Bai Youwei was taken aback. “…Old Teacher Cheng?”

Cheng Weicai let out a sigh. “Perhaps I’m just getting old, and my outlook is more conservative… But think about it — what should the standard for telling real from fake actually be? Even if it says this world was built by it, that doesn’t change the fact that for sixty years, every single second of my life has been genuinely, truly lived. What I’ve given, what I’ve received — all of it was real. So for me, this world should be real. Youwei, I want to stay. I want to go back to my hometown to see my elderly parents, I want to see the last group of graduating students through, I want to go back to school and retire without regrets…”

When Old Teacher Cheng finished these words, his eyes had gone red.

Pan Xiaoxin also had tears brimming in her eyes. “Weiwei jie, I miss my grandpa and grandma, I miss them so much…”

Bai Youwei felt a weight on her heart. Not everyone was as detached by nature as she was, and not everyone could let go of everything the way Shen Mo could.

Whatever the monitor had said — at least for Cheng Weicai and Pan Xiaoxin, that world truly was real. They had family, they had friends, they had bittersweet memories and struggles. All of their joys and sorrows were genuine!

Bai Youwei looked at Tan Xiao and asked him sincerely: “Tan Xiao, what do you plan to choose?”

Tan Xiao looked a bit dazed. He rubbed the back of his head. “I don’t know…”

Shen Mo said: “If you have people you can’t let go of, you can stay. If you’re curious about a new world, come with us.”

“It’s not that there’s really anyone I can’t let go of…” Tan Xiao said, torn. “But when I think about those old friends of mine — if I really never got to see them again, I’d feel like something was missing… Ugh, forget it, I’ll stay!”

“Are you sure?” Bai Youwei asked.

“Yeah.” Tan Xiao grinned. “Honestly, all that stuff you were saying about real and fake, I can’t really wrap my head around it. And if the world can go back to the way it was before, that sounds pretty good to me… Forget it, I’m done thinking. I’m staying!”

Bai Youwei and Shen Mo exchanged a glance, both silent.

With this, all five had made their decisions — Bai Youwei and Shen Mo would go to the new world. Tan Xiao, Cheng Weicai, and Pan Xiaoxin would return to the original world.

Before departing for the new world, the original world had to be restored to normal.

As the world’s overseer, Bai Youwei entered the central cube at the heart of the diamond structure and began attempting to restore the world.

Tu Shenshi offered her a hint: “Adjusting the timeline is the most straightforward way to restore the world.”

“But if we do that, those people will lose their memories, won’t they?” Bai Youwei said.

Tu Shenshi explained: “You and your subjects are currently outside the puppet world — adjusting the timeline will not affect them. But for everyone else…”

It left the sentence unfinished. Bai Youwei had already begun to murmur to herself: “Maybe it’s better if they lose their memories. If they knew the truth, how many of them would be willing to go on living this way?…”

It would only add to their suffering…

Bai Youwei repaired the world.

She didn’t leave immediately. She continued making small adjustments, patching things up here and there.

Tu Shenshi was slightly puzzled and came to stand beside her. “What are you doing?”

“I have a friend with terrible taste in men. She’s wasted far too much time on someone worthless. Let me make some adjustments for her…”

Bai Youwei worked it through as she tinkered, muttering to herself all the while.

“Su Man and Lu Yuwen’s social circles have absolutely nothing in common… Even if I tried to set up a blind date I’d be fighting an uphill battle. Maybe I should arrange for Lu Yuwen to coincidentally save Su Ba’s life, then stir up some conflict between Su Ma and Li Li’s mother… that might get things going, push them toward a blind date… hmm, yes, that could work, that very much could work…”

Tu Shenshi: “…”

At first she was clumsy, but her technique quickly grew more polished. She set up various chance encounters and coincidental events with growing efficiency, then moved on to the next one.

“One is a celebrity, the other is the head of a security company — how do I make this work… hmm, how about this: first arrange for a crazed fan stalker, then have the original bodyguard get fired, and have the talent agency offer Yan Qingwen a high salary to take over — that would be the natural next step… yes yes, that works, let’s set all of that in motion…”

That should be everything, right?

Bai Youwei felt like she had forgotten something.

—