“Qi Weichen, let’s break up.”
After suffering through what felt like an endlessly long semester, Chu Qing finally said those words.
It was the last day of 2019. A heavy snow had fallen over City A, turning the whole city white overnight. Because most people had stayed up late the night before to welcome the New Year, hardly anyone was awake yet. The park, usually lively and bustling, now held only Chu Qing and Qi Weichen.
After saying it, she silently dug her nails into her palm, repeatedly reminding herself not to chicken out. At the same time, she tried to make out his current expression beneath the scarf wrapped tightly around his face.
“Why?” Qi Weichen finally asked after a long silence. His voice came from inside the scarf, sounding a little muffled. At first listen, one might even think he had been hurt by her words.
…What a joke. Qi Weichen was a god, not a human. Gods did not get hurt.
Chu Qing felt that the thought that had flashed through her mind just now was utterly ridiculous. “Can you take off your scarf first? I can’t hear you clearly at all.”
“Cold,” Qi Weichen said, only one word, but it fully expressed his refusal.
See? Even at a time like this, he was still worried about whether he was cold or warm. Clearly, the breakup had no effect on him at all. While Chu Qing felt relieved, she also felt a little uncomfortable. “We were together for half a year, at least. Now that we’re breaking up, you won’t even show your face?”
Qi Weichen said nothing. After a while, he handed her the things he was carrying in both hands. Chu Qing took them instinctively, and then watched as he removed the scarf in front of her, revealing a handsome face.
He was exceptionally good-looking. His eyes were like a winter night, the black pupils carrying a trace of chill, yet somehow making it impossible to look away. His nose bridge was high and straight, and his lips were perfectly shaped. His features were sharply defined, with a cool, aloof beauty. Add to that his height of 1.85 metres, pale skin, his forever clean and neat school uniform, and white trainers—among the dusty, rough-looking high school students, he was practically a crane among chickens.
Back then, Chu Qing had been drawn in by that outstanding face of his, and had stepped onto a road of no return.
“Why do you want to break up?” Qi Weichen asked again. Without the scarf blocking him, his clear, slightly low voice reached Chu Qing’s ears perfectly.
Chu Qing had prepared her reason long ago, so as soon as he asked, she answered directly, “There’s only half a year left until the college entrance exam. I want to focus on studying.”
Qi Weichen quietly looked at her, not the slightest emotion in his eyes.
Chu Qing was most afraid when he looked at her like that. After giving a dry cough, she told the truth. “Fine, actually, it’s because we’re not suitable for each other. Dating is supposed to be something happy, but with us, one is suffering more than the other…”
“I don’t think it’s suffering,” Qi Weichen rarely interrupted her.
Chu Qing was helpless. “I’m suffering! I’m really not cut out for studying. I honestly don’t deserve you!”
Back when she had exhausted herself chasing him, she had never imagined she would chase back a father figure for herself! Ever since they got together, she had no freedom at all. Every day, she was either being watched by him while studying, or being personally tutored by him. Their most frequent date spot was the library, and the thing they did most often was homework.
After being tortured for a whole semester, Chu Qing’s final exam results had improved a little, but the price was that her reputation as the boss of City A No. 1 High School was gone. Her former underlings all kept their distance from her now, and no one respectfully called her Master Chu anymore.
Most importantly, despite all her miserable cooperation, their romantic relationship had made no progress at all. They had been dating for half a year, yet had only reached the hand-holding stage—and even that only happened once during festivals or special occasions. She deeply felt that Qi Weichen simply enjoyed the feeling of raising an underachiever. Dating was only an excuse.
This semester had been the most painful period since she started school. But because everything Qi Weichen did was “for her own good,” and because she had never been good at rejecting good-looking people, she had dragged out the breakup again and again, only finally making up her mind today to settle it completely.
“We’re just not the same kind of people. I’m hopeless, and no matter how much you teach me, I won’t improve by much. If I keep dating you, I’ll just hold you back. So it’s better to break up early, so I don’t delay you.” Chu Qing analysed it for him seriously.
“I won’t be delayed,” Qi Weichen said coldly.
