Li Weiyi was brought by Xu Yi to an unfamiliar place.

A two-story building constructed in the mountains, clean and elegant, with a large courtyard surrounded by bamboo fencing. The mountain forest was dense, with birdsong and fragrant flowers. Not far away was a high cliff overlooking a vast valley.

If it were any other time, arriving at such a place would naturally make Li Weiyi feel refreshed and relaxed. Now, she only felt the silence here was unsettling.

Xu Yi held her hand and walked around the house in a circle. Li Weiyi saw that in the backyard there was even an empty chicken coop that looked like it had been abandoned for a long time. She asked, “Who used to live here?”

Xu Yi answered, “An elder who was very important to me. She worked hard her whole life. After leaving her hometown, she didn’t want to interact with people, so her children built this place for her to retire.”

“Her children are really filial then.”

Xu Yi smiled without speaking.

The two walked to the area below the bamboo fence, where there was a very flat patch of grass with many wildflowers. Sunlight lazily shone down—everything was so quiet and beautiful it was unbelievable. Xu Yi gripped her waist and lowered his head to kiss her. Li Weiyi turned her head to avoid it.

He looked at her without speaking.

Li Weiyi appeared very bashful, pointing in the bodyguards’ direction: “There are still people there! I’ll say it again—I’m still a minor. If you want to kiss, wait until we’re back in 2022.”

He straightened up, also smiling, his expression peaceful: “Fine, we have plenty of time ahead.”

Li Weiyi felt her heart go numb hearing this, and immediately said, “What does the house look like inside? I want to go see.” Getting closer to the two bodyguards would avoid being alone with him.

The two returned inside the house, and the bodyguards followed in, sitting in a corner of the living room.

Xu Yi actually did give her a tour. After the two walked around in a circle, Li Weiyi yawned. Xu Yi asked, “Tired?”

Li Weiyi nodded. He led her to a bedroom door and said, “The bedding is all new. You can sleep for a while. I’ll go handle some matters, then call you for dinner later.”

Li Weiyi obediently nodded. After entering the room, she heard footsteps receding and immediately locked the door. She wasn’t sleepy—she just didn’t want to keep staying with Xu Yi. She sat on the edge of the bed, gazing at the tree branches and mountain slope outside, not knowing where Zhang Jingchan was or how he was doing.

She raised her head again, looking at the distant cliff.

——

When the knocking sound rang out, Zhang Fengming was so startled he jumped up from the floor. His first instinct was to jump out the window and flee, but this was the fifth floor.

The person outside knocked twice more. Zhang Fengming pulled out a dagger and approached step by step, his throat very dry. Suppressing his voice, he asked, “Who is it?”

A familiar voice came: “It’s me.”

Zhang Fengming’s expression relaxed, then furrowed again: “Xu Yi?”

That person said in a low voice, “I’ve come to get you. Open the door first.”

After all, they were people in the same boat. Zhang Fengming hid the dagger behind his back with one hand and opened the door. “Xu Yi” quickly entered, then looked back at the stairwell, closed the door, appearing extremely cautious.

“Why did you come?”

“Xu Yi” said, “The police are watching too closely. I arranged for two people to keep watch. There’s a car downstairs. Let’s go quickly.”

Zhang Fengming looked at him coldly: “Where have you been these three days? The rest of us are all on wanted posters.”

“Xu Yi” remained as usual—even with Mount Tai pressing down on him, his expression wouldn’t change. Unhurried and calm, he said, “It’s only a matter of time before I’m on a wanted poster. The police are also looking for me everywhere. While I haven’t been officially wanted yet, being outside allows me to arrange our escape. Otherwise, in today’s situation, if I also had to hide, who would come get you?”

The anger in Zhang Fengming’s chest finally subsided somewhat. Among them, Xu Yi had always been the most resourceful and strategic. In these past two years, he had imperceptibly become their leader. Plus, what he said did make sense. Zhang Fengming didn’t want to stay here a moment longer: “Let’s go! Holed up here, I can’t even sleep.”

