A letter from above

Shi Yu and Han He returned home. Shi Yu, who had not checked his phone the whole way, took it out for a look and discovered that he had already been added to two group chats.

Yesterday, Shi Yu had exchanged contact details with Liu Yiyi and the others. The two group chats were:

[Snow Cedar, here I come!] and [Concave]

Shi Yu fell silent.

The former was undoubtedly the Snow Cedar squad's group chat. It had seven members, including every superpowered person Shi Yu had met.

The latter had only three members: the three brothers from No. 12 Middle School, Shi Yu, Han He, and Hu Zihao.

A trace of speechlessness showed through Shi Yu's silence.

Never mind the pun, but that second one, [Concave]...

I won't let you off, Hu Zihao.

Shi Yu clenched his fist and looked at the message Hu Zihao had sent in the group.

"Guys, everything's fine on my end. Mom and I are both okay. How about you?"

Shi Yu took off his jacket, hung it on the door, and replied, "We're all fine. Also, can we change the group name?"

Hu Zihao: "Great, haha _(:D)∠)_ I'm working out. You know, I feel like I could take on a bull right now!"

Don't just keep talking to yourself!

Shi Yu: "How about showing some respect for short people, dear?"

Hu Zihao: "Oh, I just remembered I have something to do. Talk later (≧︶≦*)"

Shi Yu: "..."

I really won't let you off, Hu Zihao.

Seeing Hu Zihao run off after stirring up trouble, Shi Yu shook his head helplessly. Still, it had eased some of the muddle in his mind.

He had to admit, Hu Zihao really did have a good mindset.

Shi Yu had marveled at this countless times already. Whether at school or during the incidents that followed, Hu Zihao always managed to adjust as quickly as possible.

No wonder his Staircase was "Resilience." It really suited him.

Behind Shi Yu, Han He changed into slippers and took out his phone for a look.

"Pfft."

Shi Yu instantly turned to look at him.

"You laughed, didn't you?"

"I didn't." Han He's expression was perfectly calm. There was no sign at all that he was lying.

I won't let you off either, Han He.

At Huo Qiuliang's home.

Liu Yiyi stood beside Huo Qiuliang with her arms folded, her fingers slowly tapping her arm.

"No rush... no rush... it'll definitely be approved... definitely..."

Huo Qiuliang's fingers flew across the keyboard as he spoke rapidly.

"Almost, almost there, Yiyi. This letter's got a whole lot of encryption. They used the third-highest security standard!"

Huo Qiuliang stared at the layers of encryption on the letter and worked even more carefully to crack them, following the decoding guidelines they had previously been given.

Huo Qiuliang knew perfectly well that when Liu Yiyi said there was no rush, it generally meant she was frantic. Huo Qiuliang could even feel the room's temperature beginning to rise.

No wonder Liu Yiyi was nervous. A letter at this level meant their Snow Cedar would receive authorization for three brand-new members... or several "superpowered personnel transfer orders."

The latter was unlikely, but not impossible.

If it was a "superpowered personnel transfer order," that meant one or all of Shi Yu's trio would be transferred to Jing City, subject to direct assignment and control by the authorities.

For some, this was a stairway to heaven.

But for others, it was the road to the underworld.

Huo Qiuliang shook his head, stopped thinking about all that messy business, and concentrated entirely on decoding.

Liu Yiyi was already standing nervously in the very center of the room, far from anything flammable-she was extremely hot right now.

If not for the clothes Shen Bai had sewn, Liu Yiyi would already have been covered in ashes.

Just then, the door opened. At the same instant, swirling air turned all the window handles in the room and opened the windows. A current of air poured inside, guiding the billowing heat out.

He Siying stood quietly in the doorway, and Shen Bai walked into the room from behind her.

"Yiyi, calm down. Don't get agitated."

Liu Yiyi took two deep breaths at his words. She tried hard to calm herself, but it had little effect. All she could do was close her eyes and imagine the quenching process.

Red-hot iron would gain the properties of steel within the quenching medium amid a "hiss-hiss-."

With her breathing, a slight coolness spread, cooling her scorching body.

Just then, a voice rang out like music from heaven.

"Cracked it!"

Liu Yiyi's eyes flew open, and she rushed to Huo Qiuliang's side in one swift stride! Together with Shen Bai, she pressed her face up to the computer screen!

Neither of Snow Cedar's two leaders dared breathe at that moment. Both held their breath as they looked at the message in the middle of the screen.

"Following assessment by the Stars organization, Shi Yu, Han He, and Hu Zihao are hereby approved to join 597 Snow Cedar, effective immediately. Standard-issue equipment for the three will subsequently..."

"May the stars pierce the coming night!"

"Aah!!!!!!"

Liu Yiyi shrieked, then scooped up both Huo Qiuliang and Shen Bai, whose mouth had only just spread into a grin, and spun around like a windmill!

"This is great!! This is great!! They all get to stay, instead of going there and putting up with all that crap!!"

The squeeze nearly took half of Huo Qiuliang's life. He weakly patted Liu Yiyi's muscular arm.

In the end, Shen Bai was the one who told the spinning Liu Yiyi to stop, finally putting an end to her somewhat violent behavior brought on by excessive excitement.

Back on the ground, Shen Bai caught his breath, patted the creases in his clothes, and gave a light cough before saying:

"All right, it really is good news. I'll let them know in a bit. Then, once the equipment and credentials arrive, we can officially welcome our new members."

Ding!

Shi Yu set down the glass of water in his hand. After using Psychokinesis to flick back the grape Han He had tossed at him, he picked up the phone beside him.

[Snow Cedar, here I come!]

Shen Bai: "Congratulations to our three newcomers @Shi Yu @Han He @Hu Zihao. Today's document has arrived, and your status has been officially approved. You can formally report in once your credentials are issued in a couple of days."

Liu Yiyi: ""

Huo Qiuliang: ""

He Siying: ""

Hu Zihao: ""

Huh? Wait, one of those doesn't belong.

Shi Yu read the messages and replied, "Understood." The last weight on his mind finally lifted.

Chewing a grape, Han He also replied, "Understood," then looked at Shi Yu and asked:

"Still worried?"

Shi Yu plopped down on the sofa. Sunlight in the spacious room fell across the living room floor, outlining the shape of the door and warming a rectangular patch.

Shi Yu's tone was light, and he let everything from the past few days flow out along with his voice.

"I've made up my mind. I'm not worrying about anything else."

Han He nodded, then threw a pear.

Shi Yu easily stopped the pear in midair, caught it in his hand, and took a bite before saying:

"Let me take a breather..."

Han He nodded and silently took a small persimmon out of his pocket, rubbing his thumb over it.