Lucky Girl

Exactly.

At this point, a lot of things didn't matter anymore.

Why had Cheng Mengxue died?

It didn't matter.

Why had Jiang Ran lost his memories back then?

It didn't matter.

Why had the two of them taken a detour and failed to make it to the exam site?

It didn't matter.

It didn't matter, it didn't matter, it didn't matter... None of it mattered.

The only thing that mattered was—

[Find the Positron Cannon as soon as possible, send a Spacetime Bulletin, and bring Little Xue back to life!]

Whatever Qin Feng's secret scheme was,

whatever Nan Xiuxiu's lingering spirit was up to,

it could all wait.

First, he had to pull Little Xue back from the grave of the Worldline.

Jiang Ran picked up the petition, now covered in signatures, and hurried out of the screening room to look for Senior Yan Rui.

"You really are incredible. How did you manage to get something like this?"

Senior Yan Rui stared at the sheet full of signatures, amazed.

"I'd wager that although this club regulation does exist, this petition is the first time anyone's ever managed to use it to save a club..."

Obviously.

People with this kind of connections and ability never had to worry about their club being disbanded in the first place.

"Still, delaying the Film Club's disbandment by a year is a wonderful thing."

After his initial surprise, Yan Rui's eyes were full of delight.

"I felt awful thinking that the Film Club would be disbanded on my watch. But thanks to you, the club's got another year to live."

"When the new semester starts and the freshmen arrive, you'll be able to recruit more like-minded people and get the club running again."

"Anyway, let's leave that for now. First, we'll go to the Club Management Office, restore the club's status, and transfer the presidency."

"After that... you'll be in charge of this activity room. You'll be the new Club President of the Film Club!"

With that, Yan Rui headed for the door.

As he walked, he glanced back.

"Come to think of it, I still don't know what college or major you're in."

"Uh..."

Jiang Ran scratched his head, unsure how to answer.

At this point, he couldn't hide his identity any longer. He could only come clean.

"Sorry, Senior Yan Rui. I didn't get a chance to explain before. Actually... I'm not a student at Donghai University. I go to another school."

???

Yan Rui's eyes widened.

"What?"

He'd never expected Jiang Ran to pull a stunt like this.

"You're joking, right?"

He gave a helpless laugh.

If Jiang Ran wasn't a student at Donghai University, why did he care so much whether its Film Club survived?

It made no sense.

"Fine, I don't care to ask about anything else, but the problem is..."

Yan Rui frowned.

"[If you're not a student at Donghai University, how can I transfer the Club President position to you?]"

"There's no way we can make a student from another school the club president, is there? That'd be ridiculous."

Jiang Ran sighed, just as helpless.

On this Worldline, he was only a student at a vocational college, after all.

Senior Yan Rui was right. The club presidency could be transferred to anyone—except a student from another school.

The best option was to find a trusted friend who attended Donghai University and have him take over as president for the time being.

Jiang Ran only wanted the Positron Cannon. He didn't care whether the Film Club survived at all. All he wanted was to use the president's title to find the Positron Cannon. Nothing more.

Unfortunately...

He knew plenty of people at Donghai University, but after history had changed, those old friends didn't know him anymore. He couldn't ask them for help.

Yan Rui saw Jiang Ran fall silent and realized he was in a bind.

Of course, he wanted the Film Club to continue, too. He looked down at the hard-won petition, closed his eyes, and pondered a way forward.

"Oh, right."

He clapped his hands, remembering someone.

"About two months ago, a sophomore girl came to me and said she wanted to join the Film Club."

"But by then, the club had already lost its status, and I was busy defending my graduation thesis, so I turned her down."

"She seemed to really love film photography. She was a genuine enthusiast, and she kept talking to me about it for ages... Though honestly, I didn't understand a thing. I was only roped into the club myself by my seniors."

"If you don't mind, I can call her over and let her take over as Club President. How does that sound?"

Jiang Ran couldn't have been happier.

"Of course! That's perfect!"

Talk about a lifesaver.

All he wanted was the Positron Cannon. He didn't care who became Club President—not one bit.

