My girlfriend is from the future!

(This chapter is dedicated to my reader "Not a Heartless Person_Rather Be a Cool Little Dog")
(Background music: David Tao - Butterfly)
Before the third chime, the rooftop clock tower.

Looking at Sui Chulang, who was still venting his anger at the camera not far away, Luo Que finally managed to stop laughing. He then looked at He Tianran, who was standing beside him with a constant smile, and deliberately asked:
"Director He, you and Brother Sui have both tried, so do you think I'll be the one who ends up succeeding?"

"That's really hard to say."

He Tianran shrugged indifferently. Perhaps because the recording was coming to an end, the group had lost hope of catching the train. Coupled with a busy day, they were now relaxed and at peace.

"Now Sui and I both know who it is, but we don't know your answer. Tell us, there's no need to hide it now, is there?"

Having finished his outburst, Sui Chulang, filled with curiosity, walked over and continued:

"Could it be Teacher Wen Liang? I have a feeling that our initial pairing was deliberately arranged according to our initial choice."

Luo Que denied it, saying, "If it were deliberately arranged, we wouldn't have rung the bell in the end but then not been able to, right?"

"That's true."

"So, Director He, will you reveal your answer?"

Actually... there's no answer.

He Tianran took out the brand name tag from his pocket, Luo Que took it and opened it, and Sui Chulang also hurriedly came over. The two heads were close together, and then they looked confused.

"Wait... Director He, you didn't write anything on this?! Then why were you in such a hurry to be the first to ring the bell? I thought you were confident and wanted to make the final decision!"

Luo Que, sitting on the ground, flipped the blank name tag over and held it up with both hands so that the photographer could take a close-up shot.

"I can't choose someone with my name on their name tag as my partner. Otherwise, the name tag will be invalid, and even if we successfully choose each other, it won't work. I can only choose someone who didn't choose me, but..."

At that moment, the photographer handed a marker from his pocket, saying, "You can write now."

“See…” He Tianran took the pen and then took the blank name tag back from Luo Que’s raised hand. He said helplessly, “This is rather annoying. I can’t choose the person who chose mine. I can only choose the person whose name I didn’t write. But the good thing is that I can choose later. Once I’ve chosen, it will be valid. It’s like a life-saving charm.”

Sui Chulang understood and began to offer suggestions: "That's good too. I think of the three people on the platform right now, Su Xiaotong definitely didn't write your name down..."

Luo Que interrupted again, saying, "That's not necessarily true. Director He is, after all, Xiao Su's boss. If her boss comes on the show, she has to make a good impression."

"You just said that other people are my fans and will definitely write about me!"

"That's all possible~"

"Wow, Brother Que, you're such a fickle person... Director He is your boss, have you written about him?"

"Hahaha... Let's not talk about these embarrassing topics... After all, I really did write it, hahahahaha!"

Ignoring their playful banter, He Tianran walked to the stone railing on the rooftop, placed the name tag on it, held a marker in his hand, stared at the blank space, and hesitated to write anything.

The cameraman who had been filming him received instructions from the director's team through his earpiece, saying:

Haven't you made up your mind yet?

"Think about it."

"Is this Teacher Wen Liang?"

The director's instructions were clearly to ask "who it is," but the cameraman blurted out a name instead.

It's not really his fault. He had captured too many shots that he couldn't possibly include in the final cut. He kept thinking about it and then said it out loud without thinking.

He probably realized he had made a mistake and was about to change his words when He Tianran spoke first:
"She won't choose me."

"……Why?"

"Because she is not someone who is willing to stand still and wait to be chosen."

Compared to his hesitant hand gestures, He Tianran's verbal response came much faster.

"But at first, she was indeed waiting for you or Teacher Sui in Niujiao Alley, it just so happened that you arrived first."

The man smiled but did not answer the question.

"Well... since you're certain she didn't choose you, then write her name now, and you'll win."

"But I'm also proud. You didn't choose me, so why should I choose you?"

The photographer was truly exasperated with these two; what on earth were they trying to do?

He Tianran glanced at the staff member who had been with him all day, then smiled and shook his head.

