Trapped in the Same Day for a Thousand Years

My name is Wu Chen, and I was trapped inside something most people barely thought about.

Time.

Wu Chen had crossed into a new world, only to become trapped on July 7, 2007. The day repeated endlessly. He had indulged every whim, committed terrible acts, flown into despair, and killed himself hundreds of different ways. But whenever the day ended, everything began again.

Was this God's punishment?

"Then, by your account, what's the point of doing all this?"

"My endlessly repeating life has no point to begin with."

The host has passed the trial of a thousand years of reincarnation. The Space-Time System has been activated.

Perhaps the meaning of my life is mine to decide.

"Haha! This is thrilling!"

"Wu Chen, I like you. Agree to be my man, and you might die. Are you afraid?"

"Thank you, Wu Chen. I haven't felt this relaxed in ages." "I love women, wealth, and power—" "Hey, don't make it sound so crude. Love, money, and a career. I want them all."

How would a man who had stepped out of time take control of his life?

Welcome to Trapped in the Same Day for a Thousand Years, exclusively produced by Feilu Novel Network, written by Sang Ze and performed by Wang Xiaomo and Lao He.

"So you're saying you've lived through today more than three hundred thousand times?" "Yes. A thousand years, to be precise. Today marks exactly one thousand years."

In a dim corner of a bar awash with dazzling lights, a man and a woman chatted quietly.

Mu Qianqian, her eyes smoky and her hair dyed in a riot of colors, shook her head with a crooked smile. "Is this how you pick up girls?"

"You make up some bizarre story? That's an old trick, though the story is pretty interesting." "Everything I said is true."

Wu Chen swirled his glass of red wine and smiled. "Really?"

"Aren't you afraid I'll tell everyone? We only just met. Do you trust me that much?"

Mu Qianqian teased, "What difference would it make?"

"For me, everything resets tomorrow."

"No, to be precise, I'm a man with no tomorrow. When I wake up again, we'll be strangers."

Wu Chen shrugged.

"Come on. Haven't you tried staying up all night?"

"I've tried not sleeping plenty of times, but I always fall asleep. I can't control it."

"Yeah, right. I don't believe you!"

With that, Mu Qianqian ignored Wu Chen and looked down at her phone.

She had arranged to come to the bar with her best friend, but she'd been there for over an hour and her friend still hadn't arrived. Wu Chen had come over out of nowhere and struck up a conversation.

Bored of waiting, Mu Qianqian had chatted with him for a while. She hadn't expected him to be a lunatic who claimed he'd been reliving the same day for a thousand years.

"Your friend isn't coming," Wu Chen said calmly.

"Hm?"

Mu Qianqian looked up and narrowed her eyes. "How do you know about my friend?"

"I told you, this day keeps repeating for me. It isn't the first time I've met you. I come here all the time. I know every customer here today."

Wu Chen smiled and took a sip of wine. "Then why isn't my friend coming? Do you know?"

Mu Qianqian tried to catch him in a lie.

"Her boyfriend came back unexpectedly to surprise her, so she can't make it."

Wu Chen glanced at his watch. "In nine minutes and thirteen seconds, she'll call and tell you she can't come. Down to the second."

Mu Qianqian checked the time on her phone. "It's 10:07 p.m."

"Fine, I'll wait nine minutes. If she doesn't call, let's see what you come up with."

Wu Chen tilted his head and raised his glass to Mu Qianqian.

Mu Qianqian clinked glasses with him.

"You said you know every woman in this city whose looks you'd rate above an eight. Is that true?" she asked.

She was only making conversation out of boredom. Listening to a lunatic invent stories was entertaining enough.

"Yes. I know them all. Very well."

Wu Chen nodded, then added with a smile, "But my life resets every day. I know them and understand them. Right now, they don't know me."

"So you only have one day to meet them. One day is enough?"

Mu Qianqian made another attempt to expose his lie.

"Of course one day isn't enough, except with a few of them. For the rest, I need to learn about them first."

"Say I spend five days thoroughly investigating a woman. Those five days are the same day repeated, so she still won't know me on the sixth. But by then, I'll know her interests, preferences, career, views on life, and so on. When I meet her again, I'll seem like the person she's been looking for all her life."

"One advantage of repeating the same day is that I can make as many mistakes as I like without worrying about leaving a bad impression."

"Of all the women I've approached, the hardest to get close to took me thirty-six days and countless mistakes before I succeeded."

"Then, by your account, what's the point of doing all this?"

"They don't remember you now."