"Great, I'll call her over."

Senior Yan Rui pulled out his phone and messaged the girl on WeChat.

A little over ten minutes later,

a figure came rushing in at lightning speed.

"Really!?"

She stared at the petition in disbelief, then looked up at Jiang Ran.

"Senior! You're amazing! You actually saved the Film Club!"

"Wait, wait."

Jiang Ran waved his hands.

"I'm not your senior. We're both sophomores, so we're in the same year."

"But you look older than me~" the girl argued.

Jiang Ran and Yan Rui stared at her in silence...

She was tiny, at most 155 centimeters tall, and that was with thick-soled shoes.

She had a soft, cutesy voice and a baby face. She wore a cute dress, with her hair tied into two little buns on top of her head.

Who wouldn't look older than this chibi college student?

If Jiang Ran saw her outside campus, he'd absolutely think she was an elementary school student. He'd feel like he was committing a crime just by talking to her.

While they waited, Yan Rui had already given Jiang Ran a quick introduction.

The girl was named Chi Xiaoguo, and she was from Guangxi. She was petite, and her voice had a sweet, lilting quality to it.

She really was as cute as her name suggested, like a little doll. She seemed completely out of place with something as old-fashioned as a film camera.

"So the Film Club can keep going, and I can join it too!"

Chi Xiaoguo grinned, showing off her two little canine teeth, and looked at Yan Rui.

"Right, Senior? That's how it works, isn't it?"

Yan Rui nodded.

"Exactly. With this petition, all I have to do is transfer the presidency to you, and the club's disbandment will be delayed by a year."

"If we can recruit enough members within that year, the Film Club can continue as usual."

"Yay! That's wonderful!"

Chi Xiaoguo's eyes sparkled.

"Sometimes I think I'm so lucky, I can hardly believe it."

"The Film Club looked like it was about to be disbanded, but then it came back to life at the last minute. It was just like when I applied to Donghai University. I thought I had no chance, but then—"

"[I got accepted into the Academy of Fine Arts with the lowest score in the whole college!]"

"Hehe, just when things seem hopeless, a new path appears. Somehow, I always get lucky and slip in at the last minute."

The Academy of Fine Arts was the college Cheng Mengxue had attended before the Worldline changed.

The lowest score.

She was unbelievably lucky.

If her score had been one point lower, or one more person had applied, Chi Xiaoguo would've been rejected and never made it into Donghai University.

Huh?

Jiang Ran's heart skipped a beat.

One more person...

The lowest score...

"What's your major?"

Jiang Ran had a suspicion.

"Don't tell me you're in Art Design."

"Huh?"

Chi Xiaoguo blinked, clearly surprised he'd guessed correctly.

"That's right, Senior. I'm in Art Design Class 2306. How did you know...?"

Jiang Ran looked at Chi Xiaoguo without a word.

Art Design Class 2306.

It was the same class Cheng Mengxue had been in before the Worldline changed.

Jiang Ran knew that there had been twenty-six students in Cheng Mengxue's class: ten boys and sixteen girls. Not one of them had been named Chi Xiaoguo.

[A closed loop.]

He'd just figured it out.

[This was the closed loop of the Spacetime Butterfly Effect.]

Each major at a university admitted a fixed number of students.

Admit one more high-scoring student, and one fewer low-scoring student had to be admitted. One more person got in, and one more person was left out.

On the original Worldline, Chi Xiaoguo had undoubtedly been rejected, missing out on admission to Donghai University by a single place.

But after the Worldline changed, history changed, and Chi Xiaoguo's life changed along with it.

Cheng Mengxue had died unexpectedly two years earlier. Naturally, she couldn't have applied to the university or come to study at Donghai University.

The Butterfly Effect took hold at that moment, changing the life of a little girl from Guangxi, a thousand miles away.

Cheng Mengxue's absence left a place open in the Art Design program, allowing one more student to be admitted.

And the girl who had "replaced" Cheng Mengxue at Donghai University,

the girl whose fate had been changed by the Butterfly Effect...

was Chi Xiaoguo.