advised her not to pursue the dispute with Zuo Wentao.
• Ding Jiali said Uncle Ding wanted Hesta to let the matter end, with Zuo Wentao apologizing privately and neither side pursuing it further.

Hesta refused Ding Jiali’s attempt to persuade her to settle the dispute with Zuo Wentao privately, insisting that she wanted a public apology. After confronting Ding Jiali for insulting her and Lin Jiao, she explained why she would not back down and left for home, while Ding Jiali blamed Ding Guisheng for the conflict.

• Hesta rejected Ding Jiali’s plea to accept the investigation results and resolve the matter with Zuo Wentao privately.
• Ding Jiali became angry, insulted Hesta and Lin Jiao, and threatened that Hesta would pay for refusing to change her mind.
• Hesta pinned Ding Jiali against a car, then let him go when she realized she might seriously hurt him.
• Hesta demanded that Ding Jiali apologize for his insults, and he apologized, saying he had gotten carried away.
• Hesta told Ding Jiali she understood why he wanted to avoid worrying the family but would not keep backing down when Zuo Wentao was at fault.
• After Hesta left, Ding Jiali resented Ding Guisheng for stirring up the dispute.

Hesta spoke with Ding Guisheng about Zuo Wentao, then headed to class with Ding Jiali tagging along. Near Wenhui Building, she dodged a falling student and recognized him as the man who had tried to see Madam Kaja.

• Ding Guisheng tried to persuade Hesta to help with Zuo Wentao, but she left after their conversation lasted more than two hours.
• Ding Jiali accompanied Hesta toward Wenhui Building and questioned her about her military training and fighting ability.
• Hesta shook off Ding Jiali near Wenhui Building and hurried up the steps, intending to visit Molly before class.
• Hesta lunged at a female student and knocked her down the steps to avoid a falling young man.
• Hesta recognized the injured young man as the red-haired man who had tried to see Madam Kaja and broken Cheng Xiaoshu's glasses.

After witnessing a student’s suicide, Hesta gave a statement to police and learned that the victim was He Licheng, a student from a neighboring university. Back home, she told Ding Yuqing about the death after hearing that Yuqing had gone to the closed Pretend Cafe with a friend to seek Madam Kaja’s fortune-telling.

• Hesta recounted her encounters with the deceased to police but chose not to mention the unopened documents Yu Xuekun had sent her.
• Industrial University searched for the victim’s identity until a counselor from District 14 Comprehensive University identified him as He Licheng.
• Hesta left the crisis intervention classroom, found the Pretend Cafe shut, and returned home to find Ding Guisheng had not damaged anything.
• Hesta met Ding Yuqing and her friend Zhou Xin, who said they had visited the closed cafe twice to make an appointment with Madam Kaja.
• Hesta told Ding Yuqing about the suicide at Wenhui Building, and Ding Jiali later repeated the news to Xu Ruyi at home.