Chu Qing looked sincere. “You will.”
Qi Weichen stopped speaking, his pitch-black eyes fixed on her.
Chu Qing did not dare meet his gaze anymore. She awkwardly lowered her head and noticed that his things were still in her hands, so she searched for something to say. “What’s all this?”
“Sunflower seeds, peanuts, heat packs, some snacks, and a few exam question books,” Qi Weichen answered.
Chu Qing paused, feeling a little moved. “Are these for me?”
“They’re for my girlfriend,” Qi Weichen said flatly.
Chu Qing’s little bit of emotion instantly vanished. “…So now that we’ve broken up, you’re not planning to give them to me, right?”
Qi Weichen lowered his eyes and said nothing. Goose-feather snow began falling from the sky again, landing on his lowered lashes before quickly melting, leaving the corners of his eyes and brows damp.
Seeing that he was silent, Chu Qing did not want to make things difficult for him. She handed everything back. “Forget it, forget it. I don’t want your stuff. Keep it for yourself.”
But Qi Weichen did not reach out to take them. Chu Qing waited for a long while, then had no choice but to stuff them into his hands herself. After thinking it over and realising there was nothing else to say, she scratched her head awkwardly. “Then… I’m leaving.”
Qi Weichen’s lashes moved slightly, but he still said nothing.
Chu Qing sighed and turned to leave. But the instant she turned around, she unexpectedly saw the phantom of a car burst out from the park fountain, charging straight toward them. Chu Qing’s heart jolted. She grabbed Qi Weichen’s arm and threw them both to the side. The moment she hit the ground, her vision went black, followed by a roaring in her ears.
The feeling only lasted a few seconds before she completely returned to normal. The first thing she did was ask Qi Weichen, who had also fallen to the ground, “Are you okay?”
Qi Weichen did not answer. He simply frowned and looked behind her. Chu Qing froze, then followed his gaze. Behind her was a long, wide road, with cars streaming endlessly along it. They were right in the very middle of the road, in an extremely dangerous position.
“How could…” Chu Qing’s eyes widened as she looked at Qi Weichen in shock.
Qi Weichen was somewhat calmer than her. After a moment of silence, he asked, “Do you feel hot?”
Chu Qing froze. Only then did she belatedly realise that it was hot. Not only was her body hot—the air and the roadside were hot too. The blazing sun hung above their heads, while the lush willow trees lining both sides of the road and the blooming flowers in the greenbelt all indicated that it was definitely not winter right now.
Chu Qing’s brain could not quite process it. She stared blankly at Qi Weichen. “What happened?”
“I don’t know,” Qi Weichen said, still completely calm under her gaze. “But we can ask.”
Chu Qing: “…”
Half an hour later, the two of them had taken off everything they could. Now wearing only trousers and sweaters, they sat in the shade by the roadside. Chu Qing rolled up the sleeves of her sweater, her face still flushed from the heat. “So, we’ve transmigrated, and we’ve transmigrated to the year 2042?”
“Mm.” Qi Weichen’s answer was extremely concise.
Chu Qing slapped her thigh in grief and anger. “This is way too ridiculous! I just dodged a car, how did I transmigrate?! I made plans to go to an internet café the day after tomorrow! How am I supposed to go now?”
“Even if we hadn’t transmigrated, you wouldn’t be able to go,” Qi Weichen glanced at her.
Chu Qing looked at him. “Why?”
“The flu situation is serious. Group entertainment venues will most likely close,” Qi Weichen’s temples were also covered in sweat, but his tone remained unhurried. “Even if they don’t close, I would still suggest you stay home and do two more sets of papers instead of going out.”
The moment she mentioned going out to have fun, he started lecturing her again. Chu Qing, who was already dehydrated, wilted even further. “Let’s not talk about the internet café first. What do we do now? Go home?”
“We can’t go home. The technological level of 2042 cannot support time travel. Our crossing over should have been accidental. Before we understand the specific situation, if you go back rashly, it’s very likely to attract the attention of special agencies.” The weather was dry and hot, and Qi Weichen’s voice flowed slowly like a clear spring.
