You on the other side of time

"Brother, wake up."

The knocking startled Si Yang, who was fast asleep, and he immediately sat up.

The moment Si Yang pulled back the covers, a coin clattered to the floor. He glanced instinctively at the open calendar on his desk: June 8, 2025.

This wasn't a dream; he really did go back to nine months ago.

The air conditioner vents were constantly blowing cold air. Si Yang stared at the faint green indicator for 26 degrees Celsius, his mind a complete blank. He couldn't even remember how he walked home from Jiuyan Bridge last night, or how he found the remote control and turned on the air conditioner.

The bedroom door was gently pushed open, and a petite figure peeked in.

"Brother, if you don't wake up soon, the scallion pancake will get cold."

Si Chuying tilted her head, smiling at him. The plastic bag she was carrying was still steaming.

The familiar aroma of soy sauce mixed with the scent of scallions wafted into Si Yang's nostrils, and his eyes suddenly welled up with tears. It felt like ages since he'd last seen his sister smile like that.

"What are you daydreaming about?" Si Chuying shoved the plastic bag into his hand and walked into the room on her own. "Brother, you've been eating this place's scallion pancakes for three years now, aren't you tired of it?"

"Let me tell you, this pancake stall is super popular right now, it's become a hotspot for internet celebrities. I queued for a full half hour. Half an hour, that's enough time for me to have a fight with Lao Xu."

As she spoke, she put her hands on her hips, widened her eyes, puffed out her cheeks, and imitated Xu Qingwan's Jinchuan dialect accent, shouting, "Little sister, stop fooling around, hurry up and study! You'll be a senior in high school after this summer vacation. When I was your age, senior year was so stressful that I couldn't even bear to drink more than a sip of water. I had to squeeze in time to study during bathroom breaks. One more point on the college entrance exam can put you ahead of ten thousand others."

The lifelike imitation was enough to make anyone want to laugh. But Si Yang, holding the warm pancake, couldn't manage a smile.

At this time in her past life, her younger sister had no idea that a few months later, an unexpected disaster would turn her life upside down, yet she could still laugh so carefree.

"Brother?" she said, turning to look at the silent Si Yang. "Something's wrong with you. Why are your eyes red? Didn't you sleep well? What mischief did you get up to last night?"

Si Yang remained silent, but his eyes never left the lifelike younger sister in front of him for even a moment.

"Are you mute? Have you caught a cold? If you have a cold, you should drink more water. According to Song Wanxi's Second Law, if you have a cold, you should drink more hot water. If you still don't feel better, then you must not be drinking enough hot water."

Although Si Chuying knew that her brother was an introverted young man, he was still quite familiar with his own people, so it was unlikely that he would not react at all while she was talking to herself for so long.

She reached out to touch Si Yang's forehead, but he quickly turned away.

"It's nothing, I'm just happy to see you so happy." Si Yang was still in a daze. He took a bite of the flatbread, and the aroma of scallions filled his mouth, making his eyes feel hot.

The taste of this pancake is exactly the same as I remember. Yet, it seems even better than I can recall ever having it.

The reason he had asked Si Chuying to queue up for him to buy cakes for the past three years was simply so he could sleep an extra hour in the morning. After all, once this living god woke up, he would start chattering away, and he wouldn't be able to sleep at all.

"According to Song Wanxi's Fifth Law, when a male student is depressed, it's either because of his studies or because of love. My brother is a national scholarship recipient; his grades are way ahead of everyone else's. So, what about you...?"

Si Chuying clicked her tongue twice, as if she had caught a whiff of gossip. "Do you have a girl you like?"

Si Yang has always been a cool and aloof god-like figure in her heart. In the past, when she and Lao Xu discussed this, they even had the same view: Si Yang's serious mouth meant he would definitely remain a bachelor for life.

"I'm only interested in stones."

Even after Si Chuying had been chattering away in front of him for so long, he still felt like he hadn't sorted out the situation. He quickly finished the pancake in his hand and prepared to deal with his sister first. Being socially awkward, he always thought that communicating with people was too complicated. He only wanted to deal with cultural relics; otherwise, he wouldn't be studying so hard, striving to get into graduate school after graduation.

