Qin Feng

"Ah!"

Two seconds later, the dizziness disappeared, gravity returned, and everything stabilized.

Jiang Ran gasped and opened his eyes.

This is...

Where?

Looking at the completely unfamiliar scene before him, he understood that after the worldline change, his location had shifted again.

However, this wasn't his dorm, nor the activity room, nor the hospital, nor any familiar place.

He looked left and right, surveying his surroundings.

TV, coffee table, wardrobe, carpet, white bedsheets, digital clock...

Is this a hotel room?

It seems so.

The decor was very much like a hotel room, just much larger.

The room was dark.

Only the digital clock emitted a faint glow.

Fortunately, the curtains were only sheer white, allowing the moonlight to stream in. Accompanied by a gentle breeze and the chirping of cicadas, it allowed Jiang Ran to see the room's layout while also feeling the refreshing summer air.

"Qin Feng."

He suddenly realized that now was not the time to ponder his environment; he had to find Qin Feng quickly!

It was obvious that Qin Feng had planned this for a long time, deceiving him with a series of acting and tactics.

He had thought that by personally sending the text message from Qin Feng's phone, he could avoid any risks.

But he never expected...

Qin Feng was truly a master strategist, predicting every possible outcome, and had an extra phone hidden in his pocket!

It was an old-fashioned button phone, very small, almost like a senior phone.

But the good thing about such phones was that they had physical buttons, so even without seeing it in his pocket, he could accurately press the send button.

Recalling Qin Feng's meaningful glance at him when the countdown ended... Jiang Ran felt a pang in his heart.

Why?

Why did he have to deceive himself?

He had already promised Qin Feng that as long as the node for sending the spacetime message was within a month, no matter the content or what he wanted to change, he would agree.

With such a promise, was there still a need to hide it from him?

"I'll call him first."

Saying that, Jiang Ran took out his phone.

It was just a spacetime message sent ten days into the past; the resulting spacetime butterfly effect was limited, and he wasn't worried about large-scale changes to the historical trajectory at all.

But...

"Huh?"

He flipped through his contacts and WeChat twice.

Nothing.

Nothing.

Why wasn't Qin Feng's phone number there?

This was impossible.

They were inseparable, having intense phone conversations every day; how could they not have each other's contact information!

Let alone ten days ago...

Even back in high school, years ago, their daily chats never stopped.

"This is too strange."

A sense of unease washed over him again, as if an invisible black hand had reached through the sheer curtains and gripped his heart tightly.

In any case, he should contact Cheng Mengxue first.

Jiang Ran frowned deeply.

After the worldline change, he had no memory of this new worldline at all.

The immediate priority was to contact Cheng Mengxue quickly and synchronize their memories.

However.

Nothing!

None either!

His phone didn't even have Cheng Mengxue's contact information!

This was too ridiculous.

The two of them were childhood sweethearts, playing together since they were in diapers. No one would lose track of Cheng Mengxue.

"What kind of joke is this..."

Jiang Ran's spine instantly chilled, and all sorts of ominous premonitions crept into his heart.

No way.

No matter what text message Qin Feng had sent him behind his back, the positron cannon was ultimately operated by Cheng Mengxue. The text message's send date was locked ten days ago.

So, no matter how the timeline changed, it could at most alter history within these ten days.

Just ten days.

Could he still fall out with Qin Feng and Cheng Mengxue, block them, and delete them as friends?

"What exactly is going on?"

Jiang Ran was completely baffled.

No.

He had to contact someone he knew immediately, anyone would do.

He flipped through his call history.

He found that on the first page, three calls were made to Wang Hao.

Great.

Wang Hao would do.

They had even eaten barbecue together the day before yesterday.

Although that barbecue might not have happened on this brand-new timeline, at least Wang Hao as a person existed.

They were classmates in adjacent classes in junior high, classmates in the same class in high school, and he was the class monitor.

Since the two of them frequently called each other, it meant this relationship was still intact.

Without any hesitation, he immediately dialed Wang Hao's number.

The ringing seemed to stretch on endlessly. Jiang Ran unconsciously rubbed the bedsheet, hoping Wang Hao would pick up quickly.

