Chapter 84: Hand in Hand, Going Against the Current When did I ever say that I would leave you alone...

Wen Yi stood still, wanting to follow but unable to move. Thinking of what she was about to do, her body felt like it was being pulled by an invisible force. She even imagined Zhou Yazheng, eyes red, struggling to grab her, saying she wanted to live.

Her brain felt like it was about to split apart. She told herself not to think about it, but her mind was not listening and kept generating images automatically.

Guo Qingyu picked up his coat and was already walking to the door. He turned around and saw Wen Yi standing there motionless. He stopped and waited for her.

"I... don't want to go." Her eyes were filled with struggle, her throat was tight, and her voice trembled slightly. "Is there really no other way?"

Guo Qingyu did not answer, but stood there looking at her quietly.

After a moment, he sighed, walked back slowly, and gently draped the windbreaker in his hand over her shoulders.

"Wen Yi." His voice was low. "This isn't a multiple-choice question."

"It's the only choice. It's the price we have to pay."

Lu Zhiyu and Xiao Yishan looked up at the same time and looked at Guo Qingyu, wanting to say something but hesitant. In the end, they didn't open their mouths.

The car drove towards the suburbs at dusk.

There was a drizzle in the sky, and the autumn air was getting deeper.

Wen Yi leaned against the car window, looking at the familiar glass cube in the distance - the Zero Laboratory.

She didn't expect to be back here so soon. The building was still the same as before, as if she had never really left.

When she got out of the car, the rain was even heavier. The ground was slippery and she almost fell when she got out of the car door.

Guo Qingyu immediately reached out and held her wrist.

"careful."

Wen Yi was slightly startled, then subconsciously tried to break free: "I'm fine."

He let go of her hand and walked silently beside her, his tone asking for a beating: "I'm not doing this for you. If anything happens to you and the child, Gu Yifeng will definitely blame me."

Wen Yi sighed silently in her heart.

It would have been fine if he didn't mention it, but once he mentioned Gu Yifeng, she couldn't help but feel even more depressed. She walked forward with a sad face, and her steps became heavy.

"I don't like it here." She said suddenly.

Guo Qingyu raised his eyebrows and glanced at her.

"The last time I came here, I..." Wen Yi thought for a moment and swallowed her words back.

Why tell others?

No one could truly understand the near-death experiences she had endured.

Guo Qingyu was rarely serious. He looked at her seriously for a while and suddenly said:

"This time is different." He slowed down his pace and walked beside her. "With me here, everything will be different."

In the Zero Laboratory, under the cold white light, Wen Yi looked up and saw an unexpected person - Xu Xiaoyi.

The moment she saw him, she felt like she was struck in the heart. Wen Yi paused, subconsciously covering her mouth, almost unable to believe her eyes.

In this timeline, he's...still alive.

Xu Xiaoyi, still wearing his white lab coat, stood at the control console, his expression focused. Beside him stood Deputy Director Cao Mo, the two whispering to each other. He seemed a bit fatter than she remembered, and his double chin was faintly visible as he lowered his head to speak.

She couldn't help but feel her eyes warm.

Very good!

At least, he's still here.

Just live! Living... is good...

Xu Xiaoyi hadn't vanished, hadn't died because of her; he was still the head of the lab, still pursuing his scientific beliefs. In that instant, a ray of sunshine seemed to shine into her gloomy world, dispelling the lingering sorrow in her heart.

She is not a crybaby.

But at this moment, she almost cried with joy, and the scene before the Time Anchor was activated emerged in her mind again.

When he said goodbye to her, he wished her a safe journey and hoped she would find her way home.

He didn't actually say goodbye, perhaps because he thought they would meet again in the future.

So, they will meet again one day.

Xu Xiaoyi noticed her gaze and turned around. He then exchanged a strange look with Cao Mo.

"What's wrong with this guy?" He frowned and asked in a low voice, "Sometimes he cries, sometimes he laughs..."

"Maybe it's because of the pressure of the mission." Cao Mo said calmly, his eyes flicking to Xu Xiaoyi's round belly as he jokingly said, "Some people lose control of their behavior when they're under a lot of pressure."

