They arrived at the alley in front of Su Ge’s home again.

The scene of frantically fleeing from here was still before her eyes. Lin Shilan never thought there would be a day she would voluntarily return.

Even the time and weather were very similar to that time.

The sky had completely darkened, and fine rain floated in the air.

She looked at the pitch-black alley. Tan Jin held an umbrella, standing beside her.

“Is this it?” he asked.

The hidden dark alley stood beside the road like an inconspicuous scar that had been cut open. It sank in barren and bare, emanating a foul smell.

Lin Shilan nodded.

She took the initiative to step forward. “I’ll lead the way.”

Water had accumulated severely inside the alley. Just one step in and Lin Shilan stepped into a puddle. Fortunately, Tan Jin caught her in time, preventing her from falling.

Lin Shilan’s hands were cold as ice. Tan Jin silently held her hand. His hand was a full circle larger than hers, easily enveloping her entire fist.

The warmth continuously transmitted from behind her drove away the cold and gloom of this place. Lin Shilan felt much better. Taking a deep breath, she continued walking forward.

As it turned out, this stretch of terrifying road, with someone accompanying her, wasn’t that long. They soon saw light and reached the exit of the alley.

Lin Shilan pointed at that dilapidated residential building. “We’re here, Su Ge’s home.”

They held their breath and approached it. The house had no lights on, looking like a dead, foul-smelling giant garbage mountain. Compared to when she had come last time, the nearby scrap materials were piled even more exaggeratedly. Perhaps soaked by rainwater, something had gone bad, and there was a fermented sour smell in the air.

The last experience of being spat on by Su Ge’s grandmother made her not dare to easily approach the house. Standing at the door, Lin Shilan once again took out her phone to call Su Ge.

The call went through. At the same time, the ringtone of an incoming call came from inside the house.

—It seemed Su Ge was home!

But she still didn’t answer the phone…

Tan Jin called out “Su Ge” several times and knocked on her front door.

That dark green door wasn’t closed at all. He merely knocked once, and the door directly opened a crack.

Lin Shilan and Tan Jin simultaneously pinched their noses.

The smell wafting from the house was abnormally foul. Tan Jin’s stomach churned violently. Unable to hold it in, he leaned against the wall and vomited.

They looked at each other and came to the same judgment: something had happened inside the house.

“You wait outside. I’ll go in and look.”

Her eyes flickered with a radiant, reassuring bravery.

Before Tan Jin could react, Lin Shilan stepped inside first.

When he followed her in with his back foot, he heard her urgent call: “Tan Jin, Tan Jin, something’s wrong! Call for an ambulance quickly!”

…

Su Ge’s grandmother had passed away.

And Su Ge was convulsing on the floor beside her grandmother’s bed.

She had a high fever, burning so hot she was delirious.

The ambulance rushed Su Ge to the hospital. The doctor treating her said Su Ge had a persistent high fever caused by bacterial infection. Fortunately, she was brought to the hospital in time, otherwise damage to her brain and organs would have caused irreversible consequences.

Lin Shilan stayed by Su Ge’s side.

She hung from an IV drip, emitting sobbing babbles that sounded like she was calling “Mama” or calling “Grandma.” Lin Shilan used tissues to wipe away the tears at the corners of her eyes. Those tears seemed endless—just wiped away, the corners of her eyes moistened again.

Lin Shilan let out a long sigh.

Su Ge’s grandmother’s death was something that had happened in several previous spacetimes.

But for the Su Ge of this spacetime, this was her first time experiencing her grandmother’s passing.

Su Ge’s weak appearance made Lin Shilan recall the stormy night when the vow was formed in the original spacetime—beneath the water’s surface, Su Ge’s pale face.

The countless parallel worlds were like countless lines. They formed intersections due to the power of vows, tying a knot around Lin Shilan.

Su Ge was a person outside the knot, yet also the person closest to the knot. Perhaps it was simply because Su Ge had witnessed the spacetime anomaly that she possessed the ability to transmit partial information through spacetime.

Lin Shilan thought this way.

She had to admit that actually, her heart no longer disliked Su Ge.

From when did her impression of Su Ge change? Perhaps it was that time when Su Ge helped her find the puppy. Perhaps it was even earlier, when Su Ge proactively showed her cards to Lin Shilan. Although Lin Shilan suspected Su Ge had ulterior motives, her actions were good—she let her see “The Glittering Multiverse,” making her understand that the rainy seasons she experienced were different parallel spacetimes.

Or perhaps it was when reading the feelings written in the book by different Su Ges—at that time, Lin Shilan had already resonated with her.

She saw in Su Ge much confusion similar to her own.

In any case, Lin Shilan felt happy about her decision to come find Su Ge today.

It was already late.

The doctor said Su Ge’s condition had gradually stabilized.

Su Ge’s grandmother’s remains had been sent by the hospital to the morgue. The subsequent procedures would have to wait until her relative Su Ge woke up before they could be handled.

