Finally seeing Old Granny off, Tong Yang collapsed onto the bed and let out a heavy sigh.
Perhaps fearing that Tong Yang might succumb to pressure and entertain suicidal thoughts, Old Granny had spent the entire morning shadowing her every step, rambling on with flimsy platitudes. Tong Yang’s ears practically grew calluses from the lecture, and only after repeatedly assuring Old Granny that she had no intention of harming herself did the elderly woman finally leave the room—albeit with frequent backward glances.
Her injuries turned out to be less severe than expected, not serious enough to require stitches.
She pulled out her phone from under the pillow, its screen cracked to the point of being sharp to the touch. The signal in the building was slightly better during the day. Since her home had no Wi-Fi, she usually kept mobile data off to avoid wasting her limited data plan.
As soon as she turned on the data connection, a flood of group messages popped up one after another.
Tong Yang hardly had any social life, so her notifications mostly came from group chats—though she had muted most of them.
Opening the messaging app, she saw that "Gossip Squad 007" was buzzing with activity, likely discussing some trivial topic she had no interest in.
StudyForMoney: [Any updates on the news about Tong Yang?]
[Bro, why are you so interested in this?]
[I remember back then, the internet was flooded with stories about her.]
[Oh, by the way, want to see her photo? She’s stunning!]
[No way… The news link from yesterday is gone?! And I can’t find anything about her online now!]
[Are you kidding me?? I literally saw posts mourning her just a couple of days ago!]
[What the hell??!!!!]
[Everything’s gone! All the info about Tong Yang’s murder case has vanished!]
[Seriously?! I remember this was huge—even my parents knew about it, but when I asked them, they said they didn’t recall anything!]
[For real?? Don’t scare me like this!]
[Go search for yourselves if you don’t believe me!]
[Let me ask my best friend—she posts a tribute to Tong Yang every year on May 28th.]
…
About three minutes later, the group exploded:
[AAAAAH! Help! They’re saying it never happened!]
[I searched! There’s nothing on Weibo or any browser!]
[I asked my friend—she says she doesn’t remember this person at all!]
[No way… A collective parallel universe glitch? I swear this happened for real!]
[Guys, I’m getting goosebumps…]
[So overnight, only we remember this? That’s insane!]
[Hey, do any of you still remember what Tong Yang looked like?]
StudyForMoney: [Image.jpg]
StudyForMoney: [Did she look like this?]
Tong Yang casually snapped a selfie and sent it.
[Yes! That’s exactly her!]
[Off-topic: She’s ridiculously pretty.]
[What the hell is going on? It’s like no one else remembers this murder case.]
[This is so weird—I even remember CCTV reporting on it.]
StudyForMoney: [Do you guys believe in the supernatural?]
[Nope.]
[Manifesting wealth?]
[Yes, please!]
[I only believe in the God of Fortune.]
StudyForMoney: [What I’m about to say might sound crazy, but don’t freak out yet.]
[???]
[I’m all ears.]
StudyForMoney: [To be honest, I’m from 2024. My name is Tong Yang.]
[????????]
[!!!!!!!!!]
[Are you hearing yourself right now?]
[I’m Qin Shi Huang—send me money.]
[Stop joking. This isn’t supernatural; it’s straight-up paranormal.]
[Bro, are you insane? It’s 2024 right now. Are you saying you’re chatting with us from two years in the future?]
[I might be dumb, but I’m not stupid.]
StudyForMoney: [Aren’t you curious why all news about me disappeared overnight?]
[Are you crazy, or are we crazy?]
[@Admin, come quick! Someone’s pulling a supernatural scam in here!]
[Please, we’re all broke students—try scamming somewhere else.]
Tong Yang couldn’t be bothered to waste words. She simply initiated a group video call.
StudyForMoney: [Come on, face-to-face.]
[Oh hell no! I’m scared!]
StudyForMoney: [Cowards don’t have to join.]
[?]
[??]
[Group member Hu Er Gou has joined the call.]
[Group member Cai Cai has joined the call.]
