evening.

Xia Yan was cooking in the kitchen.

Qin Luo felt somewhat lost. As he left home, the setting sun cast its golden rays on his shoulders, giving him a heavy feeling.

The river flowed gurglingly. Qin Luo came to the riverbank and sat alone on the steps, lost in thought.

"Cough cough."

A coughing sound came from behind me.

Qin Luo turned around and saw his grandfather walking over with his yellowed old pipe. "Grandpa."

Grandpa sat down next to Qin Luo. He was usually stern and rarely spoke to the younger generation. "Is something bothering you? Tell Grandpa."

Normally, Qin Dahai would yell at Qin Luo whenever he saw him lounging by the river. But today, he noticed that Qin Luo seemed unhappy and thought he had been wronged, so he came over to ask him about it.

"Grandpa, do you have any regrets?"

Yes, there are too many.

Grandpa took out a bag full of tobacco leaves.

What is your biggest regret?

Grandpa's hand trembled as he rolled his cigarette, and ripples appeared in his eyes, which were like dry wells. "Your father was very smart when he was young, and he did well in school. There weren't many people in the village who went to school back then. I felt that blacksmithing was better than studying. We couldn't lose our family's craft, so I made him drop out of school and come home with me to work as a blacksmith. But he wasn't cut out for it. Later, your father ran away from home and suffered a lot. If I had sent your father to school back then, maybe he wouldn't have had to suffer so much now."

"Grandpa, if you had the chance to choose again, would you send my dad to school?"

"Won't."

Grandpa's answer was straightforward.

Qin Luo asked, somewhat puzzled, "Why?"

Grandpa's usually serious face broke into a rare smile. "Grandpa doesn't want to lose you. I can only feel sorry for your father in this life. You can't have your cake and eat it too."

At this moment, Qin Luo finally understood why his grandfather had traveled over mountains and valleys to the city to buy a bicycle.

"Blacksmith, please mend my pot."

"They're here."

Grandpa stood up, his small frame appearing much larger than Qin Luo's. "Little Luo, no matter what difficulties we encounter, we must bravely move forward."

"Uh-huh."

Qin Luo suddenly understood. His grandfather was right; to gain something, you must inevitably lose something else.

To change the future, one must kill the past. Qin Luo's consciousness appeared in his sea of ​​consciousness. He looked at the still weak soul deep within his sea of ​​consciousness and said softly, "You must learn to accept everything that happens and live well."

Qin Luo didn't make things difficult for himself. He opened his eyes and immediately felt the vastness of the world. Night had fallen, and the brilliant, boundless starry sky was reflected in the water. He could hear the cicadas chirping in the summer night, and fireflies were dancing in the fields.

"The sky is high and the earth is vast, making one realize the infinity of the universe; joy ends and sorrow comes, making one understand the cyclical nature of fullness and emptiness."

In an instant, Qin Luo stopped dwelling on the past and the future. He smelled the aroma of food, got up, and went home.

Dinner was as plentiful as ever, featuring steamed sea bass, Kung Pao chicken, shredded potatoes with green peppers, cucumber salad, and egg drop and seaweed soup—all dishes that Qin Luo and her sister enjoyed.

"I'm back!"

Qin Xi ran home, her face beaming with joy, and exclaimed, "Wow, it's my favorite shredded potatoes!"

Qin Luo wanted to help serve the rice, but when he got to the pressure cooker, he realized he couldn't lift his left hand.

"I'll do it."

Qin Xi opened the pressure cooker, and a rich aroma of rice instantly filled the room. She sniffed it and said crisply, "It smells so good, Xiao Luo, do you want some crispy rice?"

"Have some."

Qin Luo nodded with a smile.

"Give!"

Qin Luo took the rice his sister served him. On top of it was a large piece of golden-brown, crispy rice crust. He brought the bowl to his lips and took a bite of the crust. It was crunchy and became more and more fragrant with each chew.

At the dinner table, Qin Xi and Xia Yan chatted about interesting things at school, while Qin Luo quietly ate his food.

Qin Xi suddenly looked at Qin Luo, somewhat puzzled, "Xiao Luo, you're usually the most talkative one, always asking 'why,' why aren't you saying anything today?"

"yes."

"Is something on your mind?" Xia Yan also noticed that Qin Luo was acting strangely.

Qin Luo grinned and said, "I'm fine. I was just wondering which came first, the chicken or the egg."

"Ah, this..."

Xia Yan looked at Qin Xi.

Qin Xi raised an eyebrow and said confidently, "The chicken must have come first. Without the chicken, there would be no eggs."

"But chickens hatch from eggs. Without eggs, where would chickens come from?" Qin Luo retorted.

"this……"

Qin Xi's brows furrowed deeper and deeper.

Qin Luo grinned and said, "Sister, let's eat first, and we can think about it later."

Xia Yan smiled and said, "As long as you read more books, you will definitely know the answer in the future."

After dinner, Qin Xi volunteered to wash the dishes, while Xia Yan continued embroidering the painting "Harmony Brings Prosperity to the Family."

Although Qin Luo was reluctant to leave, he knew he couldn't stay in the wrong time forever.

"mom."

Xia Yan raised her head.

Qin Luo wanted to say something, but ultimately couldn't utter a word. He collapsed with a smile on his face.

"Xiao Luo!"

Xia Yan hurriedly came to Qin Luo's side.

Qin Luo's consciousness left his body from when he was a child.

Qin Xi ran out when she heard the commotion. She looked at Qin Luo in her mother's arms and asked, "Xiao Luo, what's wrong?"

Xia Yan pinched Qin Luo's philtrum, and after a short while, Qin Luo opened his eyes. His eyes were filled with tears, and he pursed his lips, saying weakly, "Mom, my hand hurts so much."

"Where does it hurt?"

"My left shoulder hurts."

Thinking about what happened last night, Qin Xi blamed himself and said, "Mom, it's all my fault. My brother fell from the big locust tree last night, and that's probably when he got hurt."

"Xixi, it's okay."

Xia Yan didn't blame Qin Xi. She touched Qin Luo's forehead and tried to remain calm. "Xiao Luo, don't be afraid. Mom will take you to see a doctor right now."

With Qin You not home, Xia Yan could only carry Qin Luo to the town's health center. She comforted Qin Luo in her arms while also comforting Qin Xi, who was beside her, so that she wouldn't blame herself.

Qin Luo stood near the big locust tree, watching them walk further and further away, "I will definitely come back."

As Qin Luo drifted further and further away from his childhood self, the world before him became blurred. He saw that the surface of his feet had turned into smooth water, in which all things in heaven and earth were reflected. The world in the water was like a still painting.

Qin Luo took a small step forward, and the reflection in the water underwent a dramatic change.

"Is this the river of time?"

Qin Luo gazed at the river of time and saw the scene of his father's car accident. It was a night after a heavy rain. Rocks rolled down and hit the truck where Qin You was, trapping him in the cab. A passing driver risked his life to rescue him and took him to the hospital for treatment.

After Qin You was discharged from the hospital, he told Qin Luo about this incident. Therefore, Qin Luo would try his best to help anyone who needed help. A thick fog appeared on the River of Time not far away.

Because of the dense fog, Qin Luo couldn't see the scenes in the River of Time. He wanted to know why he had traveled through time, so he resolutely walked into the fog to find the answer.

As Qin Luo stepped into the thick fog, the river of time before his eyes became distorted, and all the scenery became blurry. He vaguely saw two rivers of time. "The river of time has split in two. No, these are two rivers of time."