Half the day is already gone by the time we reach the apartment.
The sky outside is turning that lazy evening orange, like it's pretending nothing stressful exists.
I drop my bag by the door and lean back against it, staring at the ceiling.
"…Great," I mutter. "Tomorrow again."
Jiang kicks off his shoes, still glowing like he just won a life achievement badge, while my brain is already spiraling.
From tomorrow, it's back to chaos.
Evil organization.
Mr. Xian.
Government watchdogs.
Fake free health campaigns.
And oh—how could I forget?
Wei. Zhen.
I rub my face with both hands, fingers dragging down slowly.
"Urghhh," I groan. "I need to cook up a really good lie for Ocean."
Like. Oscar-level. Golden-globe. Best Actress in 'I Totally Didn't Start This Mess.'
Jiang tilts his head, watching me, antenna doing that tiny curious twitch.
"You say 'lie' with same face humans say 'battle,'" he notes.
