Butterfly

As far as Bai Yan knew, Miu Chang'an was not a greedy person, and he was one of the first people to participate in the construction of time and space.

Miao Chang'an doesn't have any background, and he has reached where he is today entirely due to his strong abilities and achievements.

Therefore, Bai Yan couldn't understand why he did this.

Upon hearing Bai Yan's question, Miao Chang'an gently stroked the squirrel sculpture in his hand and asked another question:

"Bai Yan, do you still remember the last case you handled before the Space-Time Bureau was established?"

"Remember, it was a gang smuggling case." Bai Yan replied in a deep voice.

At that time, the management of space-time technology was not as standardized as it is today. A gang of three people took the opportunity to smuggle back to 2026.

Of course, they were eventually brought back, and the case overall went relatively smoothly without causing any major harm.

However, it was precisely because of that case that when the Space-Time Bureau was established, it evolved from its original role as a space-time observer to its current role of maintaining space-time order.

"It didn't cause much harm?" Miu Changan sneered:

"But I lost my wife and eight-year-old daughter because of that case."

Bai Yan was stunned: "Your wife...and daughter?"

Miu Chang'an said sarcastically, "Yes, you don't remember. Because in your impression, my wife died of childbirth complications eight years ago..."

Miao Chang'an's knuckles turned white as he gripped the wooden sculpture, and memories came crashing down on him again.

It was near his daughter's birthday, and Miao Chang'an worked hard and finally finished his work before the time agreed with his daughter.

He took carefully prepared gifts home to give his baby daughter a surprise, but he didn't expect to be greeted by a cold house and his wife and daughter were nowhere to be found.

What made him even more panic was that there was no trace of his wife and daughter ever living in this house.

He had a bad feeling in his heart, and he suppressed his panic and called his wife.

"Hello?" It was a strange voice on the other end.

"Could you please let the owner of the phone answer the phone? I'm her husband..."

"Did you call the wrong number? I'm the owner of this number, and I've been using it for three years."

“Beep, beep…”

After hanging up the phone, Miao Chang'an confirmed again and again that the number was correct. He turned around and went out and knocked on the door of his neighbor next door.

"Brother Miu?"

"Xiao Zhang, have you seen my wife and daughter? They weren't there when I got home, and I couldn't get through on the phone. I'm a little worried."

"Brother Miao, your wife and daughter? Oh, so you're married, Brother Miao. I always thought you were a bachelor like me.

But I've been here for over a year, so why haven't I seen my sister-in-law? Were they in their hometown before?"

Never seen him? We helped you move in the day you moved in, and you even invited us to dinner afterwards. How could I not have seen him?

"Brother Miao, what's wrong with you? You don't look too good. Don't worry, maybe my sister-in-law and the others went out to get familiar with the environment. Maybe they will be back soon."

"No, nothing..." Miao Chang'an took a few steps back, turned around and rushed upstairs.

"Hey? Brother Miao, where are you going? Your door is still open!"

Miao Changan planned to ask his upstairs neighbor Sister Cheng, who often chatted and went shopping with his wife.

Bang bang bang.

"Xiao Miu?" Neighbor Cheng opened the door and asked, "Why are you so flustered?"

"Sister Cheng, have you seen my wife? I can't get through to her on the phone... I..."

Neighbor Cheng's face turned a little strange when she heard this. She carefully observed Miu Chang'an's expression:

"Xiao Miu, are you tired from the pressure of work recently? I know you are a loyal person, but your wife has been gone for eight years. It's time for you to move on."

"Eight years? What eight years?"

"Oh, you're not really sick, are you? Didn't your wife die of childbirth eight years ago?"

"Difficult labor?" Miu Chang'an couldn't believe it.

"yes……"

No, not at all.

It is true that his wife had a difficult delivery, but she was rescued later and both mother and daughter are safe... This is ridiculous.

Miu Chang'an didn't hear what Sister Cheng said afterwards. He rushed back home frantically, trying to find any trace of his wife and daughter's existence in the past eight years.

But he failed, and they really disappeared from her life.

"No, that's impossible, we just spoke on the phone a week ago!"

Miao Chang'an pounded the ground in despair, and at this moment, the second memory began to emerge in his mind.

Having worked in the field of time and space for many years, he knows that this is the butterfly effect of time and space.

The key point of everything happened eight years ago when Miu Changan began to use various means to investigate.

Finally, he was shocked to find that the disappearance of his wife and daughter was actually affected by the time-space smuggling case he had just dealt with not long ago.

