It was almost 9 AM. After finishing breakfast, Tong Yang and the other person heard a knock on the door.
Tong Le was in the room packing her clothes and asked Tong Yang to help answer the door.
“Hello, is this Tong Le’s home?”
When Tong Yang opened the door, he saw a well-dressed woman standing there, looking a bit out of place against the old, yellowing balcony behind her.
“Yes.” Tong Yang nodded and glanced down to see a small boy hiding behind her. The boy nervously peeked out, showing a timid expression.
The woman turned around and gently patted the boy’s head. “Sorry, he’s a bit shy. It’s his first time visiting a friend’s house.”
“No problem, please come in.” Tong Yang stepped aside to let them in. “Tong Le is tidying up her room. Please take a seat; I’ll get you some water.”
The woman quickly shook her head. “I have some other matters to attend to, so I’ll be leaving soon. Please take care of this child for me.”
Tong Yang nodded. “Alright.”
The woman let out a sigh of relief, turned around, and gently nudged the little boy forward. “Linlin, Mommy has to go now. Be good, don’t trouble your sister. When you want to go home, just call Mommy, and I’ll have someone come to pick you up.”
“Mm…” The little boy tilted his head but still didn’t dare to look up.
Seeing this, the woman sighed softly, gently caressing his right cheek. “Have fun, okay?”
“Mm.”
“Take care,” Tong Yang said as the woman gave him a strained smile, her eyes showing a complicated emotion, as if she wanted to say something but ultimately didn’t. She left without another word.
“Linlin? Come on in,” Tong Yang bent down and gently tugged on the boy. He seemed scared and immediately lowered his head further, but he still obediently walked inside.
Just then, Tong Le emerged from the room, arms full of dirty clothes. She smiled and greeted him, “Yang Lin, you’re here! Have you had breakfast?”
Yang Lin mumbled, “Yes.”
Tong Yang closed the door and turned to Tong Le. “Put the clothes away and go keep your friend company.”
“I know, I know!”
Tong Le hurried off to the bathroom with the dirty clothes, and then quickly ran back to them. She grabbed Yang Lin’s arm and said, “Yang Lin, this is my sister.”
“Big sis, this is my best friend at school, Yang Lin.”
After hesitating for a few seconds, Yang Lin slowly turned his body towards Tong Yang. He cautiously lifted his head and greeted her, “Hello, big sister…”
At that moment, Tong Yang got a good look at his face. The left side was clean and delicate, but the right side had large burn scars extending over his eye and forehead. The scars crisscrossed, pulling the skin around his right eye down so much that only a small slit remained.
“Hello,” Tong Yang nodded gently. “Don’t mind me; you two go play.”
Yang Lin studied Tong Yang’s expression, seemingly trying to confirm something. When he found no reaction of disgust or surprise, his tense face finally relaxed, and he revealed a shy smile.
He lowered his head again and pulled out a handmade bag of cookies from his satchel, slowly handing it to Tong Yang. “Big sister, this is a gift for you.”
“Thank you,” Tong Yang accepted it.
“Come on, let’s go play in my room,” Tong Le said, and after giving a nod to Tong Yang, Yang Lin followed her into the bedroom.
Tong Yang placed the cookies in her room and went to the bathroom to wash the dirty clothes.
When she came out, she saw two text messages from Yang Lin’s mother on her phone.
[Tong Miss, I deeply apologize. When Linlin was two, there was a fire at home, and it left quite noticeable scars on his face. The other children are scared of him and bully him. They won’t be his friends. Your Tong Le is his only friend. He’s a very good boy, so I hope you won’t have any bad thoughts about him. Thank you so much!]
[If you don’t want Tong Le to be friends with Linlin, could you please hold off on showing it in front of him? He’s a sensitive child and would get hurt easily. I beg you!]
Tong Yang stared at the messages for about ten seconds before replying.
[Thank you for the cookies. I won’t interfere with Tong Le’s friendships.]
Within half a minute, Yang Lin’s mother responded.
[Thank you so much!]
Tong Yang smiled and turned off her phone.
No wonder Tong Le was acting weird yesterday—she was probably worried about hurting her friend’s pride.
She walked over to Tong Le’s bedroom door and knocked softly. “I’m heading out to buy groceries. Anything specific you two want to eat?”
“Whatever you get is fine, big sis! We’re not picky eaters!”
“How about cola chicken wings?”
“Yes! Yang Lin, do you like cola chicken wings?”
“Mm… I do.”
