Breakthrough

"..."

Faced with Zhang Yang's question, the three fell silent for a moment.

They looked at each other, unsure how to answer.

They couldn't exactly say "positron cannon and spacetime message," could they?

That would be too foolish.

It would directly reveal their secret.

"Time travel."

Jiang Ran was the first to answer.

"Don't many movies and sci-fi novels invent time machines now that let people go back to the past?"

"Once you go back to the past and change the original history, the subsequent historical trajectory will also change synchronously, leading to different worldlines."

"It's just like your example, Teacher Zhang Yang. You're not satisfied with your current situation as a teacher, so you take a time machine back to the past, back to the moment you failed the college entrance exam at 18."

"Then you tell your 18-year-old self that repeating the year is a dead end, the internet wave is coming, and you should go south to start a business."

"Your 18-year-old self takes your advice, doesn't repeat the year, and decisively heads south to Guangzhou. Then, the worldline jumps from A worldline to B worldline at that moment... The entire historical trajectory from when you were 18 until now, for decades, changes."

"You wouldn't be teaching at Donghai University, and we wouldn't be your students. But perhaps you've already become a well-known internet company CEO, even the richest man in Longguo."

Jiang Ran's logical hypothesis filled Zhang Yang's eyes with admiration.

He patted Jiang Ran's shoulder.

"Young man, which department are you in? What's your name?"

"Teacher Zhang, my name is Jiang Ran, and I'm from the Computer Science department."

"Very good."

Zhang Yang's tone was full of approval.

"For my General Education class, I must give you a high score. You're studying very diligently."

"Thank you, Teacher." Jiang Ran smiled.

Zhang Yang picked up the chalk again and looked at Cheng Mengxue and Qin Feng.

"Classmate Jiang Ran is absolutely right. By changing a choice at a certain point in the past, you can change established history, change the worldline, and complete a Worldline Jump."

"Even without the [past], it's possible. Different choices made at the [present] moment will also lead [the future] to different worldlines."

"For example, when you graduate from undergrad, will you choose to pursue postgraduate studies? Or join a large corporation? Or take the civil service exam?"

"Each different choice will lead your life down a different worldline."

He used chalk to draw four or five parallel lines branching off from the straight line representing A worldline, symbolizing the infinite possibilities of the future.

"However... no matter how you choose, no matter what future you head towards, don't romanticize the paths not taken."

Teacher Zhang Yang looked at the branching lines, smiling with emotion.

"Every choice, every life, will have its successes and regrets. The most important thing is to cherish the present and walk the path beneath your feet."

Seeing that the time was almost right.

Cheng Mengxue gave Jiang Ran a look, and he nodded.

It was time to bring up the main purpose of their visit today, the question they cared about most.

"Um, Teacher Zhang Yang."

Cheng Mengxue raised her hand again.

"I have something I'm curious about, which is..."

"[If a Worldline Jump occurs, is it possible to retain the memories of the original history, the original worldline?]"

"Just like in the example just now, if you changed your choice at 18 from failing the exam to going south to do business, would the future you, sitting in the CEO's office of a listed company, still retain the memories of being a teacher at Donghai University?"

Jiang Ran and Qin Feng exchanged a subtle glance.

That's right.

This was the real point of today.

This was what they most wanted to know.

They remained silent, waiting for Teacher Zhang Yang's answer.

"[Impossible]."

Teacher Zhang Yang answered without any hesitation.

Cheng Mengxue blinked in surprise.

"Impossible?"

Teacher Zhang Yang nodded.

"Impossible."

He stated it decisively, leaving no room for argument.

"[After a worldline change and jump, even if one's life is completely altered and the world undergoes drastic changes, it's absolutely impossible for anyone to retain memories from their original worldline.]"

"Why?" Jiang Ran asked.

"It's not difficult to understand."

Zhang Yang put down the chalk, picked up the eraser, and pointed to the branching lines on the blackboard.

"As I said earlier, A worldline and B worldline cannot exist simultaneously. So, no matter what method is used to complete a worldline jump, our history and past can only run on one of these worldlines."

"Therefore... assuming we jump from A worldline to B worldline, do you think A worldline has disappeared?"

Zhang Yang looked at the three of them.

The three pondered slightly and nodded gently.

"Wrong!"

Zhang Yang emphasized his denial.

"A worldline didn't disappear; it never even existed in the first place! It wasn't there from the beginning!"

He wiped away A worldline with the eraser and explained, "If, after failing the college entrance exam at 18, I had chosen to go south and start a business, embarking on B worldline. Then, all the events that were supposed to happen on A worldline would never have occurred; they wouldn't have existed from the start."