He knew perfectly well that you should never try to reason with a girl, but he didn't want to spoil Si Chuying's mood, so he changed the subject, "Who is Song Wanxi? Why does she have so many twisted arguments?"

"You don't know Song Wanxi? She's incredibly talented..."

Si Chuying sat cross-legged on the cushion by the bay window. "She's from Jinchuan No. 7 Middle School, and she just graduated this year. She's from the same school as you! We met at the city-level debate competition. She was the first speaker for the opposing side, and I was the first speaker for the affirmative side. At that time, she single-handedly set the pace for the entire competition! When it ended, everyone in the venue cheered for her."

Despite his sister's vivid description, Si Yang only nodded perfunctorily. Firstly, he hadn't slept well the night before, and his mind was still a blur. Secondly, he couldn't quite tell if what he was seeing was real or a dream... If it was a dream, it was too wonderful; all he wanted to do was quietly enjoy it.

"That girl is really something, she managed to completely convince her opponent. What's your debate topic?"

Si Yang followed up with a question in response to his sister's words. A city-wide inter-school debate competition should have been a very big event, and his sister would definitely have pestered him to prepare all sorts of materials for her, but he seemed to have no recollection of it at all.

"Beg me, beg me and I'll tell you." Si Chuying raised an eyebrow, deliberately keeping everyone in suspense.

Looking at her smug little face, Si Yang's heart melted, but he deliberately put on a stern face and slowly said, "Oh, then I'll tell Lao Xu later that you're in a relationship and have a boyfriend from outside of school."

"You!" Si Chuying gave a thumbs up. "Si Yang, you cheated!!!"

Si Yang suppressed a laugh and took another bite of the pancake.

It takes only a mouth to spread rumors, but it takes a lot of legwork to refute them. Especially when it comes to matters of adolescence, parents can turn the world upside down at the slightest hint of trouble. Si Chuying fears nothing and no one, except for Lao Xu's nagging.

"Fine, fine, I'll talk!" Si Chuying sighed and muttered, "The debate topic is 'Should one act within one's capabilities when doing what is right?' She's on the opposing side, saying 'Not doing what is right is the greatest cowardice.'"

Upon hearing this topic, Si Yang's heart sank.

If he and his sister had acted within their means back then, would none of those things have happened later?

He didn't dare to think too deeply about it and immediately changed the subject: "So you two are still in contact? Otherwise, where do you get all those 'Song Wanxi Laws' from?"

"Later we became good friends, oh no, half good friends, I guess. She seemed to have a lot of things to do. That's probably a common problem among you top students."

Finally, Si Chuying couldn't resist adding a sarcastic comment, "She messaged me this morning to apologize, saying she encountered a drunkard on the bridge last night, and in her haste to run, she lost the little bunny I gave her. If I find out anyone bullied my idol, I'll strangle them, hmph."

She raised her fist, gritted her teeth, and glared at Si Yang. "Brother, you'll help me beat him up too, right?"

Si Yang felt his ears turn red for no reason, and nodded in a daze, "Of course."

"Brother. While Lao Xu and Lao Si are away, I'm going out for a stroll to find my idol. I can't let homework ruin this wonderful weekend."

Si Chuying skipped and hopped to the door, then turned back and waved to him.

"Bang!" As soon as the door closed, Si Yang felt the whole world become quiet. He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out the round thing inside.

I was immediately dumbfounded. It was a little rabbit sewn from canvas, stuffed with cotton, and embroidered with a panda pattern. It was definitely Si Chuying's handiwork; everything she made was related to pandas.

But last night, when this round thing fell out of that girl's backpack, he ran over without thinking, picked it up, and stuffed it into his pocket. In his daze, he didn't even see what it was.

Recalling Si Chuying's fierce threat to beat him up, he quickly hid the rabbit inside the thick down jacket in the closet.