Tong Yang let them continue playing and left the house, taking the keys with her. She bought groceries for the weekend and some drinks and snacks as well.
At noon, after cooking lunch, Tong Le called the two little ones to eat.
“See, Yang Lin? Didn’t I tell you my sister’s cooking is amazing?”
Yang Lin shyly nodded. “Yes, big sister’s cooking is delicious.”
“Enough talking, just eat.”
Yang Lin had impeccable table manners, sitting with his back straight and eating slowly. Tong Le, though more relaxed, still ate much more elegantly than most boys his age.
After lunch, Tong Le asked to borrow Tong Yang’s phone, and the two of them curled up on the couch to play games.
Tong Yang left them to it and headed to her part-time job at a bubble tea shop, leaving her phone at home.
By the time she got off work at 5:30 PM, Tong Yang picked up some cold dishes on her way home. When she returned, she noticed the living room was empty, but the kitchen light was on. She walked over and found Tong Le fiercely cutting potatoes into strips, while Yang Lin sat nearby, peeling garlic. The atmosphere was surprisingly harmonious.
“Big sis, you’re back?” Tong Le looked over and waved her off. “You go sit down and relax. Tonight, Yang Lin and I are making dinner for you!”
Tong Yang raised an eyebrow. “I’m afraid you’ll burn the kitchen down.”
“Big sis! I know how to cook! Just leave us alone and go change your clothes.”
Tong Yang got shooed out of the kitchen. She didn’t try to stop them and was about to head to her room when Tong Le suddenly said, “Oh, big sis, someone called you this afternoon. They asked what university you’re interested in. I didn’t know if it was a scam.”
“Got it.” Tong Yang replied as she walked into her room. She saw her phone charging on the bedside table and picked it up, checking the call log. At around 3:30 PM, there was a call from a number in the capital. The conversation lasted less than a minute.
Today was June 15, about a week after the College Entrance Examination, and the results were expected to come out around June 20, so there was probably still a week to go.
Tong Yang thought for a moment and decided not to call back.
Tong Le’s cooking turned out better than expected. The kitchen wasn’t a disaster, and the food tasted quite good.
After the meal, before Tong Yang could say anything, the two kids volunteered to wash the dishes. She didn’t object and was happy to relax.
After about half an hour of rest, Yang Lin’s mother came to pick him up.
“Miss Tong, I’m so sorry for bothering you today.”
“Not at all.”
Holding his mom’s hand, Yang Lin waved goodbye to Tong Le, and instead of hiding behind his mother like when he first arrived, he looked up with hopeful eyes at Tong Yang and asked, “Big sister, can I come over to play again?”
Seeing his cautious and hopeful expression, Tong Yang smiled warmly for once. “Of course.”
“Then can I invite you and Lele to my house next time?”
“Sure.”
Yang Lin let out a heavy sigh of relief, looked up at his mother with a happy smile, and said, “Mommy, let’s go home.”
Yang Lin’s mother was stunned by his smile, and her eyes reddened without warning. “Alright, let’s go home.”
Then, she looked up at Tong Yang and sincerely said, “Miss Tong, thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome. Be careful on the way home.”
Yang Lin’s mother smiled, bent down to ruffle his hair, and said, “Linlin, let’s go. Next time, you can play with your friends again.”
“Mm!”
“Bye, Lele! Bye, big sister!”
“Bye-bye.”
After seeing them off, Tong Yang closed the door.
Tong Le sat on the sofa and said, “Big sis, you can ask me now.”
“Ask you what?” Tong Yang looked at him, puzzled.
Tong Le let out an “Ah!” and said, “Aren’t you going to ask me about Yang Lin?”
“There’s nothing to ask. He’s a polite and well-behaved kid.”
Tong Le burst into laughter, bounced off the sofa, and threw herself into Tong Yang’s arms. “I knew you’d say that, big sis!”
Tong Yang peeled him off herself. “Alright, you’ve played enough today. Go do your homework now.”
“Okay, okay!”
After a pause, Tong Yang added, “Yang Lin’s mom probably doesn’t know he’s been bullied recently, does she? You should talk to him and suggest he tell her.”
“Mm-hmm, I will!”
Without saying more, the two went to their respective rooms.
On Monday morning, after dropping Tong Le off at school, Tong Yang was checking her phone while heading to her part-time job at the bubble tea shop.
