[01/04, 18:21, Nanyi City Bureau]
The New Year’s holiday had just ended, and the footsteps of the new year were gradually approaching. Various units were busy summarizing and planning, and the Nanyi City Bureau was no exception. Yu Xue had recently been sorting through last year’s major cases, writing analyses and compiling summaries. The year-end meeting was only a few days away, and he needed to present a satisfactory report to the leaders. If there was the slightest mistake, he would be called in for a talk, and he would have no hope of enjoying the year.
However, he did not choose to work overtime at the bureau; instead, he brought his work home. After all, there was a special guest at home who was not very obedient and was quite troublesome. He had to keep an eye on them, much like taking care of a child.
Coincidentally, Qi Wenyu was not at home; he had gone to another province to attend an academic conference, leaving a wounded person at home, waiting to be fed. Yu Xue needed to return early, and on the way, he would conveniently buy groceries for tomorrow.
As soon as he drove out of the bureau’s gate, Yu Xue caught sight of a man standing under the large sycamore tree on the sidewalk, dressed entirely in black. His hat and mask concealed his features, but his height and build were too familiar—wasn’t that the kid he saw every day?
Yu Xue’s expression soured, silently telling him not to come out, to stay at home and rest well, and to stop running around. Did he not want his arms anymore? How could he be wandering near the bureau? Did he hope that his colleagues wouldn’t recognize him?
Children are hard to take care of, especially the disobedient ones. Yu Xue rubbed his forehead, deciding to abandon the thought of adoption. He and Qi Wenyu should enjoy their own world together and not get into trouble.
The person standing under the sycamore waved his hand, and Yu Xue pulled up beside him, rolling down the car window. “What a mess; get in.”
Yi Shi opened the car door and readily sat in the passenger seat. The seatbelt wasn’t even fastened yet when Yu Xue pressed down on his shoulder, pulled down his mask, and frowned as he observed him for a long while.
“…It’s you?”
Yi Shi seemed a bit surprised: “You recognized me so quickly?”
“You opened the door with your right hand.” The arm of the person at home still couldn’t make large movements.
Yi Shi smiled: “As expected of Captain Yu.”
The future was here again. The last time they had met was before the case happened, and Yu Xue thought he would never have another opportunity to see him again.
“Since you came to find me, there must be something important to discuss. Let’s find a place to sit down and talk.” Yu Xue took out his phone. “It seems I’ll have to let the person at home order takeout; I wanted to buy some beef bones to make soup.”
“It won’t take long.”
Yu Xue called home, casually using the excuse of a meeting, ordered takeout, and instructed the person at home to finish eating, rest more, and not to open the door for strangers. If anything happened, they should immediately call him. Yi Shi listened on the side, increasingly feeling like a concerned mother worrying about a child.
…This was probably practicing how to raise a child in advance, Yi Shi thought.
The two found a private restaurant located far from the bureau, entering a private room that isolated them from the noise and bustle outside. Yi Shi took off his mask and hat, and hung his jacket on the rack. Yu Xue was looking at the menu: “Winter is suitable for lamb hot pot, but it’s a triggering food; do you have any wounds?”
“No.”
“Then let’s order a portion. I’ll choose the rest; I’ve already figured out your tastes.”
Yi Shi nodded; he was fine with whatever. Yu Xue quickly ordered four dishes and a soup. After placing the order, he set his phone aside and propped his chin up while observing the man across from him.
“Where are you living these days?”
“At home.”
“In your rented place? Well, you’re at my place now, so you don’t need to go back.” Yu Xue took a sip of barley tea. “Are you alone? Is Lin Heyu not with you?”
“No, we… haven’t seen each other in a long time.”
“Oh, you must miss him, huh?” Yu Xue teased, “Your chin has become so pointed; you’re thinner than a yellow flower.”
Yi Shi didn’t refute this; he was painfully aware that, aside from Lin Heyu, there was an even more critical reason that kept him awake at night. He was tangled up, struggling, confused, and helpless, sitting anxiously in the room. Ultimately, he decided to follow his heart and seek out Yu Xue, which was his first step.
“I recently received a crucial piece of information. It not only relates to me and Lin Heyu but, if handled improperly, could lead to my entire family ceasing to exist.”
“Your family? Does it involve Uncle Sheng and Aunt Lin too?” Yu Xue stroked his chin, “I always thought it was just between you two; why has it suddenly become so complicated?”
“Just—very sudden.”
Yi Shi briefly skipped the details and described the general situation. Yu Xue seemed to ponder, tapping his index finger on the table: “Yi Shi, according to your statement, every decision affects everything. Since so many people are involved, you can’t center it around personal ideas; you and Lin Heyu need to consider this carefully.”