"She doesn't need my help with winning or losing. If I help her, it will only spoil her fun..."

As He Tianran spoke, he seemed to be in a playful mood, putting down his pen and starting to fold the name tag back and forth with both hands.

"How can you be sure she'll win in the end and get on that train? Do you even know who she wrote about?"

"I'm not sure, I don't know, but the most important thing is that she's happy... Sigh, have you guys decided on what background music to use for the ending of this episode?"

The photographer was completely bewildered by his abrupt change of topic. What was going on here? Director He's train of thought was too unpredictable! Besides, as a cinematographer, he had no control over the post-production editing.

"When the world is ready to abandon me, like a wounded soldier left alone in the wilderness..."

Before the photographer could react, He Tianran had already started humming a few lines of lyrics. His hands folded the paper in an orderly fashion, and soon, a name tag the size of an A4 sheet of paper was folded into a paper airplane.

"I've started to doubt the meaning of my existence. In other people's eyes, I seem to have become invisible. Is failure something I can never recover from? Who will save my fallen soul?"

It was an old song by David Tao, a typical R&B tune, which he sang with deliberately convoluted and eccentric vocals, making it sound somewhat comical.

As he sang, he finally wrote something on the wing of the paper airplane, but it was more like he drew something than wrote...

Before the camera could even move away from his face, the camera showed him glancing at his watch and asking:

"I only have 15 minutes left, is that enough time for me to ring the bell one more time?"

"...Okay, but you'll be eliminated if you do that. Just write down any name you want, even if neither of the two teachers here wrote yours. As long as you write theirs, you win!"

"what--"

The photographer, in a panic, looked away from the viewfinder and focused solely on the contents of the paper airplane, muttering a reminder. But the next second, he saw He Tianran, who ignored his warning, nonchalantly blow on the paper airplane, and then deftly flick his finger forward.

The paper airplane instantly took flight, soaring into the boundless sky...

"There's something I need to ask you."

"Wha...what?"

He Tianran patted the photographer on the shoulder and said solemnly:
"I don't think my answer to that question was cool enough, ask me again."

"What...are you asking?"

"It's the part where I was so sure she could win."

"Oh, wow, wow, that's good... Why are you so sure Wen Liang can win?"

In the shot, He Tianran grinned, backing away step by step, saying:

"Because I said, old classmate, please believe me, in this world of memory loss and gradual collapse, if my heartbeat can be your ticket to escape to heaven, then..."

He placed two fingers of his right hand together on his forehead, near his eyebrows, and then flicked them forward, looking radiant.

"Then I will go without hesitation and be willing to pay for your soul's fuel."

He turned and walked toward the clock tower. Luo Que and Sui Chulang walked toward him, seemingly asking him something, but the camera could no longer capture their voices as they asked what they were asking. In the next moment, the final, powerful sound of destiny echoed from the clock tower, causing the paper airplane that had been heading into the sky to spin slightly and fly higher.

……

……

"Woo-woo-woo-huff ...

The old train moved slowly, its white steam billowing out in the molten gold of the sunset. The massive steel connecting rods pushed the rolling wheels wildly, each impact with the rails producing a heavy and resolute clang, like a pounding heartbeat.

The setting sun's rays, filtered through the dusty glass windows, were transformed into a thick amber hue, slowly flowing back and forth across a simple small table where two women sat facing each other. As the train moved forward, the light and shadow flickered, sweeping across the faces and bodies of the two women.

"I never expected that we both lied, but in the end we still won."

Bai Lingye placed the nameplate with the words "Wen Liang" written on it on the small table.

Another woman, already slumped over the table, stared listlessly at the nameplate bearing her own name. She tossed a strand of her sun-drenched hair across the table and said languidly:
"I just don't want to be passively chosen by others. There's no difference between staying in the same place and not doing anything. I believe you can understand my feelings, right?"

"At first I wanted to choose Director He, but then I thought, whether it's variety shows, work or life, in the end you have to rely on yourself."

"Agree!"

Wen Liang propped herself up from the table, the two women looked at each other for a second, and then burst into laughter.

