48 Hours a Day

Seeing Hayase Asuka’s voracious retail appetite was enough to prove that women could be like a runaway Hexie bullet train when it came to shopping. It was already dark when she was finally done. After having some ramen for dinner, Zhang Heng sent her back to her hostel. Once she was safe, he returned to his dorm.

The final exams of each course were scheduled differently and not all students had their semester breaks at the same time. At that time, even the last batch of students was done with their finals, and the hostel was left with the university’s interns like Zhang Heng and Ma Wei. With most of the students gone, the campus was eerily silent at night.

After a while, Zhang Heng saw a familiar face under the streetlamp. It was Shen Xixi. He hadn’t seen her after their unpleasant dinner not too long ago, and his last memory of her was when she got into a black Mercedes. Coming from a well-heeled family, she didn’t need to work for the university during the breaks, so Zhang Heng was surprised that she was still around campus. Standing by her side was the young man who picked her up with the Mercedes. It seemed that they were in a heated argument.

“I can’t accept your proposal! We can’t just make an innocent person take such great risks.”

“This can’t be considered as a risk. We will stay near her and jump in if anything happens. I will personally guarantee her safety.”

“Guarantee her safety? You? Or Yang Zihe? Forget it. Until now, we still can’t figure what the hell that thing is or how we’re supposed to deal with it. We can’t even protect ourselves, much less protect her!”

“Tell me what we should do then? We’ll never figure out how to deal with that thing if we don’t get close to it. As we speak, it might have already killed someone innocent. I told her... I told her this would be a dangerous mission. She agreed to do it, and I promised to pay her good money to make up for the risks she would have to face.”

“No! She has no idea what she’s about to come across...”

Suddenly, Shen Xixi paused as she noticed Zhang Heng walking toward her. The young man attempted to taunt Zhang Heng by cocking his eyebrows, only to be met by Shen Xixi’s frown. During the last gathering, the young man was supposed to pick Shen Xixi up at a spot further away from the restaurant. She had never thought he would actually drive all the way there and take the initiative to open the door for her.

The circumstnances of that time were critical and hence, Shen Xixi didn’t say a word about it. She’d heard about the rumor going around the university. Though they were unpleasant, she never bothered explaining herself even if it could explain her sudden disappearance from the university or not returning to the dorm at night. However, that didn’t mean that she was okay with the rumors. Now that it had spread throughout the university, her purpose was achieved. That said, she wished to keep them they were, especially in front of Zhang Heng.

Though she harbored no romantic sentiments toward Zhang Heng, she had to admit that he left her with an excellent impression. Many friends had deserted her due to the recent incident, and only a handful would still talk to her without being judgemental.

“Let’s end it here tonight,” said Shen Xixi to the young man.

“Okay. I will send you a WeChat message later.”

The young man nodded and stopped glaring at Zhang Heng

“Wang Yu. I believe that we should try to calm down tonight. Let’s figure out some other way to deal with this matter.”

Wang Yu raised his eyebrows, sensing that Shen Xixi wasn’t too happy about the whole thing. From the first time they met, her emotional maturity left a deep impression on him. Whatever the situation, Shen Xixi would always prioritize the feelings of those around her.

When he noticed that she wasn’t too happy, he instantly stopped doing anything that would aggravate the situation. He simply walked towards the parking lot. Once Wang Yu was gone, Shen Xixi turned around and looked at Zhang Heng.

“I’m sorry. I feel like having some milk tea. Would you like to come with me?”

Zhang Heng could see that Shen Xixi was definitely in a foul mood so he didn’t reject her offer. They both walked out of the university to Coco’s, a milk tea shop near the bus terminal. Shen Xixi purchased two cups of milk tea and handed one with less sugar to Zhang Heng.

“I think you’ve changed a lot.”

Both were merely acquaintances, and Shen Xixi didn’t know too much about Zhang Heng. So, she came up with a random statement and quickly moved the conversation to the young man that she was with.

“Wang Yu. I got to know him from a charity organization,” said Shen Xixi while planting a straw into her cup.

“Charity organization?”

“Yes, but whatever we do seems to be unpopular around here. We specialize in studying and dealing with extraterrestrials that invade the country. You know about them, right?”

“I’ve heard about them in my high school biology class.”

“These beings bring catastrophic effects to our ecosystem. Not only do they affect the economy, but they would eventually cause the extinction of all life on this planet. We believe that the very survival of humans may be threatened with them around. Our country is a good example of the damage these extraterrestrial beings can bring. Although the government is trying to solve the problem once and for all, the workforce is sorely lacking, which is why organizations like ours offer assistance to them. Residents would typically report any sightings to us, or they would enquire about it online. When we have enough information, we will travel to the affected locations and provide them with a free identification service.”

“Sounds like you’re doing something very meaningful.”

Whatever Shen Xixi told Zhang Heng explained her argument with Wang Yu. However, she still kept a lot of details from him, such as the type of extraterrestrials they were dealing with or why would anybody’s life be at risk from dealing with them. There was also a possibility that Zhang Heng didn’t hear any of it, considering that there was some distance between them earlier. Nevertheless, Shen Xixi didn’t want to dwell on the topic further, not wanting to indulge in it after her brief explanation.