Lin Heyu and Yi Shi returned to Nanyi together. Before they left, both were full of confidence and enthusiasm, but upon their return, they were clouded with gloom and depression. The matter of Chen Shuwu was not so easy to let go of, and they could only try to shift their attention, working hard not to touch upon the painful memories that occurred in Huangmazhen.
In the past two days, the Yi Shi in the normal timeline had gone out of town to catch criminals, and their small rental apartment had just become available. Lin Heyu and Yi Shi sat down, both holding a table created according to the dates, which was the data they had just summarized and modified. Yi Shi leaned over to take a look and asked, “Are you getting used to it?”
“Are you referring to the characters?” Lin Heyu smiled. “You get used to it after reading a lot. The square characters have many advantages; whether the order is scrambled or mirrored and inverted, it doesn’t create too much of a barrier to reading.”
“That’s good.” Yi Shi circled the number “29.” Lin Heyu glanced at it and thought for a moment, “Should we go check out Peacock Head Mountain?”
“The air raid shelter? I’ve been there, in your world.” Yi Shi took Lin Heyu’s hand. “Let’s go and familiarize ourselves with its overall structure.”
That night, the two took a car to Peacock Head Mountain and entered the air raid shelter with small flashlights. They were well-equipped, wearing shoe covers and gloves. Lin Heyu walked in front, adjusting the flashlight to a low-light mode to carefully explore the path ahead.
Recently, Nanyi had been enjoying crisp autumn weather, and the air humidity had decreased, making the smell in the air raid shelter fresher than in winter. Compared to the caves at Cheng’an Mountain, the air circulation here was extremely poor, and the musty smell never dissipated. Yi Shi pulled up his mask again and lengthened his breathing frequency, trying his best not to let this nauseating smell affect his state.
As they walked along the arched tunnel, they did not discover any fresh footprints or signs of life. A thick layer of dust covered the surface of the wooden benches, and a large cobweb formed at the opening of the iron door. Analyzing the condition of the few available tools and the environmental situation, it was indeed clear that no one had entered for a long time.
“Hey!”
Lin Heyu’s voice echoed, spreading far through the tunnel. Yi Shi squatted down; the ground was dry and cracked. Under the influence of environmental factors, any traces could easily be obliterated.
“It seems indeed no one has been here yet.” Lin Heyu looked down. “Did you find anything?”
“I found a child’s shoe print here last time. The hostage was in the room at the far right end.” Yi Shi raised his hand, the light piercing the darkness to illuminate ahead. “At that time, I intended to rescue the hostage, but not only did I fail to save them, but I also got cut on my abdomen. That was the first time I was accidentally injured by a civilian in my police career.”
“And then?”
“Then I went to rescue the gardenia and fell into the river with her.”
Lin Heyu recalled the pitch-black riverside, with Yi Shi emerging from the water looking pale. He only knew that Yi Shi was injured but had not realized it was caused by the hostage. Lin Heyu put his arm around Yi Shi’s shoulder. “It was probably to prevent you from rescuing the hostage that this accident occurred, right? You know, many coincidences are forces beyond our control; there’s no need to dwell on it.”
Yi Shi nodded and, arm in arm with Lin Heyu, they walked through the entire air raid shelter, confirming that no one had used it, and exited from another opening at the top of the mountain. Finally getting fresh air, Yi Shi took off his mask and breathed deeply. Above them was a deep blue sky dotted with stars, twinkling brightly, with a crescent moon hanging in the sky, white and bright.
Peacock Head Mountain was not high, but it was located on the outskirts of the city, where light pollution was less, so the stars seen here were twice as many as usual. Yi Shi turned back. “There must be even more stars visible on Cheng’an Mountain, right?”
“Yeah, just the peak view of Southern Cheng’an is already very expansive; you can even see the Milky Way in summer.” Lin Heyu gestured in the air. “A hazy gray band. Zhizhi said it looked like the mist on glass that hadn’t been wiped clean. The next year, I saved up to buy an entry-level telescope, and the first time Zhizhi saw what was hidden in that mist, she was so excited she couldn’t sleep for days. Later, we saw the circular crater and Saturn’s rings. Almost every night that entire summer, she would drag me up the mountain with the telescope.”
From Lin Heyu’s diary, Yi Shi knew that their family had not been doing well. Lin Mu’s health had always been poor, unable to work outside, and she had undergone major surgery. The compensation money from her husband’s death was running low, and all of Lin Heyu’s meager earnings from odd jobs were spent on Lin Zhizhi. Given their circumstances at the time, saving up for a telescope was quite a challenge.
