You on the other side of time

"A life for a life! It's only right!"

As soon as Si Yang pushed open the door, he saw the white paint on it and froze. The wreaths piled up next to him were blown away by the wind in the hallway, and the paper money on them fell down in a flurry, pelting his face.

He suddenly turned to the side to steady the toppled wreath, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw his younger sister, Si Chuying, behind him, biting her lip tightly. Her eyes, which used to be bright and sparkling, were now filled with death.

"elder brother……"

Si Chuying slowly extended her hand, the scratches on her wrist oozing blood, starkly visible. "They said...they said I'm a murderer. Brother, I didn't...I really didn't push her into the river, I was trying to save her..."

Before she could finish speaking, she broke down, covered her face, and cried uncontrollably.

Si Yang looked at the house, which had been turned upside down by the accident. He raised his hand and gently touched his sister's head. "Yingying, don't be sad. Your brother will find evidence and let everyone know that we are innocent."

Si Chuying remained silent, simply sitting at the doorway and shaking her head frantically.

After his mother, Xu Qingwan, helped Si Chuying back to her bedroom, Si Yang slumped onto the floor. The scene from two weeks ago uncontrollably replayed in Si Yang's mind.

On March 9th, at Jiuyanqiao in Jinchuan City, the night of the power maintenance, it was so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. There were no people coming and going, and you couldn't even hear any voices around.

He and Si Chuying, who had just finished their evening self-study session, witnessed child traffickers snatching a child. Without thinking, he rushed forward, and Si Chuying followed closely behind, engaging in a struggle with the traffickers. In the chaos, the child was cruelly thrown into the river by the traffickers.

In that instant, Si Yang didn't hear any splashing sound. Even when he rushed to the bridge at top speed, he didn't see the struggling little figure, not even a ripple. By the time the police arrived, the human traffickers had already fled, leaving only the poor mother who staggered and collapsed on the ground. After being admitted to the hospital, she remained unconscious due to excessive grief.

Because the power outage for maintenance had cut off the surveillance cameras, and there were no eyewitnesses, the child who fell into the river was never found. Public opinion continued to escalate, and the rescue was instantly turned into "intentional injury," with people around spreading rumors that he and Si Chuying had pushed the child into the river.

Si Yang, a senior majoring in cultural relics at Jinchuan University, had his postgraduate recommendation announcement withdrawn by the university on the third day.

Her mother, Xu Qingwan, was a professor in the Archaeology Department of Jinan University, but she was forced to suspend her duties and stay at home.

Si Xingbin, the father, had been an honest man in a state-owned enterprise for half his life. For the first time, he had a crooked idea and tried to suppress public opinion.

His younger sister, the high school senior who always said, "My brother will hold up the sky if it falls," is now too afraid to even go to school...

Ding--

Si Yang's thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of his cell phone; it was his childhood friend, Wen Jinxin.

After the call connected, Wen Jinxin couldn't wait to ask, "Brother Yang, how is Ying doing now?"

Si Yang sighed and turned his gaze to the door: "Still the same old story, silent and unwilling to go to school. Senior year is such a crucial time, and the rumors outside are driving her crazy. It's not just gossip; today someone even piled up wreaths at the door. I finally managed to persuade her to go to school, but when she saw this scene, she completely broke down..."

"Are these people crazy? Instead of going after the human traffickers, they're blaming the good Samaritan. Who will dare to help in the future?!" Wen Jinxin gritted his teeth in anger. "Yingmei used to be a cheerful, talkative girl who said that if the sky fell, her two older brothers would hold it up, but now..."

In this peaceful and prosperous time, Si Yang initially thought it was a family dispute and went forward to try to stop it. But by the time he realized what was happening, the child traffickers had already snatched the child, and there was no time to call the police.

"It's my fault. Everything happened too coincidentally. There was no time to call the police. If only I had reacted faster that day..."

"It's not your fault at all!" Wen Jinxin interrupted him abruptly. "But the river is only half a meter deep during the dry season, and the child is over a meter tall. It's not flowing water. Even if the traffickers threw him into the river, how could he just disappear like that? Yang-ge, something's not right, something's really not right."

"The strangest thing is that there were no signs of a child falling in Hanoi. Every word I wrote in my statement is true, but even I find it unbelievable. That's probably why, even though the police issued a statement saying we were acting bravely and trying to suppress the rumors, things just kept getting out of hand."

