Extra Chapter Two: If Timeline (3)
The sound of footsteps came down the wooden stairs again. The two walked out one after the other. Before leaving, Jiang Siyi didn’t forget to take the thin blanket and the two buckets of instant noodles she had hoarded.
After learning of Shen Shiwu’s identity, the boy was clearly flustered and uneasy. Afraid of being beaten by the owner’s wife, he quickly hid in the break room.
As they passed the exit, he could feel Jiang Siyi’s undisguised gaze on him.
The girl’s eyes were full of mockery, impatience, and… a barely concealed smugness.
He quickly lowered his head and quickened his pace, looking cowardly.
The temperature at night in summer wasn’t low, but mixed with rain, it was a different story. After going down the wooden stairs, they were in the open, with no eaves to shelter them.
Jiang Siyi was still looking back provocatively, not noticing that Shen Shiwu had already stopped. Only when she saw the boy run into the room did she turn her head back, the fierceness on her face not yet faded—
“Finally willing to look back?” Shen Shiwu smiled faintly.
Jiang Siyi was startled by the face so close to hers and instinctively wanted to brake. But a few seconds later, she pretended not to have stopped in time and fell into the woman’s arms.
“Oops,” Jiang Siyi feigned a sound, ignoring her previous words, and instead pretended to complain, “Why did you suddenly stop?”
“With the way you’re walking down the stairs, if I took a few more steps, I would have lost you.”
Jiang Siyi was holding all her belongings, and upon hearing this, she rubbed her nose and mumbled, “I wouldn’t have gotten lost…”
The rain was getting heavier.
Shen Shiwu saw her arms full and reached out to take everything.
Her arms empty, feeling light, Jiang Siyi was polite and casually thanked her.
But then Shen Shiwu raised her hand, and the blanket landed squarely on her head.
“Thank… what are you doing?”
“I can’t see the road.”
Shen Shiwu “oh’d”, as if she had just realized. She moved the blanket and draped it over the girl’s shoulders, seemingly thoughtful, “It’s raining hard, you’ll get cold.”
After being teased like this, Jiang Siyi’s hair was a mess, with two strands sticking up and three sticking down, looking quite comical.
She was fixing her hair when she saw Shen Shiwu turn her face away, as if to hide something. And there was still a hint of laughter in her voice, “Let’s go.”
……No matter what timeline, this person was still so infuriating.
The rain was indeed heavy, similar to that year. Speaking of which, Jiang Siyi secretly glanced at the umbrella held by the person next to her. Sure enough, it looked very familiar.
Today was only the 2nd.
It seemed that the “plot” had moved forward.
Carrying the chill with her, Jiang Siyi skillfully and habitually chose the passenger seat. Shen Shiwu didn’t react strangely, as if it were completely expected.
People tend to feel sleepy in a safe place. Plus, she had been sleeping on a creaky leather chair in the internet cafe for the past few days, not getting much rest.
So Jiang Siyi was on the verge of falling asleep.
Half-asleep, because she hadn’t gotten an answer earlier, she didn’t forget to ask again, “Shen Shiwu, do you really remember me or not—”
Drowsiness made her voice soft, and she unconsciously drawled.
“Or are you just pretending?”
This time, Shen Shiwu didn’t automatically filter out the question or play dumb. She nodded, “I remember. You’re Auntie Jiang’s daughter. My mother asked me to take care of you.”
As for the second half of her question… she took it as sleep-talking. And after a moment of silence, she added meaningfully, “Silly.”
“The only one who can take you home is me.”
Her breathing gradually evened out.
Unfortunately, Jiang Siyi had already drifted off to sleep before these words were spoken.
***
Other people who time-travel at least have a system or a main storyline. All she had were two buckets of instant noodles and a discounted blanket from the supermarket. Was this fair?
Perhaps her resentment was too deep. In her dream, someone… or maybe some ghost, started a conversation with her.
“Ding-dong— Game repair successful. System 005 is now at your service.”
A mechanical female voice mixed with DJ background music made it impossible to hear clearly. Jiang Siyi strained her ears and could only catch a string of numbers.
Why play this cheesy DJ music at a critical moment!
“Hello, guest 00931. We have detected significant fluctuations in your emotional state. Please calm down.”
Jiang Siyi was silent, “And then?”
“We apologize that you only received the system three days after your time-travel…”
“It’s five days.”
The system paused, “We apologize that you only received the system five days after your time-travel…”
Hearing this tone, Jiang Siyi suddenly said, “Xu Yuan.”
The other side instantly fell silent, like ants splashed with hot water.