Miao Changan remembers that his wife had to choose cesarean section because of placenta previa, and the surgery had been scheduled according to the regular schedule.

However, at around 20:00 the day before the operation, placental abruption occurred and emergency surgery was required.

In the original timeline, although the situation was very dangerous, the director of obstetrics and gynecology used his superb medical skills to pull his wife back from the brink of death.

The turning point of these two timelines was a ridiculous accident.

It happened to be a rainy day that day, and the director of obstetrics returned to the hospital by car after finishing the outpatient clinic in the afternoon to prepare for work.

Coincidentally, the group of people who sneaked into the time and space of 2026 caused a traffic accident on the only lane of the cross-river bridge in order to avoid being hunted down.

The director of obstetrics was stuck in the middle of the bridge, unable to move forward or backward.

When the emergency occurred, the director of obstetrics was still stuck on the bridge and unable to arrive.

The hospital immediately initiated emergency preparedness, but the only surgeon on night shift at the time did not have as much experience as the obstetrics director.

To make matters worse, his wife was bleeding profusely, but the blood bank's blood delivery vehicle was also stuck opposite Joe.

By the time the director of obstetrics and gynecology and the blood delivery vehicle arrived, it was too late.

His wife and his daughter just disappeared from his life.

Even though a long time has passed, Miao Chang'an can't help but find it absurd every time he thinks about it.

"If that's the case, why do you still remember it?"

Xing Yun asked in confusion. After all, if time and space changed, most people would only remember what happened after the change.

Occasionally, someone will experience a double memory, but the original memory will fade within a few hours.

It was Bai Yan who answered his question: "No, there are very few people in the world who can retain their original memories under the influence of time and space, but..." But those people all went crazy in the end.

My own cognition is not in line with the surrounding environment, and there are two memories fighting in my mind. If my willpower is not strong enough, I can easily suffer a mental breakdown. This is a very scary thing.

"So, after the establishment of the Space-Time Bureau, you insisted on establishing an archive room that could be independent of the influence of time and space." Bai Yan looked at Miu Chang'an.

"That's right, but even though the archives can record what happened afterwards, I can never find my wife and daughter again."

Miu Changan looked indifferent: "I was like a madman at that time. I applied to the bureau for an investigation, but there were no similar cases at that time.

They just thought I was too tired and advised me to rest more, but didn't take what I said seriously. It was at this time that Han Zhe came to my door.

"How did he know?" Xing Yun was puzzled.

"Han Zhe and I are one of the very few people who are not affected by time and space.

My wife's unit had business dealings with Han Zhe, and she happened to be the person in charge of the liaison before she disappeared.

The partner suddenly changed the contact person, and Han Zhe asked casually, but found that my wife had disappeared from everyone's memory, which caught Han Zhe's attention.

Mentioning Han Zhe, Miao Changan narrowed his eyes: "He followed this clue to find out my identity and took the initiative to come to me and ask for cooperation.

Han Zhe made an offer that I couldn't refuse. He would provide the money and people, and I would provide the technology and resources.

We can build a space-time channel independent of the Space-Time Bureau's supervision, so that I can have the opportunity to correct all these mistakes."

"I see." Xing Yun nodded. Everything made sense now. "But it seems you didn't succeed, Miu Ju?"

"Oh, indeed not."

Xing Yun keenly sensed the absurdity in Miu Chang'an's tone.

"I went back ten times. The results of the first few times were worse than the last. From the sixth time on, I could only try my best to fix the mistakes of the previous times.

After ten attempts, the best outcome is to maintain the current status quo."

Miu Chang'an's gaze seemed to penetrate the numerous figures before him and look into the vast sea of ​​time and space:

"From then on, I understood one thing: time and space are too complex and unpredictable, and time and space technology is not something humans should master..."

If humans had not mastered space-time technology and opened Pandora's box, perhaps nothing would have happened.

A surge of energy emanated from around Miu Chang'an, and Bai Yan was the first to notice something was wrong: "Is this... a leap?"

"No, that's absurd. Instantaneous teleportation technology is still in the experimental stage. If we act rashly..."

Before Bai Yan could finish her words, the energy fluctuations suddenly increased.

Xing Yun also noticed that the other party was about to run: "Stop him!"

Weapons were firing all around, but Miao Chang'an had already disappeared from the spot.

Xing Yun was annoyed: "Just let him get away like that?"

Bai Yan took a deep breath. "Instantaneous jump technology is not yet mature. He must be seriously injured. Notify the central control center to locate him. Notify the execution team and give chase."