Lost Life

"Don't touch me!"

Jiang Ran quickly dodged, rapidly putting distance between himself and the girl.

He looked her up and down.

She was about 165cm tall, not too short, not too tall; her face was beautiful, her figure well-proportioned, and her eyes were full of mischief... What truly captivated the eye, however, was her exaggerated, waterfall-like pink hair.

The color must have been dyed. It was shiny and smooth, styled in big waves; this hairstyle was too trendy for Jiang Ran's taste, he couldn't quite accept it.

If it were cosplay, he could understand it, but who would cosplay in their pajamas in the middle of the night?

But the current situation left Jiang Ran no time to consider these extra questions.

He suddenly thought.

Could it be... this girl was the [Xiuxiu] Wang Hao mentioned?

Judging by what the girl just said, she was also his girlfriend?

This was absurd!

Jiang Ran had never dated anyone before. He had always liked the quiet, scholarly type of girl... This pink-haired girl was completely not his type.

The girl watched Jiang Ran jump away like a startled rabbit.

She tilted her head.

Blinked her big eyes.

She looked very confused.

She tiptoed closer again:

"What's wrong? Did you drink too much? Or do you have a fever?"

As she spoke, she reached out to place her palm on Jiang Ran's forehead.

Jiang Ran agilely dodged again.

Though he didn't understand the situation, this was not a place to linger.

He scanned his surroundings, found his shoes and clothes, quickly put them on, and left.

"Hey! Jiang Ran!"

The pink-haired girl quickly chased after him:

"What are you doing! Where are you going!"

Jiang Ran ignored her and walked straight out the door.

As expected.

This wasn't a hotel, just a bedroom on the second floor of a villa.

Stepping out of the bedroom, he entered a vast living room; the bar counter was littered with empty bottles and cans, and the floor was covered in various snack bags.

He glanced at the layout and headed for the stairs.

Creak.

A nearby door opened.

A girl wearing a white camisole, white pajama pants, and with short, dyed golden-yellow hair walked out.

She had a slender figure and an attractive face, just like the other girl.

What was this? A model convention?

Oh, no.

Jiang Ran recalled what Wang Hao had said on the phone. This seemed to be a birthday party, hosted by [Xiuxiu]'s best friend who had rented the villa.

"Jiang Ran, where are you going?"

The yellow-haired girl's tone was casual, as if she knew Jiang Ran well:

"Where's Xiuxiu?"

Jiang Ran glanced at her, his pace unwavering as he walked past.

"Hey? Not responding?"

The girl leaned against the doorframe, asking:

"I was just taking a shower, and Xiuxiu said she was going to your room to use the restroom. What are you getting dressed for?"

Still no response, Jiang Ran had already stepped onto the stairs to go down.

"Crazy!"

The girl muttered, then walked towards another bedroom:

"Xiuxiu! Why does Jiang Ran look so upset? Did you two fight?"

He opened the villa's main door and walked out into the courtyard. As far as the eye could see were detached villas.

It seems this is indeed a high-end villa resort.

Jiang Ran ran straight to the main gate and got into a taxi:

"Driver, take me to Donghai University."

He had no distractions now.

He just wanted to quickly understand what exactly had happened to himself, Qin Feng, and Cheng Mengxue.

Ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring

The taxi had just started moving when his phone rang.

He picked it up and saw it was a WeChat video call from Nan Xiuxiu.

Jiang Ran zoomed in on the profile picture.

It was blindingly pink.

No mistake, it was the pink-haired girl who had just given him a midnight scare in the room.

This means...

The girl's name was Nan Xiuxiu.

He couldn't understand why, on this brand new worldline, he would be involved with this kind of girl, even as a couple.

But he couldn't dwell on it right now; he had more important things to do.

"Little Xue... is she really dead?"

His mind was filled with Cheng Mengxue.

Even though Wang Hao had been so clear, he still couldn't believe it.

Ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring

The phone kept ringing.

Jiang Ran hung up directly, set his phone to do not disturb, and rejected all calls and notifications.

Then, he opened his phone's photo album and scrolled through it quickly from top to bottom.

He hoped to find any trace of Cheng Mengxue among the vast number of photos...

But the reality was cruel.

Not a single one.

Not one photo related to Cheng Mengxue.

It wasn't until he scrolled to the very bottom of the album, where a class photo from high school graduation appeared.

Clinging to the last shred of hope, he hastily tapped on the photo, zoomed in, and looked at the familiar spot—

Nothing.

Nothing.

He found his own position in the photo at a glance, but Qin Feng and Cheng Mengxue were not beside him; he searched every corner of the photo but couldn't find those two familiar faces.

Moreover...

Looking at his expression in the photo.

He was looking down, his bangs covering his eyes, without a smile, looking very sad.

At this moment.

The sorrow that spanned across time seemed to merge into one, dense and heavy, overwhelming Jiang Ran like a monstrous flood.

He gasped for air.

Clutching his chest, which ached from the trembling.

Leaving the villa, a place of misfortune, and after a moment of brief calm, his thoughts finally allowed him to accept this fact—

Cheng Mengxue had truly passed away, dying two years ago.

Jiang Ran's palms turned cold.

First.

It could be stated clearly.

All these unexpected changes originated from that spacetime message sent by Qin Feng.

That message caused a worldline change, a strong butterfly effect that turned history upside down.

This was absolutely certain.

So, continuing with this premise, let's reason further.

A spacetime message sent to 10 days ago could not possibly affect history from two years ago, or even earlier.

He suddenly recalled the conversation with Qin Feng before eating barbecue that day:

"What have you been tinkering with?"

At the time, Qin Feng was modifying the positron cannon at the workbench, and he was very curious:

"The positron cannon is already perfect now, what are you still busy with?"

"Perfect?"

Qin Feng chuckled:

"Far from it."

"Have you forgotten? The positron cannon can only operate for 0.7 seconds right now. I want to try and solve this problem."

Right.

The doubt lies here.

The positron cannon could only operate for 0.7 seconds; this was a long-established design flaw that couldn't be overcome. There was no need for Qin Feng to waste his effort.

[He's lying.]

Then, what was Qin Feng modifying that night?

It seemed he had disassembled the knob control panel.

It seemed he had re-soldered the circuits.

"So... that's how it is."

He opened his eyes, having figured everything out.

That knob control panel could digitally adjust the time node for sending text messages.

The first knob adjusted the year.

The second knob adjusted the month.

The third knob adjusted the day.

The fourth knob adjusted the hour.

So...

If Qin Feng modified and swapped the internal wiring, swapping the first and third knobs... what if the circuits were reversed?

This would mean...

Although the first knob was labeled as controlling the "year," it actually controlled the "day"!

And the third knob, labeled as controlling the "day," actually controlled the "year"!

[The 10 days displayed on the control panel actually represent 10 years!]

Therefore.

The text message Qin Feng edited was not sent 10 days ago.

Instead, it had broken through the vast expanse of time...

And was sent...

"10 years ago."