Si Yang thought about it over and over. But apart from encountering a girl wearing Jinchuan No. 7 Middle School clothes in an alley far before crossing the bridge that day, there was not a single clue.

"To put it bluntly, some people just can't stand our family being so outstanding. Sometimes when things are going too smoothly, some people are too idle, and some people are just jealous and will seize any opportunity to smear us," Wen Jinxin sighed, and then added, "By the way, I've passed the auxiliary police exam now, so I'll keep an eye on some cases for you from now on."

"Come on, you're just a traffic cop/auxiliary officer, you have no jurisdiction over criminal investigations." Si Yang interrupted ruthlessly. "Since the incident, the child's mother has been basically unconscious and unable to give a statement, so the matter is stuck. We ourselves have a clear conscience, but without other evidence, we'll be drowned in the spittle of those who don't know the truth sooner or later. I can handle it, but I'm really dragging Yingying down with me."

His biggest worry was that everyone outside was saying the woman was a single mother and that her child was her lifeblood. But now the child was nowhere to be found, neither alive nor dead. Even if she did wake up, she would probably only hate them and wouldn't testify. Only by catching the human traffickers could he perhaps prove his innocence, but even the police were clueless. Where could an ordinary person like him find any clues?

"Brother Yang, don't worry, I don't think you did anything wrong! These days, sometimes you have to prove your innocence when you help an elderly person, but if I really encountered something like this, I would still rush in!"

Wen Jinxin said firmly, "Isn't Uncle Si on very good terms with Director Tang? They'll figure it out. You just focus on yourself and Yingmei, don't worry about anything else."

"The driver is still out there pulling strings and hasn't come home yet. The law hasn't convicted us, and even the police think we were acting bravely. Do these people think they can judge us just by talking?"

Si Yang stared out the dark window. During these past few nights, he had clearly heard whispers and pacing in the living room. His parents appeared calm on the surface, but inside they were frantic with worry.

"...Oh, it's time for me to go and relieve you. Keep an eye on Yingmei for me. I'll call you back tomorrow."

Wen Jinxin abruptly hung up the phone. Si Yang then tossed his phone onto the sofa, feeling helpless and powerless because his impulsiveness had caused his sister to suffer innocently.

He knew his sister too well. Although she stubbornly refused to say it, her heart was already filled with self-blame, blaming herself for being too slow to react and for not protecting the child. She didn't blame Si Yang for being too impulsive, nor did she consider her own feelings at all.

With the clearing of his name imminent, Si Yang knew he couldn't just wait for the rumors to fester; he had to take action himself. He turned and grabbed his coat, walking alone to the bridge to see if he could find any new clues.

As Wen Jinxin said, the three-day power maintenance work was completed in one day after the accident. Now the lights are on, but no one dares to leave.

He propped himself up on his wrists, preparing to sit along the edge of the bridge and observe the water below the Nine-Eyed Bridge, but suddenly lost his balance and crashed straight into the river.

In the last second before his consciousness faded, Si Yang saw endless darkness, but heard a silvery female voice in his ears. Then, he felt his leg trip over something, and the feeling of weightlessness suddenly disappeared.

"Hey classmate, are you alright? I was memorizing my tour guide lines and didn't see you..."

Si Yang looked up abruptly, and directly in front of him was a long-haired girl with her hair down. Under the streetlight, the girl was wearing the uniform of Jinchuan No. 7 Middle School, and she was tightly clutching a booklet in her hand.

He instantly remembered the same school uniform that appeared at the alley entrance the night of the incident. He struggled to his feet, grabbed the other person's wrist, and said excitedly, "Was that you, the girl in the alley two weeks ago? I've finally found you! Did you see...?"

The girl's eyes widened, and she immediately broke free from his grasp without saying a word, then quickly ran away.

"Oh no!" Si Yang slapped his thigh in frustration. He hadn't even gotten a good look at the other person's face. "I was too reckless just now, I scared them!"

Si Yang looked around and realized that he was still standing on the bridge, wearing a short-sleeved shirt.

The watch on my wrist showed the date: June 8th.

He froze for a few seconds, his heart pounding. He had somehow traveled back nine months.