The little boy, having exerted considerable effort, finally squeezed his way out of the crowd. Wearing an oversized black hoodie, jeans rolled at the edges, and a slightly yellowed backpack, he ran up to Tong Yang, his face lit with excitement.
“Sis! Happy birthday!!”
Tong Le threw himself into her arms, hugging her waist and beaming up at her. His features bore a striking resemblance to Tong Yang, with his fair, delicate skin and clear, transparent eyes that shimmered when he smiled, revealing a faint dimple on his right cheek.
Tong Yang playfully ruffled his fluffy hair, chuckling, “What’s the hurry?”
“I missed you, sis! Wait a sec.”
Tong Le let go of her and rummaged through his backpack. He pulled out a bunch of wildflowers, awkwardly wrapped in a notebook paper, and presented them to her with a gleam in his eyes, saying, “Sis, you’ve worked hard!”
“Wow, they’re beautiful.” Tong Yang feigned surprise as she took the flowers from him, sniffing them, “Nice, they smell good.”
Tong Le, hands on his hips, boasted, “This is nothing. I’ll buy you lots and lots of pretty flowers in the future.”
“Alright, I’ll be waiting.”
Tong Le took her hand, frowning slightly, “Sis, why are your hands so cold? Are you catching a cold?”
“No, I’m not.”
Tong Le’s face scrunched up in concern, “Have you been eating well while I’m not home? Have you been staying up late? And what’s with the injuries on your neck, and on your hands too? Have you been fighting with someone?”
He bombarded her with questions like a machine gun, chattering away.
“No, I haven’t.” Tong Yang innocently covered her neck, the scars from a fight with her would-be murderer still hadn’t completely healed.
“You told me last weekend you needed to study for the college entrance exams and didn’t let me come home, was it because you got hurt fighting?”
“No, I just cut myself while cooking.” Tong Yang blatantly lied.
“Really?” Tong Le looked skeptical.
“Absolutely.”
“If someone is bullying you, you must tell me, okay?”
Seeing his serious expression, Tong Yang couldn’t help but laugh, teasing him, “What could you do if someone bullied me? Bully them back?”
Tong Le pouted, “Then just wait until I grow up! I’ll definitely help you bully them back!”
“Let’s talk about that when you’re grown up.”
Tong Le sensed her evasiveness and grumbled unhappily.
“Does it still hurt?”
“Huh? It doesn’t hurt anymore.”
“Be more careful when you’re cooking!” Tong Le glared, “Actually, just stop cooking, I’ll do it from now on!”
“You?” Tong Yang gave him a once-over, “Do you even know the difference between potatoes and sweet potatoes?”
Tong Le: “…”
“Sis! I’m young, not stupid, potatoes are just sweet potatoes, right?”
“Eh? Is that so? I’m hearing this for the first time.”
“Sis!”
Enjoying his exasperated reaction, Tong Yang decided to drop the subject.
“Ah, these siblings are really something.”
“Yeah, my kids are constantly fighting, each scared that the other might get one over on them.”
“That kid, I’ve seen him before, he was in the newspaper, consistently topping our district, his grades are exceptional.”
“Really? I knew it, you can’t be top without good grades.”
…
Hearing the adults’ discussions around him, Tong Le proudly took his sister’s hand. His sister was the most incredible, outstanding person in the world!
“Sis, are you hungry? How about I treat you to celebrate your birthday and the end of your exams?”
Tong Yang, leading him away from the crowd, frowned, “You still have money in your pocket? Have you been eating well at school? Are you saving your money instead of spending it?”
“I’ve been eating well!” Tong Le pressed his chubby cheeks to her face, “Look, I’ve gained two pounds!”
Tong Yang pinched his cheeks, “How can you tell with just two pounds?”
Usually, Tong Yang would give him some pocket money, separate from his living expenses, but worried he might save it, she set a condition: he had to spend it within a certain time frame, or she wouldn’t give him more since she wasn’t giving much in the first place.
Tong Le wriggled free from her grasp, “I earned my own money, you can have whatever you want.”
“Oh?” Tong Yang raised an eyebrow, “You earned money?”
“Yeah, the teacher checks our dormitory cleanliness every day, but some classmates can’t fold their blankets properly, so I help them. I make three yuan for a week of folding blankets, one yuan for fetching hot water, one yuan for running errands, one yuan for lending notes, fifty cents for accompanying them to the bathroom at night… I’ve saved up a lot this semester!”
