Lian Jingyuan woke up early and found breakfast laid out on the table. Yi Shi was on the balcony hanging up clothes. He was wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt, and all his movements of hanging and lifting were done with his left hand. On the middle section of his right arm was an old scar, and the upper part was wrapped in a white bandage, showcasing a pattern of old and new scars overlapping one another.
“Your boyfriend left; he bought breakfast for you,” Yi Shi said.
“You saw A-Lu?” Lian Jingyuan chuckled helplessly. “We’re not in that kind of relationship; we’re just good friends.”
Aren’t they? Yi Shi felt confused. If that were the case, why did he look at him with such hostility? Although he didn’t verbally chase him away, his face clearly showed, “Keep your distance from me.”
Forget it; he had no interest in others’ feelings. He was merely staying here due to circumstances and would leave naturally when the time came.
While having breakfast, Lian Jingyuan received several calls—from the conference organizers, the repair shop, and the insurance company. After the accident, not only had their planned road trip been canceled, but they also faced a significant car repair cost. Yi Shi bit the straw and sincerely apologized, explaining that he couldn’t take responsibility right now but would find a way to make it up if they met again in the future.
“Losing money is a blessing in disguise; as long as people are fine, that’s the best outcome,” Lian Jingyuan smiled. “Besides, weren’t you working on a case? I’ll just consider it a contribution to social stability.”
Putting himself in Yi Shi’s shoes, he thought that even though they had only known each other for a few days, it was already generous of a stranger to treat him so kindly. Yi Shi’s lips curled up slightly, finally willing to lower his guard, and he was much more talkative about the topic of parallel worlds than before.
“So you saw two versions of him, and the one with you just suddenly disappeared?” Lian Jingyuan pondered, stroking his chin. “If we delve deeper, going back in time is fundamentally impossible due to the grandmother paradox, where your future self might kill your present self, leading to the nonexistence of ‘you’ as an individual. If that’s the case, then what you just described might be the parallel world’s way of preventing a paradox from occurring.”
“Is that so?” Yi Shi gently furrowed his brows. “But I could appear simultaneously with my younger self and spend many days together without any issues.”
Even though Lian Jingyuan had heard many strange stories over the past two days, he was still astonished that Yi Shi had met his younger self. While outlandish scenarios were common in movies and television, it was quite a shock when they unfolded in real life; every new revelation was surprising.
He had always been a theoretical researcher, and these theories were still in the conceptual stage, lacking real research results to back them up. Besides a cat named Stephen, Yi Shi was the most concrete case he had come across. Everything that happened to him had no precedent, and the researcher could only guess and speculate.
“Do you know he is your younger self? Does he know your identity?”
Yi Shi shook his head; Xiao Shitou definitely didn’t know and had always treated him as a “female teacher.” Lian Jingyuan propped his chin in his hand, narrowing his long eyes behind the lenses. “I see… Then is it possible that the individual differences between you two are too significant? He hasn’t yet become you, so the two of you aren’t considered the same individual?”
“Not really…?” Yi Shi pondered over this statement. Currently, Xiao Shitou was an orphan without a family or relatives, not even a name. If Lian Jingyuan’s speculation was correct, then he and Xiao Shitou could indeed be considered two separate individuals. In other words, Xiao Shitou could still choose whether to become the Yi Shi of the future.
“This is just my personal opinion; the specific reasons might need you to dig deeper yourself,” Lian Jingyuan said, picking up the water jug and pouring water into the cup in front of him. “If what you say is true, and the path you’re on is an unresolvable Möbius strip, then you will have many opportunities to find answers.”
“Do you think the possibility of cutting it is high?”
“Hmm… I really can’t say. However, if you find the root of the issue, everything should become much easier. Movies portray this quite clearly; in one ending of The Butterfly Effect, the protagonist’s death serves as the root cause of his birth; in Triangle, the female lead’s endless cycle is rooted in her deceiving death itself, and so on. Events follow causal rules; the current result must have its reasons.”
Lian Jingyuan showed an apologetic smile. “In the face of the unknown, I can’t provide you with specific help; I can only share some vague and empty words. Please forgive me.”
“You’ve already helped me enough; thank you.”
Even though it was all preordained fate, he was still grateful for this encounter with Lian Jingyuan.
—
Three days later, Xie Gang received a call asking whether they could perform a matching test because a friend’s child needed a kidney transplant. He covered the phone receiver with his hand, glancing at the man beside him, silently asking what to say.
Yi Shi raised his finger, and Xie Gang immediately replied, “Yes, that can be done, but the matching process isn’t quick; it will take some time because there are many tests to run…” A note was slipped under his nose, and he read aloud, “When will you bring the person here?”
The person on the other end shouted about needing to bring someone in, and Xie Gang spoke confidently, throwing around professional jargon, which quickly convinced them to agree to bring the person in and contact them in advance.
Xie Gang breathed a sigh of relief as he put the phone down. Yi Shi took off his coat and unbuttoned his shirt. “Help me check my injury.”
As the layers of gauze were peeled away, the hole in his arm was filled with new granulation tissue. Xie Gang immediately recognized it as a gunshot wound, and he was startled: Wow, this guy truly wasn’t an easy character. Fortunately, he had been easy to deal with; if he had provoked him, pulling out a gun would have been disastrous.
Beneath that was a long cut from a metal object, about 7 centimeters long, only receiving simple treatment—he was too lazy to even get stitches. Xie Gang’s impression of him was again refreshed: Going into a fight with an injury? Was he that reckless? How could he be so daring?
