Chapter 1

Chirp chirp.

In the bright and clear early morning, a few birds were hopping on an old utility pole, their clear chirping awakening the rising red sun.

The sky of the southern city, in this country where environmental pollution is increasingly severe, can be considered very fresh and pleasant.

In a residential area at the edge of the city, the buildings looked somewhat dilapidated, as if they had been there for many years. The residents here were once retired officials, and the houses were allocated during the planned economy era.

Of course, not many people actually lived in these buildings. Many had long since moved out to new, high-end residences.

Except for some elderly people who were unwilling to leave or those who were alone and unable to leave, most did not stay in these old houses that had weathered the storms of several decades.

In a simple bedroom, the yellowish-gray walls highlighted the outdated appearance, with many areas of paint already peeling off, revealing the ugly bricks underneath.

In the corner by the window, a large two-tier bookshelf was placed. The sandalwood scent and shine in this room seemed somewhat out of place.

The upper tier of the bookshelf was filled with numerous domestic and foreign classics, the books looking ancient, as if they had been there for a long time, and no one had touched them for a long time, with a thick layer of dust on top.

The lower tier was scattered with some very new books, which had been read more frequently, with some corners already slightly curled. These books seemed to be mostly comics and novels.

Facing the window, a simple rectangular wooden desk was placed. On the desk, there was a small desk lamp, and a few exercise books and math books were casually placed. On the cover of an exercise book in the corner, in addition to the large words "Nan City No. 1 Middle School," the owner's name was written in a flowing, elegant script.

The handwriting was somewhat sloppy but had a unique elegance.

Next to the desk was a small dressing table, with a few jewelry boxes and combs scattered on it.

Apart from these pieces of furniture, there was only a bed and a bedside cabinet in the corner of the bedroom. The bed was not very large, just big enough for an adult to lie down flat.

Ding ding, ding ding.

A cartoon alarm clock, shaped like a cute robotic cat, stood on the bedside table. As the first ray of sunlight filtered through the curtains, it began to ring.

The robotic cat's head, which was very playful, rotated back and forth. The most striking feature was that the robotic cat-shaped alarm clock was covered in scars, with much of the blue and white paint scraped off. The sound of the rotating head was crisp and had a peculiar charm.

Snap.

A fair, slender hand rose from the bed and struck the alarm clock, which "whoosh" hit the wall and slid down, rolling a few times on the floor.

The alarm clock, which had been jumping, immediately fell silent, with more of the colorful paint chipped off. It no longer rotated, as if it had been severely damaged.

The owner of this fair hand, the petite figure on the bed, covered her head with the blanket in dissatisfaction and let out a few sleepy murmurs.

"Too noisy, don't... don't disturb me from sleeping..."

The tone was high and then low, with a soft and delicate voice, characteristic of women from the Jiangnan region.

The figure under the blanket turned over and then emitted steady breathing.

Bai Xiaosheng had a very long dream.

Very long, so long that if it were made into a movie, it would take thirty years to produce, resulting in a massive 30,000-hour epic, spanning thousands of films.

A happy and blissful childhood, a lonely and painful adolescence, and a tumultuous youth.

Parents who died young, loyal friends, a first love that ended without a trace, and a former wife with whom he parted on bad terms.

Everything played out in the dream, like a colorful scroll slowly unfolding.

It was a silent tragedy.

This made Bai Xiaosheng, in the dream, feel somewhat overwhelmed.

Each period in the dream was so real, as if it had just happened yesterday.

It seemed that it was not a dream, nor a movie.

It was real.

However, whether it was a dream or a movie, it would eventually come to an end.

The finale of this movie was a bullet in flight.

Perhaps because it was a dream, the bullet seemed to move very slowly in Bai Xiaosheng's eyes, slow enough for him to dodge it at any moment.

But his eyes were wide open, and the trembling fear was like an electric grid, paralyzing him and preventing him from making any movement.

Biu~

The bullet entered through his forehead and exited through the back of his head, splattering blood.

The sudden betrayal and his own incredulous expression.

"No!"

A scream erupted from the bed, spreading through the building and startling the birds perched on the utility pole outside the window.

An old man, walking past the building with a cane, heard the terrifying scream and shook his head in resignation, continuing on his way.

The old man kept shaking his head and muttering, "Sigh, she used to be such a good girl, but ever since her parents passed away, she's become like this. Sigh..."

After the scream, the blanket was instantly thrown off, revealing a pale face.

This face, though not breathtakingly beautiful, was certainly delicate and refined.

Her skin was as smooth as congealed fat, her neck as graceful as a swan, her teeth as white as a melon, and her forehead and eyebrows as delicate as a lady.

She was like a jade beauty in a Chinese ink painting.

Her upper body was covered with a thin white blanket, exposing her delicate and fair shoulders, making her look even more pitiful.

This seemingly gentle and refined jade beauty, who should have had long, black hair, instead had a disappointing surprise. Her hair was dyed in various colors, with large waves and many strands sticking out, looking like a messy chicken nest due to her awkward sleeping posture.

This multicolored hair would make her seem like a delinquent girl or a young hooligan to others.

She opened her beautiful eyes and looked at the surroundings, her gaze filled with a sense of unfamiliarity and familiarity.

