Our Reality

Chapter 91

The cake wasn’t the main issue here. Song Qinglan asked something else, but Ji Yushi didn’t hear him clearly, “Huh?”

Song Qinglan asked, “How was the taste?”

He looked closely at Ji Yushi’s face as he spoke in a relaxed, laid-back tone, “With you sitting there staring dumbly at it for so long without eating, was it because it tasted bad? Where did you get it?”

When Ji Yushi returned last time, he didn’t have any money on him and because of the restrictions with his equipment, he also couldn’t make mobile payments.

That was why Song Qinglan asked this question.

“The owner of the cake shop gave it.” Ji Yushi answered, “…..It was delicious.”

At least, the taste was exactly the same as the one in his memories.

“As long as I don’t have my eyes on you, someone would give you something.” Song Qinglan clicked his tongue, “Looks like I will need to watch you more closely.”

Ji Yushi’s thoughts followed Song Qinglan’s words. These ridiculous words helped alleviate much of his panic and confusion from earlier, pulling him back to reality. His mind was clear again, “The owner is thirty years older than me.” He leaned back against the wall and responded to Song Qinglan’s words, “I used to visit her shop often when I was young. She was very nice.”

Song Qinglan smiled.

In the rain and fog, Ji Yushi’s voice sounded a little hazy.

He went on to say, “On the day of the incident, I also bought a cake from her shop before going home.”

On that day more than ten years ago, although it was a distant memory, Ji Yushi still remembered every detail.

“I bought four so that if he worked very late because of overtime, I wouldn’t be hungry. He would usually get takeaway from a restaurant he frequented when he returned late and sometimes would also bring back a small card from there. The card had the smell of perfume. The owner of the restaurant wanted to pursue him, but he had no idea. I later felt that I maybe should’ve told him about it. Perhaps he would’ve started a new relationship and perhaps something different may have happened that day.”

There was no what if’s in this world. This was something they both knew.

But Song Qinglan didn’t refute or console him.

This day was destined to be a day belonging to Ji Yushi, a day belonging to Sheng Han.

They stood under the eaves for a while. Gradually, there were more people. From time to time, passers-by would look at them—-It was mostly because Song Qinglan was too tall and the two stood too closely together so it attracted their attention. Fortunately, they were too busy rushing to work or the morning market so they didn’t pay them much heed.

About ten minutes later.

Song Qinglan glanced out from the corner.

He saw that the Ji Yushi from before was still sitting in daze looking at the small cake.

“How long did you sit there for?” Song Qinglan asked, “When did you leave?”

“Left at 7:44.” Ji Yushi remembered very clearly.

The incident happened around 7:50. Last time he had made up his mind, so he left before the time came.

Song Qinglan looked down at his communicator. It displayed [1439:04:06 07:16:32].

There was still about thirty minutes. It was pretty much what Ji Yushi told him when he returned after secretly running off. Ji Yushi had used the entire time to be in daze.

“What’s the matter?” Ji Yushi beside him was a little nervous.

Song Qinglan was about to answer but he was instead slightly surprised.

Less than ten metres away from them, the Ji Yushi in the black combat uniform habitually took out the game console from his pocket and a piece of paper fell out as he did this. It glittered as it fell to the ground.

It was a piece of golden foil.

The kind that wrapped around chocolate.

Ji Yushi held it between his fingers. He had his head lowered so his expression couldn’t be seen.

When they were in Rubik’s Cube, Song Qinglan had secretly given him a chocolate. This was something only the two of them knew.

Seeing this scene, Song Qinglan’s heart was hit hard. It was as if someone was smacking his chest forcefully with a stick. He suddenly retracted his gaze and pressed the Ji Yushi who was about to check the outside situation against the wall.

People came and went.

The eyes of passers-by stopped on them again.

“There are people watching.” Ji Yushi whispered a reminder.

“I know.” Song Qinglan’s hands were very strong. He gripped Ji Yushi’s shoulders with so much force, it was a little painful. His voice was low and filled with restraint, “Otherwise I would’ve….”

Because they were too close, those words were spoken extremely softly, and his breath could be felt distinctly. It made the situation a little more ambiguous than usual.The faces of the two were different.

But their eyes reflected each other’s true appearance.

A fire seemed to have been lit in Song Qinglan’s dark eyes. It made Ji Yushi feel like he was about to be scalded. He didn’t understand why the other party would suddenly behave like this. He had never seen such strong emotions in Song Qinglan’s eyes.

Fortunately, three or four seconds later, Song Qinglan slowly relaxed his grip.

He didn’t do anything and just bowed his head, “Suddenly so glad I gave you the chocolate.”

Ji Yushi: “?”

The timing and occasion weren’t right. Now wasn’t the time to talk about this.

And so, Song Qinglan only chuckled lightly and skipped over this topic. He made a live report of the current situation to Ji Yushi, “Right now, the other ‘you’ has started to play Tetris.”

Ji Yushi naturally knew what his other self more than ten metres away from him was doing.

Song Qinglan asked, “If we pass by now, would the other ‘you’ notice?”

The other Ji Yushi sat on a bench that one had to pass by in order to enter the community.

Song Qinglan wasn’t sure if it was appropriate to do something like this now or if they should wait until the other Ji Yushi left first because as long as they didn’t dally, they could still catch up with the murder little Sheng Han met.

As long as they took over the perfect location —- that bench, they would be able to see clearly the murderer’s appearance.

“Probably not.” Ji Yushi said, “In my memory, I don’t remember seeing two sneaky looking, suspicious gay men.”

Song Qinglan, “……..”

It was his first time hearing someone describe himself and his boyfriend like this.

It was very precise.