They exchanged name tags on the eve of the third chime.

Fortunately, they had both written their own names on their name tags. According to the show's rules, if the bell rang and both of them were on the platform, that pair would be the first to board the train and survive together.

As they were laughing, suddenly, a slender white shadow, swept up by a stronger gust of air outside the train, accelerated sharply at an angle, briefly catching up with the train and flying parallel to the window for a fleeting moment.

It was like a reckless intruder into the world outside the window, drawing an elegant and lonely arc in the warm, golden light.

Inside the carriage, Wen Liang was completely captivated by this abrupt creation. Her gaze unconsciously followed the fleeting white figure, as if drawn by an invisible force. She suddenly stood up, her skirt swaying slightly with the sudden movement...

The brilliant sunset shone through the glass, bathing half of her face and hair in a dazzling gold. The silhouette of the plane flying outside the window was reflected deep within her suddenly bright pupils, as if two small, leaping flames had been ignited there as well.

She chased after it for a short distance, from her window to the junction of the two carriages, as if this futile pursuit could prolong the miracle.

Until the flying figure was swept backward by an irresistible airflow, rapidly shrinking and finally disappearing into the vast twilight, until it completely transformed into a point of light at the edge of the field of vision, merging into the color of the setting sun.

"Paper airplane?"

Bai Lingye followed and stood behind Wen Liang, looking out.

"It's a butterfly!"

"what?"

"It's a butterfly! There's a butterfly drawn on that paper airplane!"

The wind blew her cool, long hair, and as she smoothed the messy strands, she responded loudly and excitedly, her gaze intense.

No one understood the meaning behind that sentence, no one understood what that butterfly represented...

but,
She understands!

Before she could even take a breath, Wen Liang leaped off the train amidst the shocked gazes of Bai Lingye and all the staff on board!

Her skirt fluttered, her arms were raised, like a dancing butterfly.

The sightseeing train was destined to be slow. After landing, Wen Liang stumbled a few times, looked back at Bai Lingye as she walked away, waved, and revealed an extremely flamboyant and bright smile, waving vigorously.

Left behind in the car and driving away alone, Bai Lingye seemed to understand something, and shouted with a laugh:
"Didn't you say you didn't want to be passively waited for others to choose you?"

Watching the receding figure, Wen Liang clasped her hands to her mouth and shouted in unison:
"If someone firmly chooses me, I will rush towards him without hesitation!"

Every time I see you, I feel so peaceful, like a butterfly fluttering over ruins.

I can live again, I've regained my courage. Your love is like oxygen, helping me breathe. I can breathe again.

I can breathe again, I can breathe again...

……

……

"How much longer do we have to walk? The sun will set before we know it."

At the other end of the railway, He Tianran walked along the tracks listlessly, because he was the only person eliminated in this episode. The production team said that this was his END shot, which meant returning to the apocalypse and heading towards the unknown.

The photographer who was assigned to follow him all day was really unlucky. Carrying his equipment, he was much more tired than He Tianran. After confirming the instructions in his earpiece again, the photographer complained.
"Let's go. The production team didn't call us back, they just kept making me film. I don't even know what we're filming anymore."

"Yeah, this place is all bare, I can't do anything here. Do you expect me to act like I'm lying on the train tracks? Let's go back early, didn't you say we were going to film a few more scenes at the mansion?"

"Okay... then, I'll film your back view again, and I won't move. Director He, you can just walk forward by yourself. I'll call you back when it's done."

"Okay, okay, okay..."

He Tianran tossed aside the withered grass in his hand, put his hands in his pockets, and saw the young man fix the camera on the ground. He let out a breath, turned around, and walked forward on his own.

To make his back look less颓废 (颓废 is a difficult word to translate directly, but it implies a sense of listlessness, apathy, or dejection), He Tianran deliberately straightened his back and increased his stride slightly.

And so, this is what happened in the shot—

The setting sun casts its rays upon the railway tracks, making them appear as two burning iron lines stretching towards the twilight horizon.