But Chu Qing felt like her head was about to explode listening to him. “I don’t want to attract their attention!”
“Then for now, don’t contact anyone,” Qi Weichen said calmly.
Chu Qing stared at him blankly. After a long while, she fell completely into despair. “We can’t use our own identities, and we can’t contact our families. Are we supposed to live here as unregistered people?”
Qi Weichen was silent for a long time. “No. We’ll soon be able to confirm whether we can go home.”
“How do we confirm that?” Chu Qing immediately asked.
“First, we need to confirm whether we can return to 2019,” Qi Weichen said. Meeting Chu Qing’s confused gaze, he paused for a moment before explaining, “After crossing over, there are two possibilities. One is that we stay here and can never return. The other is that at some point in the future, we cross back to our normal timeline.”
“What’s the difference?” Wearing thick clothes under the scorching sun, Chu Qing’s brain had already stopped functioning.
“If it’s the former, it means that in our families’ eyes, we have been missing for twenty-three years. In that case, there cannot be two versions of us in the same time and space, so we can go home directly. If it’s the latter…” Qi Weichen paused. His calm gaze carried a trace of firmness. “I believe that after I return and grow normally to the age of forty-one, I will come help myself within three hours.”
“?”
“It is now 3 p.m. Beijing time on August 25, 2042. We are at the intersection of Linyin Road and Haifeng Road, District C, City A. If the forty-one-year-old me does not appear within three hours, that means that in the future, I failed to cross back to 2019. In the 2042 timeline, there is only one Qi Weichen.” He glanced at the clock hanging on the wall of a small shop not far away and calmly said all this.
Chu Qing looked at him with worshipful eyes, like an idiot. Although she did not really understand, she somehow felt that he seemed incredibly impressive.
Qi Weichen glanced at her, then got up and walked toward the small shop. A moment later, he returned with two bottles of chilled water. He twisted open one bottle and handed it to her. Chu Qing quickly took it and gulped down two mouthfuls. The icy sensation travelled from her throat all the way to her stomach. She sighed comfortably, only then remembering to ask, “How did you get this?”
“I bought it.”
“…It’s been more than twenty years. Your money still works?” Chu Qing was a little shocked.
Qi Weichen gave a sound of acknowledgement and said lightly, “Technology has advanced very quickly. Currency detectors can not only distinguish real notes from fake ones, they can also determine the value of non-circulating currency. I gave the shop owner one hundred. He gave me one bottle of water, plus three hundred in new-version banknotes.”
Chu Qing: “…” As expected of you.
Although they had gone from winter to summer in an instant, and the year had jumped twenty-three years forward, with a study god like this beside her, Chu Qing had already calmed down quite a bit. She sat lazily beside him and passed the time.
One hour passed.
Two hours passed.
Chu Qing had already drunk three bottles of water, but still no one had come to find them. She asked the person beside her uncertainly, “Could it be that after you go back, you forget about needing to save yourself?”
“Impossible,” Qi Weichen said with absolute certainty.
Chu Qing thought, you haven’t even gone back yet, so how do you know it’s impossible? But since she knew she could not win an argument against him, she wisely shut her mouth.
The two continued waiting. There were less than twenty minutes left until six in the afternoon. During those twenty minutes, Chu Qing felt that every minute and every second was unbearably difficult. She looked at Qi Weichen countless times. Every time she saw the sweat on his forehead, she wanted to say, Why don’t we just forget it? But somehow, she could not say anything.
Just as there was only one minute left before the small shop’s clock struck six, Chu Qing spoke with complicated feelings. “Looks like we’re in the first situation. Now we should…”
Before she could finish, Qi Weichen suddenly stood up, his eyes fixed straight ahead. Chu Qing froze, then quickly followed his gaze.
She saw a balding uncle in his forties, wearing a short-sleeved shirt and black suit trousers, hurrying toward them. When he saw them, he anxiously waved, then wiped the sweat from his face and casually rubbed it onto his trousers.
Chu Qing swallowed. After a long while, she squeezed out one sentence.
“When you’re forty-one… you’re quite prosperous-looking, huh.”
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