Chapter 27: Lin Xia’s Preparations

Lin Xia read through the announcement from the branch office several more times from beginning to end.

The wording was restrained.

She recognized every word on the page.

She understood every sentence.

Yet when all those words were placed together, they gave her an inexplicable sense of unease.

She stopped thinking about it and closed her laptop.

Lin Xia walked over to the couch and sat down beside Yin Qi.

As if she had expected this all along, Yin Qi’s phone lay face down across her neatly pressed-together knees.

She watched Lin Xia approach.

Lin Xia met her gaze.

“You mentioned before… that something bad might be coming.”

“Do you think that has anything to do with what’s been happening lately?”

Yin Qi lowered her head.

Her thumb gently rotated the silver ring on her left index finger.

The movement was subtle.

After a while, she looked up.

“Well…”

“I’m not completely sure either.”

“But from what I can tell right now…”

“There’s a very good chance they’re connected.”

“Our branch says the cause of the recent abnormal meme activity is still unclear.”

Lin Xia reached over and poked her hand.

“What about you? Do you know the reason?”

“Did you ‘sense’ anything this time?”

“…All I can say right now is that the source of that voice is deliberately hiding itself.”

“The fact that I managed to hear it before was already an accident.”

“It’s being very discreet.”

“I can’t sense anything particularly meaningful.”

Lin Xia fell silent for a while.

She pulled a cushion over and hugged it.

Resting her chin on top, she stared blankly at the coffee table.

The living room was quiet.

Only the distant sounds of traffic drifted up from below.

After a while, Lin Xia suddenly lifted her head.

Her expression was resolute.

“I need to start preparing.”

“Preparing?”

“What kind of preparation?”

Yin Qi sounded surprised.

“Preparing for whatever mission might come.”

“Even though my work is mostly monitoring and intelligence coordination, I’m still part of the organization.”

“If something really happens, I don’t want to be stuck helplessly watching.”

Her tone was serious.

It didn’t sound like a burst of enthusiasm.

It sounded like she had already weighed all the risks and consequences before speaking.

Yin Qi watched her for several seconds.

Then the corners of her lips curved upward.

It wasn’t her usual teasing smile.

Nor was it one of her mischievous grins.

It was a faint smile that seemed almost approving.

Like a form of acknowledgment.

“Then tell me.”

“What do you plan to do?”

“…I’ll start with physical training.”

Lin Xia said, “The training manual has a fitness program for us.”

“Normally we’re only required to do it twice a month.”

“But starting today, I’m increasing it to twice a week.”

“At the very least, if an emergency mission comes up, I don’t want to be out of breath after running a few steps.”

“Mhm. Not bad.”

“I also need to spend time reviewing the equipment procedures and response protocols.”

Lin Xia continued.

“I learned them during onboarding training.”

“But during that Class B incident, I realized there were procedures I didn’t remember well enough.”

“Mhm.”

Lin Xia paused and looked at Yin Qi.

“…What’s with the ‘mhm’?”

“I just think you’re making sense.”

“Praise, praise.”

Yin Qi leaned back against the couch.

One leg crossed over the other.

“…That’s all I’ve thought of so far.”

Lin Xia said.

“Do you have any suggestions?”

“Me?”

Yin Qi twirled a lock of her hair around her finger twice.

She seemed to think seriously about it.

“Go to bed early and wake up early.”

“…What kind of suggestion is that?”

“That’s an excellent suggestion.”

Yin Qi stood up and started walking toward her room.

Halfway there, she stopped and looked back.

“But if you’re going to train at home, let me know.”

“Why would I tell you that?”

“I can help keep time.”

Yin Qi said, “And also see whether your workout form looks funny.”

Lin Xia threw the cushion at her.

Yin Qi casually sidestepped it.

The cushion struck the wall with a dull thud.

Yin Qi didn’t turn around.

But Lin Xia noticed her shoulders shake slightly.

She was probably laughing.

***

The next day, Lin Xia actually went to train.

The branch’s fitness room was located on the basement level.

It wasn’t large, but it was fully equipped.

Just like a normal gym.

Following the manual’s standard procedures, Lin Xia completed the entire routine.

Warm-up.

Basic physical conditioning.

Emergency response testing.

And finally, running under simulated load conditions.

By the time she finished, she was covered in sweat.

She straightened her hair in front of the wall mirror.

After changing into fresh clothes, she headed back upstairs.

When she returned home, dinner was already laid out on the table.

“You timed it?”

She asked Yin Qi, who was lying on the couch scrolling through her phone.

“If I told you I’d been watching you the whole time and tracking which stage you were at, you probably wouldn’t like hearing it.”

“…You know that, and you still said it?”

Lin Xia sat at the table.

She lowered her head and took a sip of soup.

After swallowing, she looked toward Yin Qi.

Yin Qi had just gotten up from the couch.

She was staring at her chopsticks rather than looking at Lin Xia.

Suddenly, Lin Xia wanted to ask:

“Why do you care about me so much?”

But the question sounded strange.

She felt too embarrassed to say it aloud.

And even if she asked, the answer would probably still be those same four words.

So she didn’t ask.

Instead, during dinner, she picked up the piece of poached chicken that Yin Qi had taken one bite from and set aside.

Then she ate it herself.

…Anyway, they had long since moved beyond the kind of relationship where everyone ate strictly from their own plates.

***

Another day passed.

Lin Xia increased her training frequency from twice a week to three times a week.

Her reason was that she still didn’t feel particularly tired.

Yin Qi couldn’t resist commenting.

“I mean, come on.”

“With your fitness level already like this, what exactly are you still training for?”

But physical conditioning wasn’t the only thing she was doing.

She was also reviewing practical response manuals for different categories of memes.

She deliberately spent extra time studying emotional interference types and environmental alteration types.

The former was because there was one sitting right beside her.

Though the reality was far more complicated.

Lin Xia simply categorized Yin Qi as an emotional interference type based on the limits of her own understanding.

The latter was because of Moss.

When she reached the environmental alteration chapter, she remembered the meme from the greenbelt.

And the white flower it had given away in the end.

Yin Qi still liked spending her days in the living room.

Sometimes she read.

Sometimes she used her phone.

Sometimes she simply sat there staring out the window.

She never mentioned the disturbance in the information field again.

But Lin Xia noticed that she had begun opening the windows more often.

In the past, she preferred keeping them shut.

She said there was too much city noise.

It was annoying.

But recently she no longer seemed bothered by it.

Sometimes she would even open the window herself and leave a small gap.

Lin Xia asked, “What are you listening to?”

“Some unusual background noise.”

Yin Qi replied.

“But it’s all still too fragmented.”

“Nothing has connected into a complete picture yet.”

She thought for a moment before adding,

“If it ever does connect into a complete picture…”

“Then it definitely won’t be a small matter.”