“Why did I suddenly end up here? How do I go back to the original world?” Jiang Siyi seized the opportunity and threw out all her questions, “Also, is the person next to me the real Shen Shiwu?”
Xu Yuan, like an NPC with its mask ripped off, stopped pretending. She put her hands on her hips, “You insisted on participating in the beta test, saying you wanted to relive your youth. Who’s to blame!”
Afraid that this person would wake up the next second, Xu Yuan concisely explained, “The real deal, 100% authentic. As for whether she has her memories or not, that’s another story. You have to ask her yourself.”
“……”
“As for how to get back, my girlfriend said you have to complete…”
A wheel suddenly appeared in front of her. It was very sloppily made. You could tell at a glance that the game team was a makeshift crew.
“Here, spin it.”
The wheel spun a few times and slowly came to a stop. A line of text appeared:
Guest 00931 needs to accumulate 100 points to clear the game and return to the real world.
“Such bad luck, you got the highest one, 100 points.” Xu Yuan clicked her tongue, “But these tasks are totally tailored for you.”
“How’s that for thoughtful?”
Jiang Siyi twitched her mouth, “Excuse me… what are the last few tasks?”
“Oh, I forgot to tell you, my girlfriend developed an R-rated game.” After saying that, Xu Yuan pointedly repeated, “How’s that for thoughtful?”
Seeing the person’s silence, she continued, “Don’t worry, the game process is completely private. Besides the player, no one else…”
Jiang Siyi’s face was flushed, “Get lost.”
“Okay.”
A hand caressed her cheek, fingertips rubbing, seemingly checking her temperature. When Jiang Siyi opened her eyes, Shen Shiwu was leaning over, examining the pink on her face, very close.
Still affected by Xu Yuan’s words, Jiang Siyi shifted her gaze uncomfortably. Looking at the familiar ceiling, she realized that she was already lying on the bed in the bedroom.
She couldn’t have floated here.
She pinched her knuckles under the blanket, “Did you carry me upstairs?”
Shen Shiwu saw her expression, paused for a moment, and then nodded, “Yes.”
Then she asked, “Who were you telling to get lost just now?”
Since the person in front of her was the genuine Shen Shiwu, Jiang Siyi’s rebellious spirit flared up. She wasn’t afraid at all, “You.”
The woman wasn’t angry, but instead asked, “Why?”
“Because you don’t remember me.” Jiang Siyi lowered her eyes, looking sad.
“When I was little, I wore a mask and scared you, and I always pestered you for candy. Even after hundreds or thousands of years, Jiejie still remembers these things.”
Shen Shiwu said these words calmly, which sounded very reassuring. But Jiang Siyi buried her head in the blanket, trying to suffocate herself, “That’s not what I meant!”
She slowly revealed her eyes, her voice still muffled, “I meant…”
Our relationship.
Seeing Shen Shiwu’s slightly puzzled expression, waiting for her to continue, Jiang Siyi ultimately swallowed her words—she didn’t want to be sent to a mental hospital.
She had to work hard to complete the tasks, accumulate enough points, and return to the real world.
Noticing the girl’s hesitation, Shen Shiwu pulled the blanket down a little, “What were you going to say?”
It was already very late.
Jiang Siyi rubbed her stomach and mumbled, “I’m hungry.”
The aroma of simmering chicken soup wafted through the air. Seeing Shen Shiwu busy in the kitchen, Jiang Siyi, as usual, mostly lazed on the sofa, occasionally supervising by going to her side to wash some vegetables or cut some fruit.
Eleven o’clock, late at night.
At the internet cafe, Jiang Siyi hadn’t eaten dinner—she had no appetite for instant noodles. And late at night, the delivery fee was too expensive, she had to save money.
She felt that after this trip, she would definitely lose a few pounds when she returned.
“Go sit down,” Shen Shiwu held a bowl and chopsticks, filling it with rice, “Dinner’s ready.”
Jiang Siyi immediately obeyed.
Shen Shiwu rarely initiated conversation during meals, mostly it was Jiang Siyi chattering away. But this time was an exception.
The woman asked her, “Does it suit your taste?”
Jiang Siyi’s mind was full of “accumulating points.” Hearing this, she just nodded a couple of times in response.
Seeing her perfunctory attitude, Shen Shiwu quietly dropped a bombshell, “Our Xiao Si is going to take the college entrance exam next year, right?”
A familiar question.
Having made significant progress in her college entrance exam scores, even achieving excellent results, Jiang Siyi was full of confidence, “Yes.”
Shen Shiwu nodded thoughtfully, “Then starting tomorrow, you’ll do two sets of practice papers every day.”
