Xiuxiu

As long as he could contact Cheng Mengxue, things would be much simpler.

First, he would sync his memories through her.

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After that, they would figure out Qin Feng's situation together.

Jiang Ran had already planned the subsequent steps.

He sat up from the bed and saw a pencil and a notepad on the bedside table.

He held his phone between his shoulder and ear, picked up the notepad, and prepared to write Cheng Mengxue's phone number on it later.

Under the faint moonlight, he saw a line of small text written above the notepad...

XXXX Villa Resort.

A villa?

He raised his head and looked out the window.

The shadows of lush branches danced on the sheer curtains, like a shadow play.

In that case.

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

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

Never mind that, he needed to contact Cheng Mengxue first.

However.

He waited for over ten seconds, but Wang Hao on the other end of the line showed no reaction.

?

He found it strange.

"Wang Hao? Are you asleep?"

Jiang Ran urged him:

"Hurry up and give me Little Xue's number, can't you hear me?"

Still no response.

"Wang Hao!"

"Jiang Ran, you..."

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

"Are you, are you serious?"

"What's wrong?"

Jiang Ran couldn't understand why Wang Hao had become so hesitant and abnormal after the worldline change.

He put down the notepad and switched hands holding the phone.

"What's with you, dragging your feet. You don't know Qin Feng, but you must know Little Xue, right? Just give me the number."

"Are you, are you okay?"

Wang Hao asked cautiously.

"Or... did something happen to you?"

"Are you done yet!"

Jiang Ran was getting annoyed.

"I'm just asking for Little Xue's phone number! What does that have to do with being sick or having something happen to you? Can you just act normal!"

Sigh...

A sigh came from the other end of the phone.

This sigh made Jiang Ran's scalp tense, and his breathing quicken.

"Jiang Ran, I don't know what's gotten into you today, and I don't know what you mean by telling me this so late at night."

"But, but..."

Wang Hao's voice was low.

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

Whoosh!

Jiang Ran shot up from the bedside.

What?

Passed away?

Cheng Mengxue is dead!?

For a moment, the image of that ponytail and doll-faced smile flashed before his eyes.

From childhood, to adolescence, to the college entrance exam results, to the university sports field, to diving off a luxury cruise ship, to blushing and saying those bold words...

"Are you serious?"

Jiang Ran's whole body went cold.

He didn't believe it, couldn't believe it, yet amidst all the strangeness and anomalies, he was forced to believe:

"How did Little Xue die?"

"Two years ago? Two years ago... wasn't that when we graduated high school, our third year, the college entrance exams?"

"Yeah..."

Wang Hao on the other end was completely bewildered, answering blankly:

"It was the day after the college entrance exams, Xue got into a car accident on the way to the exam hall... she died in a car accident."

"Jiang Ran, what's wrong with you today? I don't even know how to communicate with you anymore, you're scaring me by jumping around like this."

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

[Xiuxiu].

He heard another completely unfamiliar name.

It sounded like a girl's name, but Jiang Ran didn't recognize it at all.

"Aren't you going to her best friend's birthday party with Xiuxiu today? You even rented a villa to decorate... are you two together right now?"

Wang Hao continued:

"Oh, let me remind you, if you're drunk and hallucinating, don't bring up sore subjects in front of Xiuxiu; just don't mention Xue's matter, it's all in the past."

Jiang Ran didn't care about Xiuxiu or anything else.

He only cared about Cheng Mengxue.

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

That would be June 8th?

Two years ago, June 8th, 2023.

What exactly happened that day?

"Jiang Ran?"

Sensing the long silence on the other end, the phone called out:

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

"Stop talking about Xiuxiu!"

Jiang Ran's brain was overloaded:

"Talk about Xue! What happened to Cheng Mengxue!"

Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh

The sound of a toilet flushing suddenly came from the bathroom.

Someone was inside!

"Who!"

Jiang Ran took a step back, his nerves stretched to the absolute limit.

"What's with the big fuss?"

A sweet, soft complaint came from the bathroom.

Creak...

The glass partition door pushed open, and two slender jade feet stepped out one after another:

"What's wrong? You don't even recognize your own girlfriend?"

The girl in the nightgown smiled playfully and walked over.

She wiped her forehead, pushing her pink wavy long hair behind her ears, and approached step by step on the carpet.

Whoosh--

Suddenly, a gust of night wind blew, lifting the white window sheer and blocking Jiang Ran's vision, leaving him unable to see anything.

"Just now, I heard an interesting name."

The girl's voice grew closer.

Her toes rustled against the carpet, just as the white sheer brushed against his neck.

"Cheng, Meng, Xue, whose name is this?"

The night wind dissipated, the window sheer stopped dancing, and fell before his eyes.

The room returned to Jiang Ran's vision, the girl who had been standing far away moments ago was now right in front of him, pressed against his eyes.

A pink nightgown paired with long pink hair, like a flower fairy dancing in the forest; the scent of some unknown shampoo filled his nostrils, making Jiang Ran unable to stop himself from looking away.

Perfect timing.

The digital clock on the desk ticked, the LCD screen displaying--

[00:42]

"Come on, tell me."

The girl lifted Jiang Ran's chin through the sheer fabric, pulling his gaze back.

Her eyes reflected the moonlight, her smile blooming like a flower:

"Cheng Mengxue, she isn't... your ex-girlfriend, is she?"