Therefore, Yi Shi was very glad to hand the gardenia over to Lin Heyu. Not just him; probably everyone would think this was the best choice, and the gunman by the river must have thought so too.
Who fired that shot remained a mystery to this day. With so many cautionary tales, Yi Shi couldn’t even rule out the suspicion surrounding himself and Lin Heyu. From the timeline perspective, they were ahead, while the events that occurred later were behind. Fate would create all sorts of oddities and coincidences, making it possible for them to turn on themselves.
Yi Shi leaned against Lin Heyu’s shoulder, their fingers intertwined. “Still, I want to say thank you for letting Zhizhi live so happily.”
“I was responsible for the first twenty years; the one who truly took care of her in the last twenty years was Sheng Guoning.” Thinking of their meeting on the 29th, Lin Heyu couldn’t help but smile wryly. “He treats you and Zhizhi very well; I don’t want anything to be connected with him.”
“I don’t want that either; Uncle Sheng is our family.”
It was precisely this point that troubled Lin Heyu. He rubbed his temples. “I don’t want to suspect him, but there are too many points of doubt. To put it simply, everything that happened to you as Little Shitou is a fact, indicating that Sheng Guoning must have come into contact with me and had prior knowledge of the mechanical factory explosion. Yet in the subsequent case investigations, he kept his mouth shut. Is that normal?”
“……” Yi Shi suddenly remembered a time when he returned home, and Sheng Guoning asked him if he had encountered Yuan Dui at Haijing, also mentioning that he and Yuan Dui were old friends. At that time, he sensed a subtle sense of incongruity; Sheng Guoning wasn’t asking about Yuan Kang. If it were truly an old friendship, he should have been asking about Yuan Maoqiu.
But strangely, whether it was Lin Zhizhi, Qi Wenyu, or Shen Ruirui, in their memories, Yuan Maoqiu was automatically replaced by Yuan Kang. This seamless substitution made their expressions and tones when mentioning Yuan Kang seem quite natural, without any sense of incongruity. Only Sheng Guoning, when mentioning the captain of the Haijing team, hesitated and tried to hide it. Yi Shi could now conclude that Sheng Guoning must remember Yuan Maoqiu, and he probably remembered even more about the case from twenty years ago.
If this were true, it would explain why Sheng Guoning easily accepted Lin Heyu’s return that day, without needing to verify repeatedly. If these were merely appearances, and his verification occurred during the time before leaving, resulting in the explosion incident happening as usual, then Lin Heyu, who flashed by like a meteor… would likely be in danger.
Cold sweat broke out on Yi Shi’s forehead; thinking through it all was terrifying. He couldn’t remain calm regarding Lin Heyu’s safety and subconsciously tightened his grip on Lin Heyu’s hand. “I’ll accompany you; let’s go together.”
“Xiao Shitou doesn’t have any memories of Yi Shi. If I forcefully go, I might encounter various obstacles.”
“Then I’ll wait downstairs. When you come out, I can help if there’s danger.” Yi Shi murmured softly, “I’ve grown up; I can protect you.”
The last memories of Cheng’an Mountain were his shadowy demons, lingering in his mind like an unshakeable dream. Right now, holding Lin Heyu’s hand, the only thing he wanted to do was protect him as best as he could.
———
[10/29, 18:05, Time Flies (Pingju Plaza Branch)]
Lin Heyu went to Time Flies alone. During rush hour, the crowd was thick. As he crossed the crosswalk, the glass door of Time Flies swung open, and a small figure dashed out, waving excitedly at the roadside. “Lin Heyu!”
Having spent so much time with Yi Shi recently, he hadn’t seen the child’s youthful appearance in a long time. When Xiao Shitou reappeared, his heart softened instantly. Seeing the child rush towards him without a care, he bent down and opened his arms to catch him.
“Don’t you want to explain?”
“I… actually… I didn’t come out by myself…” Xiao Shitou stuttered. Lin Heyu ruffled his black hair and said, “Well, if you came out by yourself, you wouldn’t have made it here.”
In this strange world, Xiao Shitou clutched Lin Heyu’s clothing tightly, his body bristling with defensiveness, both nervous and afraid. To comfort him, Lin Heyu gently patted his soft back, and the words “I’m here” instantly put Xiao Shitou at ease, allowing him to relax in Lin Heyu’s warm embrace.
He hadn’t realized that the Lin Heyu in front of him was different from the one he had been spending time with. They were taken together to find Sheng Guoning, and Xiao Shitou saw Uncle Sheng with gray hair, while the photo of Aunt Lin showed her slightly more prosperous, now with two more sons. In a hazy moment, he vaguely touched on a secret about time.