Xu Xiaoyi touched his stomach and glared back: "Look at that! Are you eating your Cao family's rice?"

Wen Yi lowered her head to hide the emotions in her eyes.

She really wanted to talk to Xu Xiaoyi and tell him everything she had been through, but when she thought about the reason for this meeting, she felt ashamed to face him.

She broke her promise, and the crisis at the nuclear power plant was not resolved. Instead, it became even more uncontrollable because of her intervention.

Xu Xiaoyi looked at her for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Are you sure you can carry out this mission?"

Wen Yi raised her head and met his gaze. A thousand words came to her lips, but then turned into silence.

"I'm sure."

The two teams from the Tracing Micro Laboratory and the Zero Laboratory are rapidly handing over, data synchronization, node calibration, energy injection... everything is progressing in an orderly manner until preparations are completed.

Cao Mo, like last time, kept whispering in her ear about the precautions:

"Don't lose the communication equipment, otherwise..."

"Don't touch anyone who is not the target of the mission..."

Wen Yi was upset and didn't listen carefully. She just calmly put on the quantum headphones and glasses, and then began to take off her coat.

Windbreakers, knitted cardigans, one by one, gently lying on the ground.

Finally, only underwear was left.

She was about to walk towards the Anchor of Time when she was surprised to find that everyone had stopped what they were doing and was looking at her in shock.

Wen Yi:?

She looked around in confusion.

Guo Qingyu opened his mouth and asked in disbelief, "Wen...Yi, what on earth are you doing? Why are you taking off your clothes?"

Wen Yi frowned and said as a matter of course: "Didn't they say that we should try to avoid carrying unnecessary things when teleporting?"

"Clothes are too cumbersome."

Cao Mo adjusted his glasses and asked the people around him in a complicated tone: "Did I say that?"

Xu Xiaoyi shook his head.

"No?!" Wen Yi widened her eyes.

Cao Mo sighed:

"no need."

"The lab has plenty of energy storage. You can bring anything you need."

"Don't worry, our teleportation service will get the job done!"

Xu Xiaoyi and Cao Mo couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Wen Yi stood there, her cheeks slightly flushed.

“…”

Damn, this is so embarrassing.

Guo Qingyu couldn't help laughing out loud: "I didn't realize you have a sense of humor, hahahaha..."

Wen Yi blushed as she picked up her clothes one by one and put them on, but she was sighing in her heart:...Xu Xiaoyi is so amazing. Under his leadership, the performance of the Time Anchor has been improved a lot compared to before.

"Laugh! You're still laughing!" Wen Yi punched Guo Qingyu angrily.

"You can still laugh at this critical moment."

She straightened her clothes and walked quickly into the Time Anchor Cabin.

Just as he was about to close the hatch, Guo Qingyu's hand blocked the door.

The next second, he stepped in without hesitation.

"What are you doing?" Wen Yi was a little surprised.

"When did I tell you to go back alone?" Guo Qingyu stood opposite her and looked at her with his eyes lowered.

The space in the cabin was ample for her alone, but it would be a bit cramped for two people to stay in it at the same time.

"What did you say?" Wen Yi asked in surprise, "Can't the Time Anchor only teleport one person back?"

"Did you actually listen to what Cao Mo said?" Guo Qingyu raised an eyebrow, a hint of helplessness in his voice, "He never said that, don't make up your own mind."

She couldn't believe that the Time Anchor at this moment... was so powerful?

The cabin was small, and the two of them stood very close to each other. They could almost hear each other's breathing and heartbeats.

She finally raised her head and met his eyes: "Why did you follow?"

Guo Qingyu didn't answer but asked, "Are you scared?"

She lowered her head: "This is not a question of whether or not to be afraid..."

"Don't be afraid." He interrupted her, "I'm the person in charge. I'll take care of everything."

She bit her lip and couldn't help asking again: "Is there really no other way?"

"Don't ask any more questions." He turned his head away. "When necessary, I'll do it. There's no need to dirty your hands."

