The boy's fingers were pale and slender, his nails trimmed into neat, rounded ovals.
Tong Yang lowered her gaze to her palm, her expression calm, as if she wasn't particularly surprised.
Tong Le and the boy both looked up simultaneously, their faces showing shock and astonishment.
It was probably an instinctive move by the boy. After realizing what he'd done, he withdrew his hand as if it had been scalded, mumbling, "Sorry..."
Tong Le stared fixedly at the boy, her expression a mix of confusion and wariness. "Sister, is this older brother a friend of yours?" she asked.
Tong Yang withdrew her hand and nodded. "Yes, a friend I knew from before."
"Oh..." Tong Le nodded, half-convinced, her eyes still fixed on the boy.
"You go and play. I'll talk with him alone."
"Okay, I'll go then."
Tong Le didn't recognize the boy beside her sister, and she didn't want to interrupt their conversation. She left the rest area, looking back over her shoulder every few steps.
Tong Yang leaned against the seat, her gaze profound, not breaking the silence first.
The boy nervously twisted his fingers. Faced with Tong Yang's silence, he glanced at her uneasily.
"I should go," the boy said tentatively.
"Sit," Tong Yang said.
"Oh..." the boy mumbled.
Tong Yang was pondering something.
She had seen Tong Le's tombstone in the parallel world, and "Tong Yang" had also said Tong Le was dead. That shouldn't be wrong.
Even if he was Tong Le from a parallel world, he should only be nine years old.
The only plausible explanation Tong Yang could think of was that he was a time traveler.
Tong Le from the future world had entered a time travel through a wormhole, arriving in 2024.
The "Netizen Melon-Eater 007" group chat was created in 2026, and its creation time spanned ten years, meaning the group owner's true temporal location was 2026.
The time dislocation and the anchor point set on her seemed to explain everything.
"Tong Le," Tong Yang suddenly called out.
The boy looked up, dazed, revealing moist, red-rimmed eyes beneath the brim of his cap.
They say no matter how much a person's appearance changes, their eyes always remain the same.
Tong Yang couldn't help but sigh. "You're the Tong Le who grew up after I died on May 28th, right?"
Before her death, the Peking University professor had already held Tong Le in high regard, wanting to cultivate him as a future pillar of the nation. If she had died then, he would likely have entered the affiliated primary school of Peking University, delving into mathematics and physics.
Perhaps twelve years later, they had researched the principles of wormholes, found a way to traverse time, used the melon-eating group as a medium to connect three different times, set her death as a temporal anchor point to avoid the events of May 28th that caused her death.
The boy stared at her intently, tears moistening his eyelashes, stinging his eyes until he blinked, causing teardrops to fall and soak into his mask.
"Yeah... Sister, it's been a long time."
Yes, it had been twelve years since she last saw that version of Tong Le.
Just like the members in the melon-eating group, they existed within a temporal dislocation, which was why they could remember events from both original timelines.
As the only person in the melon-eating group from 2036, Tong Le alone possessed twelve years without Tong Yang.
Even the Tong Le growing up in 2024, even the Tong Le growing up on this timeline, would not share his memories.
"You've grown so much," Tong Yang laughed softly. "Even older than me now."
The boy's eyes curved into a smile. "I can be your older brother now."
Tong Yang fell silent for a moment. She had never been particularly empathetic and couldn't imagine what Tong Le had experienced over those twelve years, let alone fathom the emotions he carried appearing before her now.
"What will 2036 be like?"
The boy shook his head. "Sister, 2024 has already changed. The future is different."
"Yesterday you said you couldn't tell me about those things. Why?"
The boy said, "I can't interfere with past events, otherwise a closed temporal loop cannot form."
Tong Yang frowned. "What do you mean?"
"You didn't die, so in the future, I won't use the group chat to traverse time. The moment you entered the group chat, our time loop began. And the time I exist in is 2036; I cannot enter the loops of other times."
The Tong Le of 2036 formed the beginning of the time loop, but his temporal location was 2036, while Tong Yang was in 2024.
