Reset failed
When Yunxi asked that question, Shixu felt the air around him freeze for a moment.
He had rehearsed the confrontation many times, imagining that she might be scared, think he was crazy, or simply turn around and walk away. But he never expected her to be so calm, as if asking, "How's the weather today?"
“…Many times.” Shi Xu heard his own voice, a little hoarse. He looked into her clear eyes, which held no doubt, only a clear understanding that pierced through the fog. “More than you can imagine.”
Yunxi gave a soft "hmm" and lowered her head, grinding a small pebble on the ground with the tip of her shoe. This subconscious action made Shixu's heart skip a beat—she would do this when she was nervous in the forty-first cycle.
“I guessed so.” She looked up, her tone so calm it didn’t sound like she was talking about something supernatural like reincarnation. “For the past few months, I’ve been having strange dreams. In them, someone keeps talking to me, very urgently, but I can’t hear them. Until yesterday when I saw you in front of the convenience store—the voice in my dream suddenly matched.”
Time remained silent. Several months ago? That was long before the start of this cycle. The timing and depth of the rift exceeded his records.
“So,” Yunxi took two steps forward, then stopped and looked back at him, “what are you planning to do this time?”
The setting sun cast her long shadow, gently resting it on his. Looking at this simple scene, a tension in Shi Xu's heart suddenly eased.
“Let’s move away from here first.” He pointed to the alleyway that made her instinctively wary. “It’s a bit silly to talk standing here.”
Yunxi paused for a moment, then smiled faintly: "Okay."
They continued walking, keeping a half-step distance between them. As they passed that familiar milk tea shop, Shi Xu subconsciously slowed his pace—in previous reincarnations, he knew she liked the taro ball milk tea there.
This subtle pause did not escape the notice of the gap in the clouds.
"Did I...?" she hesitated for a moment, "...used to like drinking the milk tea here?"
Time was stunned.
“The third time,” she said softly, as if talking to herself, “I saw it in a dream. I fell down and scraped my knee, and you bought me this brand of milk tea.”
She's right. That was the third time in the game. She was injured when her schoolbag was snatched, and he bought her milk tea to comfort her when he took her home. But that reset should have erased all of that.
"The speed of memory recovery is accelerating," Shi Xu whispered, more like reminding himself.
By the time I reached the entrance of the residential area, it was already getting dark. The streetlights turned on one by one, casting warm yellow halos in the deepening twilight.
"Would you like to come up and sit for a while?" Yunxi stopped at the entrance of the building, her tone as natural as if she were inviting an old friend. "My parents are working overtime tonight."
Looking at the window on the third floor, lit by a warm yellow light, Shi Xu felt for the first time that the light carried warmth.
"Okay," he said.
As the elevator ascended, neither of them spoke. Shi Xu watched the floor numbers change, when suddenly he heard Yun Xi say very softly:
"This time is different, isn't it?"
As time turned, he met her gaze, which held a hint of inquiry. The elevator's overhead light cast dappled light in her eyes.
"Yes." He nodded. "You'll remember this time."
The elevator arrived with a "ding." As the doors slowly opened, time quietly added:
"This may be our only chance."
Yunxi paused as she was taking out her keys, then nodded slightly.
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