“Really? They don’t think you’re easy to bully?”
“I’m the class president, they wouldn’t dare. Besides, I’m not afraid of their teasing, I get better grades, I can earn money, I don’t bully other students, they tease me because they’re immature.”
Listening to his confident explanation, Tong Yang couldn’t help but chuckle, “Well said. They tease you because they’re immature. But make sure it doesn’t affect your studies, okay?”
“Sis, I know, I’m just helping them with what I’d do anyway.”
“Then treat me to a candied hawthorn.”
“Sure!”
They bought two candied hawthorns from a street vendor and chatted happily on their way home.
It seemed like just another ordinary day.
On their way home, Tong Yang stopped by a bank to deposit all 6,700 yuan in cash she had on her.
“Sis, how come you have so much money!”
Tong Yang stopped by a street vendor to replace her phone screen protector for ten yuan.
“Earned it, but only half of it is ours.”
“Sis, you’re so amazing!”
Once they returned home, Tong Yang entered the room that used to be Tong Le’s bedroom. She had switched their rooms after that night.
After taking a bath and changing out of his dirty school uniform, Tong Yang sat at her desk and picked up her phone, finding over 99+ messages in her social media group chats.
[@Making Money Through Studying]
[@Making Money Through Studying]
[@Making Money Through Studying]
[@Making Money Through Studying]
[@Making Money Through Studying]
Making Money Through Studying: [？]
[Ah! Finally, you replied!]
[Holy crap!!! Sis, what did you do??]
[Do you know what we’ve been through these past two days?]
[I was scared to death! I really was scared to death!]
[I kept refreshing the news live, it was terrifying!]
Making Money Through Studying: [What happened?]
[You’re asking us what happened!]
[Do you know how many times the news changed these two days? I didn’t sleep for two days, constantly refreshing about the terror attack at No. 3 Middle School]
[Yesterday morning the news said you died in the hallway, at noon it changed to the cafeteria, in the afternoon it said the classroom, and by evening it said some died in the girls’ dormitory, some in the teaching building, some on the sports field, and they were all scared to death!]
[This morning was calm, we thought you were fine, nervously waiting until the exams ended at 5:30, do you know what the news said after 5:20?]
[It changed to the students of exam room 1209 dying mysteriously, all found with strangulation marks on their necks, suffocated to death, and you, as the only survivor — jumped off a building and killed yourself!]
[But within five minutes, that news completely disappeared, the terror attack at No. 3 Middle School seemed like it never happened, no one remembers it]
[What on earth happened?]
Making Money Through Studying: [Guess?]
[Damn! You can’t just say that every time something happens!]
[Is that your catchphrase?]
Making Money Through Studying: [I’ve confirmed the origins of these murderers now]
[？]
[What]
[Why change the topic?]
[Where are they from?]
Making Money Through Studying: [Just like I guessed before, a parallel timeline]
Making Money Through Studying: [From the moment we stepped into the exam room, me and all the students from 1209 entered the No. 3 Middle School in a parallel world, the changes you saw in the news were what we experienced in the parallel world]
[？？？]
[What???]
[Ah, no, wait]
[Stop, I’m thinking]
[Then your previous guess was right! People from the parallel world discovered us first and found a way to travel between the two worlds]
[Sss… high school students collectively entering a parallel world? Even movies wouldn’t dare to film this]
[But didn’t the school notice? You all disappeared!]
Making Money Through Studying: [They didn’t notice, I guess memories were erased, just like how others will lose their original memories because of my actions]
Making Money Through Studying: [And it seems they also don’t want to attract widespread attention in the real world, being discovered by humans doesn’t benefit them, so the exams in the parallel world will be merged into the real world]
is not simple, what should we do?]
[Call the police?]
[I still think it’s better to let the country handle this]
[Mainly worried they won’t believe us, think we’re delusional]
[Why not let them talk to Sister Tong through this group to clear things up?]
Making Money Through Studying: [I advise against doing that]
[Ah? Why?]
[I tried adding my alternate account to the group before, but it showed this group chat doesn’t exist, can’t find this group with its number and id either]
Making Money Through Studying: [Remember Sun Ye? The victim who was pushed off the building]
[Remember, Glasses Guy]
[What happened?]