The Tong Le of 2036 and the Tong Yang of 2024 were like two curves in the river of time with different starting points. They extended forward simultaneously on different levels, unable to intersect, until both completed their loops, becoming two entirely independent circles.
"If I interfere with your timeline, 2024 and 2036 would intersect, forever preventing the formation of a closed loop. You would be trapped forever in the pursuits of the parallel world and the cycles."
Tong Yang pondered for a moment. "Because 2024 changed, the 2036 you exist in became an independent timeline?"
"Yes."
"But the time dislocation between me and the group members is shortening. One day, we'll enter 2036."
The boy said, "Sister, when your time coincides with that of the 2026 group members, the loop will be complete."
Tong Yang looked momentarily stunned. "Why?"
"My timeline has already completely separated. The only ones left with time dislocation are you and them. So, when your times coincide with theirs, the dislocation will vanish, completing the loop."
Tong Le initiated the loop from 2036, while Tong Yang and the others were passively drawn into a loop on another timeline. As the time differential increased, Tong Yang could catch up to the others, ending the temporal dislocation on that timeline.
However, the Tong Le of 2036 would only exist on a separate timeline.
Because the Tong Le growing up on the 2024 timeline would not return to the past to see Tong Yang.
"Then what about you?" Tong Yang asked.
The boy looked up towards the 2024 Tong Le, who was with Yang Lin but kept glancing their way. "Isn't that me right there?"
Tong Yang was silent. "If that's the case, and you can't interfere with 2024, why did you come?"
The boy's eyes curved again. "I just couldn't wait. I wanted to come see you ahead of time."
Tong Yang chuckled. "Is that so?"
"Yeah."
"Are you doing well?"
"About the same as him. Yang's mother and Yang Lin both came to the capital. They often help me."
"That's good."
The boy lowered his long eyelashes. "Sister, can I come see you sometimes?"
"Up to you."
"Then I'll come see you often."
"Okay."
The Tong Le from 2036 chatted with her about many things, all trivial topics, both tacitly avoiding any mention of matters related to the parallel world.
Tong Yang found this feeling incredibly strange. She never imagined her seventeen-year-old self could converse with a twenty-one-year-old Tong Le, getting a premature glimpse of the grown-up Tong Le.
"Twenty-one years old..." Tong Yang murmured, suddenly a bit curious. "An adult. Have you had a girlfriend?"
Tong Le's ears turned red. "Sis, I entered the national research base for studies right after starting university, and I wasn't even fifteen yet."
"Skipped grades?"
"Yes."
"Sis, you skipped grades too."
They chatted idly. Tong Yang asked about his daily life, and he answered everything freely as long as it wasn't related to the parallel world.
Around five-thirty, the others had finished playing and were ready to go eat with Tong Yang.
The boy looked at the group walking over together and lowered his voice. "Sis, I'll head off now."
He clearly didn't want his identity discovered by the others, including Tong Le. Tong Yang didn't try to keep him and nodded in agreement.
"Who was that?" Xu Junyue asked, looking in the direction the boy had left, surprised.
Tong Yang's expression was neutral. "A friend."
"Wow! You can tell just from the back view he's a handsome guy."
Tong Yang glanced at her. "Let's go, time for dinner."
"Mhm!" Tong Le walked to her side and took her hand.
That evening, she took them for Chinese food. Discovering a children's movie had recently been released, they watched it before heading home.
However, after the experience at Xili Mall, Tong Yang and Chu Shiyu were constantly worried something might happen on the way, remaining vigilant the whole time and not paying much attention to the movie's plot. Xu Junyue, with her carefree nature, was completely engrossed, occasionally laughing along with the film's scenes.
Fortunately, nothing happened by the time the movie ended.
After the movie, they dropped Tong Le and the others off at home, then Tong Yang and Chu Shiyu returned to their university dorm.
With the start of term approaching, Tong Yang wanted to use this time to preview some professional coursework.
For several days in a row, life returned to calm.
During this period, Police Officer Lin called Tong Yang to discuss the cooperation with the Meng family.
"Tong Yang, Meng Ting has completed her bone marrow transplant surgery."
Tong Yang sat at her desk, twirling a black ballpoint pen between her fingers. "How did it go?"
