Gu Wanqing looked at the man in a white lab coat standing before her, panting heavily as if struggling to catch his breath, with a hint of surprise in her eyes.
"……"
"You are……"
"I’m from Yinshan Academy… the school doctor at the third infirmary… and, well, I also counsel students on… huff… their psychological issues." Ye Shuang tried to steady his breathing before straightening up slightly. "Could you come down first, please?"
"There’s still so much beauty in this world. Don’t make a rash decision."
"……" Gu Wanqing’s face was covered in bruises and scars. She glanced at Ye Shuang briefly before turning away.
"No need…"
"Thank you…"
The wind on the rooftop was fierce, as if burying her frail voice within its gusts.
After uttering those words, she leaped off without hesitation.
"W-Wait?!"
Ye Shuang rushed to the railing and looked down, just in time to hear the sickening thud of the girl’s body hitting the ground.
Ye Shuang: "……"
"Why?" His fist slammed against the railing before he spun around and bolted downstairs—but just then, he noticed the clock in the upper right corner ticking toward twelve.
Tick. It landed precisely on the twelfth mark.
"Bzzz—"
Another sharp, buzzing noise pierced his ears as his vision dissolved into blinding white light.
……
……
"School doctor?" Everything around him seemed to have returned to the infirmary. Gu Manman was now sitting in a chair, giving him a puzzled look. "Did you… zone out?"
"……"
"……"
"My apologies…" Ye Shuang rubbed his throbbing temples and glanced at the virtual clock, which had rewound itself.
Ye Shuang: "……"
"Right, go on," he said, addressing the girl who claimed to be Gu Wanqing’s cousin.
"Like I was saying earlier, my cousin had a terrible relationship with her uncle’s family. They abused her regularly." Gu Manman continued, "Her suicide… it’s definitely tied to them. If possible, I hope you can share this with the reporters."
"I see." Ye Shuang nodded.
Twenty minutes later…
"Thank you, school doctor. I feel much better after talking to you."
"Don’t mention it."
"I’ll head back now. Goodbye."
"Take care."
After she left, Ye Shuang stared at the countdown clock, baffled. What had just happened?
A hallucination?
Unlikely.
Time travel?
Since when did this thing have that kind of power?
But based on what had just occurred, Ye Shuang pieced together a few things—
The countdown clock seemed to function like a rechargeable battery. Once he entered that time-warping state, the clock would start moving forward again.
Once the hour hand struck twelve, he’d return.
"Haah… If this is real, what’s the point of such a short window?" Ye Shuang estimated that the time he’d spent climbing the stairs and talking to the girl was roughly ten minutes.
Ten minutes—could that really change anything?
No…
Ten minutes could.
Even if it was just calling his parents back then, telling them to leave two minutes later, or reassuring them not to come looking for him…
Ye Shuang’s entire body prickled with goosebumps.
It’s possible…
It’s possible…
He stood up, his breathing erratic as he paced back and forth in the infirmary, rubbing his hands together. His mind raced, replaying every detail to ensure he missed nothing.
"What’s wrong with you? You look insane." An Shiyu’s voice cut in from the side. She’d never seen him so unhinged before—like he’d lost his mind after that conversation.
Ye Shuang suddenly seemed to remember something and lunged at An Shiyu, gripping her shoulders.
"An Shiyu!"
"What the hell?!" She recoiled, her face flushing as she struggled against his hold before finally kicking him square in the stomach.
"Get a grip!"
Ye Shuang collapsed to the floor, laughing hysterically. "Hahahaha… If it’s really possible…"
"……" An Shiyu shot him a disgusted look and muttered something in dialect.
Then she added,
"So what if you were too slow to reach the rooftop? It’s not your fault. Why are you acting like a lunatic?"
Ye Shuang’s expression instantly stilled—so calm it was unsettling. He stared at her. "What… did you just say?"
"Huh?" An Shiyu frowned, wondering if his ears were malfunctioning too.
"Why are you acting like a lunatic?"
"No, before that…"
"You didn’t make it to the roof."
"I did!" Ye Shuang insisted.
"Tch, so you’re saying I misremembered?" An Shiyu gave him a deadpan look. "Weren’t you the one who just said you saw her fall from the window because you didn’t get there in time? Old man, are you senile?"
Ye Shuang fell silent.
He stood up, pulled out his chair, and sat down. The infirmary plunged into an eerie quiet.
"……" An Shiyu crossed her arms, studying him.
After witnessing his manic laughter followed by this deathly stillness, she couldn’t help but ask, "Old man… what’s wrong with you?"
"Let me ask you something," Ye Shuang suddenly said.
"Mm?"
"If someone travels back in time, changes something, and returns, would the future change?"
"Probably trigger the butterfly effect," An Shiyu mused.
The butterfly effect—where even the tiniest change could set off an enormous chain reaction.
"Then why hasn’t anything changed? Even though… Was it just a simulation?" Ye Shuang muttered to himself.
The emotional whiplash left him nauseous.
Just then, An Shiyu added, "But not necessarily. Maybe the future stays exactly the same."
"Why?" Ye Shuang blinked.
An Shiyu eyed him curiously, wondering why he’d suddenly taken an interest in this topic.
"Ever heard of the grandfather paradox?"
"If you go back in time and kill your grandfather, then your grandfather wouldn’t have your father, and your father wouldn’t have you. But if you were never born, how could you have traveled back to kill your grandfather in the first place?"
"So, the more widely accepted theory is that killing your grandfather would create a new timeline—like a branch sprouting from a tree. The original timeline you return to remains unchanged. Only the new one diverges."
Ye Shuang: "……"
So, does that mean nothing will change in the future?
No… wait, if a new timeline really emerges, even though my own future won’t change, my parents could have a new future—they could live well in another world.
An Shiyu’s words ignited a fire in Ye Shuang’s heart.
his freshman year, Su Bai accidentally bound the "Indulgence Tycoon System." 【Sleeping in? Reward: +$1,000】 【Spent $288 at a street barbecue stall? Cashback: +$2,880】 【Dropped $14,396 on in-game skins? Special reward unlocked: A brand-new Porsche Panamera!】 Luxury cars, penthouses, corporate shares, financial empires… College life was all about living freely and doing whatever he pleased! … When the adorably naive academic genius faced family medical bills and financial struggles, Su Bai waved his hand dismissively: "Your future is on me." "Wuwu~ Big Brother is so good to me! I’ll become a scientist to repay you!" When the genius girl got bullied by a shady professor? Su Bai casually dropped a billion-dollar investment, forcing the university to grovel and beg for her return. A company’s funding chain collapsing? Su Bai smirked—cash was the one thing he’d never run out of. Years later, when people traced the rise of the AI prodigy beauty, who was the man behind her success? Not just that—Su Bai also became the tsundere campus belle’s unattainable dream, the contrast senior’s daily necessity, and the beautiful counselor’s emotional anchor…
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
