·58｜Exclusive from Jinjiang·58
A copy.
Lai Chuan Huang Quan clung to Hagiwara Kenji's neck, snuggling in his arms and acting coquettishly.
“Miss Huang Quan, you can’t do this,” an elderly woman who claimed to have worked as a maid in the Lai Chuan family for more than ten years said anxiously, wishing she could pull Lai Chuan Huang Quan out of Hagiwara Kenji’s arms. “Hugging and cuddling with a strange man is not allowed.”
Lai Chuan Huang Quan immediately shouted in protest: "He's not a stranger, he's my boyfriend!"
"Miss Huang Quan..."
"Don't touch me, I don't even know you." Lai Chuan Huang Quan turned her head to avoid the old woman's hand, clinging tightly to Hagiwara Kenji and refusing to let go. She turned to Matsuda Jinpei, who was standing by with his hands in his pockets watching the scene unfold: "Officer Matsuda, please help me!"
But Matsuda Jinpei just leaned against the wall and looked up at the clock on the wall: "Your father, Mr. Raikawa, should be arriving soon."
He noticed it as soon as he came in; the man reading the newspaper at the door was most likely from the police department, and his presence here was probably to protect Yomi Yorikawa's personal safety.
As they were talking, footsteps sounded outside the door, and the door was pushed open. Just as Matsuda Jinpei had predicted, Mr. Raikawa stood in the doorway. The man looked worried as he opened the door, then frowned, his face grim as he stared intently at Raikawa Yomi, who was clinging to Hagiwara Kenji.
Mr. Lai Chuan, with a stern face and an imposing presence, said, "Huang Quan, what kind of behavior is this? Get down here!"
Lai Chuan Huang Quan shrank her shoulders from being scolded. She glanced pitifully at Mr. Lai Chuan and shrank even further into Hagiwara Kenji's arms.
Mr. Lai Chuan frowned: "Lai Chuan Huang Quan!"
The sound wasn't loud, but its momentum was overwhelming, like a roaring lion.
Lai Chuan Huang Quan was startled by the shout and immediately bared his teeth, yelling back, "What are you yelling at me for, you old geezer!"
Mr. Lai Chuan was stunned. He never imagined that Lai Chuan Huang Quan, who had been obedient for twenty years, would not only bare his teeth at him, but also dare to call him a stinky old man.
The man following behind Mr. Raikawa—Rei Furuya's direct superior—was also stunned. In all his years of work, not a single person in the entire classroom was unafraid of Mr. Raikawa. When they were reprimanded, they all stood ramrod straight, heads bowed, not daring to utter a sound. The man swallowed hard, cautiously scrutinizing Mr. Raikawa.
Mr. Raikawa is indeed angry!
The usually composed man was so angry that he glared at Lai Chuan Huang Quan, his beard bristling and eyes wide with fury: "You have no manners! Get down here!"
Yomi Laichuan huddled even closer to Kenji Hagiwara before turning her head and sticking out her tongue at Mr. Laichuan, making a face at him.
Mr. Raikawa: !!!
Now, not only the police officers, but even Matsuda Jinpei, who was leaning against the corner of the wall, could feel the oppressive atmosphere emanating from Mr. Raikawa.
Mr. Lai Chuan stared intently at Lai Chuan Huang Quan, his anger building up, but in the end he just rubbed his temples and asked the elderly maid, "Has the doctor come to see me?"
“Yes, Mr. Raikawa,” the old woman said, having worked for the Raikawa family since Mrs. Raikawa was pregnant. The corners of her eyes were etched with the marks of time. “The doctor has examined her and said that Miss Raikawa is perfectly healthy; she may have just been frightened.”
Mr. Lai Chuan pondered for a moment, then gestured for the old woman to leave. He looked at his subordinate behind him and said seriously, "Keep an eye on things outside for me. I have something I'd like to discuss with these young people."
"Yes, Mr. Raikawa."
After the man left, Mr. Lai Chuan took out a small signal jammer from his bag and turned it on. He stopped worrying about Lai Chuan Huang Quan clinging to Hagiwara Kenji and acting cute, and simply pulled out a folding chair and sat down.
Kenji Hagiwara sat on the hospital bed, holding Yomi Raikawa in his arms. Jinpei Matsuda leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. Mr. Raikawa sat on a folding chair by the bed. The three of them formed a triangle.
Mr. Lai Chuan placed his hands, fingers interlaced on his lap, and looked at Lai Chuan Huang Quan with a serious expression: "You are not my daughter, at least not Huang Quan who grew up under my nose."
