You on the other side of time

Old, dilapidated apartments in the city center are certainly cheaper. Most of the landlords living here are holdouts waiting for demolition. Because it's located in a "slum," the greenery is poor, you have to walk half a block to buy a bag of salt, shopping and transportation facilities are inadequate, and the living environment is indescribable. Most young people simply don't want to live here.

But these old houses can't be sold at a high price, and even if they are sold at a low price, they still can't afford to buy a house in other parts of the city center. They can only wait for the government to demolish and compensate them, either to become "first-generation demolition beneficiaries" themselves, or to leave it to their descendants so that they can become "second-generation demolition beneficiaries," which gives them something to look forward to.

"It is indeed quite cheap, but I can hardly afford the rent myself. Right now, the community is covering the rent." Song Wanxi felt a sense of helplessness, but then she gave a faint smile. "I will probably live here until I graduate from university. There are still more good people in the world."

Si Yang's heart sank. He was already surprised enough to know that Song Wanxi had lived here for many years. He had been wondering when that single mother would finally come and rent the apartment. But now, hearing Song Wanxi say she would stay until she graduated from university, didn't that mean that woman had no chance of ever renting the apartment?

Although he could wander between the past timeline and the correct timeline, he knew in his heart that one day the two timelines would overlap. At that time, all the variables should disappear, and what was supposed to happen might still happen.

He had told himself countless times not to meddle, but the two recent back-and-forths in timeline told him that he hadn't changed anything at all. This matter was like a ticking time bomb, ready to explode at any moment.

It was a complete mess, impossible to untangle. He even absurdly wondered if he could possibly have the audacity to force Song Wanxi to move out?

Thinking of this, Si Yang couldn't help but shake his head.

Seeing that Si Yang remained silent for a while, Song Wanxi moved her feet closer to the door and added with a smile, "Besides the cheap rent, the people around here are also very nice. For example, Uncle Wang who sells fruit across the street, and Aunt Guo who sells braised vegetables two doors down. We eat together during holidays and festivals, it's so lively."

"Mm," Si Yang responded, a pang of shame rising in his heart. The girl before him simply didn't live in a more privileged environment than others. But in her eyes, this life was good enough; her sunshine and optimism made him feel somewhat inferior.

"I've lived here for ten years, a full ten years!" Perhaps because the two were getting to know each other better, Song Wanxi became more talkative. She stretched out her hand and slowly gestured upwards from her chest, her tone full of emotion. "My landlord uncle often says that he's watched me grow from such a tiny little thing to this tall person. Time really flies."

Si Yang's gaze fell on Song Wanxi's hands; they were rough, with slightly protruding knuckles, and a thin layer of calluses on her palms—he figured they must have developed over the years. He hesitated for a moment, then finally mustered the courage to ask, "So you and the landlord must be quite familiar with each other, right?"

Song Wanxi nodded with a smile, "Of course we're familiar! The landlord used to be an uncle, called Uncle Fan. Sometimes when my grandma and I didn't have time to pay the rent, he would let us pay for a few days later. Later, I don't know how, his son took over. He likes people to call him Boss Fan, and he's probably not much older than you."

As she spoke, she suddenly slapped her forehead and said, "Right, they own several properties in this area, and there are many tenants. I'll give you their contact information; you can ask your friend if he wants to rent one."

After saying that, Song Wanxi took out her phone, found the landlord's phone number, added Si Yang as a WeChat friend, and sent it to Si Yang via WeChat.

He opened his mouth, intending to interfere in Song Wanxi's part-time job at the Jinchuan Museum, but then he remembered the deeply ingrained principle of "mind your own business." The words stuck in his throat.

Moreover, quite some time has passed now. His deliberate approach to Song Wanxi was driven by a strong sense of purpose. He was preoccupied with investigating the single mother issue while also feeling guilty.

He didn't want to stay any longer in the afternoon. Firstly, he knew that saying too much would lead to mistakes, and secondly, standing at the door of a girl living alone was not a respectable thing to do.

