“It’s getting late.”
Yi Shi put the carefully organized list into his pocket. He hadn’t expected that it would only produce this one sheet of paper after two hours of work. Sorting out personnel relations was already confusing enough; discussing the cases would take all night.
He didn’t mind; after all, today’s plan was to interrogate Zhao Chenghu. After yesterday’s division, Zhao Chenghu’s loyalty to Pang Daozi should have been shattered. After a night’s digestion, if Zhao Chenghu was sensible, he should reveal everything like pouring beans from a bamboo tube, hoping to get a lighter sentence.
Lin Heyu kept an eye on the time. Seeing it was past two and approaching three, Yi Shi still appeared energetic and enthusiastic, showing no signs of fatigue. Lin Heyu had no intention of ruining this good atmosphere, almost willing to sacrifice himself for the cause. However, since Yi Shi initiated the conversation, Lin Heyu agreed that it was indeed too late and suggested getting some rest.
“You have tasks during the day, right? I must not have noticed the time,” Yi Shi said with a hint of apology. “Thank you for staying with me and talking for so long.”
“There’s no need for such formality between us.”
“I invited you to meet, thinking it would be quick, but I didn’t expect it to take so long…”
“It wasn’t a waste of time, don’t think too much.” Lin Heyu smiled. “If it weren’t so late, I would have liked to talk with you a bit longer.”
He enjoyed spending time with Yi Shi. Despite Yi Shi’s cold demeanor, his micro-expressions were quite rich. Especially when he appeared dazed and confused, he looked innocent and lost, making Lin Heyu want to tease him by pinching his fair cheeks.
“Don’t overthink it, get some sleep.” Lin Heyu stood up and smoothed the place where he had been sitting. Yi Shi, sitting on the edge of the bed, saw him pick up the clothes he had changed out of earlier, seeming to leave, and instinctively grabbed his arm. “You’re leaving?”
“Yes,” Lin Heyu said, glancing at the big bed. “There’s only one bed.”
Yuan Maoqiu’s scheme had caused trouble, and the issue of the big bed would be dealt with later.
Yuan Maoqiu, who was dreaming of a beautiful woman, sneezed: “Harm you? This is creating an opportunity for you! Brother, make the most of it and don’t be ungrateful!”
Yi Shi looked at Lin Heyu again, confirming, “You’re really leaving?”
Although it was a simple question, it sounded ambiguous coming from him, with his tone and voice carrying an undertone. Coupled with his attire, from Lin Heyu’s perspective, the wide neckline exposed his collarbones, revealing a very enticing view.
“If you leave, what about me?”
Lin Heyu: “…”
Yi Shi immediately realized that his question seemed suggestive of self-sacrifice and blushed. “I was just thinking, if we part for too long, I might go back.”
Lin Heyu stifled his laughter. “You don’t want to go back?”
“Not that I don’t want to, it’s just that the timing isn’t right.” Yi Shi glanced at the clock. “It’s currently 9 PM in my world.”
Last time, when Lin Heyu messaged Yi Shi at 9 PM, it was 3 AM for Yi Shi, and he was extremely tired. According to the time mapping rule, it should be the same in reverse.
After pondering for a moment, Lin Heyu suddenly proposed an idea: “Have you ever considered that if the time in both worlds is reversed and past events are fixed, then if you choose the right time to go to the other side, might it be possible to alter the fixed facts?”
Yi Shi was taken aback, finding the statement like a tongue-twister. Lin Heyu, fearing he hadn’t expressed himself well, flipped to a new page in his notepad and picked up a pen. “What was your plan for today?”
“Interrogating suspects.”
“Let’s use that as an example.” He wrote and drew on the notepad. “You were scheduled to interrogate suspects today, but now you’re here with me. At this time, it’s already night in your world. If you go back now, you would have missed the interrogation session.”
A vertical line on the paper separated the two worlds, with “03:00” on one side and “21:00” on the other. Yi Shi focused on these numbers and gradually understood Lin Heyu’s point: “So, you mean—if the events have already occurred, choosing an earlier time to return could change them? Why do you think so? Have we tried this before?”
“I’m not sure, just curious and interested, so I wanted to know if you had thought about it.”
Yi Shi fell into deep thought. Lin Heyu’s idea was bold but logically sound and theoretically valid. Previously, Yi Shi’s simple plan was just to return at the right time without missing work, but Lin Heyu’s suggestion made him realize that the “right time” was actually in his control.
If it were possible to change established facts, many tricky cases could be resolved easily. With the existence of this unique “channel” of the mirror world, Yi Shi could return to an earlier time, akin to having a space-time wormhole.
Yi Shi stared at the paper Lin Heyu had drawn, where two curved arrows formed a circle, connecting the two worlds as if a mysterious cycle was endlessly operating. Could such bizarre things really happen? He wasn’t sure and couldn’t imagine it in depth. Despite watching many sci-fi films, he had never expected parallel universes and time travel to appear so vividly before him.