It seemed that this was a room she once knew well, which should have been stored in the corner of her memory, like a yellowed three-dimensional photograph.

Occasionally, when she recalled it, the photograph always brought a heart-wrenching feeling.

"Am I not dead? Where... where is this?"

Sweat trickled down from her hair, a chill from the long dream.

The voice that emerged was not that of a retired, tough military man, which should have been deep and powerful, but rather a soft and sticky voice, like a piece of sweet chocolate.

This coquettish voice would easily arouse the desires of most men, but at this moment, it made goosebumps appear on her arms.

In her memory, she was not fond of such deliberately coquettish voices, even finding them repulsive. As she would say, the owner of such a voice was definitely a pretentious and flirtatious绿茶婊 (green tea bitch).

Yes, thinking about it.

She remembered her former wife, who was noble and cold. Her voice was completely the opposite. Although they had been divorced for a few years, the woman's voice still echoed in her ears, so cold that it could freeze one's soul.

I wonder if that woman would be sad after I die. Given her character, probably not.

Wait, I'm not dead?

She was suddenly startled, and more sweat trickled down her forehead.

Ding ding dang ding ding dang.

Before she could think further, a ringing sound came from under her pillow. It was the monotonous and dull ringtone of an old, outdated blue-screen mobile phone.

She instinctively felt around under the pillow and pulled out a small flip phone.

She glanced at it.

Yes, it was an old Motorola.

The small screen displayed a phone number flashing in blue, with the name "You You" noted.

"Bai Xiaosheng, what are you doing?!"

As soon as she opened the flip phone, the voice on the other end came through, with a tone that was not at all polite.

Yes, a familiar but somewhat unfamiliar voice.

She instinctively wanted to speak but didn't know what to say, stammering, "That... this... I..."

"You've already missed two classes, and you haven't come to school yet?! It's almost the middle school entrance exam, and you don't know that Mr. Li is almost fuming? If it weren't for Mingchen, your door would have been knocked down this morning!"

Mr. Li, a familiar name, seemed to be the name of her junior high school homeroom teacher from fifteen years ago.

A familiar but unfamiliar room?

A familiar but unfamiliar voice?

Wait, wait!

Fifteen years ago, homeroom teacher?

And, You You?

Could it be Lin Youluo?

Yes, the voice sounds a bit like her, but it's still relatively young.

And the childhood friend from a prominent family, didn't she dump me over ten years ago?

Why is she contacting me now?

Yes, such a young voice, could it be her daughter?

Possible, this girl probably married some well-matched upper-class person long ago.

She recalled the sweet and sad past, the painful first love that once made her toss and turn, unable to sleep at night.

For a long time, she would feel a deep sorrow when she thought about it in the middle of the night.

After all, whether present or not, the other person left an indelible mark on her life.

That charming face, full of laughter, in the days of her youth.

No matter the outcome, men always have a sentimental and treasured attitude towards their first love.

Thinking about this, she felt a sudden tremor in her heart, and a bitter smile appeared on her lips, and she muttered to herself, "That girl even had a daughter, how interesting..."

"What are you talking about, Bai Xiaosheng? Are you even listening to me? Did you sleep through last night? Come to class quickly, we can't give up like this before the middle school entrance exam!"

The clear and crisp voice, like a nightingale, came through again, with a tone of worry and urgency.

A tone of frustration and disappointment.

"Middle school entrance exam?"

Bai Xiaosheng instinctively touched her nose, but found the skin to be incredibly smooth.

"Yes, the middle school entrance exam. It's only two months until June, and you're still not taking it seriously! I, Lin Youluo, am really at a loss with you, my friend!"

The voice on the other end was angry, and she realized that this friend was unreliable, more so than she had imagined.

"Yes, are you Lin Youluo?"

Bai Xiaosheng felt that something was strange, and a myriad of thoughts flooded her mind, but she only managed to ask this simple question.

"...Xiaoxia, are you... okay?"

The voice on the other end was silent for a long time before finally speaking, with a trembling tone.

"No... I'm fine..."

A huge question began to loom in Bai Xiaosheng's mind, and then a flash of insight struck her.

"You You, what year is it this year?"

"..."

"Answer, just this one question!"

"...The year 2000..."

As the words "the year 2000" emerged, Bai Xiaosheng suddenly stood up from the bed. The Motorola flip phone slipped from her hand and fell onto the bed.

Looking around, the hanging calendar by the bed, with an old celebrity picture, clearly displayed a row of numbers.

2000, April.

The girl felt as if she had been struck by a bolt of lightning. The heavy clouds slowly dissipated, revealing a turbulent and unstable heart.

The anxious voice of Lin Youluo still came through the phone, "Hey! Xiaoxia, are you okay?! Xiaoxia..."

She ignored it, her lips trembling, her eyes losing focus, becoming blank.

"The year 2000... Where am I...?"

She instinctively bit her tender lower lip, not even noticing the trickle of blood.

The greatest pursuit in human life is to return to the past to make up for the missed and unfulfilled wishes.

But when truly returning to the past, the first reaction is often a sense of fear and helplessness.

This fear stems from the unknown, from the confusion between reality and the intangible.