“……”
She was already twenty-three, why did she have to do college entrance exam papers!
Jiang Siyi firmly refused, “No.”
Meeting Shen Shiwu’s gaze, she added in a low voice, “I have a part-time job.”
“No need.” The woman placed a piece of sparerib in her bowl, “I’ll provide for you.”
Jiang Siyi was momentarily dazed, almost getting caught up in it.
“Well, even if I don’t work part-time, I have things to do.” She frantically searched for an excuse in her mind, “Like, like…”
Shen Shiwu waited patiently for her to continue.
“Going out with friends.”
“Every day?”
“Of course,” Jiang Siyi, having finished her meal, put down her bowl and chopsticks and scoffed, “I’m very popular, you know.”
Glancing at the other’s eyes, she wrung her fingers. Although a bit nervous, she looked confident. “Don’t look at me like that. I have proof.”
She had expected Shen Shiwu to stop her, or at least give her an out. But Jiang Siyi had forgotten that this person, no matter where, always had a knack for being infuriating.
She had no choice but to shuffle over, pick up the backpack she had tossed in the corner, and slowly unzip it. As she peeked inside, Jiang Siyi’s eyes suddenly flickered, a bit of disbelief in them.
There really were “props”—several love letters neatly stacked inside. It looked like the owner had to return them according to class and name.
Jiang Siyi almost shoved the backpack in Shen Shiwu’s face.
“Here,” she said, shaking her head defiantly, “I wasn’t lying, right? Here’s the proof. See for yourself.”
When the other person didn’t speak, Jiang Siyi continued, “So, my whole summer is packed. After dealing with this one, I have to meet up with another. I have no time to do practice papers.”
To escape the sea of homework, she went as far as to portray herself as a heartbreaker.
It’s just a game, a virtual world. Jiang Siyi thought this to herself, but her words became even more outrageous, “It’s the age when one first falls in love, you know. These things are normal.”
To add credibility, she even made things up, “There’s this junior, very cute, has a soft, sweet voice, very good at acting spoiled. Should I say yes to her…”
The backpack was easily taken by Shen Shiwu. She calmly zipped it up, placed it on her right, and continued eating, “I’ll buy you a new one tomorrow.”
Jiang Siyi’s voice immediately softened.
She tried to subtly reach for the backpack strap, but the other person directly pinned her wrist to the table.
“Student Jiang.”
This form of address made the girl tremble.
“I think you should understand that as a senior high school student, you absolutely cannot date.”
Her tone didn’t sound too bad. Jiang Siyi relaxed and started her “escape the sea of homework” plan again, “I’m not dating, just going out with them.”
“Going out? Why not call it a date?” Even though there was a faint curve to her lips, her eyes were still. Shen Shiwu said this and casually tossed the backpack to the farthest corner.
Feeling the grip on her wrist tighten, Jiang Siyi finally relented. She whined, stating the truth, “I don’t want to do practice papers.”
“You’re taking the college entrance exam next year. There’s still time to catch up.”
“…I’ve already taken the college entrance exam.”
Seeing Shen Shiwu’s slightly surprised expression, Jiang Siyi, risking being sent to a mental hospital, continued, “I’m a player, not an NPC!”
After a long silence, Shen Shiwu released her wrist.
Leaning back in her chair, the woman seemed to sigh after much thought and beckoned to Jiang Siyi, “Come here, Xiao Si.”
Like she’s calling a dog.
Jiang Siyi reluctantly moved closer.
“Jiejie will take you for a check-up tomorrow, okay?”
“……”
“It won’t hurt, just a brain scan.” Shen Shiwu comforted her, trying to simplify the process.
Talking to a wall.
Get lost.
Jiang Siyi glared at this wall. After a failed attempt at communication, she wanted to go upstairs and back to her room to cool down. But before she could even move her legs, she was pulled into an embrace.
Although still angry, she smelled the familiar scent on the other person. After struggling a bit, Jiang Siyi gave in and buried her face in the woman’s neck.
Her back was gently patted, and a soft, soothing voice whispered in her ear.
Jiang Siyi suddenly thought—being treated like a mental patient didn’t seem so bad.
“Xiao Si, don’t be scared. Even if they find out you’re an idiot, Jiejie will stay with you.”
“……” Enough was enough.
After getting to her feet, Jiang Siyi muttered angrily as she went upstairs, “I’ll remember this. When I get back, I’ll make her pay double.”
Whom “her” referred to was obvious.
The sound of the door closing echoed.
After staring at the second floor for a while, the woman finally looked away.
She rested her chin on her hand, thinking to herself.
She’s riled up.
Need to coax her a bit before teasing her again.
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