"Extremely successful! The rejection risk is zero. The Meng family will do their best to cooperate with our government and others in making contact to thoroughly investigate the black market industry chain."
"That's good."
"What about the Meng Ting from the parallel world?"
Police Officer Lin said, "She's physically fine, but has some mental issues. We're watching her twenty-four hours a day."
"Don't waste too much energy on her. She and Meng Xiao won't do anything harmful to our real world. Once the parallel world finds out she's still alive, they're both dead for sure."
"You're right. We plan to bring her back to the country first and fit her with a tracker."
"Okay."
Police Officer Lin continued, "This matter is temporarily settled. You'll be starting school soon too, don't let it distract you anymore. Leave it to us with peace of mind."
"I understand."
After hanging up, Tong Yang finished her book, rubbed her tired eyes, and decided to relax for a bit.
She was alone in the dorm; Chu Shiyu had gone out for a meal with a few of her cousins.
Pulling her chair onto the balcony, she saw the sky had already darkened.
Tong Yang opened a social media app. These days, Tong Le from 2036 had been in contact with her often, though they hadn't met again.
The gossip chat group was still lively, discussing entertainment news from 2026.
Tong Yang rarely participated in the gossip. Exiting the group chat, she scrolled down her message list. The chat for Exam Hall 1209 had also sent some messages intermittently, just casual chatter. That incident hadn't affected them much.
Scrolling further down, she saw a message from Yan Qing sent not long ago. Tong Yang's finger paused, then tapped to open it.
[Sis Tong Yang, what are you up to?]
[Why aren't you answering me?]
[Ahhh! Even now, thinking about it feels like a nightmare.]
Tong Yang replied: [What if it really was just a dream?]
Yan Qing: [You're talking nonsense!]
Yan Qing: [I don't believe that!]
Yan Qing's psychological resilience was a bit better than Tong Yang had imagined. After leaving the parallel world, she didn't seem to carry any shadows from it. Instead, she had become more patient with her parents.
However, apart from some relatively bloody scenes, Yan Qing hadn't actually encountered many dangerous situations. After being locked in the safe, she also hadn't entered the time loop with the other four like Tong Yang did, so she wasn't aware of the secret of the time loop.
After a few days of classes, her life had already returned to normal.
Studying is for making money: [Are you with Liang Xi?]
Earlier, Tong Yang had asked her to help inquire with Liang Xi about the "Yan Qing" from the parallel world. Liang Xi had only said she didn't know much.
[Yes, we're having a meal together.]
Studying is for making money: [Is a video call convenient?]
The message had just been sent when Yan Qing's video call came through.
"Sis Tong Yang!" Yan Qing waved at the camera.
"Finished eating?"
"Yeah, we're taking a break now."
"Where's Liang Xi?"
"Right next to me."
Yan Qing turned the camera, and Liang Xi's face appeared on the screen.
"Teacher Tong."
Tong Yang asked, "Has the Yan Qing from the parallel world been in contact with you during this time?"
Liang Xi lowered her eyes and shook her head. "No, she hasn't looked for me again."
Tong Yang nodded, then asked, "How did you meet her?"
"Just as I told you before. We met when we were very young."
"Did she ever hurt you?"
A complicated expression crossed Liang Xi's face. She shook her head. "No. She was very similar to Yan Qing. She never hurt me..."
Yan Qing's face was full of resistance. "I'm nothing like her. Her whole family is messed up."
"Be careful yourselves. If you sense anything is wrong, call the police immediately. It's best to stay in crowded places. If 'Yan Qing' appears again, tell me right away."
"We know."
"Teacher Tong, I understand."
Pestered by Yan Qing into chatting for over ten minutes, Tong Yang finally hung up.
She leaned back in her chair, narrowing her eyes. The situation was already much clearer than at the beginning. With the police and Bureau 749 investigating covertly, and the Meng family assisting them, Tong Yang only needed to deal with things happening around her personally, which was a lot easier.
On September 13th, Peking University's freshmen registration day, Tong Yang and Chu Shiyu went to register at their respective schools.
The weather was sweltering, and the sports field was packed.