“I’ve thought about many scenarios, but I can’t balance the relationships involved.” Yi Shi covered his forehead, clearly tormented. He hadn’t eaten well or slept for several days, all because he was deeply ensnared. At this point, it seemed that breaking the existing pattern carried too much risk. You couldn’t have both fish and bear’s paw; it was very likely to lead to an irreversible situation.
The steaming lamb hot pot was served on the table, and the stir-fried dishes were gradually brought out. Yu Xue rolled up his sleeves, picking two pieces of good lamb for Yi Shi’s bowl. “Come on, let’s eat first; your face looks so bad; your brain cells are starving to death.”
Yi Shi picked up a piece of lamb and numbly put it in his mouth; it tasted like chewing wax. To make him eat a little more, Yu Xue changed the topic and shared a few gossip stories from the bureau to lighten the atmosphere. After half of the dishes on the table were eaten, he returned to the previous topic: “If change really is difficult, have you thought about being content with the status quo?”
“… Yes, I’ve even imagined worse scenarios.” Yi Shi put down his chopsticks. “For example, my life with Lin Heyu diverges, and we no longer have any intersection.”
His real in-depth interaction with Lin Heyu occurred after the kidnapping case. After being rescued, he relentlessly clung to Lin Heyu to save Gardenia, dragging him deeper into the situation step by step. Yi Shi imagined that if he hadn’t pulled Lin Heyu into this mess, perhaps Lin wouldn’t have gone missing, and Gardenia could have remained Lin Zhizhi. However, he himself would no longer be Yi Shi, and there would be no connection with his current social circle. He might still be wandering the streets and alleys, and in a worse scenario, he wouldn’t even live to see adulthood.
“Can you bear it? With your personality, you might only encounter someone you’re truly attracted to once in your life. If you cut off contact with him, you’d probably end up lonely for the rest of your life.”
“Yeah, I can’t bear it. So I’m just thinking about it; I won’t choose to do that.”
This kind of self-sacrifice seemed noble but was contrary to his dreams. Instinctively, when encountering events, everyone would prioritize their own survival. All futures must be built on the foundation of existence. Moreover, the direction he was striving for was to be together with Lin Heyu. If in the end, they became strangers, it would be better to just lie flat and maintain the status quo.
Hearing Yi Shi so openly and straightforwardly acknowledge his feelings was rare, and Yu Xue couldn’t help but feel emotional; love arrived too quickly, like a tornado, sweeping everything away as if the sky was about to rain red.
“Your life matters are much more complicated than mine; it’s practically hell-mode romance.” Yu Xue took off his glasses and wiped the fog off with a tissue. “I can’t help much; my abilities are limited. At most, I can take care of the wounded at home and listen to you tell your sci-fi stories here.”
“You’ve helped me enough; just one more small favor.”
Yi Shi took out a sticky note and handed it to Yu Xue. Yu Xue received it, seeing three columns of names on the paper—two columns on the sides with the case workers from two city bureaus, many of whom were unfamiliar names, and the middle column was the easiest to recognize, consisting entirely of suspects in the case from top to bottom.
With this table, it was immediately clear that the interconnected cases were what traversed the mirrored world, while the names in the left and right columns seemed to represent case workers from two different worlds mixed together. Yu Xue pondered for a moment, always feeling that something was missing.
“Why isn’t there a one-to-one correspondence? I can understand the unfamiliar names, but why are some of the familiar ones only on one side? Like ‘Zhang Rui,’ who is only on the left.” Yu Xue asked.
“He will die in the future.”
“… Die?” Yu Xue was taken aback, looking at the table again and finally discovering what was missing. He pushed the sticky note back across the table and pointed with his finger: “Ages—write them all down.”
Yi Shi smiled slightly. Communicating with smart people was time-efficient. With Yu Xue’s intellect, being a criminal investigation team leader was not his limit; as long as he wanted, he could definitely sit in an even higher position.
Soon, Yi Shi handed the sticky note back. Each name had an age next to it. Yu Xue flicked his index finger: “Now it’s more appropriate; it looks much better. You’ve rearranged the people from the two worlds, and the age difference on both sides is twenty years. Is this the ideal outcome?”
Yi Shi nodded. “I hope it can come true.”
“What about you and Lin Heyu? I don’t see your names on here.”
“…The variables are too great; everything is unknown.”
“You’re setting goals so cautiously. Are you still the Yi Shi I know?” Yu Xue picked up a pen. “If you don’t write it, I will. Hmm… let’s follow my age trend; I’ll place you two together, or else you’ll end up as my elders.”
He added Lin Heyu and Yi Shi’s names. Yi Shi smiled slightly: “Think of a way for ‘me’ to see this table. Thank you.”
“Not a problem.” Yu Xue folded the sticky note and put it in his pocket. “You know too much, which makes it hard to ask anything. The person at home is more interesting; I’d rather discuss your destinies with him.”