He paused, as if remembering something, and a self-deprecating smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "Anyway, this isn't my first time. Killing one or two makes no difference to me."

Wen Yi looked at Guo Qingyu silently, but couldn't think of a word to accurately describe him.

It wasn't just him, it was everyone she'd met so far. Perhaps, as he said, even the most powerful mathematical models couldn't accurately calculate the complexity of human nature.

Guo Qingyu suppressed his smile, lowered his brows and said solemnly: "I said, I will never let you face the past alone again."

Wen Yi's heart trembled slightly.

Although she didn't want to admit it, his company did give her strength and courage at this moment.

Outside the cabin, Xu Xiaoyi and Cao Mo were adjusting parameters at the console.

"Two-person teleportation mode confirmed."

"Energy injection completed."

"Ready to start."

In order to fully supply the Time Anchor with power for transmission, the laboratory lights were turned to the dimmest level.

The moment the lights went out, the entire space fell into darkness.

They looked at each other quietly in the dark cabin.

Guo Qingyu reached out and grabbed the handrails on both sides of the cabin, leaning forward slightly, as if holding her in his arms.

Wen Yi moved awkwardly, but couldn't break free from this situation.

"Could you... move a little... closer?"

"Sorry," he whispered, "it's too small."

"Forget it." She lowered her head and stared at her toes. "I'm just not used to it."

"You'll get used to it."

In the darkness where they couldn't see each other clearly, she clearly heard Guo Qingyu swallow his saliva.

His hot breath brushed past her ears, and he whispered to her:

"Wen Yi, if you could go back to the past, back to when all this hadn't happened, have you ever thought about choosing a completely different life?"

She smiled and said, "Since the day I came down from Moongap Mountain, I have been living a different life every moment."

"I'm asking you..." His tone was more serious than ever, "If you could do it all over again, would you make a different choice?"

"No." She shook her head. "I have never regretted a single choice in my life."

"No regrets?" he repeated in a low voice.

"No." She raised her eyes, and even in the darkness, she still looked directly into his eyes. "What's the use of regret?"

"If things don't go as planned, find a way to remedy the situation. Regret is the most useless thing."

"I will always be loyal to my choices."

Guo Qingyu chuckled, but it didn't sound like a laugh, more like a sigh: "Sure enough, it's hard to explain it to a silly and innocent person like you."

"Guo Qingyu." She suddenly spoke, "The night Gu Yifeng was taken away, I told him that no matter how the timeline changes, I will choose him."

The air stagnated for a moment.

"Really?" He asked lightly, as if asking her, and also as if asking himself.

"What if... he doesn't choose you?" His tone suddenly became unpredictable.

Although she couldn't see his expression clearly, Wen Yi could feel the change in his mood.

She was stunned for a moment and didn't answer.

The atmosphere in the cabin was a little weird.

Guo Qingyu lowered his head and whispered in her ear, "Do you dare to make a bet with me?"

"What are you betting on?" She tried her best to avoid his scent, but she had a strange feeling in her heart that something was not right.

"Let's make a bet. Let's go back to the past and see if you will change your choice."

"What kind of ridiculous bet is this?" She frowned. "What choice I make has nothing to do with you?"

The sound of countdown rang in my ears.

Ten, nine, eight… Blue light began to flow in the cabin.

Guo Qingyu's voice reached her ears along with the countdown:

"Promise me, this time, make a decision that's best for you."

Inside the cabin, a dazzling blue light suddenly lit up, and Wen Yi closed her eyes.

He suddenly reached out and held her in his arms, whispering something.

But before she could hear clearly, the world began to twist, stretch and tear apart.

The next second, they completely disappeared in the blue light.

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Author's words: Guo Qingyu: Waving my little shovel~ I'm the best at poaching~ [sunglasses][sunglasses]

Gu Yifeng: Director! I want to go on stage! I can’t stand it anymore, my wife has been kidnapped! [Angry] [Angry]

Wen Yi: I was set up [pitiful]

Director: Sorry, I promise to let the male lead appear in the next chapter [shy]