In the laboratory, Ruan Chen held a cup of hot tea, watching another version of herself calmly busy among the instruments.
She only just realized that this wasn't the person she was ten years ago.
Ten years ago, I was being bullied by a group of scumbags at No. 3 High School every day. I never even entered the gate of No. 1 High School, let alone conducted experiments here.
"How...how should I address you?" She was subconsciously a little flustered. The busy girl not far away was too dazzling. She didn't need to do anything; she only needed to stand there quietly to attract everyone's attention.
She led her into the lab, poured her some hot tea, asked her to sit down, gestured for her to wait a moment, and then went back to her own work.
The girl wrote the last entry in the data logbook, put it away, and replied, "My name is Ruan Chen. If you don't know how to address me, you can just call me..."
She glanced out the window and said, "You can call me Ruan Chen from No. 1 Middle School."
Then she reached out, her fair fingertips clean and soft, neatly trimmed.
Ruan Chen from Crescent Bay subconsciously reached out and stood up, "I come from..."
She only managed to utter three words before she suddenly couldn't hear her own voice. She could feel her mouth opening and closing, trying to make a sound, but she couldn't say anything at all.
She saw a look of confusion on Ruan Chen's face from No. 1 Middle School.
The moment their fingertips touched, space collapsed from the point of contact. First, a tiny black dot appeared, then the dot expanded into a black hole, swirling and absorbing things around it.
Both Ruan Chen from different timelines were drawn into the black hole.
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Ruan Chen slumped onto the sofa, her head throbbing so badly she felt like she was going to vomit.
She looked up, her eyes vacant for a long time before she realized she was still in the Fu family home, sitting on the Fu family's sofa.
Yes... Today is Jianzhi's birthday, Fu Jianzhi's thirteenth birthday.
At this moment, she was alone in the living room, and the cake that Fu Chengyu had crushed on the dining table had been cleaned up neatly.
Ruan Chen poured herself a cup of hot water with trembling hands and gulped down half of it in one go.
She seemed to have just been observing the life of another person, "Ruan Chen," as an outsider.
She watched as "Ruan Chen" was bullied in the Ruan family, watched her escape only to fall into another hellhole, and watched the people in the Paradise Hall kill each other.
Finally, "Ruan Chen" traversed the misty wilderness and arrived at Crescent Bay.
Fu Jianzhi came out from inside and picked her up.
She lived with "Ruan Chen" in Crescent Bay for a few more days, experiencing all sorts of incredible things in the Little White Building. Finally, in the experimental building of No. 1 Middle School, her consciousness was forcibly pulled into her own body, which was conducting an experiment. She uncontrollably had a conversation with another version of herself, and finally, the space collapsed.
She felt her consciousness being repelled by a tremendous force and returned to this place.
After experiencing so much, Ruan Chen glanced at the time and realized that only five minutes had passed in the real world.
Fu Chengyu was still cursing and smashing things, as if only five minutes had passed uneventfully. Ruan Chen felt a sense of unreality, even absurdity.
This wasn't the first time she had "seen" another Ruan Chen's life. She had also asked Chi Xiao whether it was a rebirth or a parallel world, and Chi Xiao had given a negative answer each time.
But now Ruan Chen understands that it might be a fork in the timeline—"herself" said something back then, "Hello, Ruan Chen from another timeline."
She took out her phone and started jotting down her thoughts. She knew about Ruan Chen from the tragic world, but when did her fate diverge from Ruan Chen's?
The turning point in her life was when she was eight years old, when she took in Fu Jianzhi, and became an orphan.
In the tragic world, Ruan Chen's turning point was when she was twelve years old and was taken back by the Ruan family... No, Ruan Chen deleted that line. In the tragic world, Ruan Chen's turning point was when she was picked up by Fu Jianzhi in Crescent Bay.
Fu Jianzhi.
Ruan Chen's gaze lingered on the name, two timelines, his own fate and his fate so deeply intertwined.
After making contact with his mental network just now, he "saw" all of this. Didn't Fu Jianzhi see anything?
"Sis, what happened to you just now?"
The boy's soft voice came from behind her. He casually took the water cup from her hand, replaced it with fresh hot water, and put it back.
The boy sat beside her, as if nothing had happened. "Sis, what were you daydreaming about? You sat on the sofa for ages without saying a word. Did Fu Chengyu upset you?"
Ruan Chen looked down at the water glass in her hand, "Didn't you feel anything just now?"
"Oh, you mean the mental network? I just wanted to hear what Fu Chengyu was up to," Fu Jianzhi said frankly. "Sis, were you affected by my mental network? I'm really bad at this, but you surprised me. I feel like you're much better than me."
"I..." Ruan Chen wanted to ask, "You really didn't feel anything just now?"
However, Fu Jianzhi didn't give her a chance to ask that question, and continued to speak on his own, "Alright, sister, I won't hide it from you anymore. Our Fu family has some cooperation with some institutions in China. Our Fu family's mental power is somewhat special. Some equipment and instruments can only be connected to by the mental network of our Fu family members. In my generation, my mental power is the most sensitive to the reaction of those instruments..."
“Alright, that’s enough,” Ruan Chen interrupted him. “This is a secret of your Fu family, you don’t need to tell me.”
"Are you angry?" Fu Jianzhi carefully observed her expression.
"No." Ruan Chen smiled somewhat palely. She was extremely tired at the moment, feeling as if all her energy had been drained.
Having not rested well to begin with, and with all that commotion just now, Ruan Chen felt that her mental energy was severely depleted.
She put down her cup and said, "I'm leaving now. I'm going back to rest."
"Sis, you haven't eaten much yet." Fu Jianzhi stood up, a little awkwardly. "Why don't you rest in the guest room? I'll have the cook make something for you and bring it over later. You can go back after you've rested."
When she said the last sentence, Fu Jianzhi reached out and tugged at Ruan Chen's sleeve, shaking it as if she were being coquettish.
Ruan Chen wanted to refuse, but when she turned to look at the view outside the French windows, a thought struck her, and she asked, "Jian Zhi, you just said that the back is your Fu family's ancestral hall?"
"Yes, it's a cultural relic."
"I wonder... is it convenient for outsiders to visit? I've recently become interested in ancient architecture, and the style of your ancestral hall is very obvious. I'd like to take a closer look."
Fu Jianzhi immediately took Ruan Chen's arm, looking quite happy. "Sure, no problem, but it's settled then. I'll take you to the ancestral hall, so you'll have to stay at our house to rest this afternoon."
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