Since the call from the capital on Saturday afternoon, she hadn’t received any more calls related to school. However, her homeroom teacher, Teacher Yang, had called a few times to ask if she had received calls from any major universities. Apparently, some universities have their own information channels and would call top-ranked students a week before the results were released to invite them to enroll.
Tong Yang told the truth, and Teacher Yang advised her not to worry. Based on her performance in the mock exams, there shouldn’t be any surprises this time either.
Tong Yang wasn’t too worried. The results were already set, and even if she didn’t do well on the College Entrance Examination, there was nothing she could do about it. Besides, she felt she had done pretty well.
During her lunch break, Tong Yang logged into her social media account. The group chats “Melon Eating Netizen 007” and “1209 Secret Event Hall” were still as lively as ever, though Tong Yang rarely participated.
But surprisingly, among the usual group messages, there were a few private messages this time.
Two of them were from Chu Shiyu, asking if Tong Yang had received any calls from universities in the capital and which university she was aiming for. The messages had been sent the day before.
[Not yet.]
[Not sure.]
Tong Yang replied to both, then exited the chat and returned to her message list. There were a few more from unknown profiles.
When she opened them one by one, she found that their messages were all similar.
[Hello.]
[Hi, classmate. Feeling stressed from studying?]
These were sent three months ago.
[Hey, classmate! Congratulations on finishing the College Entrance Examination! Have you decided which city you’ll attend university in?]
[I can help recommend some options for you.]
These were more recent.
Several other unknown profiles had sent similar messages at various times, but Tong Yang felt they were useless and had ignored them. She couldn’t even remember when she added them.
However, she vaguely remembered hearing from her classmates that students who did well in the mock exams would have their contact information obtained by major universities. These universities would reach out before the College Entrance Examination results were released to build relationships with these top students, so they could prioritize recruiting them later.
Tong Yang figured that these strangers were likely teachers from those universities, who had gotten her contact info after the mock exam results were published.
She replied to each one, without committing to any particular university, simply stating she was still considering her options.
Over the next few days, she continued to receive messages from various people. Some introduced their universities, while others recommended suitable majors for her. Tong Yang listened but didn’t give any clear responses.
By Wednesday evening, on her way home from her part-time job, Tong Yang bought a box of stir-fried rice noodles. As she approached her apartment building, she saw two young men in suits walking out of the building.
“Tong Yang?”
“Hello, are you Tong Yang?”
The men seemed pleased to see her, and one of them pulled out a business card from his wallet.
“Who are you?” Tong Yang frowned.
The man bowed slightly and said, “We’re teachers from the admissions office at Peking University. Could we have a word?”
“Peking University’s admissions office?” Tong Yang looked them up and down. “How do I know you’re telling the truth?”
The men exchanged a glance. “We can log onto Peking University’s admissions website, where you’ll find our profiles and photos.”
“Also, we arranged to meet with you tonight, but when we got here, we found you weren’t home.”
Tong Yang paused. “We arranged to meet? When? I don’t remember meeting you.”
“Online. I added your contact information.”
Tong Yang stared at him in silence. While she had indeed been in contact with admissions officers from other universities over the past few days, none of them were from Peking University, nor had she arranged to meet anyone today.
“Can you show me the chat history?”
“Well…” The man hesitated, then pulled up his phone’s call history. “We called you twice last weekend. The first time, your little brother answered.”
Tong Yang looked at the screen. The familiar number and time matched. Last Saturday, after she left for her part-time job, Tong Le had indeed answered a call. However, according to the man’s call history, Tong Yang’s number had called them back about an hour later, at 4:25 PM.
“Not long after, you called me back and agreed to meet today, the 19th.”
Last Saturday was June 15, and Tong Yang didn’t return home from her part-time job until 5:30 PM. Her phone had been left at home, so there was no way she could have made that call at 4:25. And her phone’s call log didn’t show any record of a second call being made.
“Are you sure it was my voice?” Tong Yang asked, her tone serious.
The man was taken aback. “I’m sorry, we didn’t talk for long, and it was over the phone… but I thought it was.”
Tong Yang pressed her lips together. So, someone had used her phone, in her name, to call these people, arranged a meeting, and then deleted the call record without anyone noticing?
Suddenly, Tong Le’s words flashed through her mind. He had mentioned seeing someone with a back that looked exactly like hers on the street. Maybe that incident wasn’t just a coincidence!
If she could encounter people in parallel worlds who looked exactly like her mother or Teacher Yang, then there must also be someone in the parallel world who looked exactly like her.
“Sorry, my home isn’t convenient for visitors right now,” Tong Yang declined.