[Group member Cheese has joined the call.]
[Group member DogForOikawa has joined the call.]
[Group member TwoFifty has joined the call.]
[Group member PatheticSimp has joined the call.]
…
Watching the notifications pop up one after another, Tong Yang leaned back against the headboard and lazily yawned.
"Hey," she greeted, raising a hand.
"What the—?"
"No way?!"
"HOLY SHT!!!"
A chorus of expletives erupted.
"AI deepfake tech is this advanced now?"
"Damn! She looks exactly like the photo!"
"This can’t be real, right? This is too wild."
"Sis, your face is perfect for cosplay—interested?"
The screen filled with seven or eight video feeds. Tong Yang skimmed them—most appeared to be students around her age.
"Does cosplay pay?" she asked after a brief pause.
The girl with the username "DogForOikawa" stuck out her tongue. "It burns money."
Tong Yang’s lips curled in disdain. "Then hard pass."
"Wait, seriously? You’re actually Tong Yang?"
"What’s going on? You’re not dead? Was this all a publicity stunt? Or are we experiencing some mass false memory phenomenon?"
"This feels so thrilling!"
"Ugh, everyone’s so good-looking… Am I the only gremlin here?"
"Stop changing the subject! MoneySis, explain what’s happening!"
…
The chaotic chatter of seven or eight people made the call lively. Tong Yang waited for them to quiet down before speaking calmly:
"As you can see, I’m Tong Yang—the one who was supposed to die on May 28, 2024, at midnight. Right now, it’s 1:07 PM on May 29, 2024, Beijing time."
She got up, walked to her desk, and angled her phone toward the mirror before returning to her home screen and opening the calendar—clearly displaying the date: May 29, 2024.
"Holy sht???"
"You didn’t just manually change the time, right?"
"Sis, you really need to replace your screen protector."
"Jesus, I’ve got chills. If this is real, it’s terrifying!"
"So we’re really talking to someone from two years in the future?"
"Guys, this is our chance to get rich—I’m gonna go look up next week’s lottery numbers…"
…
Tong Yang lay back down and addressed their comments one by one:
"I have no reason to fake the time just to mess with you."
"Would if I could. Broke."
"Yeah, it’s scary. Took me a while to come to terms with it too."
"There are plenty of ways to get rich, but first, let’s figure this out."
…
"I still can’t believe it…"
"How is something like this even possible?"
Tong Yang said, "About half a month ago, I scanned an advertisement QR code and this group chat popped up. It was created in May 2026. Out of curiosity, I joined and even asked if there was a time bug, but you all said no."
"A few days ago, you were talking about Ji Jiaen's death in the group, but the timeline doesn’t match up for me. She’s currently at the peak of her fame right now. I can screenshot her latest Weibo post as proof."
Tong Yang sent a screenshot of Ji Jiaen’s Weibo.
"Is this drama promotion? Her debut role was indeed two years ago."
"What a shame about the beautiful sister. The killer still hasn’t been found."
Tong Yang replied, "The killer probably won’t be found."
"What do you mean?"
"Wait, weren’t you supposed to have died in a home invasion robbery on May 28, 2024?"
Tong Yang nodded. "Right. Because of the news link in the group, I knew I should’ve died yesterday. But the killer failed to kill me."
To be precise, the killer had murdered her twice. For some unknown reason, she kept returning to the moment before her death. It wasn’t until the third time that she narrowly escaped.
"Since the killer didn’t succeed, there were no news reports about my death. That’s probably why you can’t find any information about it, and why people around me don’t remember it."
"That makes sense!"
"If you’re not lying, then it explains why my parents don’t remember either."
"This is terrifying… What even is this? Time travel?"
"Are the injuries on your body from the home invader?"
"Wait… If you’re alive, then what happened to the killer?"
Tong Yang smiled meaningfully. "Guess."
"???"
"Sis, don’t smile like that, you’re scaring me!"
"Did you report it to the police? Who was it? Was it the same person who killed the bakery owner?"
"(Chills…) This is creeping me out!"