Faced with such a character, Xie Gang did not dare offend him at all. He actively prepared the tools to stitch up Yi Shi’s wound and, as requested, took an X-ray to check the recovery status of his humerus, behaving cautiously throughout the entire process, not daring to be careless.
Yi Shi leisurely buttoned up his shirt. “If they bring the child for the matching test, keep the child here and don’t let them take him back.”
Xie Gang wiped away his sweat. “That’s not something I can decide… How long do you want to keep him? I can’t hold him indefinitely.”
“I’ll wait for my arrival.”
Xie Gang nodded repeatedly, saying, “Okay, okay, just as long as you don’t let me take the lead.” He was just an ordinary person, running a small clinic to support his family. If he had a choice, who would want to get involved with such people?
The hostage was still in the hands of the bald old ghost, and Yi Shi had visited Pang Daozi’s place before, where he only saw him and Zhao Chenghu. He hadn’t encountered the bald old ghost himself. Since they called today, there should be a child already in Yang Weiyi’s hands. Who had been sent over after he tampered with the three blood samples last time?
After leaving the clinic, Yi Shi took a taxi to Qinghu Township. After the Chevrolet was repaired, Lian Jingyuan helped him get a new SIM card, linking it to his own bank card to ensure he had enough money while out. Typically, he only incurred a fare of about ten yuan in a day. Lian Jingyuan was puzzled and asked how he managed meals, to which Yi Shi always replied, “I forgot,” leaving him quite helpless. This was the first time in his life he felt the urge to spend someone else’s money.
In the two-story building of Caiyun Photography, Yi Shi feigned interest in wedding photos while secretly probing for information. Lu Caiyun held a sample album, enthusiastically introducing the wedding photography packages. Suddenly, angry shouts from an elderly woman came from upstairs, using dialect mixed with several universally insulting terms, filled with sharpness.
Lu Caiyun pretended not to hear, and Yi Shi feigned curiosity, “What’s going on upstairs?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. It’s just my mother-in-law scolding the child.”
“The child? Is it yours? I really couldn’t tell; the boss lady looks so young.”
Lu Caiyun beamed with delight, touching her face and humbly saying she was old now; after having a child, her skin had loosened and her figure had changed, and she wasn’t as beautiful as before. Yi Shi complimented her a few times, successfully enhancing their rapport, and then asked, “Do you have a boy or a girl?”
“A boy. He’s fine in every aspect, except for his health, which worries me to death…”
A faint crying sound came from upstairs, and Lu Caiyun’s expression changed again as she added in a low voice, “…and I have a daughter too.”
Yi Shi’s fingers tightened around the album, and due to excessive force, the joints turned slightly pale.
How could it be a girl? How could it still be a girl?
Clearly, the blood type had been changed; Pang Daozi and the others must have seen an incompatible result, so why was Gardenia still sent to Yang Weiyi?
Upon returning to his place, Yi Shi’s handsome face was clouded with worry. He picked up a chair and went to the balcony, pulling the glass door open to smoke. Lian Jingyuan didn’t disturb him; he was only suitable as a listener regarding matters related to Yi Shi. He couldn’t offer particularly constructive advice, and saying the wrong thing would only add to the other’s troubles.
With a cigarette in his mouth, Yi Shi stared blankly at the clear blue sky. He didn’t like smoking; it was just a way to suppress his emotions whenever he felt troubled. He had already passed the stage of feeling frustrated and powerless. With the situation developing as it was, he could only consider his next steps.
Should he continue to disrupt the rhythm or let it take its natural course?
No, it couldn’t be like this. Yi Shi closed his eyes. If he willingly accepted fate, then what was the point of all the effort he had put in? Since the problem lay within the case, if he didn’t keep trying, he would never find the root cause.
Opening his eyes again, Yi Shi stubbed out the cigarette and pulled open the glass door. “Can you help me with something?”
“What?”
“Pretend to be my boyfriend and go to a wedding photography studio; I have something important to do.”
Upon hearing this, Lian Jingyuan appeared embarrassed. It wasn’t that he rejected the idea of posing as Yi Shi’s partner; rather, he was skeptical about whether wedding photography studios would be so progressive now that they offered services for same-sex couples.
“Don’t worry; I’ve prepared,” Yi Shi said, walking into the room. A moment later, he came out holding a long, straight black wig. This was something Yu Xue had forced into his hands while he was tidying up the other day, and he hadn’t expected it to come in handy.
Lian Jingyuan was left speechless. “…Is this also a necessary skill for police officers?”
Yi Shi shook his head. For now, it was his personal skill. The female attire felt completely natural and could deceive countless eyes; it was quite an odd ability. He no longer resisted dressing as a woman; as long as it achieved his goal, it didn’t matter if he was mistaken for a transvestite.
Lian Jingyuan, still doubtful, bought a dress. After Yi Shi changed into it and walked out confidently, Lian Jingyuan was left dumbfounded.
“This, this—” Lian Jingyuan pointed at his chest, and Yi Shi took out two pieces of cloth, helplessly spreading his hands. “Just make do with it.”
“…” Lian Jingyuan scratched his head, admiring how Yi Shi could pull off such a shameless act. Normally, a man wearing a dress and stuffing something in his chest would be so embarrassed he’d want to find a hole to hide in. Yet here was Yi Shi, so composed, even considering what better “breast enhancement materials” to use.
Serving the people was truly not easy; such determination was frightening.