Mu Qianqian asked quietly.

"An endlessly repeating life has no point to begin with. But if you're asking me to find one..."

Wu Chen looked at his wineglass, paused, then glanced at Mu Qianqian. He smiled. "To keep myself from going insane, I suppose."

"Being trapped in the same day for a thousand years is boring. I have to do something. Getting to know people and remembering them can be pretty interesting."

Wu Chen could say anything he liked. It didn't matter.

Tomorrow, everything would begin again.

"How many women you've rated above an eight do you know?" Mu Qianqian asked.

"Not that many, really. I'm strict when it comes to rating looks. Donghai City has a population of over ten million, but only around ten thousand women would score above an eight."

"You know all ten thousand of them? And you know them well?"

Mu Qianqian narrowed her eyes.

"Mm-hmm."

Wu Chen nodded. "You don't believe me? Then forget it."

"Shameless." Mu Qianqian pursed her lips again. Wu Chen merely shrugged, still looking unconcerned.

It didn't matter whether Mu Qianqian believed him. He had only come out for a drink today and wanted someone to talk to.

Mu Qianqian's phone suddenly buzzed. She looked down at a news alert: Jewelry Store Robbery Solved.

She opened it, then seemed to think of something. Holding the phone out to Wu Chen, she said, "Look. It's about the jewelry store robbery."

At 9:30 that morning, armed robbers had hit Jinyinfu Jewelry on a shopping street in Donghai City. They had stolen gold, silver, diamonds, and jewelry worth twenty million yuan, and injured two employees.

The case had been solved that afternoon. Three robbers had been arrested, while one remained at large.

The robbery had made national news, with reports and alerts appearing throughout the day.

Jinfu Jewelry was one of the country's top three jewelry companies, headquartered in Donghai. Its parent company, Jinfu Group, belonged to Su Ruiwen, Donghai's richest man, whose fortune ran into the tens of billions.

"Hm?"

"What is it?"

Wu Chen glanced over the article. "The last photo."

"What about it?"

Wu Chen looked again. The last photo showed Su Ruiwen, the owner of Jinfu Jewelry, shaking hands with a police officer and thanking him.

Beside Su Ruiwen stood a beautiful woman with wavy hair: his daughter, Su Qingying, senior vice president of Jinfu Group.

"You know Su Qingying, right? The domineering CEO type. Wharton School graduate, owner of her own luxury brand, a real career woman."

"I know of her. So what?" Wu Chen asked.

"You said you know every woman in this city whose looks you'd rate above an eight. That you're especially close to them and know them inside out."

Mu Qianqian snorted. "Su Qingying is one of Donghai's most beautiful women. She's highly educated and brilliant. However strict your standards are, you'd have to rate her looks above an eight, wouldn't you?"

"Nine point five."

Wu Chen nodded. "You could count on one hand the women in all of Donghai who compare to her in looks."

"So you know her well?"

Mu Qianqian was still determined to catch Wu Chen out. She was setting a trap for him.

"Of course," Wu Chen said with a nod.

"Liar. Jinfu Jewelry was robbed today. Su Qingying's been surrounded by police and reporters all day. When would she have had time to meet a stranger like you? She barely has time for herself."

"Besides, Su Qingying comes from a strict family and is always surrounded by bodyguards. I've never heard of her casually meeting strange men. No matter how much you know about her, it would be impossible."

"Hah! Nothing to say now?"

Mu Qianqian laughed. She was delighted to have caught the lunatic in a lie.

"I'll answer your second point first. You're right: Su Qingying is difficult to approach. Getting to know her isn't easy."

Wu Chen smiled faintly. "But she has one fatal weakness. That's what made it easy for me to meet her."

"What weakness?"

"Guess. It's rather interesting."

"Stop being so mysterious. What weakness could a woman as perfect as her have?"

"Now for your first point." Wu Chen continued, "Yes, the jewelry store robbery happened. Su Qingying certainly wouldn't have time to meet me. Even if she did, she wouldn't be in the mood for a proper conversation."

"Exactly. What else have you got to say?"

Mu Qianqian raised an eyebrow, looking triumphant.

"But..." Wu Chen leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table. Smiling, he lowered his voice. "What if I stopped the robbery from happening?"

Mu Qianqian froze. "Today keeps repeating for me. I've lived through it more than three hundred thousand times. From my point of view, I've known for a thousand years that the robbery would happen today. I've had plenty of time to investigate it, over and over."

"Do you think stopping it would be difficult for me?"

