The ultimate blue sea

EXTRA 1

The sky was dark and gloomy, full of snow. The northwest wind, like a wounded beast, wailed incessantly.

The standing people had red at the corners of their eyes from being blown by the wind. Over seventy percent of the world's nations had lowered their flags on this day. Funeral bells seemed to reverberate in the air above the whole world, floating incessantly.

This was...the first snow of winter this year.

The truth about Utopia had been "selectively" publicized. The list of martyrs killed in action during this war was regularly broadcast by all the major TV stations. It was already over. There was no sense in pursuing the truth. For the vast majority of people, all they needed was to remember the names of these heroes and use the power of their grief to continue being easy, breezy, and beautiful.

The news was broadcasting this incomparably high-standard funeral. Su Chengde sat on the couch holding Tu Tutu. The living room was well-heated. Snowflakes hit the window lattice, which kept the wind and snow outside. The warm people were nearly falling asleep.

Tu Tutu became unusually silent. One of Su Chengde's hands was on his back, patting him as though petting a small animal.

Tu Tutu climbed up Su Chengde's arm and rubbed it with his little head. Like a little grown-up, he said, "Oh, my goodness, now I can stop worrying.—Right, Grandpa, my Imperial Uncle called this morning to say he was coming back for dinner tonight."

Su Chengde asked, "What can you stop worrying about?"

Tu Tutu said, "We don't have to run and hide everywhere anymore. After this, when someone asks me where my parents are, I can seriously tell them that they gave their lives for the cause of antiterrorism. If you ask me something, I won't have to dodge and avoid anymore."

The spot where the microchip tower had blown up had been very close to Su Qing and the others. They had all been somewhat affected and taken to the hospital for a period of observation. Su Qing had long ago forgotten the word "obey." The very first day he had been brought to the hospital, he had snuck off that same night for a trip home, and Su Chengde had at last been able to set his worries to rest.

The days of being sealed off, the urgent public notices, and the rolling news broadcasts afterwards had made the old man very uneasy. He had faintly felt that these people had something to do with him hearing no news of Su Qing after he had left. But when Su Qing had come home that time, before he had said two sentences, he had been found at home by a crowd of people who looked like military surgeons and taken away.

Then a few people had hastily come by with him, left some things he normally used, and said he would be back home on the weekend. Before the tea had cooled, he had been called away again by a phone call.

A couple of days ago, another group of people had come over, left a stack of commendations, and expressed regards for the hero's relatives. There had even been reporters.

Su Chengde had found to his astonishment that he had at some point become "the hero's relative."

So Su Chengde had asked unflappably, "What...is all of this?"

Su Chengde had attempted many times to start a conversation with this little devil, but he had found that this little whelp who hadn't even started middle school yet truly was shrewd. Each time, he fobbed him off with shameless antics. Su Qing was the only child Su Chengde had ever raised, so he had always thought that children normally had intellects like his idiot son when he was little. Comparatively speaking, he found to his amazement that Tu Tutu's IQ really was above average for his age.

Tu Tutu sat crosslegged on the couch. Looking wearied by experience, he began to recount in an incoherent way. He told of the grey house, of his suddenly vanished parents, of that strange uncle who had hanged himself like a rat, of how he had been entrusted to Su Qing, how they had run away from that tall building, how they had met Grandpa Ji, how they had drifted around changing names again and again.