Nineteen years after my mother vanished, the water bureau mailed me a lunchbox she once used. The deadline to sign for it is 5:40 p.m.—the exact minute the sluice gate failed all those years ago. When the call connected, she asked only one thing: *Has the boat gone out yet?*
A short science fiction story in Simplified Chinese. Complete. The main text was created with generative AI.