Wu Chen kept smiling. Mu Qianqian had no answer. "There's nothing wrong with my logic, is there?"

He picked up his glass and took a small sip.

"Fine. Even if your logic holds up, I have another question."

Mu Qianqian refused to give in. She was about to bring out her best argument.

"What question?"

"Go ahead."

"Do you know me?"

"You said you'd met me before. So are we close?"

"How much do you know about me? How well do you understand me?"

"Are we friends too?"

Mu Qianqian brushed back her hair as she spoke.

Wu Chen shook his head and smiled without answering.

"You don't dare say yes, do you? You're afraid I'll ask you something about myself and you won't be able to answer, right?"

Mu Qianqian laughed.

"No. You don't reach an eight, so I haven't been interested in getting to know you better," Wu Chen said flatly.

Mu Qianqian's smile froze.

Bang!

Mu Qianqian slapped the table and rose to her feet. Through gritted teeth, she demanded, "Are you calling me ugly?"

"No, no, you're not ugly. But your makeup's too heavy. With those smoky eyes, you look like some girl hawking things at a street stall. I can't even tell what you really look like. You seem to have a decent face underneath, though. I'll give you a seven."

Mu Qianqian was about to explode.

Just then, her phone rang. She glanced at it: her best friend was calling. She answered at once. "Qianqian? Sorry! Awei came back out of nowhere and surprised me, so I can't meet you at the bar. Dinner's on me tomorrow, okay? Hehe. Gotta go!"

Mu Qianqian was about to say something, but her friend had already hung up. She huffed and muttered, "That damn girl. She gets a boyfriend and forgets her friends!"

"Nine minutes and thirteen seconds," Wu Chen said calmly.

"What about nine minutes and thirteen seconds?" Still fuming, Mu Qianqian looked up at him. Then she froze. In nine minutes and thirteen seconds, she'll call and tell you she can't come.

That was what Wu Chen had told her earlier.

Mu Qianqian grabbed her phone with both hands and opened her call history. She quickly found the time of her friend's incoming call: 10:16 p.m. Subtract nine minutes and thirteen seconds, and the time was 10:07.

When Mu Qianqian had checked her phone earlier, she hadn't looked at the seconds, but it had indeed been 10:07.

She was stunned.

"This... this is impossible!"

Mu Qianqian stared wide-eyed at Wu Chen.

She dropped back into her chair with a thump.

"Believe me now?" Wu Chen asked with a smile.

"You..." Mu Qianqian had drunk quite a bit, but the shock had sobered her up. "Can you see the future?"

"I'm not seeing the future. I'll say it again: for me, today repeats endlessly. This isn't the first time I've met you. You—"

"Hmph! Wait, I know!"

Mu Qianqian suddenly seemed to have figured it out.

"You know my best friend, don't you? The two of you planned this to mess with me."

"Me?" Wu Chen gave a helpless smile. "Forget it. I don't feel like explaining."

It had been a thousand years. Over that long stretch of time, Wu Chen had told countless people that he relived the same day. Everything reset when he fell asleep, so he had nothing to lose by saying it. Almost no one had truly believed him.

That was why Wu Chen usually just said what he wanted. Whether the other person believed him didn't matter, and he saw no need to explain further.

So you and my girl teamed up to fool me after all. I caught you red-handed.

Mu Qingqing felt rather pleased with her own cleverness again. What kind of brat would dare cause trouble here?

"Hey, beautiful, did he call you ugly?"

"Want us to teach him a lesson?"

A crowd suddenly gathered behind Mu Qingqing. They looked like a pack of street punks.

Wu Chen and Mu Qianqian had been talking without drawing attention, but Mu Qingqing had just slapped the table and stood up, catching the punks' eyes.

Mu Qingqing was beautiful. Her makeup was heavy, but her looks still showed through.

Wu Chen simply wasn't into her style, which was why he had only given Mu Qianqian a seven.

Wu Chen had been with too many women to have anything but exacting standards. To everyone else, Mu Qianqian was undoubtedly a pretty girl.

"Watch your mouth, kid."

"You're the one who called this beauty ugly?"

"Beautiful, is this guy bothering you?"

"Come have a drink with our boss, and we'll make him pay."

The punks started grabbing at Mu Qianqian while hurling abuse at Wu Chen.

"What are you doing?"

"This has nothing to do with you! Do you know who I am?"

"Let go of me!"

Mu Qianqian shoved them away from both sides. She knew exactly what the punks wanted.