The silhouette of a man is slowly moving along the sleepers, his steps heavy, his shoulders bearing an unspeakable loneliness, as if he were a lonely soul abandoned by the train that roared past.

"Tap, tap, tap... tap tap tap tap—"

Suddenly, the silence of the wilderness was broken by the roar of an engine that grew louder as it approached.

Unlike the rumble of a train, it began with a soft hum of hooves, which quickly grew into a resolute roar of freedom.

He Tianran suddenly turned around.

Against the backdrop of the sweeping, rosy light, a silhouette is tearing through the horizon—

It was a retro American cruiser motorcycle, ridden by a girl whose long hair flew freely in the wind, and who was surrounded by a dazzling halo.

The girl had just chased a paper airplane in the train carriage, but now she was riding an even faster vehicle to chase after a lost person.

With a swift drift, the motorcycle came to a steady stop in front of the man, cutting off the loneliness ahead.

With one foot planted firmly on the ground, Wen Liang ripped off her helmet. In an instant, her long hair cascaded down like a waterfall, ignited by the setting sun, and danced like a brilliant flag.

Didn't I tell you to wait for me at the ticket gate?

"I'm afraid you'll really break my legs."

"Why would I hit you if you weren't leaving? You're trying to run away without saying goodbye again, aren't you!"

"It was the production team that made me..."

"Where do you get so many excuses from!"

"I'm out of time. I'll be eliminated after two more rings of the bell. I have no choice. We have to follow the rules, right?"

"You didn't have time, why didn't you tell me?"

"No, are you being reasonable? How are you going to leave if I don't ring the bell?"

"Did I say I wanted to win? Did I say I wanted to leave? He Tianran! Can you please stop being so self-righteous?!"

Wen Liang was slightly out of breath, her cheeks flushed from the rush, and tiny beads of sweat appeared on the tip of her nose, as if she had traversed the weight of the entire twilight...

Just to get here, to become someone's destination.

Life is full of messy problems, like walking through a maze with no exit.
You always use excuses to avoid me, how come you've never truly given up on me?

What have I done to deserve your cherishing? Why do you grant my every request?

The man scratched his head and asked, "So... what do we do now?"

The woman stared at him stubbornly, without saying a word, as if she were aggrieved or sulking, her eyes gradually filling with tears.

"Okay, okay... let's stop, let's stop..." Seeing that things were not going well, He Tianran immediately went around behind Wen Liang and straddled the back of the motorcycle. "Let's go together. Wherever you go, I'll go. Is that okay?"

"Get off me!"

The girl swayed the front of the car and her waist, while He Tianran, now like a persistent leech, grinned and said:
"No, I thought I was going to be eliminated and walk along this railway alone forever. Now that someone has come to pick me up, I'm not letting go."

"Don't lie to me..."

"I kid you not."

You love to lie!

"I'm not lying, I'm only lying today for the show! Let's go!"

Loving someone like me isn't easy for you; you've also experienced my pain.
You are the only one who will accompany me through heaven and hell. Every time I think of you...

Like seeing a butterfly fly over ruins after the rain, I can hold on; I will forget the past.
You gave me a new life...

Wen Liang bit her lower lip, and as if holding her breath, twisted the throttle. The motorcycle, like an awakened beast, suddenly shot off with the two of them on it. It no longer followed the predetermined, parallel track, but arrogantly rushed off the roadbed and plunged into the boundless wilderness, which was painted like a golden ocean by the sunset.

The earth trembled beneath the wheels, wild grass swayed and brushed against them, scattering golden fragments, while the wind howled freely past their ears.

Their speed increased, as if they would never intersect with that world with its predetermined trajectory again. In the footage, they transformed into a leaping point of light at the boundary between heaven and earth, not swallowed by the setting sun, but actively and joyfully merging into that most vast expanse of light...

"Hey, where are you going—?"

"It's definitely not going to be the next stop in my life—!!!"

"What—? What did you say—?"

"I said, I can carry you all the way to the next world—!!"

Their conversation faded into the distance, leaving behind only a trail of billowing dust, a symbol of farewell and rebirth. (End of Chapter)