Tang Li Yue watched from the porch with Sir Edmund in her arms. The dezombiefied chihuahua slash Classified Dog sat at her feet, wagging its tail.
"So noisy. Should I take back their backpacks? And you, you are not allowed to follow them," she told the dog.
It barked.
"I mean it. They are not snacks."
It whined.
"They are not."
Lu Chengran glanced down at the dog. "It understands more than it should."
"That is what worries me."
The gates closed after Liang Wei and Ma Shun disappeared down the road.
For a while, no one spoke.
Then Chen Qiao exhaled. "That felt awful."
Tang Li Yue looked at him. "Is it? That's good, then."
He turned to her, startled.
"If it felt easy, then you would have become the kind of person who should be thrown out too."
Chen Qiao's mouth closed as Zhou Han patted his shoulder.
Gao Jun looked at Tang Li Yue with something like respect.
She chose to selectively ignore it.
The day moved on or at least it tried to.
