You shouldn't know
The hallway was quiet, with only the soft sound of a key being inserted into the lock.
Yunxi pushed open the door and stepped aside to let Shixu in. The living room was neat and clean, but several unopened cardboard boxes were piled in the corner, indicating that they had just moved in.
"Would you like something to drink?" She put down her schoolbag and headed towards the kitchen.
"Water is fine," Shixu said.
He stood in the center of the living room, his gaze sweeping over the familiar layout. In previous reincarnations, he had been here many times—sometimes to take her home, sometimes to tutor her, and a few times, to stay with her parents after the incident. But this time, it was in a completely new identity, one he had never experienced before.
Yunxi returned with two glasses of water and handed him one. She sat cross-legged on the sofa, hugging a cushion, and looked at him.
“So,” she broke the silence, “what were we like in those cycles of reincarnation that I… don’t remember?”
Holding the water glass, the icy touch made him more alert.
“Most of the time we’re classmates or friends.” He carefully chose his words. “I’ve tried different ways to approach you, trying to find the best time to get involved.”
"And what about the worst one?" Yunxi asked directly.
Time's fingers tightened slightly. He recalled the nineteenth timeline, when he tried to forcibly alter her course of events, resulting in her prematurely meeting her demise. After that reset, he sat in the empty room for an entire day.
“I’ve messed up before,” he finally said, his voice low.
Yunxi didn't press the matter further. She looked down at the ripples in her water glass and suddenly said, "Yesterday at the convenience store, when you asked me if I needed an umbrella, I was actually a little surprised."
"Why?"
“Because at that moment, a very clear voice in my heart was saying: ‘He will come.’” She looked up, her eyes filled with complex emotions. “I didn’t understand what it meant then, but now I think I do.”
Time remained silent. It turned out that the signs had already appeared so early on.
"Can you tell me?" Yunxi's voice was soft, yet unusually firm, "What exactly is going to happen? What have you been trying to stop?"
Shi Xu met her gaze. There was tension, unease, but even more so, determination. He knew that this was the biggest variable in this cycle of reincarnation—she was no longer a passive recipient, but someone in the know.
"Next Friday, on your way home from school," he said slowly, his voice hoarse, "you will encounter an out-of-control person wielding a knife."
The breath in the gap in the clouds stopped.
“In previous cycles, you…” Time paused, then changed his words, “things always happen. I tried to call the police in advance, tried to lead you down a different path, tried to stop that person myself. But each time, either by some twist of fate you still ended up on that path, or an accident happened at a different time and in a different place. It’s like… fate was determined to make this happen.”
After he finished speaking, a long silence fell over the living room. The sky outside the window had completely darkened, with only the glow of the streetlights filtering through the gaps in the curtains and casting a narrow streak of light on the floor.
Yunxi slowly put down the water glass, her fingers unconsciously picking at the corner of the cushion.
“So,” she finally spoke, her voice trembling slightly, but she tried to remain calm, “this is my ‘predestined fate’?”
“It used to be.” Shi Xu leaned forward, looking intently at her. “But it’s not anymore. Because you remember.”
“What can remembering change?” She looked up, a hint of helplessness in her eyes for the first time. “If, as you say, fate insists on making it happen…”
“Then we’ll face it together.” Shi Xu interrupted her, her tone more resolute than ever before. “This time, two people remember, and two people are trying to find a solution. That’s the biggest difference.”
Yunxi stared at him blankly. After a long while, the panic in her eyes slowly subsided, replaced by a calm that showed she had made up her mind.
"Okay." She only said one word.
Shi Xu took an ordinary notebook out of his bag and opened it. Yunxi saw that it was filled with dense writing, various arrows, and timelines.
"This is……"
"Records of the first fifty-two sessions." Shi Xu pushed the notebook in front of her. "Starting tomorrow, we need to make a plan. But first, you need to know what happened before."
Yunxi reached out and gently stroked the pages. The neat handwriting recorded her unknown "past," and now, she finally had the opportunity to understand and change it.
When she looked up at Shi Xu, she found him quietly watching her, his eyes filled with a relieved glimmer she had never seen before.
“This time it’s really different,” she said.
Time nodded gently.
“Because this time,” he replied, “I am no longer alone.”
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