It's not a question, it's an affirmative statement.
He continued, "But I also have a feeling that you are my real daughter, more so than her."
Mr. Lai Chuan had always believed that his daughter was like an empty shell, lifeless and soulless. But Lai Chuan Huang Quan was different; she was vibrant, and her lively eyes sparkled with light. Mr. Lai Chuan even had an absurd thought: his daughter was just an empty shell, an empty shell whose soul had been taken away.
At this moment, the administrator, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up: "1107, his guess was correct."
The Red-Haired Underworld is just an empty shell.
All three people in the room, including Hagi and Matsu, heard the administrator's voice, except for Mr. Raikawa. But he noticed their pupils contracting simultaneously and quickly concluded: "Are you talking to someone I can't see?"
!!
All three were startled, looked at each other, and remained silent.
Mr. Lai Chuan did not want to dwell on this issue any longer. He frowned and said, "I don't care who you are talking to. I just want an explanation. What exactly happened to my daughter? Who is my real daughter?"
He was like a beast about to be ambushed, veins bulging on the back of his hands, a calm surface concealing a raging fury.
"I..." Lai Chuan Huang Quan had no memory, and she dared not make any rash conclusions. "I seem to be your real daughter."
Mr. Raikawa remained silent, staring intently at Raikawa Yomi, awaiting her explanation.
Lai Chuan Huang Quan scratched her head, waiting for the administrator to give an explanation before relaying it to Mr. Lai Chuan. She had asked the administrator why he didn't communicate directly with Mr. Lai Chuan, but the administrator only paused for a moment, then lowered his voice and said that he didn't really want to talk to Lai Chuan.
"I hate Ryokawa."
This is the administrator's reply.
Seeing this, Lai Chuan Huang Quan could no longer force the issue and instead acted as a messenger, conveying the truth to Mr. Lai Chuan.
Yomi Laichuan truly belongs to this world; she became an employee of the Bureau after making a wish to it. The red-haired Yomi is Yomi Laichuan before she made her wish; the only difference is that the red-haired Yomi had her soul removed; she is an empty shell, a body sustained by the Bureau's programs.
As for the soul that was taken away...
That is Lai Chuan Huang Quan.
Mr. Lai Chuan frowned and looked at Lai Chuan Huang Quan: "Does the Time and Space Administration Bureau arbitrarily extract souls without waiting for people to die naturally?"
"No, the Administration will only attempt to enter into a contract with someone they have their eye on after that person has died."
Not everyone is qualified to become an employee of the Time and Space Administration; one must possess high soul compatibility and be able to travel safely between different worlds. The Time and Space Administration took a liking to Lai Chuan Huang Quan, and thus approached her after her death.
She will work for the Time and Space Administration as an employee in exchange for three wishes.
The wish must be specific; it can't be "to become rich overnight," but you can wish for "to obtain one billion yen within three days." It can't be "to become the best martial artist in the world," but it can be "to learn a specific divine skill." The bigger the wish, the more reward you need to pay.
Lai Chuan Huang Quan made three wishes to the Bureau and became an employee of the Time and Space Administration.
"Can I understand that you signed a contract with the Time and Space Administration after you died?" Mr. Lai Chuan looked at Lai Chuan Huang Quan and said slowly, "If that's the case, why are you an empty shell in this timeline? According to you, shouldn't your soul only be extracted after you die?"
Lai Chuan Huang Quan touched his nose, feeling guilty, and said, "I'm not too sure either, but maybe I can ask the administrator. He knows a lot about me."
The administrator did know why the red-haired Yomi was just an empty shell, but he didn't elaborate. He just gritted his teeth and squeezed out the words: "Because of some damn wish you made!"
The administrator, usually calm and collected, was now like a mountain about to erupt, barely able to contain his emotions. His words were brimming with rage, each syllable uttered through gritted teeth, as if he harbored intense resentment and dissatisfaction towards a certain wish of Lai Chuan Huang Quan.
Lai Chuan Huang Quan subconsciously shrank his shoulders, feeling as guilty as a child who had made a mistake.
But Yomi Yomi of Raikawa doesn't remember her wish.
The past and memories were packed away and discarded together; she remembered nothing about this world.
Mr. Lai Chuan only wanted to confirm whether his daughter was alright. He rubbed his temples and asked, "What's the situation now? Has your soul returned to its place? And what's the situation with your original body?"
The administrator, who had calmed down, sighed and slowly gave Lai Chuan Huang Quan an answer.