Tong Yang just needed to fill out a registration card and hand it in at the registration desk.
As she was leaving the field, amidst the dazzling crowd, she suddenly saw a familiar face.
A girl sat in the spectator stands. Loose clothes draped over her frame. A clear knife scar marked her forehead. While everyone else on the field was sweating profusely, the air around her seemed to be at freezing point, eerie and cold.
Tong Yang's steps halted. She turned and walked towards the spectator stands.
Because of the girl's unapproachable expression, there wasn't a single student in the seats around her.
"You caused quite a stir in the First District," Meng Xiao said.
Tong Yang sat down beside her and gave a quiet "Mhm."
"The central satellite receiver in the First District shut down, so we couldn't detect exactly what happened. After the self-destruct sequence was initiated, the entire First District was razed to the ground. No one survived."
Tong Yang said, "We left before the self-destruct sequence was initiated."
"I thought so."
"Meng Ting's surgery is finished. It was successful. Your sister will be brought back to the country under surveillance."
"That's good."
After a pause, Meng Xiao said, "They've pinned the total annihilation of the First District on you. More and more people will come to kill you in the future."
"I know."
Tong Yang wasn't surprised. Back in the First District, she had suspected that whoever set the self-destruct program in advance did it to use her name as a pretext to kill everyone there.
Meng Xiao continued, "However, I think you should be able to handle it."
"Who knows."
Although she wasn't clear on the exact limitations of the time anchors, Tong Yang had never encountered an instance of people from parallel worlds invading the real world on a large scale. Other times, she was either pulled into a parallel world or entered the space between the two worlds.
"Don't hurt my sister. I'll try to tell you whatever information you want to know, whatever I can say."
Tong Yang frowned and asked, "There's information you can't say? Why?"
Meng Xiao said, "Magnetic field forces."
Tong Yang fell silent for a few seconds. So far, the parallel worlds she had encountered were still at a basic level. What kind of magnetic field force could issue commands to everyone across an entire parallel world?
Meng Xiao exchanged contact information with her. "I'll contact you briefly when necessary."
"Okay."
"Once my sister is back, I need to speak with her. The code is '1'. I'll make the call from the real world."
Tong Yang nodded. "Okay."
She thought for a moment and said, "Find a way to get close to the upper echelons of society. You can't offer me much help within the safe zone."
Meng Xiao understood her meaning and replied, "I'll do my best."
"Mm, see you later."
Tong Yang didn't linger any longer. She got up and left the spectator stands.
If Meng Xiao wanted herself and her family to survive, she had to provide assistance to Tong Yang. Once she lost her usefulness, Tong Yang could discard them at any time.
To prove her value to Tong Yang, Meng Xiao had no choice but to climb higher, until she could get close to the upper echelons of society.
As for the parallel world pinning the destruction of the First Safe Zone on Tong Yang, she didn't really care.
Not to mention she was already involved in the matter, those things from the parallel worlds would keep coming after her anyway. Even with the police and Bureau 749 investigating the parallel worlds, she definitely couldn't avoid it.
She could only deal with things as they came and send those things to their doom.
Besides, Tong Yang wasn't short on money now. After coming out of the parallel world, the two million was already in her hands. Since this matter had absolutely nothing to do with the gossip group, Tong Yang didn't share it with them.
However, even though she wasn't short on money, if there was a chance to make more, she'd take it. One could never have too much money, and Tong Yang was no exception.
The registration period lasted two days. Tong Yang and Chu Shiyu were in a four-person dorm, and the other two roommates had moved in one after another, all from different majors.
On the evening before classes started, all the freshmen were gathered on the sports field.
Tong Yang and Chu Shiyu were tall among the girls. They casually found a line and stood in the last two rows. Their two roommates arrived later and stood in other lines.
>
In the height of summer, it got dark late. The sun hadn't fully set even at five or six o'clock.
"What are we doing here?"
"Organizing military training, maybe?"
"Military training? I thought there wasn't any since we registered in mid-September!"
"I heard it's during the summer break after freshman year?"
"Me too..."
"Whatever!"
"Please remain quiet, students."
