In the second-floor master bedroom of the East City Villa, Duan Qizhao lay sprawled over the edge of the bed, snoring, his drool soaking a little map-shaped patch into the sheet.
He had played games with Jiang Xun until three in the morning the night before. He still clutched the controller, and the racing game on the screen was frozen at the instant he crashed.
Jiang Xun had not slept all night. He held the Brass Telescope up and adjusted its focus toward the sky beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Outside were the villa district's neat rows of red-tiled roofs and meticulously trimmed ornamental trees. There was no Milky Way, no starlight, only pale gray morning mist slowly dispersing.
He put the telescope back into its velvet pouch, tightened the drawstring, and carefully placed it in the nightstand drawer. As he closed the drawer, his fingertips lingered on the handle for two extra seconds.
On the nightstand sat the half-finished box of cheesecake Duan Qizhao had left over the night before, a plastic fork still stuck in it.
Jiang Xun stole a glance at Duan Qizhao-he was sleeping like a dead pig. Not even an earthquake could wake him.
He quickly pulled out the fork, scooped up a bite, and stuffed it into his mouth.
The quality really did justify the forty-minute queue at that shop. No wonder half the class craned their necks to look over whenever a staff member appeared at the classroom's back door on Wednesday afternoons.
But why did he taste a trace of bitterness as he swallowed?
The morning mist cleared, and sunlight poured through the floor-to-ceiling windows, spreading a golden layer of light across the floor.
Jiang Xun took his phone out of his pocket and unlocked it. The screen was completely clear, without a