"I’m starting to believe you…"
Tong Yang said, "I killed her."
"Holy shit???"
"Excuse me???"
"Are you hearing yourself right now, sis? I might call the cops on you!"
"Damn! You’re wild! I avoid stepping on dead fish on the street!"
…
Tong Yang scoffed coldly. "Anything that stands between me and the college entrance exam—I won’t let it slide."
Everyone: "…"
"Let me search if there’s any news about Tong Yang being arrested."
"No need. Even if I killed her, it was self-defense. But…" Tong Yang hesitated. Her mental resilience had always been stronger than most—nothing scared her more than failing the exam or being broke. But others might not handle such a bizarre story well.
"But what?"
"Spit it out!"
"I hate it when people leave things half-said!"
"Come on, hurry up! But what?"
"You said the killer won’t be caught—do you know something?"
"Stop beating around the bush!"
…
Tong Yang pursed her lips. "Did the news you saw mention anything about my parents?"
"Yeah, didn’t they die in a car crash? Only you and your brother were left."
"I heard life was tough. You lived in the old water plant’s allocated housing and refused to move even after the demolition policy. The government was pretty frustrated."
"That’s why the media called you the 'Genius from Humble Beginnings.'"
…
Tong Yang nodded. "Yeah, that’s right."
"My parents died in a drunk-driving accident. They were speeding in reverse and crashed head-on into a truck. They were ruled fully at fault and had to pay compensation."
Tong Yang’s parents were alcoholics. That night, they’d borrowed a car and were racing down the road drunk. At the same time, Tong Le was burning up with fever. As she carried him to the hospital, she heard a deafening crash. The car carrying her parents had collided with an oncoming truck, the wreckage wedged under the truck’s chassis. Through the shattered window, she saw their bodies twisted beyond recognition.
At that moment, she didn’t know whether terror, grief, shock, confusion—or a faint, almost imperceptible relief—dominated her emotions.
"Damn…"
"That’s messed up…"
"My condolences. No matter what, they were still your parents."
"Sigh."
Tong Yang said, "Yeah, they deserved it. No big deal."
"But here’s the thing—the home invader looked exactly like my mom."
"???"
"Your mom’s twin??"
"No way… This is getting weirder by the minute."
"Wait, could your mom still be alive?"
"No, my mom’s dead." Tong Yang’s expression darkened. "But that’s not the point. The point is, her body disappeared."
"Hold up… Now it’s a supernatural thing?"
"It’s broad daylight, and I’m getting chills."
"Seriously?? Didn’t the killers who murdered the bakery owner and Ji Jiaen also vanish without a trace?"
"And after Tong Yang died, the killer disappeared too."
"Is there some connection? Or… some kind of supernatural force at play?"
"Don’t spread rumors."
Tong Yang said, "I’m not sure of the reason yet. But I have an idea—and a way to make money."
"Let’s hear it."
"Money? I’d rather bet on lottery numbers."
"I want to know if similar incidents will happen in Yaocheng in the future. Maybe we can use the time gap and information disparity to change what’s about to happen—for a price. Fifty-fifty split. I take half, the rest is yours to divide. Also, we should investigate the common threads in all these cases."
"Holy crap! Genius move, sis!"
"Of course, you’re only thinking about money."
"Wait, why do you get half while we split the other half?"
Tong Yang replied, "Because you only need to provide info. I’ll be the one taking all the risks. Any objections?"
"Now that you put it that way… No objections!"
"None at all!"
"If we can change Ji Jiaen’s fate… How much would she pay us?"
Tong Yang said, "But all of this has to wait until after I finish my college entrance exam."
"Uh…"
"Sorry, I doubted you earlier."
"I looked up unsolved cases in Yaocheng in 2024. I don’t remember this one before…"
Tong Yang frowned. "What?"
"On June 7, 2024, a terrorist attack happened at Yaocheng’s Old District Third High School. Thirty-two examinees died. Look at the second row, fourth photo in the victims’ list—is that you? I’ll send it to the group."
Tong Yang: "?"!