A voice came over the loudspeaker.
Tong Yang and Chu Shiyu almost reflexively looked up, scanning their surroundings warily.
Upon realizing it was just the principal's voice over the microphone, they looked at each other and couldn't help but smile.
"Good thing you didn't develop a muscle memory. I was afraid you might suddenly stab me," Chu Shiyu teased.
Tong Yang said helplessly, "Hearing a loudspeaker just makes me think something bad is about to happen."
The principal's purpose for gathering them on the field was indeed for military training.
After receiving their training uniforms, they were told to report at 8 AM the next morning, dressed properly, for the mobilization meeting.
On September 15th, the mobilization meeting lasted nearly three hours. There wasn't much important content, mostly just listening to the school leaders speak.
After the mobilization meeting, the girls went back to prepare supplies for the training, while the boys were taken to get haircuts.
At 6:30 AM on September 16th, they set off for the military training base, where they would spend the next fourteen days.
During this time, they were trained strictly like new recruits, with a rigorous schedule. However, Tong Yang was already very disciplined and physically fit, so she adapted to the training rhythm easily and was often singled out by the instructors to demonstrate.
During the training, they only had about two hours of phone time each night before lights out. Tong Yang saw this as a rare opportunity. She told Tong Le to call Chu Shiyu if there were any problems. After dismissal, she herself would seek extra training from the instructors to learn combat skills, rushing to shower and sleep ten minutes before the water was cut off.
Tong Yang's consistent character was to either not do something or do it to the extreme. Sometimes even Chu Shiyu felt she didn't treat herself as human.
Everyone else was exhausted like dogs after training, but she would continue training, learning a bit of combat from this instructor, a bit of martial arts from that one. The instructors happened to take a great liking to Tong Yang, training her intensively, believing she had great talent. They even wanted to recruit her to serve as a soldier for a few years.
The school teacher accompanying them was quite alarmed upon hearing they wanted Tong Yang to join the military. Originally hardly seen, the teacher now stood in front of Tong Yang every day, glaring disapprovingly at any instructor who talked to her for too long.
The instructors, after Tong Yang clearly refused, deliberately teased the teacher, finding reasons to approach Tong Yang frequently. Back and forth, the instructor and the teacher actually started to take a liking to each other.
The other freshmen found this quite amusing. Tong Yang, however, paid no attention to the outside chatter, completely unaffected. Every day after training, she continued to learn physical techniques from other instructors.
A few days before the end of the training, Chu Shiyu, after washing up, lay in bed. Tong Yang returned to the dorm ten minutes before the water was cut off.
"Back?" Chu Shiyu said weakly.
"Mm, I'm going to shower first."
Tong Yang had tanned a bit. Her low ponytail was damp with sweat, strands sticking to her temples, her whole body drenched.
"Go ahead."
Tong Yang took her change of clothes to the shower room.
"Shiyu, does your friend actually enjoy training?" the girl in the neighboring bed called out to Chu Shiyu, unable to resist asking.
Chu Shiyu said, "It's not about liking or disliking. She just finds it useful and doesn't want to waste time."
The girl sighed with emotion, "To be honest, for the first couple of days, I thought she was just seeking attention, maybe interested in our instructors. I thought, someone as good-looking as her doesn't need to use that method! Who knew she genuinely wanted to train! Once, when I passed the field on my way to the canteen, I saw an instructor from the neighboring third company throw her to the ground with a shoulder throw. She got up without a word and gave the instructor a shoulder throw right back, completely stunning him!"
Chu Shiyu's expression turned slightly displeased. "There are female instructors too. No need to think of others so superficially, right?"
Seeing Chu Shiyu get angry, the girl clasped her hands together and said, "Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean anything else."
"Shiyu, is she good at her studies?"
The person on another bed said, "What a pointless question. If she wasn't good, could she have gotten into Peking University?"
"I'm just asking!"
Chu Shiyu pressed her lips together. During these days of training, because of Tong Yang's outstanding and active performance, there were always people who disliked her, saying privately that she deliberately curried favor with the instructors and loved to steal the spotlight.