"Well, I have other things to take care of, so I won't keep you any longer," Si Yang said first.

"Okay." Song Wanxi smiled and nodded, raising her hand to wave goodbye. "Let's contact each other again if anything comes up."

"Okay, bye-bye." Si Yang's mind suddenly flashed back to those "mind your own business" messages that had suddenly disappeared from his schedule. His head suddenly went hot, and he bluntly reminded her, "By the way, try not to use thermal pens for taking notes or doing homework in the future."

"A thermal pen?" Song Wanxi clearly didn't understand why he suddenly brought this up. But seeing Si Yang's expression, it seemed like he was genuinely reminding her, so she nodded slightly and obediently replied, "Okay, I got it."

Si Yang didn't say anything more, turned around and left quickly. As he walked, he sorted through all the information he had received that day.

If the single mother doesn't live here now, is she in this area? Has she looked at any houses in this area? He looked at the phone number saved on his phone, hesitated for a moment, and finally dialed it.

The phone rang a few times before being answered quickly. The first thing you heard on the other end wasn't the other person's voice, but the clatter of mahjong tiles and someone shouting.

"Fanwa, stop using tactical phone calls. If you can afford to lose, playing mahjong with you is such a pain. Which woman is calling you this time?"

"Shh—keep your voice down!" Boss Fan stopped the mahjong players from teasing him.

After the sound from the other end had completely quieted down, Si Yang took a deep breath and asked the question with slight trepidation.

"Excuse me, are you Mr. Fan?"

"Yes, it's me."

"I'd like to ask if you still have any houses for rent? My friend gave me your phone number and said you have a lot of houses." Si Yang rattled off his prepared remarks in one breath.

"No, they're all gone," Boss Fan replied outright. "They were all rented out a year ago. But there's one that's expiring at the end of the year. If you're not in a hurry, you can call and check again at the end of the year."

Boss Fan was at the mahjong table, his legs crossed high, a cigarette lit, taking a deep drag and exhaling sharply, watching the smoke rings slowly rise.

Actually, it's not that the lease on the apartment is expiring at the end of the year; it's because the girl he rented it to recently passed away. The location and environment are poor, and the community is forcing him to keep his rent increases from the outside. He's been unhappy about it for a while, but he hasn't dared to do anything about it because of the pressure from the community. If someone were really willing to rent it, he wouldn't hesitate to kick the girl out.

"The end of the year... Okay, thank you, Mr. Fan. I'm sorry to have troubled you." Si Yang suppressed the turmoil in his heart and remained polite in his tone. Moreover, this call was not entirely fruitless.

He confirmed at least two pieces of information.

First, Mr. Fan's house hasn't been rented to anyone else in the past year, meaning that even if the single mother came to this area, she didn't rent Mr. Fan's house. Second, the house that Mr. Fan mentioned "expiring at the end of the year" is most likely the one Song Wanxi is currently living in, because Song Wanxi mentioned to her that she wanted to renew the lease at the end of the year.

But trouble soon followed. He worried that because the people and events on this timeline had changed, when he returned to the correct timeline and spent so much effort getting the landlord's phone number, he would find out that the single mother didn't live there at all. Wouldn't all his efforts have been in vain?

And then there's Song Wanxi. She clearly said she wanted to stay until she graduated from university, but Boss Fan's tone was so certain that the apartment would be vacant by the end of the year. Could it be that Song Wanxi will move out early? If she does, will that single mother take the opportunity to rent it?

Si Yang's mind was in turmoil. No one can say for sure what will happen before it does.

After hanging up the phone, he slowly cleared his mind and unconsciously walked to the entrance of a coffee shop. It was noon, and a wave of drowsiness washed over him, as he always took a nap. Although he hadn't experienced anything particularly exhausting in this timeline, the fatigue from the other timeline was overwhelming him.

He pushed open the door, walked into the coffee shop, found a seat by the window, and prepared to buy a coffee to perk himself up. Leaning back in his chair, he watched the people passing by outside, and a wave of drowsiness washed over him…