"That body is a clone created by the Time and Space Administration."
The Time and Space Administration extracted genes from the red-haired Yomi and used future technology to replicate the body used by Yomi Laichuan. From physical appearance to voice, even fingerprints and DNA, they were completely identical. Like cell division, both bodies belonged to Yomi Laichuan.
The only difference is that Yomi Laichuan's body is stronger and more adapted to various extreme environments.
“But,” Raikawa Yomi pointed to her face, puzzled, “wasn’t it said that the Time and Space Administration created my body as a complete copy? I look very similar to the red-haired Yomi, but there are subtle differences in our facial features, and even our hair color is different. Why is that?”
"The Time and Space Administration replicated you before your death, which is at least three years different from your current self, so there will naturally be subtle differences."
Lai Chuan Huang Quan tilted his head: "Administrator, when did I die?"
The memories he didn't want to recall were forcibly awakened. The administrator slowly exhaled before speaking in a deep voice: "November 14th, the seventh day after Matsuda Jinpei's death."
Kenji Hagiwara, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up: "He committed suicide by jumping off a building, right?"
"Yes."
"Huh?" Lai Chuan Huang Quan was stunned. She looked up at the man whose neck she was hugging. "How did you know? I don't even remember it myself."
Kenji Hagiwara hugged the person in his arms tightly, pressing down on Yomi Laichuan's small face, which was trying to look up at her—he didn't want Yomi Laichuan to see his current expression. Pain, vulnerability.
How would you know?
Because that image was a nightmare he couldn't forget no matter how hard he tried.
Jinpei Matsuda, leaning against the wall, looked up at Kenji Hagiwara, lost in thought.
“Hey Hagi,” Matsuda Jinpei said, “I also dreamed of the scene of Yomi Yomi’s death.”
His deep blue eyes lowered, his brows furrowed slightly, as if recalling: "It wasn't jumping off a building, it was someone covered in blood who turned into a gust of sand in my arms."
Upon hearing this, Kenji Hagiwara frowned and forced a smile, pretending to be relaxed, saying, "Hey, Jinpei, you must have made a mistake. How can a person die twice?"
Matsuda Jinpei stared silently at the woman in Hagiwara Kenji's arms, then said in a deep voice, "Perhaps."
But the administrator's next words silenced both Hagi and Matsu.
He said, "This is the fourth time that Yomi Yorikawa has tried to help you. The scene Matsuda Jinpei dreamed about was something that happened in her previous life."
If the administrator hadn't pulled Yomi Raikawa away at the last moment, she probably would have truly died in Matsuda Jinpei's arms. Unfortunately, Matsuda Jinpei ultimately didn't survive that time. Not because of the bomber, but because Yomi Raikawa, this small butterfly effect, escalated the conflict between the National Police Agency, the Metropolitan Police Department's Public Security Bureau, and the Black Organization.
Task failed, time reset.
Unable to bear the pain of losing her beloved any longer, Yomi Laichuan cried her heart out and begged the administrator to erase her memories.
For Yomi Yorikawa, Kenji Hagiwara and Jinpei Matsuda were both incredibly important, people she wanted to protect no matter what.
While erasing Lai Chuan Huang Quan's memories, the administrator gently stroked her face, feeling heartache, pity, and exhaustion: "1107, perhaps you should change your strategy. Stop trying to tough it out alone. Salvation... should be a joint effort between the rescuer and the rescued."
So when the fourth rescue operation began, the administrator forcibly threw Yomi Laichuan into the alleyway that Kenji Hagiwara would definitely pass by, so that they could meet.
The administrator has assisted Lai Chuan Huang Quan through many worlds, and he understands her, even though her personality has undergone a complete transformation.
The administrator knew that on his first day in this unfamiliar world, Yomi Laichuan would relax and familiarize herself with its workings. He usually allowed her a few days to adjust, but this time he deliberately timed his arrival precisely at the moment of Kenji Hagiwara's death, causing her to frantically land in front of him and become his target.
All the seemingly coincidental encounters were actually manipulated and guided by the administrator behind the scenes.
Long ago, on the full moon night when Kenji Hagiwara confessed his love, Yomi Yoru asked the administrator.
"I feel like you're encouraging me to date that jerk of a police officer."
"I thought you would stop me."
The administrator's reply, though only three words long, contained a great deal of emotion.
"No more."
He tried to stop it, but he won't anymore, never.
[Author's Note]
There will be another update tonight. I wonder if those lucky guys who guessed everything correctly are still around. Congratulations, you guessed it all right.
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