Making Money Through Studying: [That day on the rooftop, I showed him the list of victims from the terror attack, he said there was nothing on the screen]
[Ah??]
[Sss…]
[Terrifying]
[No way!]
[It’s even scarier now]
Making Money Through Studying: [You guys can try screenshotting my messages and sending them to other people]
[I’ll try]
[I’ll try too]
[Really?]
“Sis, what are you doing?” Tong Le peeked over her shoulder, glancing at the phone screen, “Who are you messaging? There’s clearly no one talking.”
“The Emperor’s message, only smart people can see it.”
“Am I not smart then?”
“Not as smart as me.”
“Hehe, of course Sis is the smartest!”
Ding-dong—
Ding-dong—
Messages continued popping up.
[My god! I sent it to my mom, she said there’s no text in the text bubble!]
[Goosebumps, my friend said the same]
[Unbelievable, such a bizarre incident happening to me]
[So it means only we can see Tong Yang’s messages in 2026, even calling the police is useless orz]
[Help, I’m scared stiff]
Tong Yang let her brother go get a glass of water, replying: [That’s right, in 2024 only I can see your messages, because in both timelines only a few of us are aligned through this group chat]
[As expected, we are the chosen children]
[Sis, do you want to check who the top science student of Bei Wang Province is in 24?]
Making Money Through Studying: [No need]
The college entrance exams were over, and whether or not she was the top science student of 24 couldn’t be changed. She preferred to uncover the mystery herself, one step at a time, enjoying the process.
[Group member Making Money Through Studying transferred 3350 yuan to Ji Chuan’s dog account]
[？？？]
[Sis, did you strike it rich?]
[She just vouched fifty for you, and you’re returning so much? If I knew I would’ve done the same]
Making Money Through Studying: [This is the income from these two days, I told you we’d split fifty-fifty, divide it yourselves]
[？？？？？？？]
[How much? You’re saying you earned how much these two days??]
[Ah??]
[Not kidding, if it’s half each, that means 6700]
[Ah?? You earned 6700 in two days of exams??]
Making Money Through Studying: [And I still owe 16,000]
During the second math exam, they had agreed to Tong Yang’s terms, apart from Chu Shiyu, everyone else had to pay her an extra five hundred, and Wang Xinyuan had to pay a thousand.
As for the separate twenty thousand from Sun Ye, Tong Yang didn’t include it in the fifty-fifty split, as that was entirely her own doing.
[How, how much? You’re saying you earned how much these two days??]
[Ah?? Is the value of currency different in the timeline we live in? You can earn over twenty thousand in two days??]
[Big brother, who paid you to risk your life?]
[I feel uneasy holding this money, it’s too scary]
[With your earning speed, you’ll achieve financial independence from scratch in less than two years]
Making Money Through Studying: [Two years is too short, opportunities like this don’t come often]
Speaking of risking lives, Tong Yang recalled another matter.
Making Money Through Studying: [Sorry, I forgot, to be precise, it’s sixty-six thousand, a rich second generation in our class paid me fifty thousand to save his life]
[Ha??]
[Crap! You’re making fifty thousand a minute? How dare you!]
[You earned so much in two days, and you’re sharing all of it with us??]
[My gosh, this is what it feels like to cling to someone powerful? No wonder everyone in dramas loves clinging to the powerful]
[You’re wrong, not just in dramas, people in real life like it too]
[You’re really sharing it with us? But we didn’t do anything]
Making Money Through Studying: [You provided information for me, though it didn’t help much, things wouldn’t have been resolved so easily without you, and we’ll need to cooperate more in the future, there will be many opportunities where I’ll need your information, and it’s not every time that I can make money]
One main point, Tong Yang temporarily didn’t mention.
She suspected that her ability to loop might have something to do with the Melon Eating group.
Since she could connect to future times through the group chat, maybe she could also connect to past times.
Making Money Through Studying: [Anyway, happy to collaborate]
[Ow ow ow I declare I am Tong Sister’s second dog-leg!]
[I’m the third]
[I’m fourth]
[Realized the importance of a powerful thigh]
[Sis, take me to riches, please]
After leaving the group chat, she saw a message from Sun Ye, it was a recommendation for a group chat called “Secret Event Hall of 1209.”
Tong Yang applied, and within a few seconds, she was added.