Lin Heyu was a mystery himself, and now he had presented Yi Shi with an even bigger enigma, leaving Yi Shi feeling increasingly confused and helpless.
“If there were a way to verify it,” Lin Heyu murmured, looking at Yi Shi, “Are you going alone for the interrogation?”
Yi Shi suddenly looked up. “I can ask Yu Tan; he is the main examiner.”
He was about to reach for his phone but paused, asking softly, “Don’t you think it’s strange? If I hadn’t gone, why hasn’t Yu Tan contacted me?”
Yu Tan was his superior and the leader. Missing such an important interrogation would normally prompt at least a phone call or message. However, Yi Shi hadn’t received anything. Could this suggest that his presence in the interrogation was an established fact?
“Maybe it’s because you can’t contact each other?”
Yi Shi shook his head, uncertain. He could communicate with Lin Heyu across two worlds, but what about others? The situation left them both wide awake. Yi Shi, still troubled and confused, felt uneasy about keeping Lin Heyu up. He touched his nose and said, “It’s very late; you should rest.”
Lin Heyu, who had originally planned to leave, changed his mind and naturally lifted the blanket.
“Are you staying here?” Yi Shi asked.
“Do you need me to stay?”
Three seconds passed before Yi Shi shook his head, sliding under the other side of the blanket. “Yeah, it’s better if you stay with me.”
Lin Heyu couldn’t help but smile wryly. Even though it wasn’t exactly what he wanted, this simple sentence still stirred him.
Or perhaps, when it came to Yi Shi, he was easily moved by the slightest touch.
After the lights were turned off, the room was enveloped in darkness. They shared the bed, with just enough space in between to accommodate one person, neither intimate nor distant. Yi Shi wasn’t sleepy yet. As soon as he closed his eyes, a myriad of questions filled his mind, like a book of “100,000 Whys.”
Lin Heyu, too, was not sleepy. He reflected on everything related to Yi Shi. The past had been diluted by the sea of time, leaving only vivid new memories. The most memorable was Yi Shi’s cold resistance in the cemetery, like a sharp sword radiating a fierce light.
But as their interactions deepened, the sword gradually shed its cold scabbard, revealing a silvery, warm side. Lin Heyu often thought of Yi Shi’s dazed and absent-minded expressions, where the sword’s cold glare was hidden away, making him appear so adorably vulnerable.
Lin Heyu reached out and gently held Yi Shi’s cool, soft hand under the blanket.
Yi Shi’s eyes flew open suddenly, locking onto Lin Heyu’s direction in the darkness. His eyes had adjusted to the dark, allowing him to discern Lin Heyu’s expression. He saw Lin Heyu with his eyes closed, breathing steadily, seemingly already asleep.
Dreamwalking…?
Yi Shi felt bewildered. He gently turned his wrist but decided not to withdraw his hand.
He closed his eyes again and soon felt drowsy. His usually cold hand gradually warmed up, bringing a sense of security he had never experienced before.
—
In the early morning, Yi Shi was awoken by Yuan Maoqiu’s voice.
“Old Lin! Old Lin! Are you awake?”
The urgent knocking on the door was like raindrops, making it seem like the door would be knocked down if it wasn’t opened.
Though his mind was still foggy and disorganized, as soon as Yi Shi heard the noise outside the door, he immediately opened his eyes and prepared to get up. The next moment, someone pressed down on his shoulder, soothing him in a low voice, “Sleep a little longer.”
“What time is it?”
“It’s still early.” Lin Heyu ruffled Yi Shi’s soft black hair.
Since Lin Heyu said it was still early, Yi Shi decided to continue sleeping. He nodded, lifting his head just slightly before sinking back into the pillow, pulling the blanket over his head to block out the noise outside.
Lin Heyu found it amusing and pulled the blanket down a bit to ensure Yi Shi could breathe comfortably. He got up to deal with Yuan Maoqiu. “Stop knocking. I’m here.”
When the door opened, Yuan Maoqiu’s hand nearly collided with Lin Heyu’s eye. Yuan Maoqiu was wearing a watch, making sure Lin Heyu saw it clearly, and asked what time it was, wondering if Lin Heyu was planning to skip work.
“Brother, I’ve been waiting anxiously in the room. Have you been busy all night?”
“…” Lin Heyu punched Yuan Maoqiu, “Keep your lecherous thoughts to yourself.”
“What’s lecherous about it?! It’s only human nature.” Yuan Maoqiu dodged the punch, shaking his head. “You didn’t come back all night and are still pretending here… Is the little handsome guy still asleep? Damn, if my dad knew about this, he’d be schooling me instead.”
