go home

As Su Huan stepped over the fence, intending to jump, Xu Feifei grabbed her hand and said, "Isn't it unsafe to jump from here?"

Su Huan said nonchalantly, "What's unsafe about it? It doesn't matter where you land."

After saying that, she thought about breaking free from Xu Feifei's hand and jumping down.

"Wait a minute. What if there's a pillar under this pavilion? What if you jump down and accidentally hit it? I can't swim, I won't be able to save you then!"

Xu Feifei looked at the lake surface. The water of East Lake looked relatively clean, but what was underneath was impossible to see. Moreover, there were so many lotus leaves, making it even more difficult to find out what was beneath.

After hearing Xu Feifei's words, Su Huan lowered her head and carefully examined the lake surface. A fish swam by from below with a "splash," its tail hitting the water as it veered away.

Ripples spread across the lake, quickly expanding in all directions, and the lotus leaves swayed gently.

“I think you have a point!” Su Huan decisively pulled her leg back and looked around, searching for a suitable spot to fall into the water.

"That's fine!" Su Huan pointed to the spot where the small boats were placed, and before Xu Feifei could react, she quickly walked over.

Xu Feifei followed closely behind Su Huan, arriving at the spot where the small boat was moored. Looking at the lake water below, she still asked again, "You can swim, right?"

Su Huan nodded and said, "Don't worry, I will."

"Then be careful when you go down!"

"Hmm." Su Huan followed the steps, step by step, into the water. The water gradually rose from Su Huan's ankles to her waist, and then to her chest.

"How is it?" Xu Feifei called out worriedly from the shore as she saw Su Huanxiang about to swim into deeper water.

Su Huan shook her head in the water, parted the lotus leaves beside her with both hands, and tried to swim to a deeper place to explore.

Seeing this, Xu Feifei became even more worried. She anxiously watched Su Huan's location from the shore, fearing that something unexpected might happen.

Then, watching her swim further and further away, his heart sank, and he anxiously called out, "Su Huan, come back! Don't swim so far!"

"Su Huan!" Xu Feifei called her name with all her might.

Su Huan seemed not to hear, and continued swimming away. Xu Feifei was like an ant on a hot pan on the shore, anxiously pacing back and forth.

Xu Feifei walked down the steps, calling Su Huan's name as she went, the water slowly rising above her waist.

When Su Huan heard Xu Feifei calling her, she turned around and saw her standing in the water, shouting, "Su Huan, come back quickly, stop swimming!"

Seeing that she couldn't swim but still went into the water, Su Huan frowned and shouted, "Get ashore quickly, I'll go back right away."

After saying that, he swam towards the shore.

When Xu Feifei saw that she had swum back, her heart was at ease, and she looked much more relaxed.

When Su Huanyou returned, she was a little angry and said, "You can't swim, why did you come down? Do you know how deep East Lake is?"

After hearing Su Huan's words, Xu Feifei retorted softly, "I was so worried about you. How are you? Did you come back to reality for a moment?"

Su Huan lowered her eyes, pursed her lips, and shook her head.

Upon seeing this, Xu Feifei quickly comforted her, "Maybe I was hallucinating at the time. We'll find another way to get back. Don't be discouraged."

"It's alright, I've been stuck here for so long, I'm used to it."

After Su Huan stepped ashore, she wrung out her soaked hair and clothes. A large amount of water dripped through her fingers, instantly wetting the dry ground.

Seeing that she was soaking wet, Xu Feifei asked, "Do you want to come to my dorm to take a shower and change your clothes? My dorm is closer to here."

"No, it's about the same distance. I'm going back now. Call me if you find anything!" Su Huan waved her phone and left.

"Hey..." Just as Xu Feifei was about to follow, her phone rang. She saw that the contact name was Gao Lan.

After Xu Feifei answered the phone, she said, "Mom!"

After a pause on the phone, a barely perceptible sigh came through, and Gao Lan said, "Feifei, are you free this weekend? You haven't been home for a long time, would you like to come home today?"

