You on the other side of time

Even from a distance, they could hear the commotion. Crowds had formed three or four deep, practically blocking the intersection. Si Yang had no interest in joining the commotion, and with the sky gradually darkening, it would soon be pitch black. Going to find Song Wanxi then would be inconvenient and likely disturb others.

He lowered his head, focusing on his own path, wanting only to get to the school quickly and find Song Wanxi, but someone in the crowd shouted, "Look, that's the bad student who pushed the child into the river!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the previously crowded people instantly parted to make way for him, and all eyes turned to him.

"How dare he come to school? He's so shameless."

"He's a shameless scumbag who ruined someone else's child, and yet he can still go to school peacefully?"

"The school should publicly expel him. I heard he has powerful connections, which is why he hasn't been dealt with yet."

"..."

The foul language reached his ears, but Si Yang didn't want to pay attention to it.

Previously, he was only cyberbullied online; in real life, it was just classmates and neighbors pointing fingers and gossiping—scattered and hidden. But this was the first time he had been surrounded and confronted face-to-face by hundreds of people.

Si Yang remained unusually calm, simply raising his head slowly and scanning the surrounding crowd, subtly estimating the number of people. There were at least a hundred, mostly students from Jinchuan University, along with some passersby. Their gazes were piercing, as if he were some heinous villain.

He didn't speak or argue, but walked straight through the crowd to the school gate. Near the back of the gate, a middle-aged man in his fifties stood alone, holding a sign. He was wearing a black down jacket, black pants, and black sneakers, his eyes were red and swollen, and he looked blankly at the crowd around him.

The words on the sign, written in bold, large font and crookedly, read: "Si Yang, a senior in college. A life for a life."

Below that was a line of small print, densely packed, roughly saying that he was the uncle of a single mother, and that his child was his niece's life. Now she was unconscious and couldn't go on living, and no one was upholding justice. They pleaded with the school to expel Si Yang and give their family an explanation.

Accurate and precise strike. Si Yang thought to himself. If before everyone only guessed it was him based on vague information, or only those close to him knew his identity accurately, then this time, this so-called uncle directly revealed his name and identity to the public, completely putting him on the hot seat without leaving him any room for maneuver.

He ignored the middle-aged man holding the sign and the surrounding crowd, walking straight into the campus. The various insults and accusations behind him gradually faded away. He wasn't afraid of being scorned and slandered, but what kind of impact would such a large-scale condemnation have on his family? Si Yang didn't want them to suffer any more.

Uncle? What uncle? Si Yang frowned. The single mother had been out of the public eye for over two weeks, and this uncle had never come forward. Now he was claiming to be her uncle? The single mother hadn't given any direct answer, yet he was insisting he was the murderer? He couldn't fathom what this man was thinking. Was it truly for so-called "justice," or did he have ulterior motives?

A wave of intense suffocation washed over Si Yang; he knew his time was running out. That single mother was definitely up to something—the harm done to her child, her allowing public criticism to spread, the sudden appearance of her uncle—everything seemed illogical. But he had to find compelling evidence to deliver a fatal blow, making those cyberbullies and rumor-mongers reviled as accomplices.

Si Yang took out his phone and found a number. It was a freshman girl he had mentored when he was teaching new students. He had even helped her with her part-time job before. The girl always called him "senior" and was very enthusiastic.

He hesitated for a moment, then dialed the number: "Hello, junior, this is Si Yang. Do you know Song Wanxi, who just entered university this year?"

"I'm busy right now; I've been very busy these past few days."

A cold voice came from the other end of the phone, and before Si Yang could finish speaking, the phone was hung up with a "click".

Si Yang was stunned for a while, then dialed another junior's number. He called several times, but the junior didn't answer at all, and when he called again, the number was out of service area.

He scrolled through his phone's contacts, trying to find someone who could help, only to discover he'd been kicked out of the college group chat. The female students who used to fawn over him were now avoiding him like the plague.

"It's really... hard to explain." Si Yang closed his eyes. He knew that the path of asking his juniors for help was completely blocked.

Although Xu Qingwan had previously stated that no high school girl had ever attended her class, Song Wanxi was now a freshman in college. Si Yang, on a sudden inspiration, messaged Xu Qingwan again, asking her to help find out which class the girl was in and if she had any contact information.

The living room remained deathly silent. Xu Qingwan sat on the sofa, lost in thought, her head slightly leaning against Si Xingbin, her eyes blankly staring at the floor, utterly listless. Both of them nervously watched Si Chuying's bedroom door, fearing something might happen to their daughter again.

"Old driver, what do you think? What if we really sold the house, paid all the money back, and found a place where nobody knows us, to start over?"

Xu Qingwan's voice was slightly choked as she took a sip of the water Si Xingbin handed her. "Did we do the right thing or the wrong thing regarding Yangyang and Yingying?"

Si Xingbin patted her shoulder, lowering his voice as if desperately trying to hide his anxiety, "Wife, don't be afraid. Everything is trivial except for life and death. Our child did a good deed, he acted bravely. Nobody expected things to turn out this way."

"I'm not afraid of anything, I'm practically on my deathbed, but the children are still so young, their lives have just begun, I can't let them be ruined like this, sigh..."

Xu Qingwan kept sighing, tears welling up in her eyes, but she held them back from falling.

Si Xingbin put down his cup, turned to the side, and gently massaged her temples, then patted her back. "If all else fails, we can also..."

"Old driver, we can't do anything illegal or criminal. No matter how difficult it is, we can't go astray."

Xu Qingwan quickly interrupted him.

Just then, her phone beeped with a message notification. It was the special ringtone she had set for her son, Si Yang. Xu Qingwan quickly picked up her phone, glanced at the message, and her brows furrowed instantly. She turned her suspicious gaze to Si Xingbin.

"Yangyang said he wanted me to find a freshman girl named Song Wanxi. I think he asked me about that name at noon too. He said this girl has important clues and can help them..."

"Then ask him. You don't suspect he's dating, do you? He's your own son, don't you know him well? He's just a bookworm, he doesn't understand anything like that." Si Xingbin understood what Xu Qingwan was worried about. But at this critical moment, if he was looking for someone, it must be because he really had something urgent.

Xu Qingwan nodded and dialed a colleague's number. They talked for a few minutes, during which she nodded repeatedly and said thank you several times. After hanging up, she quickly sent the message to Si Yang.

Si Yang was completely stunned when he received the message. His mother's message described her inquiry process in several sentences, involving the college's head and the first-year head of the department, but the final result was only four words: "No such person found."

Si Yang didn't know if his mother had genuinely asked seriously, or if she was just being perfunctory because she was too agitated and anxious. But he had truly interacted with Song Wanxi; she couldn't possibly be someone he had imagined.

So whether it's his sister, his mother, or Wen Jinxin, if they say they don't know Song Wanxi, he can only understand it as them being too busy and tired, overwhelmed by the things at hand, and accidentally forgetting about this person.

Everyone around him denied the girl's existence; her former juniors all avoided her like the plague, and she was unreliable. Now, he could only wait until the early hours of the morning...