I Don't Want to Say

It was like a dream.

A nightmare, one that left Ye Shuang unable to fully process the information for days.

"..."

At night, lying in bed thinking about An Shiyu, Ye Shuang closed his eyes and could only picture 005 tugging at his sleeve, only to turn into a cold corpse the next moment.

"Sigh..."

Could he still enter that timeline?

In other words, did he still have the courage to go back there?

Ye Shuang himself couldn't be sure.

There was no doubt that incident had left a psychological shadow on him.

But if he could provide medication, would it be possible to prevent more tragedies from happening?

More children like 005 existed in that world.

Ye Shuang couldn't decide. He got up and sat in front of the computer, pulling up all the previous research data from the backup files.

He silently memorized the content, thinking it might come in handy the next time he entered that timeline.

But things didn't go as he wished.

In the following days, Ye Shuang didn't see the clock again. Despite making an effort to spend more time with An Shiyu, there was no progress.

He had no ability to actively enter the timeline, nor did he know the conditions for the clock's appearance—everything was completely passive.

Especially the experience "down the mountain." Watching himself move as if he were a player viewing a CG animation...

...

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye, and soon Ye Shuang's wedding was approaching.

"Ye, before the wedding, you have to have a meal with my family," Chen Qin said through the video. Since they were getting married, he still hadn't officially met all the uncles and aunts—though he'd seen some during the New Year, they needed a proper dinner.

"Okay, when?"

"This Friday," Chen Qin said, but noticed Ye Shuang's gaze seemed fixed on something. "Ye, what are you looking at?"

"Your belly." Ye Shuang was observing Chen Qin's lower abdomen through the video—it had been two months after all.

Chen Qin laughed softly at that. She lifted her shirt to show Ye Shuang her stomach. "Ta-da! See, Ye?"

Her pale lower abdomen was slightly rounded, though barely noticeable. Compared to her fit, athletic figure, this slight bulge looked like she'd just gained a few pounds.

That was also why the wedding had been moved up—if they waited a few more months, her belly would become very obvious.

"It's a bit bigger, but it still looks fine," Ye Shuang said with a slight smile.

"I feel like this part is bigger too," Chen Qin said, then showed him the lower curve before quickly pulling her shirt back down. She glanced around sneakily, as if afraid of getting caught doing something wrong, since she was still on the living room sofa.

"Where are Uncle and Auntie Chen?"

"Outside, I'm home alone."

After chatting with Chen Qin for a while, Ye Shuang hung up.

It was morning now. Bai Yuyou and Keke had already gone to school, and even Yezi had been transferred as a transfer student to a nearby public elementary school.

"Hmm, so I'm going to have two kids before I'm thirty?" Ye Shuang mused.

It seemed like that was the case.

"Might as well write some of the novel."

Before heading to the company, Ye Shuang planned to update two chapters of his novel. Recently, the novel had reached over a million words, and the two-million-word goal was just a few hundred thousand away.

"Has it really been that long? Feels like it's almost done," he sighed.

He originally started writing this novel just to kill time while waiting for Bai Yuyou to finish school and make a little extra money. But now, he had somehow stuck with it, and the two-million-word mark was just around the corner.

"Dropping some free little gifts, ooh." As usual, Ye Shuang typed that line and uploaded the new chapter with a wry smile.

Once he finished this novel, he probably wouldn't write another one.

Work was already quite busy, after all.

With that thought, he turned off the monitor, got up, drove to the company, and arrived at the office.

Once inside, he glanced at the assistant's seat. An Shiyu was already there early. Ever since the last incident, she had become noticeably more reserved and no longer initiated any physical contact with Ye Shuang.

She seemed to be in a "finish work then bolt" kind of mood.

Ye Shuang didn't pry about it.

"Morning. When did you get here?" Ye Shuang greeted her.

The short-haired girl lifted her head slightly, then looked away. "Well..."

"I got here when work started."

Same old nonsense from her. Ye Shuang was used to it. He sat down in his spot and began browsing through the neatly stacked documents on his desk.

Time passed quietly. The office was silent, broken only by the occasional click of An Shiyu's mouse and the rustling of Ye Shuang flipping through contracts.

Normally, An Shiyu would have draped a leg over and lounged around playing games. But not anymore—maybe because of that hotel incident.

"Little Yu," Ye Shuang finally spoke up.

"What?" An Shiyu replied without turning her head. She kept staring at her monitor, showing only a small ear and the strands of hair behind it.

"About what happened last time..."

"Don't bring it up," An Shiyu cut him off directly. She propped her cheek on her hand.

"Forget it. Who knew you'd end up crying over it? It's not like we..."

"Tch."

"You're a grown man. Crying like that? How unbecoming."

An Shiyu's last sentence seemed to come from deep in her chest, carrying a strange undertone.

"That's not why I was crying," Ye Shuang said, somewhat helpless.

"Then why? Were you moved to tears?" An Shiyu shot him a glance before letting out a sigh. "Ah, forget it. Don't mention it anymore."

"Sorry."

"What's there to apologize for? You're a bit of a softie, sure, but it's not your fault," An Shiyu said flatly.

Ye Shuang: "..."

Was she comforting him or insulting him?

He leaned back in his chair, thinking for a moment before asking,

"Little Yu, can I ask you something?"

"998 yuan per question."

"How are you the same as Xiaoyi?"

"I'm two bucks cheaper. A better deal," An Shiyu said.

"Is that so?"

Seeing Ye Shuang stay silent, she finally relented. "Fine, first-time discount—free. What do you want to ask?"

"About your parents."

Those simple words made An Shiyu fall silent. Her expression even turned cold.

"I don't want to talk about it."