Wei Zijin called at exactly the same times every day.
Once at eight in the morning, once at ten at night. She never missed a day.
Their daily conversations were either sweet nothings or Wang Xiaoliang telling jokes to make her happy.
Most of all, of course, they talked about the progress on hibernation.
"The expert team has split into several groups. Some are holed up in the lab, and the others are collecting environmental samples and tracking data at various locations around the city."
"Which group are you in?"
"The experimental group. I follow the experts around running data and taking notes every day. It's nonstop. Xie Hui joined the field investigation group. We just record things as they happen. They've been showing it on the news these past two days. There'll probably be a documentary or something later."
"Xie Hui? She went too? You really can't escape your nemesis."
"We're the only two from the station, and we barely see each other. We're each busy with our own work."
"The station probably wanted me to come along, and she heard about it and volunteered. She's really going all out, but it actually is safer here."
"Don't worry too much. The experts haven't let up at all. They'll probably have results soon. Things will get better."
"All right."
"My king, I miss you so much."
"My queen, I miss you so much too."
Three days passed like that.
Everyone was fine: Xiao Mo, Nuomi, Zhao Nan, Zhou Qiang. He called them all. Nothing was wrong.
Then came the fourth day.
Seven in the morning.
Wang Xiaoliang had just come out of the bathroom, a towel still draped over his shoulder, and was about to go downstairs for his standing practice when his phone rang.
It was Zhao Nan's number.