You on the other side of time

Si Yang stretched, his elbow bumping against the headboard, causing the blanket to sway slightly. Relying on muscle memory, he subconsciously reached out and caught the coin that was about to fall.

Yes, he's back.

He brought his phone to his eyes. Just as he had guessed, today was August 8th, a month earlier than before. His brain was still stuck on the previous correct timeline. Before he could recover, a series of chaotic guzheng sounds came from the next bedroom.

"Si Chuying, keep your voice down!" Si Yang yelled, then sat up and turned off the air conditioner. He pulled out a white T-shirt and light blue jeans, put them on, patted the wrinkles off the clothes, and quietly opened the door.

He had just stepped out when the door to the next room was flung open with a "whoosh." Si Chuying stood by the door, hands on her hips, looking quite serious. "Why don't you just wear earplugs to sleep? Why are you as annoying as Lao Xu? My voice isn't even 70 decibels. 70 decibels is considered noise, okay? Don't you know any common sense?"

Si Yang understood, of course. Old Xu was just trying to get Si Chuying to study hard and take the normal college entrance exam route. This girl was clearly a top student, her grades were more than enough to get her into a top university, but she insisted on throwing herself into the guzheng, even justifying it by saying, "You still have to have dreams, otherwise what will you talk about with others when you're drunk?"

Old Xu has always been the one in charge at home. Whenever she's home, the moment Si Chuying starts playing the piano, she'll clutch her head and complain of a headache. Old Si, of course, understands perfectly and will immediately try to persuade Si Chuying indirectly: "Yingying, focus on your studies first. You can deal with these fancy things later."

So it's obvious that since Si Chuying can now openly practice the piano at home, the middle-aged couple is probably not home again.

"The guzheng's penetrating power is very strong; it can't be explained in decibels, okay?" Si Yang actually supported his sister's dream. It's just that these few times he traveled back and forth between timelines, he would be in a daze for a while after waking up each time. He desperately needed a quiet environment to calm down and sort out those messy clues.

"Here, this is for you." Si Chuying pulled out two round, soft white balls and handed them to him. Although her tone wasn't as intense as before, it still carried a hint of impatience. "Earplugs made of flour. I'm giving you something this nice, can you just shut up?"

"Wow, what the heck..." Si Yang took the two white, round lumps, a little bewildered. He had seen plenty of dough figurines, they were everywhere in Kuanzhai Alley in Jinchuan City, but this was the first time he had ever seen them used as earplugs.

He originally wanted to argue with Si Chuying, but when he thought about how the so-called "accident" had turned his sister into a "walking corpse," his heart softened instantly. If she could always be as carefree and noisy as she was now, he would be willing to be bullied by her for the rest of his life.

The rebuttal that was on the tip of her tongue was abruptly changed, "...It's quite creative."

"I don't have that kind of brain. This was made by Song Wanxi as a thank-you gift for me." Si Chuying shrugged, her eyes shining as she mentioned the name. "If I were a guy, I would have pursued her. She's good at everything, gentle and beautiful, much better than those pretentious girls in our class..."

Si Yang wasn't stupid; he immediately understood the hidden meaning in those words. But right now, all he could think about was how to solve the mystery and get his family out of their predicament. As for the flowers and plants outside, he had no interest in them at all.

"Mmm, my sister is right." He nodded perfunctorily.

"What a load of crap! You didn't even understand what I said!" Si Chuying stomped her foot angrily, her face turning red, and yelled at him, "You blockhead, you deserve to be single."

"Stop scolding me, stop scolding me. Yingying, what exactly did you do? Song Wanxi is going to give you a thank-you gift." Si Yang just wanted to change the subject as soon as possible. Young girls are the most troublesome, especially those who are going through puberty and experiencing their first crush. They always gossip in private, and they can make even falsehoods seem true.

"I lent her your campus card. Don't worry, I'll get it back today. She's already received her admission letter from Jinchuan University, and she'll be your junior from now on," Si Chuying said casually.

Si Yang's lips twitched slightly. Si Chuying wasn't tall, but she was quite bold. A campus card was strong proof of identity; could she just lend it out like that? But seeing his sister's innocent expression, he ultimately didn't utter a word of reproach.

"You can do whatever you want with other things. Just remember the first law of Siyang when you go out: walk your own path, respect the fate of others, and never meddle in other people's business."

Since Song Wanxi's rule has left a deep impression on my younger sister, applying it to her should surely make her pay more attention.

Si Yang glanced at his phone. He had returned with a mission. Since he couldn't successfully contact the single mother in the correct timeline, what about in the current timeline? According to Uncle Wang, the fruit vendor, the single mother moved here a few months ago, so she should be living across the street from Uncle Wang now.

He was filled with too many mysteries, always feeling that the single mother harbored many unspeakable secrets, but he only had intuition and no concrete evidence. This time he returned, he had to find some clues.

"Brother, something's not right with you. Don't you always say that privacy is important? I lent your ID to someone else, and you're not even angry." Si Chuying frowned, muttered to herself for a moment, and then looked up at him. "But there's not much privacy to speak of. The picture on your student ID card is worn so much that it's almost illegible. There's not much privacy to leak."

At this moment, Si Yang had no interest in caring about her. He waved his hand and said, "I'm leaving. You're free to do as you please."

boom--

The door closed, and the midsummer sunlight of August streamed into the hallway, casting sparse, dappled shadows of trees. Si Yang glanced back at the front door; it was spotless, except for a "福" (good fortune) character pasted upside down.

He used to think that winter was better than summer. In summer, it was too hot to run around shirtless, but in winter, it was cold and he could wear layers of clothes. But after experiencing the coldness of people's hearts, he suddenly felt that looking directly at the summer sun wasn't so scary after all.

He pressed the elevator button and practically ran out of the residential complex. He grabbed a shared bike at the entrance and rode straight to No. 45 Jiuyanqiao, a route he had traveled back and forth countless times.

But as he approached the intersection near the low house, he suddenly stopped involuntarily. The bicycle's momentum caused him to slide forward a short distance before he managed to brake smoothly.

If he actually meets that single mother, what should he say? What should he ask?

Ask her when her daughter will come to live with her? Or abruptly warn her not to walk alone at night? No matter how you look at it, these words seem crazy and strange.

After all, to her, he was nothing more than a complete stranger.

The best approach is to be willing to spend time tracking her. This way, the relationship between the single mother and her child, her social circle, whether she has been targeted by human traffickers... all these questions can likely be answered clearly.

But Si Yang knew he didn't have that much time. His time was limited to when he was conscious. Even if he stayed up all night and tried his best to stay awake, he felt he only had thirty-four hours.

During this period, it would be virtually impossible to uncover all the information related to single mothers.

He frowned, head down, unaware that someone was approaching from behind.

"Hey, Song Wanxi, open the door!"

A crisp knock sounded, and Si Yang snapped out of his daze. Looking up, he saw that Si Chuying had somehow followed him and was standing at the door of the single mother's house, knocking hard.