Looking back, Xu Feifei realized it had indeed been quite a long time since she had returned home, and they rarely contacted each other via WeChat. After all, she wasn't the real Xu Feifei from this world, and subconsciously, she avoided her family there to avoid being discovered.

"What's wrong?" Xu Feifei didn't answer immediately, feeling conflicted about whether or not to go back.

"No, Mom just misses you. I want to know what's been going on at school lately, how you're doing?" A gentle voice came through the phone, tinged with concern.

After hearing this, Xu Feifei felt embarrassed to avoid the question any longer. "Then I'll go back this afternoon?"

Gao Lan was delighted to hear that she was home, and said cheerfully, "Great! Let's have lunch at home?"

"No, no, I'll eat at school first and then come over. I still have some things to take care of here, I'll come over after I'm done."

Xu Feifei didn't want to go back so soon, fearing that the more she talked during dinner, the easier it would be to give herself away, and then it would be game over.

"Okay, then you can ask Xiao Zheng to come and pick you up."

Xiao Zheng is the Xu family's bodyguard; he had picked Xu Feifei up from school before. Xu Feifei thought it was too much trouble, "No need, I can just take a taxi home myself!"

"Okay, be careful on your way back!"

"OK!"

After Xu Feifei finished her phone call with her mother, she checked the time on her phone; it was exactly ten o'clock.

Ten o'clock was a bit awkward; breakfast time had passed, and there was still an hour until lunch. She wondered if the school cafeteria was open at this hour. Xu Feifei walked to the first floor of the cafeteria and saw that breakfast was still being served, and quite a few students were eating at the seats.

Breakfast was served on the first floor, but lunch was being prepared, though still in the process. Xu Feifei didn't want breakfast, so she took the elevator to see if lunch was available on other floors.

Which floor should I go to? She looked at the elevator buttons, thinking about what to eat. Suddenly, Su Huan's words flashed through her mind: You like Chinese food, right? There wasn't a Chinese restaurant on the fifth floor before, it only appeared after you came along.

Xu Feifei decisively selected number 5, pressed the button, and the elevator slowly ascended.

The elevator doors opened with a "ding". Stepping out of the elevator and looking around, I saw that apart from the restaurant staff, there were no other customers on the 5th floor.

Xu Feifei walked into the restaurant, where a waiter greeted her with a smile: "Hello, Miss! Would you like a private room or to dine in the main hall?"

"Are you open for business now? Why aren't there any other students?"

"We open at 10:00 AM sharp, and we haven't had any customers yet!"

"Oh, I see. I can eat in the lobby, but I'll have a window seat."

After understanding the needs, the waiter led the way, saying, "Okay, please follow me this way."

Xu Feifei sat down, opened the menu, and skillfully ordered her favorite dishes before placing the tablet aside. She carefully observed her surroundings, looking for any new clues.

After looking around, they found nothing unusual. Still not giving up, they looked under the table, their hands groping around under the table and chair.

Upon seeing this, the waiter quickly stepped forward and asked, "Miss, did you drop something?"

Xu Feifei sat up straight, feeling a little embarrassed, and shook her head, saying, "No."

"Just call me if you need anything, I'm always here to serve you."

After hearing this, Xu Feifei rolled her eyes and asked, "I'd like to ask, when was this restaurant established?"

"Our restaurant has been here for eight years."

"Eight years?" Xu Feifei asked in confusion. She remembered Su Huan saying that there was no Chinese restaurant here when she came, and an eight-year-old restaurant suddenly appeared out of nowhere in a year and a half.

"Yes."

"What were you selling eight years ago?"

"Eight years ago, this was a Western restaurant, but the owner quit. The school found a new catering company and it became the restaurant it is today."

After hearing these words, Xu Feifei lowered her eyes and fell into deep thought. It seems that things in this world are constantly changing, changing according to the interests of the person who recently entered the novel, and with that, time also changes.

