Xiuxiu

As long as he could get in touch with Cheng Mengxue, things would be much simpler.

First, he'd have her sync his memories.

Then they could figure out what was going on with Qin Feng together.

Jiang Ran had already worked out what to do next.

He sat up on the edge of the bed and noticed a pencil and a notepad on the bedside table.

He tucked the phone between his shoulder and ear, picked up the notepad, and prepared to write down Cheng Mengxue's number in a moment.

In the faint moonlight, he saw a line of small text at the top of the notepad...

XXXX Villa Resort.

A villa?

He lifted his head and looked out the window.

Shadows from the lush branches fell across the gauzy curtains, dancing like figures in a shadow play.

That meant...

The room he was in wasn't in a hotel, but one of the guest rooms in a vacation villa.

Why... was he staying in a villa resort like this?

Never mind. He'd contact Cheng Mengxue first.

However...

He waited for more than ten seconds, but Wang Hao still didn't respond.

?

Something was strange.

"Wang Hao? Did you fall asleep?"

Jiang Ran urged him,

"Just give me Little Xue's number already. Didn't you hear me?"

Still no answer.

"Wang Hao!"

"Jiang Ran, you..."

Wang Hao's voice finally came through, but he sounded hesitant.

"Are you, are you serious?"

"What's wrong?"

Jiang Ran couldn't understand why, after the Worldline changed, Wang Hao had become so fussy and weird.

He put down the notepad and switched the phone to his other hand.

"What's gotten into you? Why are you dragging this out? You don't know Qin Feng, fine, but you know Little Xue, right? Just give me her number."

"Are you... feeling all right?"

Wang Hao asked cautiously,

"Or did something... upset you?"

"Are you going to stop already?"

Jiang Ran was getting irritated.

"I'm just asking for Little Xue's number! What does that have to do with me being sick or upset? Can you act normal for once?"

Sigh...

A sigh came from the other end of the phone.

It made Jiang Ran's scalp tighten and his breathing grow heavier.

"Jiang Ran, I don't know what's gotten into you today, or what you mean by saying all this in the middle of the night."

"But, but..."

Wang Hao's voice sank.

"But Little Xue... she passed away two years ago."

Thump!

Jiang Ran sprang to his feet.

What?

Passed away?

Cheng Mengxue was dead!?

For a moment, her smiling face—ponytail and all—appeared before his eyes.

From their childhood, to their teenage years, to the release of the college entrance exam results, to the university track, to diving off a luxury cruise ship, to her blushing as she said those daring things...

"Are you serious?"

A chill ran through Jiang Ran.

He didn't believe it. He couldn't believe it. Yet amid all the strange and inexplicable things happening, he couldn't help but believe it.

"How did Little Xue die?"

"Two years ago? Two years ago... Wasn't that when we graduated high school, in our senior year, when we took the college entrance exam?"

"Yeah..."

Wang Hao was completely baffled now, and answered in confusion,

"It was the day of the exam. Little Xue got into a car accident on her way to the exam site... She died in the accident."

"Jiang Ran, what's going on with you today? I don't even know how to talk to you. You keep startling me, and now I'm scared too, okay?"

"Where's Xiuxiu? Where is she? Is she with you?"

Xiuxiu.

Another completely unfamiliar name.

It sounded like a girl's name, but Jiang Ran had no idea who she was.

"Weren't you going to your friend's birthday party with Xiuxiu today? You even rented a villa and decorated it... Are you two together now?"

Wang Hao went on,

"Oh, and I'm warning you—if you've had too much to drink and you're talking nonsense, don't bring up something so touchy in front of Xiuxiu. Better yet, don't mention Little Xue at all. It's all in the past."

Jiang Ran couldn't care less about Xiuxiu.

All he cared about was Cheng Mengxue.

According to Wang Hao, Cheng Mengxue had died two years ago, in a car accident on the day of the college entrance exam.

That would've been June 8?

June 8, 2023—two years ago.

What exactly had happened that day?

"Jiang Ran?"

Noticing that he'd been quiet for a long time, Wang Hao called out,

"Jiang Ran? Are you listening? Where's Xiuxiu?"

"Stop talking about Xiuxiu!"

Jiang Ran's mind was overloaded.

"Tell me about Little Xue! What happened to Cheng Mengxue?"

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

The toilet suddenly flushed.

Someone was in there!

"Who's there?!"

Jiang Ran took a step back, his nerves stretched to the breaking point.

"What's with the fuss? You're making a big deal out of nothing."

A sweet, soft complaint came from the bathroom.

Creak...

The glass partition door swung open, and a pair of slender, delicate feet stepped out one after the other.

"What's the matter? Don't you recognize your own girlfriend?"

The girl, dressed in a nightgown, smiled playfully as she strolled over.

She wiped her forehead and swept her long, pink waves of hair back, then came closer step by step across the carpet.

Whoosh—

A gust of night wind suddenly blew, lifting the white curtains and sweeping them across Jiang Ran's eyes, blocking his view.

"I just heard an interesting name."

The girl's voice drew nearer.

Her toes brushed softly against the carpet, just like the gauzy curtain grazing his neck.

"Cheng, Meng, Xue. Who's that girl?"

The wind died away, and the curtains stopped fluttering and fell back into place.

The whole room came into view again. The girl, who had been standing some distance away just moments before, was now right in front of him.

Her pink nightgown and pink hair made her look like a flower fairy dancing in the forest. The scent of some floral shampoo filled Jiang Ran's nose, and he couldn't help looking away.

Right then, the digits on the electronic clock on the table changed. Its LCD screen displayed—

[00:42]

"Come on, tell me."

The girl lifted Jiang Ran's chin through the gauzy curtain, drawing his gaze back to her.

Moonlight shone in her eyes as she smiled like a flower.

"Could Cheng Mengxue be your... ex-girlfriend?"