Lin Heyu couldn’t be bothered with Yuan Maoqiu’s nonsense. He closed the door quietly and went to change clothes. In the corridor, he ran into Zou Bin and Wen Huabei, who were about to have breakfast. Seeing Lin Heyu and Yuan Maoqiu coming from the end of the corridor, they asked, “Captain Lin, Brother Yuan, going downstairs for breakfast?”
“No, your Captain Lin is going back to his room to change clothes.”
??? Zou Bin was puzzled. “Weren’t you just coming from the room?”
Yuan Maoqiu corrected him, saying, “What do you mean ‘you guys’? I was definitely in my own room all night; the situation was something else.”
Unfortunately, due to Yuan Maoqiu’s past romantic escapades, his words couldn’t withstand scrutiny. Zou Bin and Wen Huabei nodded on the surface but whispered to each other, “It seems like Captain Lin wasn’t in his room last night and was kicked out.”
“Yeah, it does look like that. Brother Yuan must have been on a date, and Captain Lin gave him some space.”
“……” Yuan Maoqiu pounded his chest and grabbed Lin Heyu. “You owe me my reputation!”
Lin Heyu was annoyed by his commotion and knocked him down with a sweeping kick, restoring peace to the world.
Half an hour later, Yi Shi woke up, washed up, and went downstairs to the laundry room to pick up his clothes. The girl at the front desk on the night shift was handing over to the day shift. Seeing Yi Shi, she quickly put down her work and ran over with a bag.
“Sir!”
Yi Shi turned around. The girl with the ponytail smiled brightly and handed him the bag. “Your clothes are here.”
Yi Shi opened the bag to find his clothes neatly folded, along with a small sachet of perfume. The service was on par with a dry cleaner.
“I had some free time during the night shift, so I took them out as soon as they were done. They wrinkle easily if left in the dryer overnight.”
Yi Shi gave a smile. “Thank you.”
The girl’s face turned red, her eyes involuntarily glancing at his face: How can he be so good-looking? His smile makes it hard to look away. Will he become a celebrity? Can I get his autograph now? … No, I can’t look any longer; I’ll get a nosebleed!
Yi Shi saw the girl blushing and covering her nose, hastily turning away. He found it strange—do people get easily overheated in winter?
Wen Huabei walked into the hotel with some buns and was startled to see Yi Shi, quickly stepping aside with Zou Bin.
Zou Bin, puzzled, asked, “What’s up? Did you see a suspect?”
“More important than a suspect.” Wen Huabei observed Yi Shi until his back disappeared down the stairs, then rushed to the front desk. “The man who just went upstairs, when did he check in?”
“During the night.”
“Did he come alone?”
“Huh?” The girl with the ponytail tilted her head. “He came with your Captain Lin.”
Wen Huabei fell silent, while Zou Bin was still confused: What’s the situation? How is he related to Captain Lin? Who exactly is that man?
He hadn’t seen the man’s face, only a back view: short black hair, tall figure, shirt tucked into pants revealing a slim waist, shoulders and legs with smooth and beautiful lines, like a clothes hanger.
“We might have really misunderstood Brother Yuan.” Wen Huabei’s tone was sorrowful.
“Huh?”
Wen Huabei whispered, “Remember I told you last time in Nanyi, I saw Captain Lin on a date?”
Zou Bin immediately understood, almost dropping his soy milk.
“His… his…?” Zou Bin squeezed out the word, “Partner?!”
Wen Huabei’s expression grew even more somber. “Brother Yuan, we’re sorry. You’re the innocent good man. The honeymoon and love display were actually Captain Lin’s earnest and upright way of showing affection!”
Yi Shi changed his clothes, just as Lin Heyu walked in. “What’s the plan for today?”
“About the case on your side, are you interested in discussing it?” Yi Shi pointed at the clock. “I’ll find a way to get back by 5 PM.”
“Forget it. The room needs to be vacated by noon,” Lin Heyu said, pulling him out. “I’ll take you to see it directly.”
——
Author’s Note:
Regarding the theory mentioned in this chapter, I’m not sure if everyone understands it. Let me list the times for both sides:
Yi | | Lin
0:00 | | 24:00
1:00 | | 23:00
2:00 | | 22:00
…
…
…
23:00 | | 1:00
24:00 | | 0:00
You can see from the clock that time is a phenomenon of reflection in a plane mirror.
There is a time difference between the two sides. So if the day is ending on Lin’s side, it might just be beginning on Yi’s side. When they move from one world to another, it’s like crossing over a day and starting anew, which is akin to a concept of “time travel.”
This leads to the conjecture that if something has already happened in that day, can someone change the past if they go back? Of course, in the current setting, many effects are complementary, and there is also the butterfly effect.
This piece is really challenging for me. While writing, I delete, revise, and ponder repeatedly. Sometimes I even find bugs when revisiting, then correct them. I often review and learn anew, which makes the writing very slow… Thank you to the readers who are still following. I’ll try to present it in the most understandable way. Thanks for your support!