Tong Yang, however, was so busy she barely touched the ground and couldn't hear these comments. Chu Shiyu found them extremely annoying but didn't know what to do about them, so she could only swallow her anger.
"Is her academic performance good? Is she a special admissions student? She seems quite fit, maybe a sports recruit?"
"Hiss! You don't know?"
A girl who walked in from the doorway while eating a popsicle looked utterly shocked.
"Know what?"
"Don't you guys check your phones?"
"What's up?"
"She's Tong Yang!"
"Tong Yang? I know that, I'm asking about her grades..."
"You actually don't know?! Tong Yang! The top science scorer from Beiwang Province, over 740 points, number one in the national college entrance exam!"
The girl's eyes widened in disbelief. "Over 740 points?! Holy crap?!"
"Haven't you checked the university forum? She applied to our Peking University because the admissions teachers practically begged her to come! They fought tooth and nail with Tsinghua and Renmin University. I heard that after she arrived, the university president's own daughter personally went to pick her up."
"No way? With grades that good, she still trains so hard during military training?"
"What are you talking about? It's precisely because she's always worked this hard that her grades are so good! Don't ignore someone's effort just because of their talent!"
"Holy crap..."
Tong Yang stood by the door holding her washbasin, uninterested in their conversation. She knocked on the door with her hand, signaling they could stop talking.
Though, she wasn't aware that one of the admissions teachers who picked her up was the president's daughter.
The next day, they were dismissed half an hour early at noon, with forty minutes to go before the cafeteria opened.
The weather was scorching. Tong Yang didn't bother the instructors and found a spot to train by herself.
The difference between professional and non-professional training was huge. Previously, Tong Yang always chose the fighting style that suited her best. After nearly half a month of training, the effect was completely different.
No wonder she sometimes felt Xu Junyue was a bit stronger than her; Tong Yang mostly relied on skillful technique.
At lunch, Tong Yang's tray was piled high with food. Her physical activity level was high, and eating appropriately was necessary to keep up. Passing by the soup station, she got a bowl of soup as well.
She found a nearby seat to sit down, not noticing that she was surrounded almost entirely by boys.
"She eats more than I do!"
"Is it normal for a girl to eat this much?"
"Hey! Stop talking! She can hear you!"
"So what? Can't we state a fact?"
"With so many seats around, she just had to sit in the middle of a bunch of guys. I'm dying of laughter."
"On purpose, right? Think we're handsome?"
The world always has a group of people with soccer balls for heads, and it has nothing to do with grades.
"Are you guys sick? Don't you have a mirror? She's doing it on purpose? On purpose sitting next to you ugly lot? This spot is just the closest to the serving area! And she can sit wherever she wants, did you guys buy the cafeteria?"
"Exactly! Freaks! Why do you care how much she eats? Maybe the reason you can't eat that much is because you're a scrawny dog?"
"What's it to you? Were we talking to you?"
"Sick!"
They were all hot-blooded young students, quick to argue.
Tong Yang, at the center of the gossip, acted as if nothing was happening, finishing the food on her plate and taking a few sips of soup.
There had been plenty of people talking behind her back these days. She couldn't be bothered to waste time on it. As long as they didn't bring it to her face, she pretended not to know.
"Training with the instructors every night, who knows what they're really doing."
"What's all the noise? What's all the noise? If you don't want to eat, get out and go train!"
An instructor ran in from outside, pointing at them and scolding angrily.
"Some of you, watch your mouths! Good grades don't equal good character, and they're not your get-out-of-jail-free card! Gaining knowledge but no brains? We have over a dozen female instructors here, not just us guys! Your squad leaders are watching every day too!"
The cafeteria immediately fell silent. The instructor shot them a glare before turning to leave.
Right then, Tong Yang finished her last sip of soup.
She slammed the soup bowl down abruptly, creating a loud crash against the table.
The instructor near the door seemed to sense something, raised a hand to cover his ear, and pulled another instructor along as he walked out without looking back. They knew Tong Yang's vengeful personality all too well.
Because the cafeteria was so quiet, the sudden noise immediately drew everyone's attention.