The two quickly went downstairs. Indeed, a somewhat old and inconspicuous sedan was parked there. “Xu Yi” tossed car keys to Zhang Fengming, who naturally sat in the driver’s seat and looked up at “Xu Yi”: “You’re not coming with me? Didn’t you say the boat arrives at 11:30? There’s not much time left.”

“Xu Yi” nodded: “Let’s go together.” He pulled open the passenger door.

——

Li Weiyi couldn’t stay in the room any longer. Although she wanted to avoid Xu Yi, she also wanted to know what he was doing. She couldn’t just sit here waiting for doom.

With a heart both fearful and brave, Li Weiyi sneakily left her room. Downstairs there were only the two bodyguards. The door to another bedroom nearby was closed.

Li Weiyi walked over, pressed her ear against it to listen—no sound. She carefully turned the doorknob. Her gaze swept around in a circle—no one.

She walked in and gently closed the door behind her.

It was a study with a bedroom connected inside. Li Weiyi quickly walked to the desk. On it sat a computer and a miniature printer, with a box of red ink paste in the corner.

Li Weiyi’s eyelid twitched. Oh my god, how eerie—don’t let Zhang Jingchan have guessed correctly that Xu Yi was writing a suicide note, pushing all responsibility onto Zhang Jingchan. Was he planning to print it out and then stamp it with a thumbprint? This way he’d avoid the handwriting issue.

She searched around on the desk but didn’t see any suicide note. Just as she pulled open a drawer a crack, a person walked out from the bedroom inside. Li Weiyi’s hand flew back, and she retreated a few steps to the side, showing him a brilliant smile: “Oh, you were in there? No wonder you didn’t respond when I called you.”

Xu Yi had just washed his hands clean and was holding a tissue to wipe them. His gaze swept over the desktop, and he smiled slightly: “Looking for something? Is something missing from the room?”

His tone and manner were really too normal. Li Weiyi’s mood relaxed, and she answered, “I wanted to find a book to read.”

“There are no books here.” He pulled her hand and sat down on the sofa. Li Weiyi asked, “What were you doing just now?”

“Want to know?”

She nodded.

He pointed at his own lips: “Give me a kiss and I’ll tell you.”

Li Weiyi gave a dry laugh and lowered her head: “Achan, I think you’re acting really strange this time. You keep wanting to kiss me. You weren’t like this before.”

He answered leisurely, “This time is different from before. Too many things have happened. I just want comfort from you.” With one sideways movement, he had her pressed against the sofa.

Li Weiyi’s heart was pounding.

Xu Yi had a half-smiling expression: “No one can see us now. Although this body is only seventeen years old, your soul is twenty-five. Stop refusing—I’m your legitimate boyfriend.”

He lowered his head to kiss her. Li Weiyi turned her head to dodge. He kissed, she dodged again. He actually didn’t get angry either, just like teasing a kitten, his face continuously wearing a faint smile. He simply gripped her chin and asked intimately, “What are you avoiding? Hmm? I don’t understand. Don’t you like me as a person anymore?”

Li Weiyi’s entire back was cold. Clearly both of them were smiling, yet she had already been enlightened, recognizing the reality he was trying to cover up—it turned out Xu Yi had seen through everything long ago. This entire journey had been him casually toying with her for amusement, watching her act, watching her panic, watching her forcibly endure. Yet she had held onto the hope that she could deceive him.

The pair of dark black pupils before her eyes were clearly Xu Yi’s eyes. He wasn’t even pretending anymore. Li Weiyi suddenly realized—because he didn’t need to pretend anymore. In a few more hours, the one who would wake up would be the seventeen-year-old Li Weiyi, that Li Weiyi who had only spent two months with Zhang Jingchan and knew almost nothing. That Li Weiyi would only see Zhang Jingchan, who committed suicide out of fear of punishment. Even with the fuzzy influence of the timeline, she would believe even more in the facts she witnessed with her own eyes.

Xu Yi might serve a few years in prison, and if he was willing at that time, he could pursue that era’s Li Weiyi. The young girl Li Weiyi would know nothing and would have completely given up on Zhang Jingchan. By the time she woke up in 2022, the rice would probably already be cooked.