2. BACK might really be an “infinite” ability. As long as midnight passes each day, a new BACK will arrive right on schedule, without a single exception. There’s just one thing Alan Cooper hasn’t managed to test successfully: for example, if he uses BACK two seconds after midnight to go back to 11:59 PM the previous day, when the time passes midnight again after a few dozen seconds, a new BACK won’t be generated.

3. The time shift before and after BACK is something Alan Cooper simply can’t get used to. If he stays still, it’s fine; sitting is okay too. But if he was walking, talking, or making any movement a minute before, the first moment after BACK, he can’t react at all—either he’ll trip and fall, or he’ll lose his train of thought. So, he keeps this in mind and is especially careful. Otherwise, if he BACKs on a busy street and doesn’t stand firm, and then gets into a car accident, that would be the end of him.

Of course, after so many days of trying, Alan Cooper has gotten much more used to BACK and doesn’t fall down every time anymore.

On the other hand—

Alan Cooper hasn’t slacked off on reviewing for the interview either. He spends almost a dozen hours a day looking up information and memorizing things. All sorts of big and small regulations in officialdom, the nitty-gritty rules of the financial world—there’s just so much, and he tries to absorb as much as he can. Knowing a bit more never hurts.

This day—

In his own living room, his mom and Aunt Evelyn were forcing smiles, chatting about cheerful topics. Although they were quite disappointed and upset that Alan Cooper hadn’t passed the civil service exam, for his sake, they hadn’t mentioned the exam at all these days, just hoping he could get over his emotional slump soon.

“Hey, Little Alan, look at that hippo on TV—why does it look like that?”

“Yeah, it really looks funny, hahaha…”

“Oh wow, I’ve never seen that parrot before either. There are just too many bird species in Africa.”

Watching his mom and Evelyn Carter banter back and forth, Alan Cooper scratched his head and gave a wry smile. “Mom, Aunt Evelyn, you two keep watching TV. I’m going back to study.”

His mom looked at her son with concern. “The national exam is still a ways off. Take a break now and then, don’t overdo it.”

Alan Cooper just replied absentmindedly.

Evelyn Carter put down her crossed leg and gently patted the back of his head, a bit reproachfully. “You’ve been cooped up in your room alone for days. That’s not good. Come on, watch some Animal World and rest your eyes. Dinner will be ready soon. I’ll cook something nice for you myself. If there’s anything you want to eat, just tell me, okay?”

“Mm-hmm.” Sneaking a glance down Evelyn Carter’s faintly visible cleavage from her collar, Alan Cooper swallowed hungrily.

Ring ring ring, ring ring ring, his phone rang.

“I’ll get that.” Alan Cooper saw it was an unfamiliar number, so he walked a few steps over to the crabapple flowerpot by the window and answered, “Hello?”

“Hello, is this Alan Cooper?” The voice on the other end was a woman’s, very soft.

“Oh, yes, that’s me. May I ask who’s calling?” Alan Cooper held the phone between his shoulder and ear, picked up the spray bottle, and spritzed water onto the crabapple leaves. The mist condensed into droplets on the big green and red leaves, dripping down onto the dry soil in the pot.

He heard the woman on the phone say, “This is the Political Department of the Municipal State Security Bureau. Because our department is rather special, we don’t have an official website, and we don’t post exam results or other information online. So, regarding your interview, we’re notifying you by phone. Please have a pen ready to take notes.” The caller was probably from Beijing too, speaking formally but politely.

Alan Cooper was startled, then snapped to attention. “Ah, please hold on, just a moment!”

His mom asked suspiciously from the sofa, “Alan, who is it?”

Alan Cooper waved his arms frantically. “Mom, a pen—give me a pen and some paper!”

Evelyn Carter blinked, bent down, and handed him a ballpoint pen and a supermarket flyer from under the coffee table. “Didn’t see any blank paper—will this do?”

“Yes, yes, thank you.” Alan Cooper spread the supermarket ad on the windowsill and said into the phone, “Sorry to keep you waiting, please go ahead.”

There was a pause, then the caller said, “Here’s the situation: your written exam score has passed the interview cutoff, and your total score ranks fourth among all interviewees in the department. The day after tomorrow at 9 a.m., please come to the waiting room at the Municipal Personnel Bureau for your interview. The address is 22nd floor, Room 2216, Baiyun Times Building, No. 5A, Lianhuachi East Road, Chengxi District…”

“Okay, thank you, thank you very much.”

The caller gave a few more reminders about what documents to bring, then hung up.

Alan Cooper was a bit excited. He turned around and put his phone in his pocket. “Mom, I have to go out the morning after tomorrow for something. Please remember to wake me up early—I can’t be late.”

His mom asked curiously, “Where are you going the day after tomorrow? Why are you so happy?”

Alan Cooper grinned. “I’ll tell you then, I’ll tell you then. I’m going back to my room to study.”

Evelyn Carter tugged on Alan Cooper’s mother and nodded toward the small room. “Did Little Alan find a job?”