Having survived this night of terror, Lin Shilan and Tan Jin were exhausted from busying themselves back and forth. It was time to go back.

Before leaving, they checked on Su Ge. She was still unconscious.

The next day.

During lunch break, Lin Shilan stuffed down a few bites of bread and went alone to the hospital to check on the situation.

Su Ge had her eyes closed, seemingly not yet awake.

Lin Shilan carefully closed the window to prevent rain from getting in. Suddenly, an almost inaudible “thank you” came from behind her.

Turning around, Lin Shilan saw Su Ge’s eyes had opened a crack.

She was awake.

Her lips were cracked from dehydration, and her eyes, swollen like walnuts, were still shedding tears. Su Ge’s heart must feel very bad. Seeing this scene, Lin Shilan took off her backpack, rummaged through it, and pulled out a small box.

“I remember you quite like sweets. I couldn’t find chocolate at the school gate, so I bought a box of candy. When you’re better from your illness, I’ll give this to you.”

Lin Shilan wasn’t good at giving gifts to people. Clearly meaning well, she seemed like she had come to negotiate business and discuss terms—her expression cold, her word choice stiff.

Su Ge didn’t take the candy.

She stared at the ceiling. Her tears didn’t have time to be wiped away before they fell onto the pillowcase.

—What to do?

Lin Shilan racked her brains, asking herself: What’s the most effective way to break the awkward atmosphere?

Looking down at the candy in her hand, Lin Shilan had a flash of inspiration.

She thought of the method most useful to herself!

—Tan Jin-style absurd cold jokes.

“It’s the same as your name!” She shook the candy box in her hand. “Sugar, Su Ge.”

“Haha, how come you love eating your own kind?”

Lin Shilan had made progress—the tone of her joke wasn’t as stiff as before and was quite playful.

But this joke was too cold.

Su Ge either didn’t get the punchline or didn’t want to laugh. She maintained her previous expression, not casting her gaze toward Lin Shilan.

Awkwardly placing the candy box on the bedside table, Lin Shilan stood up. “Well then, rest well. I’ll go back to class first…”

Before leaving, Lin Shilan was called back by Su Ge.

“Thank you for saving me.”

Raising her hand, Su Ge covered her sobbing face.

“But when I woke up lying here, I felt so lonely and scared.”

“Grandma is gone. Who else will care about me? Does someone insignificant like me really have any meaning in living?”

Her voice was hoarse, her eyes filled with bewilderment and hopelessness. Like a person teetering on the edge of a cliff, longing for a passerby to pull her up.

“There is meaning, of course there is.”

Lin Shilan straightened her back. Her answer was forceful and resonant.

“You are not insignificant. To yourself, you never are. You are your own most important person. You are your entire world.”

Su Ge’s crying stopped.

She looked at Lin Shilan, no longer concealing her fragility, her lips trembling violently.

“The teacher doesn’t believe I didn’t cheat on the exam. Without finding a parent to meet with the teacher, I can’t return to school. No matter what, no one believes me, but I really didn’t cheat.”

“I believe you.”

Sitting down by Su Ge’s bed, Lin Shilan spoke four words straightforwardly.

At this point, Su Ge completely opened her heart to Lin Shilan.

She told her what happened on exam day: During the third mock exam, the two classmates sitting in front of and behind her cheated, wanting to pass notes to communicate across her seat. Su Ge was always bullied by people in class. They made her help pass the note, certain she didn’t have the guts to resist.

The classmate behind threw the paper ball onto Su Ge’s desk, wanting her to pass it, but Su Ge was unwilling to cooperate with him and pretended not to see it. The classmate had no choice but to kick her chair. That sound was a bit loud and actually attracted the exam proctor over.

The exam proctor discovered the note on Su Ge’s desk, judged that she was cheating, and caught her. Su Ge told the truth, but the two classmates in front and behind didn’t own up, insisting that Su Ge was framing them. Other surrounding classmates also didn’t like Su Ge. Some people helped those two classmates say Su Ge had cheated, while some classmates turned a blind eye, pretending not to know.

Su Ge had always been an unpopular poor student in class. When this kind of thing happened, the teacher didn’t believe her either, leading to her being definitively labeled as having “cheated on a major exam.” This stain would follow her forever and could even affect her college entrance exam.

The day before yesterday, after being wrongly accused of cheating, the teacher demanded Su Ge call her parents to come to school.

She had no recourse and ran home in the rain to find her grandmother.

Arriving home, Su Ge discovered her grandmother had died of illness. She hadn’t been able to see her grandmother one last time.

Holding her grandmother’s remains, Su Ge fell asleep in a daze, and the more she slept, the more she felt like she was in a furnace…

What happened after that, Lin Shilan knew.

After listening to Su Ge’s account, she remained silent for a long time.

That afternoon, returning to school.

Lin Shilan didn’t return to the classroom. She went directly to the teachers’ office.

She hadn’t promised Su Ge anything, but she herself went to find Su Ge’s homeroom teacher.