Ji Yushi had already done many Recorder missions and many of them would only be successful after doing it several times. He had accepted the fact that there could be several of him at the same time but this was his first time where he encountered a situation where he couldn’t be seen by his other self.

Any mistake could make his past self change his mind. Even if the odds were small, they couldn’t take risks.

“But we can still wait.” Ji Yushi looked at his watch. His thoughts were the same as Song Qinglan, “The murderer would pass by this place sooner or later. Waiting for my other self to leave wouldn’t be too late.”

*

[1439:04:06 07:44:12]

Ji Yushi who redeemed his reward following the end of the Rubik’s Cube mission left the bench.

Wearing the black combat uniform, his thin and slender figure disappeared into the drizzling rain.

The two people hiding around the corner stepped out and walked over to the bench while following the eaves.

The bench sat under a wooden roof on the side of the road. During spring, the yellow and green vines grew through it, enclosing it into a small world sheltered from the sun and rain. There seemed to still be some warmth left behind by the other Ji Yushi.

There was a small cake left on the bench.

Its owner was too preoccupied and had accidentally left it behind.

Ji Yushi picked it up and then threw it in the bin. Who would have thought that he would help himself from more than ten days ago clean up?

The front entrance of the community faced the main road.

The two were even more conspicuous standing here.

Ji Yushi sat back down on the bench while Song Qinglan stood a little further away. Like this, they looked like they didn’t know each other and just happened to be in the same place hiding from the rain.

They tacitly didn’t speak.

Both were paying attention to the time ticking past.

[1439:04:06 07:49:45]

Five minutes passed.

The main road was still normal. There was no one suspicious.

Ji Yushi almost couldn’t wait any longer.

Song Qinglan leaned against the wooden column. He twisted a leaf in his hand and quietly looked around the community.

Time passed very quickly but also very slowly.

Every minute and every second felt like it stretched on infinitely, but it also disappeared very quickly.

[1439:04:06 07:51:45]

“What if he was originally in the community and didn’t enter from here in the first place?” Ji Yushi suddenly stood up. Ignoring everything else, he felt uneasy, “I didn’t see the exact time that year so I’m not certain what minute and what second it was, but ‘I’ should be out soon. My first class should start at 8:15.”

He was talking about his other self who should be getting ready for school.

The little eight-year-old Sheng Han.If they waited any longer, they would see little Sheng Han walk out of the community and it would mean that they had missed the critical time point.

Song Qinglan also thought of this issue and immediately said, “Let’s go in together.”

Ji Yushi’s lips had lost its colour.

Upon closer inspection, he was trembling slightly too.

Song Qinglan approached him and grabbed his shoulder. He said quickly, “Don’t worry. Even if we miss the critical time point, we can still see his appearance when he comes out!”

Ji Yushi knew this of course.

None of this could be changed anyway. The death of his father was already something set into stone so it didn’t matter whether he saw the murderer before or after the murder and it wouldn’t affect his objective of returning to his time and closing the case.

But even if he understood this, he couldn’t just watch his father die.

It was as if……as long as he saw the murderer in advance, he could stop all of this.

It was a kind of instinct.

This thought was very dangerous.

It was raining harder.

The two of them were cold and wet. They didn’t bring any umbrellas.

Song Qinglan quickly pulled up Ji Yushi’s hood to help protect him from the rain.

Everything Song Qinglan did was very meticulous. When he was done, he kissed him on the forehead and give him a strong hug, “Don’t be afraid. We’re in this together.”

Ji Yushi, “Yeah.”

The two entered the rain.

After taking no more than a few steps, Ji Yushi suddenly stopped. His face turned pale, “Song Qinglan….”

In the rain, water droplets fell from Song Qinglan’s nose, “What?”

Ji Yushi’s entire body was wet with rain.

The old-fashioned hoodie had darkened considerably. At first glance, it looked almost purple.

His artificial face with no distinctive features was partially covered by the hood. Raindrops fell from his eyebrows and eyelashes, making his eyes appear even darker and his face even paler.

“I know now.” He said, “I….”

Not waiting for Song Qinglan to ask, he clenched his fists, his nails digging deeply into his palms. Each word was slowly spoken, “I have to go in alone.”

Song Qinglan felt that something seemed off. He sternly refused, “No.”

Ji Yushi didn’t speak.

Song Qinglan helped him wipe away the tears on his face which had started to fall at some unknown point in time. His thumb brushed over his long and thick eyelashes, and he said amidst the sound of the rain, “I am your guardian this time. If you went in alone, there is no guarantee that something wouldn’t happen.”

Ji Yushi raised his eyes to look at him. The look in his eyes was shocking, “It has already happened.”

Song Qinglan felt a chill, “What has already happened?!”

“There’s no time!!” Ji Yushi’s entire body was trembling. He grabbed his clothes, his joints turning white from how much strength he was exerting, “I have to meet the conditions! You have to let me go alone! To complete a set event at a set time, have you forgotten?!”

To complete a set event at a set time.

This line activated the switch of absolute trust. Song Qinglan’s heart trembled.

He let go of him.

Ji Yushi also released him. He turned around and entered the community without looking back.

Flowers and vegetation flourished, everything was just like before.

He had gone back to this point countless times in his dreams and those dreams felt more realistic than now.

Step by step, he walked upstairs like a zombie. Small s that had not yet been cleaned up were scattered everywhere.

Floor by floor, the corridor lights turned on.

He stepped onto the last set of stairs leading to the ninth floor and reached the point where the stairs turned.

There was a child in a yellow raincoat and a backpack. He looked well-behaved and he was holding onto the strap of his schoolbag.

He stopped and looked at the child.

The child also looked up at him.

Those eyes were clean and clear, and very innocent.

Destiny was a circle.

They passed each other by.

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