Around 8 PM, Yu Xue dropped Yi Shi off at the community gate. Before getting out of the car, he patted Yi Shi on the shoulder: “Although the road ahead is tough, I still want to say ‘the future is promising.’ You are Yi Shi, and in my eyes, there’s nothing you can’t accomplish.”
“… Thank you, I will do my best.”
__
[01/16, 13:00, Time Flies Cafe, Pingju Square Shop]
Yi Shi sat in a seat by the window, his gaze fixated on the reflection in the brown glass.
In the glass image, the time was 11 AM, and the servers’ attire differed greatly from reality. The reflection showed a mirrored world, where apart from him and Lin Heyu, no one else could see it. The guests thought he was admiring the view outside the window.
Based on the timeline of the cases in both worlds, Yi Shi calculated the corresponding time. If all went well, he would meet Xiao Shitou today.
Ten minutes passed, and the time reached 1:09 PM. The glass showed 10:51. Finally, two figures, one big and one small, approached from the direction of Pingju Square. Lin Zhizhi was dressed youthfully, and Xiao Shitou was following beside her, both returning from an outing with their hands nearly overflowing.
Xiao Shitou looked up, his gaze drawn to the café; the sunflower painting was one of the main reasons he was drawn inside. Indeed, as soon as the café door swung open, Xiao Shitou walked in. The perceptive child instantly sensed the change in the world, standing frozen in front of the large mirror, at a loss.
Yi Shi stood up and walked over, gently placing his hand on the boy’s head: “I’ve found you.”
Following his usual train of thought, to alter the established facts, Yi Shi would have tried to find a way to avoid this meeting in his memory. However, he now completely changed his mind; he not only wanted to meet Xiao Shitou but also intended to suggest that he go rescue Gardenia alone, only to be found later by Lin Heyu and others. This way, the first link to Lin Zhizhi’s existence could be completed.
Xiao Shitou did not recognize that this was the restored “Teacher Shi.” His eyes were filled with wariness and hostility. When he heard the other party telling him to cherish their current time together, he deliberately took the opposite stance, emphasizing that they would be together for a long, long time, looking persistent and adorable.
How wonderful it would be if they could always be carefree like this. Unfortunately, neither of them had such a fate. As the same individual in life, he had endured hardships in childhood, and as an adult, he was powerless, ultimately pushing himself into the abyss.
“Don’t let Lin Heyu know. He has always been the one saving you, but this time, he cannot go.”
Xiao Shitou held the stone in his hands and looked up at him: “…Why?”
Yi Shi’s smile gradually faded, and he lowered his gaze: “Gardenia is an extra hostage. If you go to save her, Lin Heyu will die.”
Xiao Shitou shivered all over, forcing himself to calm down, suppressing the panic in his heart, and asked in a low voice: “Can I trust you?”
Yi Shi leaned closer, resting his small forehead against the boy’s: “You can only trust me, and I can only trust you.”
After the conversation ended, he took down the clock from the wall, turning the minute hand back to “12,” preparing to send Xiao Shitou back. Yi Shi wrapped an arm around Xiao Shitou’s shoulder and reminded him: “Look at that piece of brown glass.”
Xiao Shitou stared at the brown glass in the center of the table, discovering a hidden world inside, and was instantly startled, his shoulder muscles tensing up.
Next, he was pulled by Yi Shi to the glass door, his chin lifted to direct his gaze at the clock face reflected in the glass: “Pay attention to the time; for a perfect fit, every detail must not be overlooked.”
Both of them focused on the hanging clock, the second hand moving backward, gradually nearing the number “12.” At this moment, the door in the glass was pushed open, and Lin Zhizhi walked in. At the same time, Yi Shi opened the café door and gave Xiao Shitou’s back a strong push.
Xiao Shitou seemed to step through a door to another dimension, disappearing before his eyes. Yi Shi turned around, and in the brown glass, Xiao Shitou had successfully met Lin Zhizhi. He maintained the same posture, looking back at the glass, and their eyes met. Yi Shi smiled faintly and waved at him.
Next, he still needed to find a way to locate Lin Heyu; he might as well take a trip to Haijing.
His hand was still resting on the metal handle of the glass door when the door was suddenly pulled open by an external force, accompanied by a greeting: “Long time no see.”
Yi Shi suddenly raised his head, staring blankly ahead, as if by magic, the person he had just been talking about appeared unguarded.
Lin Heyu stood outside the door, smiling at him: “Fortunately, you are here; this time, I didn’t miss it.”
__
Author’s Note:
Regarding the time correspondence here, let me clarify for everyone.
Since Little Yi Shi was separated, the time of the cases he participated in during the first loop still followed the normal progression, so his mapping in the mirrored world is as follows:
12.10—01.21
12.11—01.22
12.13—01.23
12.14—01.41
.
.
.
Continuing this way, it’s actually easy to distinguish between the first and second loops because he cannot participate in the first loop; they can just be viewed separately.