Finally.

"Hello..."

The voice on the other end was groggy with sleep:

"What is it, bro... calling so late... are you guys not done partying yet?"

Partying?

Partying what?

"Do you have Qin Feng's phone number? Send it to me." Jiang Ran ignored the meaningless information and got straight to the point.

"Qin Feng?"

Wang Hao sounded confused:

"Who?"

Jiang Ran froze:

"Qin Feng from our high school class! The top student in our grade, the provincial top scorer in the college entrance exam, the Olympic champion, the famous genius of the entire school."

"Never heard of him."

Wang Hao's tone was very flat:

"Haven't heard of this person at all. At least definitely not from our class... We don't have any prodigy like that in our high school."

"How is that possible!"

Jiang Ran scratched his head:

"In high school, Qin Feng, Little Xue, and I, the three of us, played together every day--"

"Damn it! You son of a bitch!"

Wang Hao let out a pig-like squeal:

"It was ME who played with you two every day! It was the three of us who played together every day, alright! The unbreakable iron triangle, you scoundrel!"

"Also, damn it, my name isn't Qin Feng! Jiang Ran, are you calling me in the middle of the night just to piss me off?"

"Oh, oh, oh, I get it, you guys are playing Truth or Dare, right? You're too heartless! You didn't invite me to the party, and now you're tricking me during a game!"

Jiang Ran's palms were sweating.

Confusion, surprise, a completely unknown situation.

Although they had been good friends with Wang Hao in high school, ... they couldn't just completely ignore Qin Feng's existence like this, could they?

[Why, on this worldline, does Qin Feng's existence seem to have been erased? Not a trace left?]

Not only was he not in his own contact list, not in the Iron Triangle trio, not in Wang Hao's memory, he wasn't even among their high school classmates!

Qin Feng... where did he go?

"Wang Hao, I have something extremely urgent and important to find Qin Feng about right now. It's incredibly urgent, please don't joke with me."

Jiang Ran's tone was very serious:

"If this is some kind of prank or a hidden camera show, please stop it immediately and send me Qin Feng's phone number right away!"

He emphasized again.

"Hey, what the hell, why are you so annoying tonight!"

On the other end of the line, Wang Hao was clearly impatient:

"What the hell would I lie to you about! I was sleeping and having a beautiful dream in the dorm late at night, what time do I have to play with you!"

"I'm telling you loudly, no! There's no phone number for Qin Feng! And there's no person named Qin Feng at all!"

"I was the class monitor in high school, do you think I don't know who's in our class? I can recite our class roster backward! There's no one named Qin Feng!"

"Even if you dig out my brain, I still can't find who the hell is named Qin Feng!"

Facing Wang Hao's howling, Jiang Ran gradually calmed down.

Wang Hao wasn't someone who lacked common sense. Even when joking, he had his limits.

Furthermore, the other person was already resorting to curses under questioning. Based on his understanding of Wang Hao... it meant he really wasn't lying, wasn't deceiving himself.

This made things difficult.

Jiang Ran's heart rate quickened.

What exactly did that text message sent ten days ago say?

Why did a perfectly fine person like Qin Feng just disappear from the world, from their lives?

Jiang Ran couldn't make sense of the spacetime logic behind it no matter what.

But since Wang Hao insisted he didn't know Qin Feng, there was no point in continuing the conversation with him.

He should contact Cheng Mengxue instead.

After all, they were childhood sweethearts who grew up together and also the only two who shared the secret of the spacetime messages, so communicating with her would be easier.

Wang Hao had just mentioned that the Iron Triangle in high school consisted of him, Jiang Ran, and Cheng Mengxue.

Although he didn't know why Wang Hao had replaced Qin Feng.

[But at least, this indicates that Cheng Mengxue's life trajectory hasn't changed.]

"I'm done arguing with you about this."

Jiang Ran interrupted Wang Hao's continuous ranting:

"Stop babbling about Qin Feng. You still have Little Xue's contact information, right?"

"Now, hurry up and send me Little Xue's phone number."