From the moment Lin Heyu entered this house, he was secretly observing Sheng Guoning. The initial atmosphere was not harmonious, but when Sheng Guoning casually called him “brother-in-law,” both shared a hearty laugh, dissolving the awkwardness.
“Surprised to see us?” Lin Heyu’s dark eyes focused on Sheng Guoning, who sighed, “Of course! If my heart weren’t healthy, I’d have to call for an ambulance. I really can’t understand it; it’s been twenty years, and you haven’t changed at all.”
“Do you believe in time travel?”
“I didn’t believe at all before; now, I don’t disbelieve at all.” Sheng Guoning pointed to the room. “You’ve been missing for so many years; that’s one thing. But I watched Xiao Shitou grow up! Now he’s back to being a little kid. Isn’t this time travel? I watched a few sci-fi movies when I was young.”
“Yeah, that’s how it is.”
Lin Heyu raised his teacup, his smile gradually fading—too forced.
After enduring twenty years of the trials of life, and holding a high position, a person’s style in dealing with others would naturally change. Before coming, Lin Heyu had discussed with Yi Shi, and his impression of Uncle Sheng was of a calm, respectable, and capable leader. How could he still speak so casually like when he was younger? This could only mean that Sheng Guoning was being intentional, deliberately trying to bring Lin Heyu closer. He was using just a few words to rekindle the atmosphere of their previous interactions, flowing too naturally as if their years apart were merely a long vacation.
Looking at it positively, Sheng Guoning’s friendliness was for Lin Heyu’s sake, welcoming him back in this manner; negatively, it suggested Sheng Guoning was hastily lowering Lin Heyu’s guard for potentially ulterior motives. Lin Heyu leaned more towards the latter, but without solid evidence, he couldn’t make a precise judgment.
“…I bought a plot at the Southern Cheng’an Cemetery, only engraved with one surname. I painted the characters with red cinnabar. Over the years, Zhizhi and I never gave up looking for you. Truly, heaven doesn’t disappoint those who are earnest; you’ve returned on your own!… Brother-in-law, are you listening?”
Lin Heyu came back to his senses and nodded. “Yes, I’ve been listening.”
“Looking at your expression, it seems you were daydreaming,” Sheng Guoning picked up his teacup. “I’ve been talking nonstop, and you really don’t give me any face.”
Lin Heyu smiled faintly, briefly summarizing a few points to prove he was indeed listening attentively. Having tested the waters, Lin Heyu cut to the chase, informing Sheng Guoning about the impending explosion at the South Yi Machinery Factory, urging him to do his utmost to prevent it.
“What? There’s going to be another explosion?! Is it true?”
“It’s true.” Lin Heyu deliberately brought up Yi Shi, exposing their relationship to observe Sheng Guoning’s surprised reaction. It seemed he was clutching his chest, ready to have a heart attack. But when Lin Heyu mentioned the case again, he quickly switched back to business mode, already pulling out his phone to contact the city bureau seriously.
Lin Heyu took a delicate sip of his tea, tilting his head to observe the figure on the balcony as he made the call. The speed at which he absorbed such high-stakes information was also abnormal, and he acted as if he could brush it off with a few words. In reality, the true Sheng Guoning wasn’t so careless; otherwise, he wouldn’t have risen to such a high position.
Lin Heyu picked up a pen and swiftly wrote out a note, handing it to Sheng Guoning when he returned. Sheng Guoning had already scheduled a meeting for the evening and even requested Lin Heyu to accompany him, resorting to a pretense of guiding him.
“Look at my memory, where’s Xiao Shitou? What will he do while we’re out?”
“Stay here.”
“… Aren’t you afraid he’ll run off?”
“It’s time for him to sleep at 9.”
Sheng Guoning waved his hand, saying he would listen to his brother-in-law. He picked up his coat, planning to make a trip to the provincial office first, and would return later to pick up Lin Heyu. Before leaving, he went to the kitchen and came out with a thermos cup filled with goji berries, reminding, “There are clothes for Xiao Shitou in the wardrobe of the bedroom that Zhizhi has kept without throwing away; there’s fresh milk in the fridge, heat it up for him to drink so he can sleep well.”
Once the security door closed, Lin Heyu was left alone in the living room, sitting quietly on the sofa, his eyes gradually darkening and growing somber.
The medication. Just now, Sheng Guoning pretended to take goji berries from the fridge; two drops from the syringe in his sleeve leaked into the milk.