[Tong Sister, you’re the only one missing, we’re having dinner tonight at the Dongpo Hotpot restaurant near school, we’re treating, bring your brother]
[Group member Wang Xinyuan transferred 1000 to Making Money Through Studying]
[Group member Liu Dong transferred 500 to Making Money Through Studying]
[Group member Sun Ye transferred 524.5 to Making Money Through Studying]
…
[Sun Ye, why do you have both exact and fractional amounts?]
[I owed a bit more, that’s all the pocket money I have]
Group members gradually transferred all the money to Tong Yang, also paying back the money they owed to Chu Shiyu.
Tong Yang flipped through her accounting book, crossing off everyone’s names, subtracting twenty-four and a half from Sun Ye’s original amount, leaving nineteen thousand nine hundred seventy-five.
[Group member Chu Shiyu transferred 50000 to Making Money Through Studying]
[Ha? How much did you transfer?]
[@Chu Shiyu, didn’t you add two extra zeros?]
[Typical rich miss, always so generous]
[I know why they say you have many dog-legs, I also want to be your dog-leg]
[Such a niche amount, I’ve never seen this much in my life]
Making Money Through Studying: [Rich miss, you’re not taking back those extra zeros?]
Tong Yang joked.
Chu Shiyu: […Okay]
[Ah?? Rich miss, you’re this generous?]
[You don’t even do charity like this! That’s fifty thousand!]
Making Money Through Studying: [Thanks, rich miss]
Tong Yang righteously accepted the money, it was rightfully hers.
When she distributed half of it to the members of the Melon Eating group chat, seeing the huge amount on the screen, Tong Yang sighed, wishing she had said a thirty-seventy split.
Putting down her phone, she changed clothes, leading her brother out to the hotpot restaurant.
Upon arrival, they had already reserved a large private room, and almost everyone had arrived.
“Tong Sister, you’ve arrived? Sit here!”
Tong Yang nodded and casually responded.
“Wow! Is this the little brother? He’s so handsome! How many girls’ hearts will he steal in the future!”
Tong Le greeted everyone openly, “Hello, brothers and sisters, I’m Tong Le.”
“Thank you for treating my sister and me to dinner.”
“Hey! We’re friends who’ve been through life and death with Tong Yang, no need to thank us.”
Tong Yang glanced at them disdainfully and picked a spot to sit down.
“Le Le, you’re so cute! How old are you?”
“Thank you, sister, I’m nine years old, you’re pretty too.”
“Your family has good genes, so good-looking at just nine, imagine when you grow up!”
“Really? But I think sister you’re prettier.”
“Le Le, can you eat spicy?”
“Thank you, brother, both my sister and I can’t handle much spice, but a little bit is okay.”
Watching him surrounded by adults yet responding calmly and fluently, compared to herself, Tong Le was quite adept at socializing. His teachers mentioned that he got along well with teachers and most of his classmates at school. Now that he could even earn his own money, even if something happened to her on May 28, Tong Le should be able to live well and grow up on his own.
With that thought, Tong Yang felt more at ease.
However, how the others could maintain such a good mood after experiencing death, their acceptance capacity was quite remarkable.
“Sis!” After saying goodbye to everyone, he walked up to Tong Yang, his voice neither loud nor soft, “Sis, you get along really well with everyone!”
Tong Yang noticed the surprised and expectant glances that gathered between the two for a moment, and couldn’t help but chuckle as she ruffled his hair, “Yeah, they’re great.”
“Tong Yang, Le Le, do you have any dietary restrictions?”
“What small dishes do you like? I’ll get them for you!”
“What drinks would you like? I’ll fetch them!”
After dinner, they decided to go to a KTV for fun, but it was probably an excuse to ask about what happened today.
Tong Yang didn’t want Tong Le to know about these things, so she had Sun Ye take him around nearby to digest their meal.
The old district’s KTVs weren’t very strict in management, they didn’t ask too many questions and opened a large private room for them.
The soundproofing was good, and with the noisy surroundings, once they locked the door of the private room, no one else would know.
“Tong Sister, can we talk now?”
“Actually, I still haven’t come to terms with it…”
Tong Yang said, “Knowing too much about this matter is not good for you, I sincerely suggest you treat these past two days as a dream.”
“Are you afraid we’ll talk?”
“We won’t, and even if we did, no one would believe us.”