Tong Yang grabbed her tray and smashed it into the boy's face, grabbed his collar to haul him up from his seat, twisted his arm, and executed a clean over-the-shoulder throw, slamming him heavily onto the floor.
"Ah!"
The change happened too fast. Before anyone could clearly see Tong Yang's movements, the boy was already lying on the ground, his face smeared with grease, groaning.
Furious and ignoring the pain, the boy scrambled to his feet, his face flushed red, and shouted, "You dare hit me?!"
Tong Yang had been wanting to test her training results. The instructors usually went easy on her when they sparred.
Before the boy could get closer, Tong Yang stepped forward quickly, spun, and kicked him squarely in the chest. The boy staggered back from the blow. Before he could react, Tong Yang was already in front of him. She wrapped an arm around his neck, planted her right foot behind his heel, and with a shift of her body weight, pressed him down onto the floor.
"Holy crap! So cool!"
"Holy crap!!! Is this combat training??? So freaking cool!!!"
"Sis! You're amazing!!!"
"Beat the crap out of this idiot!"
"Still want some?" Tong Yang looked up and asked a freshman standing by the aisle.
The person shook their head, stunned. The next second, Tong Yang grabbed the soup bowl and poured its entire contents onto the boy's face.
"Ah!"
"Y-you, let me go!" The boy hadn't expected Tong Yang to be so strong. When she had him in a chokehold, he even felt like he might die right then and there.
Tong Yang stood up, crossed her arms over her chest, and looked down at the boy on the floor, saying calmly, "Trash."
"Tong Yang, do you want some water..." Chu Shiyu had just returned from the small shop with two bottles of water and happened to see this scene, her eyes wide with shock.
Tong Yang's expression was indifferent. She stepped over him, right past his ear, took the water from Chu Shiyu, and said, "Thanks. I'm heading out first."
The instructor, arriving belatedly, walked to the doorway, coughed into his hand, and scolded, "What are you doing lying on the floor? If you want to sleep, get back to your dorm. Is this the place to sleep?"
Everyone: "..."
"Pfft... hahaha..."
"The instructor is a legend!"
"Is this the result of Tong Yang's nightly training? I'm seriously impressed!"
"I want to learn too! Next time I meet an idiot, I'll do the same!"
"Oh my god! I didn't feel much watching her train before, but seeing it applied is so cool?"
"Instructor! I want to learn combat too!"
"Me too!"
"And me!"
The instructor rolled his eyes. "Military training ends tomorrow. Where was this enthusiasm earlier?"
"Ah..."
"So soon?"
On September 29th, the fourteen-day military training came to an end.
At 2 PM, they left the training base and returned to school.
After half a day's rest, on the morning of September 30th, Tong Yang saw the class assignments in the 2024 Freshman Group Chat for the School of Physics.
The School of Physics included majors like Physics, Atmospheric Science, and Astronomy. Chu Shiyu was in the same school but a different major and class.
Finally, Tong Yang found her name listed in the 2024 Physics Class 1, while Chu Shiyu was in Astronomy Class 3.
In the afternoon, each class went to the teaching building to sign in, received some textbooks, elected class officers, and then began the seven-day National Day holiday.
That very evening, Tong Yang and the other girl returned to the residence of Yang Lin's parents.
Having not seen them for nearly twenty days, as they approached the building and looked up, two small heads were poking out from the living room window on the fifth floor, gazing down at them eagerly.
Noticing them look up, the two immediately stretched out their arms and waved.
When they took the elevator up to the fifth floor, the door on the right was already wide open. Tong Le and Yang Lin stood behind it, having placed two pairs of slippers neatly on the floor, ready for them to step into.
"Sister! Sister Shiyu!"
"Sister Shiyu! Sister Tong Yang!"
"What are you two doing blocking the doorway?"
"Move aside."
"Sister, was the military training very hard? Every time we called Sister Shiyu, you were never around."
Tong Yang said, "It was alright."
The two changed their shoes and entered the living room. The dining table was laden with steaming hot food. Dad Yang, wearing an apron, emerged from the kitchen with a warm smile. "You're back! These two have been looking forward to it for ages! Go wash your hands, dinner is almost ready."