Mu Qingqing now regarded Wu Chen as her best friend's friend, which made him one of their own. The punks were the ones harassing them.

Crash! Everyone jumped. One punk crouched down clutching his head as blood streamed from it.

"If you want a fight, fight. Cut the bullshit."

Wu Chen rose with a shattered bottle in his hand. He had struck so fast that the others only reacted afterward. Holy shit, the kid had actually attacked them!

Several punks rushed to surround Wu Chen. He thrust his hand forward. Shhk! "Ah! My eye!"

Wu Chen was holding half a beer bottle, its jagged edge razor-sharp. He had driven it straight into a punk's left eye, sending blood spurting out.

Wu Chen swept his hand back and slashed at another punk's neck.

He was aiming to kill. He didn't care about killing people and couldn't even remember how many he had killed. Everything would reset anyway, so it didn't matter.

The man reacted quickly enough to duck, but he still felt a chill across his neck. When he touched it, his hand came away covered in blood. The cut wasn't deep, but it bled heavily.

The whole gang froze—or rather, they were terrified.

They had never seen anyone strike as viciously as Wu Chen.

Even the most ruthless people on the island didn't go straight for a killing blow. No matter how badly someone was hurt, money could settle it, even if they were crippled or paralyzed. A death was another matter entirely.

The punks backed away, fear written all over their faces.

"He killed someone?"

"Haha!"

The bar erupted into chaos. Customers streamed toward the exit, while several men in a nearby booth sprang to their feet.

One of them, a long-faced man with a full beard, was the boss the punks had mentioned. They had arrived together.

When Mu Qingqing slapped the table and stood up, he had noticed her and sent his men over to bring her to him.

The long-faced bearded man strode over with his men. One of his lackeys had been stabbed in the eye, while another had been slashed across the neck. The second man pressed one hand to his wound and frantically dialed 120 with the other, afraid he would bleed to death.

The men beside the bearded man were tough customers. They were about to attack when he raised a hand to stop them.

Wu Chen remained calm. When he saw the bearded man approach, he tossed the bloody half of the beer bottle onto the table and sat down.

The bearded man felt a twinge of fear. This young man was only in his early twenties, yet he had struck so viciously and remained so calm. He was either a madman or someone with powerful backing who could do whatever he pleased. Neither sort was easy to mess with.

"Quick, get them to the hospital."

The bearded man ordered two lackeys to take the injured punks to the hospital first.

The one stabbed in the eye would probably lose his left eye.

That was a minor problem. The one with the slashed neck was the real concern. If they couldn't save him, there would be serious trouble.

"You've gotten bold, Liu Huzi. Causing trouble in a bar—is that what your boss Zhao Guai taught you?"

Wu Chen looked calmly at the bearded man as he spoke.

"You know me?"

"And my boss?"

Liu Huzi thought to himself.

Sure enough, Wu Chen knew every secret about the big shots in the East Sea.

Wu Chen also knew anyone in the East Sea with a name or even a little standing. With a population in the tens of millions, he couldn't know everything about everyone, but he knew about anyone who stood out.

But because time kept resetting, every day was a fresh start. Wu Chen had no connections; none of those people knew him now. It didn't matter. Knowing about them was enough, and he could get acquainted with them in minutes if he wanted.

"This is Wang Zhuangyuan's turf. You're Zhao Guai's men, causing trouble here. Aren't you afraid he'll dump you in the river to feed the fish?"

Wu Chen went on.

Liu Huzi's expression changed. He suspected Wu Chen might be a ruthless fighter Wang Zhuangyuan had recently hired.

Wang Zhuangyuan and his boss Zhao Guai had always been at odds. Liu Huzi normally wouldn't bring his men to one of Wang Zhuangyuan's establishments, and even if he did, he wouldn't cause trouble.

But an elder in Wang Zhuangyuan's family was being buried today, and his men had all gone to the funeral. Only ordinary security staff remained at the bar. That was why Liu Huzi had brought his men here to have some fun.

Had Wang Zhuangyuan hired this kid to hold down the fort?

"What's your background, brother?"

Liu Huzi's tone had turned quite polite.

Wu Chen merely met his gaze and said nothing.

"Don't say I didn't warn you. Even if you work for Wang Zhuangyuan, going that far breaks the rules."

Liu Huzi's tone turned hostile again.

"And if that man doesn't make it at the hospital, even Wang Zhuangyuan won't be able to protect you."

Wu Chen grinned, picked up his phone, quickly entered a number, and called it.