"What's so special about your restaurant? Besides the food, what's it famous for?"

After hearing this, the waiter smiled and said, "Our restaurant's design is quite famous. It was designed by a well-known Chinese architectural design expert, who pays attention to the use of light."

She pointed to a spot around the corner, "If the weather is good, you can see the sun creating a special pattern under its rays..."

When Xu Feifei heard about the "special pattern," her eyes lit up. There might be a way back hidden in it.

So he hurriedly asked, "Can I go over and take a look now?"

The waiter glanced at the sunlight outside and said with some regret, "The sunlight is a bit dim now, and the projected patterns are a little hard to discern; they're rather blurry."

"Ah..." Xu Feifei looked out the window with some disappointment. Indeed, a few gray clouds were floating in the sky, blocking out the sunlight.

"However, there is a video on our official website, and the images in the video are very clear. If you don't mind, you can watch the video first."

"Sure, let me see."

The waiter brought over the tablet used for taking orders, opened the restaurant's website on the school's website, found the video, and handed it to her, saying, "Please take a look."

The patterns in the video changed rapidly with the movement of the sun, and the shadows went from long to short, and then from short to long again.

Xu Feifei looked at the rapidly changing patterns and felt they looked familiar, as if she had seen them somewhere before, but she couldn't remember where.

She frowned and asked, "Do the patterns inside symbolize anything?"

"Yes, that's right. The design is our restaurant's logo; you can check it against the menu." The waiter pointed to the logo on the menu, and sure enough, it was exactly the same.

Upon hearing this, Xu Feifei sighed in disappointment; it was yet another false hope.

Seeing her disappointed expression, the waiter assumed it was due to poor service and quickly asked, "I'm sorry, did my service make you unhappy?"

Seeing her self-reproachful expression, Xu Feifei felt a little embarrassed and awkwardly changed the subject, saying, "No, no, I'm just hungry. When will the food be served?"

Upon hearing this, the waiter quietly breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Okay, I'll serve you your food right away."

A moment later, all the dishes were served.

After finishing her meal, Xu Feifei went back to her dorm. She didn't want to go home so soon, so she lingered in her dorm until 3 a.m. when her mother called to urge her to go, and only then did she take a taxi home.

Standing in front of the Xu family's gate, a sense of foreboding washed over them. The Xu family's villa perfectly matched the design of a domineering CEO's villa in a novel: located halfway up a mountain, with the gate at the foot of the mountain, heavily guarded, and vehicles were prohibited from going up the mountain.

To get home, she has to climb a mountain and cross a garden before she can reach her actual front door.

Last time I went back, I was distracted and thought I could just walk straight to the door. It seems I miscalculated this time.

Looking at the long mountain road, Xu Feifei decisively called Uncle Zhang and asked him to drive down and pick her up.

After she got out of the car, the maid at the door immediately came up to greet her warmly and naturally took her things.

Xu Feifei felt very uncomfortable and quickly dodged away, saying, "No need, no need, I can do it myself."

"Miss, just give it to me. The master and madam are waiting for you in the living room!" The maid took the small bag without further ado and gestured for her to enter.

"Oh, okay." Xu Feifei looked at the open door and felt a pang of panic. Why was her dad back? It seemed like a big commotion. What had happened?

A distance of just over ten meters felt like hundreds of meters to Xu Feifei, leaving her feeling extremely conflicted and at a loss.

Xu Feifei reached her front door, took a deep breath, and tried to bolster her spirits. She was already at the door; she couldn't afford to be a deserter. She had to deal with whatever came her way, step by step, responding to each move as it came.

As she entered, she could faintly hear voices talking. After changing her shoes, Xu Feifei walked towards the living room. She saw her parents talking to another couple, and next to them was a young man typing on his phone with his head down.

"Feifei is back!"

Her mother noticed her presence immediately, and as soon as she spoke, everyone present looked at her.

At this moment, Xu Feifei discovered that the boy was actually the male lead, Nangong Ye!