After dinner, they took Little Black for the usual walk in the park.
The park was crowded during the holiday. Worried that Little Black might run off and get stepped on, Tong Le held the leash and carried him in her arms.
The days at the military training base had been rather dull. Chu Shiyu suggested calling Xu Junyue out to hang out together. Tong Yang didn't refuse and gave her a call.
"Hello? Tong Yang, why are you calling me?" came Xu Junyue's casual, somewhat roguish voice.
"Are you free? Come hang out."
"Now?"
"Yeah."
"Your military training is over? Couldn't find you guys these past days, I thought you'd died too!"
Hearing her words, Tong Yang frowned. She gestured with her eyes for Chu Shiyu to take the others ahead, then walked to a spot away from the crowd. "What do you mean? Who died?"
Xu Junyue sounded surprised. "You don't know? Yan Qing didn't tell you?"
Tong Yang's heart sank. "I haven't looked at my phone much lately. What happened?"
Xu Junyue went "Oh," then continued, "Yan Qing's friend, you probably know her? Name's Liang Xi."
"How did she die?" Tong Yang's brow furrowed even tighter.
Sensing her seriousness, Xu Junyue explained, "Don't be tense, it's not related to parallel worlds. I heard her family was too strict. She chatted with a male classmate for a couple of minutes on her way home from school, and her mom happened to be driving by and saw it. She dragged Liang Xi into the car and started yelling at her. Liang Xi probably acted on impulse and jumped out of the car. She got caught under a normally passing truck and was dragged over fifty meters. She died instantly."
'Died instantly' was an understatement; her body was probably beyond recognition.
"Was it just Liang Xi and her mother in the car at the time?"
Xu Junyue said, "Seems like it. I'm not clear on the specifics. Yan Qing called me looking for you and told me about this. Maybe you should ask her."
"Alright, hanging up now."
"Where are you guys? I'll come over."
"Chaoshi Park."
"OK, wait for me."
After hanging up, Tong Yang immediately called Yan Qing.
Tong Yang was in a corner of the park, alone. She turned on the speakerphone and opened a browser to search for related news, but found nothing about a similar case.
Then, she went into the gossip chat group to ask.
Even though Xu Junyue said it wasn't related to parallel worlds, Tong Yang still felt uneasy.
Finally, Yan Qing answered the call.
"Tong Yang, sis..."
Tong Yang turned off the speaker and pressed the phone to her ear.
"What happened with Liang Xi? Why can't I find any news about it?"
Yan Qing's voice was slightly hoarse. "Her mother was afraid it would cause too much of a stir and affect her work, so she kept it under wraps. Not many people know."
Tong Yang asked, "Was it just the two of them in the car?"
Yan Qing replied gloomily, "Yes. Auntie Liang slapped her, and she just jumped out right then. Even though Auntie Liang slowed down quickly, there were other vehicles nearby, so..."
Tong Yang fell silent. If only she and her mother were in the car, it most likely had nothing to do with parallel worlds.
Although she hadn't interacted much with Liang Xi, it was clear her family upbringing was very strict.
"Then why were you looking for me?"
Yan Qing said in a muffled voice, "I thought... you might be able to loop and save her."
Tong Yang stated, "I won't do that."
Liang Xi was just an inconsequential person to her.
Even if she could loop back to the minutes before Liang Xi's death—which she couldn't—she wouldn't enter a loop for something like this.
Yan Qing said, "I thought about it. How could anything in this world be that simple?"
"Tong Yang, sis, I know it's difficult. I won't tell the secret to anyone else. I'm just... just so angry... Do you know? Her body was crushed. She just talked to a classmate for a couple of minutes. Why did it have to end like this?"
By now, her voice was choked with sobs.
At that moment, her phone vibrated with a message from the gossip group.
[Liang Xi? Her parents are a judge and a lawyer? Hold on a sec]
[[Image.jpg]]
[Is it her? Sister Tong]
[She died in a car accident?]
[No way!]
[What's the date on your end?]
[I just checked. It's not her who died, it's her parents]
[She's still alive]
Seeing this message, Tong Yang's gaze sharpened.!