“I still think it’s too scary, obviously I didn’t go home last night, didn’t see my parents, yet they say I acted the same these past two days, I asked them if they did anything specific, they all said they couldn’t remember, just that it was exactly like before.”
“Neither the school nor the proctors noticed, they thought we were always in the exam room, the exam papers were also collected as usual.”
“It seems to others, we just went about our exams as usual.”
Tong Yang thought for a moment, the results matched her guess, “At least the outcome is good.”
“What exactly is going on? Why did we enter a parallel world? Why did we die, yet you could reverse time…”
Tong Yang looked up, seeing the silence of most people, she knew this matter couldn’t just be ignored, although she didn’t want them to know too much, she couldn’t say nothing at all.
“On May 28, I was killed by someone from the parallel world.”
“What?!”
“Killed? How is that possible…”
Everyone looked at Tong Yang in disbelief, the volume of information was overwhelming for them.
“The murderer who killed me, looked exactly like my biological mother who passed away, and after that, I gained the ability to loop in time, but I still haven’t figured out the triggers and timing.”
“Chu Shiyu, do you remember the person at the cafeteria entrance who looked a lot like Teacher Yang?”
Chu Shiyu nodded blankly, “I remember.”
Tong Yang continued, “The extra people during last night’s exam were actually us, ourselves from the parallel world.”
“Ourselves from the parallel world?”
“How could that be?”
“Then those we killed…”
“Also exist in reality, but rest assured, life and death in the two worlds are not connected.”
Tong Yang said gravely, “People from the parallel world can travel between the two worlds, but there should be conditions restricting them, the bakery murder case in March was also their doing, combining these events, their purpose is just to kill.”
“Why? We have no grudges… why do this?”
Tong Yang said, “Why do this? If we had discovered people from the parallel world first, things would probably have evolved in this direction, the unknown represents danger and uncontrollability.”
“Moreover, the parallel world is clearly different from reality, their living environment is terrible, and it doesn’t seem like there are many normal people.”
Seeing everyone’s shocked faces, Tong Yang lowered her eyes and said, “That’s all I have to say, if you talk about it, I’ll pretend I know nothing.”
“I don’t dare talk, it feels like it would bring more trouble.”
“What do we do next? Will we still be involved in dangerous things?”
“I don’t know, I plan to follow some similar events first, figure out why they travel between two worlds, maybe solving it can block the pathway and return us to our normal lives.”
“We can help.”
“It feels like saving the world!”
Tong Yang shook her head, “It’s too dangerous for you, I might be able to enter the loop if I die, what about you?”
Maybe they would become a burden, plus, she didn’t want to risk the money she had earned and split it three ways.
“…”
“That’s too bad…”
“Some non-dangerous things, we can still help!”
“Exactly!”
“Of course, if needed, I’ll ask for your help, other times, please protect yourselves and continue living ordinary lives.”
As for other information, Tong Yang didn’t reveal too much, like the specific rules of the Melon Eating group and time loops… and perhaps, without knowing when, the familiar people around them might also be replaced by those from the parallel world.
Knowing too much about these things is not good for them, the butterfly effect might bring unknown changes to the future, everything is still uncertain.
After Sun Ye and Tong Le returned, they brought out a pre-prepared cake, and they celebrated her birthday again.
Later, as it was getting late, everyone said their goodbyes and went home, carrying with them this magical yet dangerous experience.
Tong Yang walked down the bustling street with Tong Le, perhaps because she had completed the most important task of her early life, she felt a sense of sudden enlightenment.
“Sis, I want to give you a birthday present,” Tong Le said mysteriously.
“What is it?” Tong Yang asked curiously.
“Ta-da! A bracelet! Do you like it?”
Tong Le held up a silver-white bracelet with several bells hanging from it, which tinkled as he gently shook it.
“I like it, put it on for me.”
“Then stretch out your hand.”
Tong Le carefully fastened the bracelet around her wrist, saying, “Brother Sun Ye and I picked it together.”
“Is that so? It’s very pretty.”
“Sis, your hands are pretty, anything looks good on you.”
Tong Le took her hand again, raising his small face, saying, “Sis, while we were shopping earlier, I saw someone from behind who looked a lot like you, I almost mistook her for you.”
Tong Yang’s actions paused, her expression momentarily stiffening.
![[Crime Investigation] 13th Case](https://www.freenovels.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/第十三案刑侦-scaled.jpg "[Crime Investigation] 13th Case")
