Trust

The night breeze stirred the swaying willow branches.

In the dead of night, with no one around, the atmosphere outside the Film Club was tense.

Jiang Ran held out his hand, his eyes fixed on Qin Feng's phone.

Qin Feng clutched his phone in his right hand, staring at Jiang Ran in disbelief.

"You don't trust me?" Qin Feng asked softly.

Jiang Ran neither confirmed nor denied it.

He made no move.

"Can I see your phone?"

He knew he must look awful right now, and that he was probably hurting Qin Feng.

But...

He couldn't bring himself to trust him.

That unprecedented, terrifying vision had just pushed his fear to its limit.

Qin Feng took a deep breath and handed him the phone.

"Here."

Jiang Ran took it and looked at the screen.

It was the text message page. The recipient was Qin Feng's number, and the message itself was short—just four lines:

[This is a Spacetime Bulletin from 10 days in the future. Please go to Old Qi's Home Appliance Repair Shop on Old Electronics Street as soon as possible. They have a rotary control board there that would work well for the Positron Cannon.]

That was all.

Jiang Ran read it twice.

There was nothing hidden in it, from beginning to end.

And he knew that the shop selling circuit boards really was called Old Qi's Home Appliance Repair Shop.

There was nothing wrong with this message...

He was the one being too suspicious and overthinking things.

Qin Feng smiled at Jiang Ran.

"You think I'd pull some trick, trying to find a way to bring my father back to life?"

As always, he saw right through Jiang Ran with ease, just as Jiang Ran always saw through him.

Years of understanding and rapport had left no secrets between them. They were an open book to each other.

"Sorry," Jiang Ran said quietly.

A thousand words dwindled to one.

He didn't know how to explain or excuse this act of distrusting a friend.

"It's okay."

Qin Feng was still as understanding as ever.

"It's normal to have doubts like that. Besides, you've always been suspicious and prone to overthinking. I got used to it ages ago."

Then he held out his hand.

"You've checked the message. How about giving me my phone back so we can restart the countdown for the Positron Cannon?"

Unexpectedly, Jiang Ran did nothing.

He thought for a few seconds, lowered the phone, and looked at Qin Feng.

"Could you let me send this message?"

?

"Jiang Ran, you..."

Cheng Mengxue had been listening to their entire conversation from the window.

Honestly.

Even she thought Jiang Ran was going too far.

If he really didn't trust Qin Feng, then they should just give up on sending this Spacetime Bulletin;

but after turning Qin Feng down once and agreeing to make it up to him, he was still doubting his friend...

How could he do that?

"It's okay."

Qin Feng shoved his hands in his pockets, backed away a few steps, and leaned against the electrical cabinet.

"Then you can send it."

Cheng Mengxue stared at the two of them, mouth slightly open.

In the end,

she bit her lip and backed away.

"Fine, do whatever you want."

She opened the window all the way.

"It's quiet this late, so there shouldn't be any interference. I can do the countdown from inside."

"The timing's the same as before. When it reaches zero, I'll activate the Positron Cannon, and then Jiang Ran can send the message."

"Qin Feng... you can wait outside."

Shaking her head, Cheng Mengxue went back to the workbench.

Leaves rustled as the cicadas' cries rose and fell.

Jiang Ran stared at the message he'd typed on his phone, his thumb hovering above the screen.

It was awkward.

He couldn't bring himself to speak to Qin Feng, or even look at him.

"Jiang Ran."

Oh, of course. Just what he'd been dreading—Qin Feng called his name.

Jiang Ran looked up from the phone and glanced at Qin Feng beside the electrical cabinet.

"When I first suggested using a Spacetime Bulletin to save my father, I hesitated too. Just like you."

Qin Feng spoke softly.

"Do you know what I was hesitating about?"

Jiang Ran paused for two seconds.

"You were worried we'd be separated, right?"

The Spacetime Butterfly Effect was uncontrollable. No one could predict how history would change once it was altered.

Qin Feng had met Jiang Ran and Cheng Mengxue, and the three of them had become inseparable, all because Qin Feng had transferred to Hang City No. 1 High School and was bullied after his father died. That was what had brought their friendship about.

Look at it from another angle.

If Qin Feng's father hadn't died ten years ago...

Would Qin Feng still have gone to Hang City No. 1 High School?

Maybe. Maybe not.

Either was possible.

If Qin Feng's father had moved away for work or some other reason, Qin Feng wouldn't have gone to Hang City No. 1 High School. Naturally, he wouldn't have met Jiang Ran and Cheng Mengxue, and their friendship would have vanished.

Even if Qin Feng had gone to Hang City No. 1 High School,

since his father hadn't died, those troublemakers wouldn't have bullied him. He would have lost the chance to meet Jiang Ran and Cheng Mengxue all the same.

As the old saying went, take one wrong step in life, and every step after would be wrong.

Wasn't it the same with changes to the Worldline?

Everyone's life seemed to be shaped by chance, but was really the inevitable result of countless chance events...

A hair's breadth of difference could mean a thousand miles of separation.

"Heh."

Qin Feng laughed, just as Jiang Ran had expected.

"You always see right through me. You can guess everything I'm thinking."

"That's right. The two people I was most reluctant to leave behind were you and Cheng Mengxue."

He lifted his head and looked at the moonlit sky.

"I'm not like you. I don't have that special constitution, so I won't retain my memories from before the Worldline changes."

"So once I send a Spacetime Bulletin to my past self ten years ago and save my father, the course of history over the next ten years will change completely. Without realizing it, I'll end up living a different life."

"Maybe I won't go to Hang City No. 1 High School, or come with you to Donghai University. We might not even become friends..."

"After the Worldline changes, on the new Worldline, we'll be strangers who know nothing about each other."

He paused.

Then he continued.

"I've said before that I miss my father terribly, but I can't bear to lose you two either. To me, both sides of the scale weigh the same."

"So when Little Xue called for a vote back then, I chose to abstain because I didn't want to face that outcome."

"Jiang Ran, don't you think that's cruel?"

He turned around. Their eyes met, and Qin Feng's voice was clear.

"[After the Worldline changes, the three of us, who are so close, will instantly become strangers.]"

"[All our feelings and shared experiences will disappear. We'll each go on with our lives... and no one will remember our trio.]"

"I'll remember."

Jiang Ran reminded him:

"I have a special constitution called Omni-Spacetime Memory. No matter how the Worldline changes, I'll remember everything we've been through, how close we were, and that we were the best friends in the world."

Qin Feng smiled faintly.

"Yes, you'll remember, but you'll be the only one."

"But feelings and friendship go both ways... It won't mean much if you're the only one who remembers."

"The feelings in a person's heart come from the things they've experienced together. Without those experiences, all those words are empty."

"You and Little Xue have been childhood friends. No matter how the Worldline changes, it won't affect your relationship."

"But I only met you two in high school. Even the smallest Spacetime Butterfly Effect could take me out of your lives."

"So there's something I've always wanted to ask you, Jiang Ran."

His smile faded, and his voice grew heavy.

"If the Worldline changes and I lose touch with you two, becoming a stranger on the new Worldline... what would you do?"

The night breeze turned chilly. Qin Feng looked Jiang Ran in the eye.

"[On the new Worldline, would you come find me?]"