"[So, a history that doesn't exist, a worldline that doesn't exist, events that never happened... how could they possibly exist in memory?]"

Jiang Ran and the other two fell silent.

They had no words to refute him.

How could they argue?

Teacher Zhang Yang's explanation was well-reasoned, logical, and impeccable.

However...

The problem was that Jiang Ran, the "exception," the "bug," existed, and who could they reason with about that?

Still.

Since Teacher Zhang Yang was so resolute, the three of them felt somewhat relieved and put their minds at ease.

If everyone else in the world was normal, without Jiang Ran's special constitution, without memories from before the worldline change... that would instead indicate that their current situation was safe.

Ding dong, ding dong.

Two WeChat notification sounds rang out from his phone on the podium.

Zhang Yang glanced at his phone screen and saw a WeChat message from a teacher in the research office.

He put down the eraser and clapped his hands.

"You guys think about this for a moment. I need to reply to a message."

With that, he picked up his phone and, without any hesitation, replied in front of the three of them.

The message was from Teacher Meng in the research office.

[Teacher Zhang, do you still need the new lesson plan books? I can have a student bring some over for you.]

He directly opened the chat window and began to reply.

Teacher Zhang Yang's typing interface was different from Jiang Ran's; he used a nine-palace grid keyboard.

Youngsters like Jiang Ran, Cheng Mengxue, and Qin Feng, born after 2000, used full keyboards for typing on their phones.

Because they grew up using large-screen smartphones, they had never used feature phones and naturally never encountered a nine-palace grid keyboard.

Early feature phones, led by Nokia, used dial buttons for typing due to technical limitations.

Each number key from 1 to 9 corresponded to 3-4 English letters. Typing required pressing a combination of number keys in sequence.

Since each number key corresponded to multiple letters, typing accuracy wasn't high, and users often had to manually select words, which was inconvenient.

However, with the advancement of smart input methods, the accuracy of the nine-palace grid input method has gradually improved. Now, word selection is rarely needed, as the input method automatically arranges candidate words based on context.

According to observations, most people who still insist on using the nine-palace grid input method are those born in the 80s and 90s. Young people born in the 2000s and 2010s almost exclusively use full keyboards.

Teacher Zhang Yang, a true veteran who had come up through the era of feature phones, moved his thumbs across the nine-palace grid "like a swift walker," his muscle memory akin to blind typing. He pressed numerical digits—

28...926...

!

The string of numbers etched in his mind activated, and Jiang Ran instantly held his breath.

28926...

What familiar numbers!

These were the first few digits from that mysterious text message!

Teacher Zhang Yang's thumbs continued to dance, and he pressed the keys for 53. The candidate bar in the input method immediately displayed the three Chinese characters [Don't want it].

Then, he quickly pressed 943943. The candidate bar again displayed the two Chinese characters [Thank you].

He pressed the send button.

The five characters [Don't want it thank you] were sent in an instant.

Jiang Ran's heart raced.

He looked up at Qin Feng and Cheng Mengxue.

The other two also had looks of shock and surprise in their eyes.

Nine-palace grid...

They never expected it!

The solution to that string of mysterious numbers was the nine-palace grid input method!

Since the first five digits, 28926, represented the word [Don't want it]... what did the following 9426494642 represent?

They would know with just one try!

"Teacher Zhang, we're leaving now!"

Jiang Ran turned and ran.

"Huh? Ah?"

Zhang Yang was completely bewildered:

"You all figured it out? I can explain more to you."

"Thank you, Teacher Zhang!"

Jiang Ran nodded and thanked him:

"Mainly, we have another class soon. We'll come back to ask you for guidance later!"

Suppressing their excitement, the three of them rushed out of the classroom and went to the flower bed outside the building.

"How could we not have thought of the nine-palace grid?"

"It was right under our noses!"

"I've never even used the nine-palace grid input method!"

The three of them complained endlessly, regretting their oversight.

But it really wasn't their fault.

For their age, the nine-palace grid input method was indeed a blind spot in their knowledge.

"Hurry up and try it!"

Cheng Mengxue urged.

Jiang Ran nodded and took out his phone.

289269426494642.

This string of garbled numbers that had tormented him for so long and lingered in his mind finally had a solution.

He switched his phone's input method keyboard to the nine-palace grid and pressed this string of numbers in sequence:

Don'...t...trust...

As each number was pressed, the automatically formed Chinese characters from the pinyin popped up.

When he pressed the last digit on the nine-palace grid keyboard.

The three of them widened their eyes.

Looking at the sentence formed in the input bar--

[Don't trust it]