From Xiao Shitou’s reaction, it was most likely a sedative like triazolam. Why did he want to keep Xiao Shitou unconscious for so long? Was it to bring him to the machinery factory without him knowing?
He knew very well that an explosion would happen at the factory, yet he still intended to send Xiao Shitou inside, later adopting him and diligently educating him. What was his real aim?
Ten minutes later, Lin Heyu adjusted his emotions, opened the door, and went in to teach Xiao Shitou math. Time passed quickly, and before 9 o’clock, Lin Heyu arranged for Xiao Shitou to take a shower while he went to the bedroom to find some clothes for him.
The clothes for Xiao Shitou were in the bottom drawer of the wardrobe, along with an album. Before his hand could touch it, he recalled the special nature of the mirrored world and therefore took a pair of tweezers from the bedside table to open the album.
The first page was a photo of him with Lin Zhizhi, prominently placed in the center, with a line of penmanship below it—
[Dear brother, I miss you so much.]
Lin Heyu wanted to smile, but the smudges left by dried tears made his heart ache.
He continued flipping through, finding that the first half of the album was mostly photos of him and Lin Zhizhi, and gradually there were pictures of Sheng Guoning and Xiao Shitou, and later, a chubby nephew appeared. This thick album condensed the twenty years of a woman’s vibrant life, encompassing all of Lin Zhizhi’s happiness.
The more this was the case, the more Lin Heyu couldn’t understand Sheng Guoning’s odd behavior. What was the purpose of all this? He could have tried to change the fate of the machinery factory together with them, yet he insisted on letting it unfold smoothly.
In Lin Heyu’s heart, since he acknowledged this brother-in-law, he could not tolerate any flaws; otherwise, he would not be worthy of Zhizhi.
So, let’s see what kind of conspiracy he’s hiding.
Xiao Shitou returned to the room with a body full of steam. Lin Heyu handed him the milk at a suitable temperature, watching him gulp it down, and ruffled his half-dry black hair, saying, “Have a good sleep.”
Xiao Shitou had a ring of milk mustache around his mouth, his big eyes blinking. “I might not be able to sleep in a strange place.”
“Trust me, you will sleep very soundly.”
Xiao Shitou closed his eyes, and before long, his breathing became even. Confirming that he had fallen into a deep sleep, Lin Heyu softly apologized, “I’m sorry, I must figure out his purpose as soon as possible. If all goes well, perhaps when he wakes up, everything will be renewed.”
The security door opened, and Sheng Guoning peeked in. “Is he asleep?”
“Yeah.”
“Then let’s go; my car is parked downstairs.”
The two of them turned off the gas and locked the doors and windows. While waiting for the elevator, Sheng Guoning chattered, “You would think of installing a surveillance camera. He’s grown up; what’s the problem with sleeping alone? Look how cautious you are…”
“After all, he’s still young.”
“Hmm… that’s true. Although he’s especially capable now that he’s grown up, he’s still just a fragile little guy.”
The two walked out of the building one after the other. The small grove downstairs was dimly lit. Lin Heyu suddenly stopped and asked, “You said you’ve been looking for me all these years—was it through missing person notices?”
“I’ve put up missing person notices and made internal notifications. Every year when sorting through old cases, I mention it at meetings. Xiao Shao and Lao Yan are probably sick of hearing it by now.”
“Did Yi Shi ever ask about me? He’s in the criminal investigation team; it’s impossible for him to avoid those meetings completely.” Lin Heyu showed a worried expression, sighing helplessly. “Part of his current personality is because of me; I feel guilty and also worry that he might remember…”
“Don’t worry; I’ll be careful in front of him, and Zhizhi hardly mentions it. We all want to protect him.”
“Thank you for that.” Lin Heyu smiled bitterly. “Even though I’ve come back, I haven’t figured out how to meet him. Sometimes I think maybe it’s better that he can’t find me.”
“Let him accept it slowly; there’s no rush,” Sheng Guoning patted his shoulder. “Blame his obsession with you. He even checked your household registration while handling cases at Haijing. Luckily, I checked in advance, and there was nothing left…”
Lin Heyu grasped his wrist, narrowing his eyes. Sheng Guoning was startled, and that sunny smile gradually faded as he locked eyes with Lin Heyu.
Desperate to comfort him, he accidentally mentioned something that hadn’t happened yet; before the explosion incident, Yi Shi had never worked on any cases at Haijing.
Sheng Guoning smiled without humor, “Brother-in-law, I didn’t expect you to play word games too.”
“How much do you remember about this case?”
“Ah… a lot,” Sheng Guoning sighed in relief, “I remember everything.”
