Manual

The two returned to the club activity room from the rooftop.

Cheng Mengxue was still embroidering clothes on the sofa, Qin Feng continued to tinker with the positron cannon, and Jiang Ran stood in front of the small blackboard, lost in thought.

This scene...

...was as if the past disagreements and arguments had never happened.

But.

Facts are facts, history is history.

How could it not have happened?

After that sentence, "I don't blame you," Qin Feng seemed relieved.

But it was precisely this easy relief that made Jiang Ran feel even worse.

As they went downstairs, he had regretted it several times.

Was he going too far?

Was he too selfish?

Was he too hypocritical?

He reminded himself countless times that this was his best friend in this life; yet, he was repeatedly consumed by fear, whispering that it was an uncontrollable butterfly effect spanning ten years.

Conflict.

Pain.

Helplessness.

At this moment, Jiang Ran's heart was filled with mixed emotions.

"I think we should establish some rules."

He turned around:

"I feel very guilty and apologetic that we couldn't fulfill Qin Feng's wish this time."

"Although we all understand the logic, I still don't want this kind of thing to happen again."

"Therefore, I believe the priority, before we continue sending spacetime messages, should be to clarify a series of rules."

"Or rather... clarify 'what kind of wishes can be fulfilled' and 'what kind of messages are allowed to be sent'."

"I agree."

Cheng Mengxue raised her hand:

"If there's a specific standard, it will be much easier to judge in the future."

"As long as it meets these standards, the proposed wish can be granted; those that don't meet the standards will be rejected. This is the most efficient and fair way to handle things... We can't possibly vote on everything each time."

Qin Feng looked up from the positron cannon.

He smiled slightly:

"I don't have any objections. However, I need to clarify that you don't need to feel so guilty, nor should you feel like I've suffered greatly over this matter."

"The wish to 'resurrect my father' itself carried significant risks, and I wasn't entirely unprepared, so I accept the current outcome willingly."

"We've been good friends for so many years, please don't let this create any rift between us. I'm not that petty or unreasonable."

The three put their heads together and finally finalized the Spacetime Message Usage Guidelines:

[Spacetime Message Usage Guidelines]

1. Spacetime messages can only be sent back a maximum of [30 days prior], to avoid uncontrollable spacetime butterfly effects.
2. The content of spacetime messages must be unanimously agreed upon by the three of us.
3. When sending spacetime messages, all three must be present simultaneously; no one can be absent.
4. Spacetime messages, the positron cannon, and a series of other secrets must be strictly guarded and not revealed to anyone.

Among these four rules, most were old news.

The most important and only new addition was the "30-day limit" strictly stipulated in the first point.

This was the result of their deliberation.

30 days.

This was the limit of the spacetime butterfly effect they deemed acceptable.

Therefore, from now on, regardless of the type of spacetime message, it would only be allowed to be sent back 30 days into the past; anything further would not be permitted.

There can be no order without rules.

With these four usage guidelines, many problems could indeed be avoided in the future.

Meanwhile.

Cheng Mengxue's Spacetime Message User Manual has also been updated to version 4.0, with many patches applied.

[Spacetime Message User Manual (Version 4.0)]

1. Spacetime messages can theoretically be sent to any point in the past, but are limited by the power output of the positron cannon.

2. For safety, experiments should be conducted in the early morning when the power grid load is low.

3. After the positron cannon overloads, it needs to be powered down and left to rest for 20 hours before it can be used again.

4. The spacetime message sending window is only 0.7 seconds, and the content is limited to a maximum of 70 Chinese characters.

5. Successful sending of a message will cause spacetime fluctuations and Worldline Jumps, which only Jiang Ran can detect.

6. Only Jiang Ran can retain memories from the original worldline; this special constitution has been named "Omni-Spacetime Memory."

"Qin Feng."

Jiang Ran pointed to the text on the blackboard:

"The wish you made earlier didn't come true, so I'll grant you one now."

"Think about it, do you have any other wishes you want to fulfill, any regrets you want to make up for?"

"This time, there's no need for a vote. As long as it meets the Usage Guidelines we just discussed, it will definitely be granted."

Jiang Ran admitted.

He was indeed eager to alleviate his guilt, wishing he could grant Qin Feng a wish immediately.

As long as it was something within the last 30 days.

He would agree to Qin Feng without hesitation, without raising any objections.

Even if it was a little excessive...

Even if he had concerns or worries in his heart...

This time.

He had to agree to Qin Feng unconditionally!

However.

Facing Jiang Ran's quiet determination, Qin Feng seemed unenthusiastic and didn't react much:

"You don't really need to worry too much about me."

He unscrewed the positron cannon with a screwdriver:

"I'm quite satisfied with my current life, satisfied with everything around me. Honestly, I don't feel like I have any regrets to make up for."

"My only wish all along was to save my father. Now that you're suddenly asking me to change my wish... I really can't think of anything right away."

"Why don't you just skip me? I don't have any objections."

Cheng Mengxue also stood up, feeling guilty:

"Anything, anything at all is fine!"

"Since we agreed on one wish per person, we can't leave anyone out!"

"Hurry up and think, Qin Feng. Big or small, anything is fine. Even if it's just to test the spacetime message one more time... just think of any wish!"

Jiang Ran nodded:

"That's right, anything is fine. At worst, we can win the lottery a few more times."

"Seriously... at least say a wish, and it'll ease our guilt a bit."

Qin Feng let out a long breath through his nose.

He stopped what he was doing.

And thought for a moment:

"Fine."

He understood that he had to voice a wish, otherwise Jiang Ran and Cheng Mengxue would continue to feel guilty.

"Hmm..."

He looked left and right, then his gaze shifted downwards, settling on the outer casing of the positron cannon:

"Speaking of which, there was something a few days ago that I felt was quite a shame."

"What is it?" "Hurry up and tell us!"

Jiang Ran and Cheng Mengxue immediately crowded around.

"You guys still remember this knob LCD control panel, right?"

Qin Feng pointed to the circuit board hanging on the outer casing of the positron cannon.

He had found it at the old appliance market a few days ago. After assembling it with the positron cannon, it could precisely control the nodes for sending spacetime messages... accurate to the year, month, day, and hour, making all operations foolproof.

"We remember."

Jiang Ran casually twisted the knob:

"What's wrong with this thing? Isn't it working fine?"

"Actually, there's something better."

Qin Feng batted away Jiang Ran's intrusive hand:

"When I bought this, I was chatting with the old appliance store owner. He said there was an older control board with a more beautiful design, but someone had just bought it the day before yesterday."

"You guys know me. When it comes to mechanical structures, I've always been a perfectionist. Don't you think this external control board is ugly?"

Jiang Ran and Cheng Mengxue nodded in unison.

Indeed, it was too ugly.

It looked like a urine bag was attached, extremely unsightly.

"If I could have gotten to it before someone else and bought that better-looking control board, I could have made the positron cannon even prettier."

Qin Feng continued:

"Let me think. I went to the old appliance market six days ago. That control board was bought two days before that. To be safe, I should have gone three days earlier to intercept it."

"So, if you really want to know what I want to use the spacetime message for right now..."

"It's to send a text message to myself nine days ago, reminding myself to hurry to the old appliance market and buy that control board before anyone else."