The men, seemingly understanding, nodded. “You haven’t eaten yet, right? How about we find a restaurant and chat there? Does that work?”
“Sure.”
Tong Yang carried her stir-fried rice noodles and left the Dongyang Residential Complex with them.
As they walked, Tong Yang kept studying the call history on her phone, trying to see if she could recover the deleted record, but she couldn’t manage it herself.
They found a nearby restaurant and chose a window-side table.
The two admissions officers, in their suits and ties, looked somewhat out of place in the casual environment. Yet, they seemed completely at ease, even warmly hosting Tong Yang as if they were the ones welcoming her.
Tong Yang let them order a couple of dishes. While waiting for the food, they got down to business.
“Tong Yang, I’m sure you’ve guessed the purpose of our visit by now.”
“Mm,” Tong Yang nodded. “You already know my exam score?”
The two admissions officers exchanged a look. “We don’t know your score yet, of course. But based on your mock exam results, we believe you’re an excellent candidate. We’d like to invite you to apply to Peking University. No matter what your actual score is, we’ll accept you, and you can choose any major you like.”
Tong Yang’s eyes flicked over them. “What if my score is way below the mark?”
“Rest assured, even then, we’ll still make an exception for you. We’ll offer you a full scholarship, covering all tuition and fees, and if your major fits, we can even guarantee you a direct path to a PhD.”
Tong Yang gave them a meaningful look. “No matter where I rank overall? These offers are quite tempting. Are you sure this isn’t a scam?”
Her gaze was sharp, as if she could see right through them.
“Of course, we believe you’ll easily score above the threshold for Peking University.”
Tong Yang smiled but didn’t give a direct answer. “I’m afraid I won’t be able to pass the exam. Let’s wait until the results come out.”
“By then, it might be too late. If you agree now, we can arrange for you to visit the university tomorrow. We’ll cover all the travel expenses. What do you think?”
Seeing that Tong Yang was still not responding and was simply giving them a faint smile, the admissions officers were starting to sweat. One of them wiped his brow with a tissue and continued, “Please think it over carefully. Once the results are out, you’ll only be able to apply based on your score, and the scholarship or PhD opportunity may no longer be available.”
Tong Yang shrugged. “If that’s the case, then it means I wasn’t good enough to get those offers from your university in the first place.”
The two of them were speechless.
“That’s not how it works. We still have great faith in you. Is there something you’re unsure about? Or do you not trust our identities? I can prove it…”
“No need. I trust that you’re legitimate. I’m just afraid I don’t deserve such high expectations from your university.”
“Well…”
Tong Yang was clearly playing hardball, deftly deflecting their words. It was obvious she had seen through their tactics.
A full scholarship and direct path to a PhD from Peking University? That was a rare and prestigious offer, usually reserved for the top few students out of a sea of geniuses. It wasn’t just about high exam scores but also required exceptional performance in both academic and extracurricular activities. Moreover, she hadn’t even been admitted yet.
Tong Yang didn’t believe for a second that these men were offering such enticing benefits based solely on her mock exam scores. They must have already known her actual ranking and score and were trying to secure her admission before other universities could compete.
Seeing that Tong Yang remained unfazed, one of the admissions officers suddenly had an idea. He pulled out his phone and said, “Tong Yang, you mentioned you didn’t remember making that call, right? I believe I have an automatic call recording feature on my phone. Let me find the recording for you.”
This piqued Tong Yang’s interest, and she nodded.
The officer scrolled through his phone for a while, then played a recording and placed the phone on the table, turning the volume up.
“Hello?”
A lazy voice sounded.
“Hello? Is this Tong Yang?”
Even though the voice was slightly distorted over the phone, Tong Yang instantly recognized it—it was her own voice.
“Yes, I’m Tong Yang. What’s this about?”
As the recording continued to play, Tong Yang felt increasingly creeped out. The person on the other end sounded exactly like her, with the same tone and mannerisms. Yet she knew, without a doubt, that she hadn’t made this call at 4:25 on June 15.
“I’m a teacher from the admissions office at Peking University. I’m calling to ask if you’ve considered applying to our university. I actually tried calling you in March to offer you a guaranteed spot if you passed a special exam, but you didn’t pick up. After contacting your school, they told us you declined the guaranteed admission.”
Tong Yang vaguely remembered her school mentioning something about guaranteed admission back then, but it required participating in a math competition and attending half a month of training. She hadn’t paid much attention to it at the time, not realizing it was for Peking University. Even if she had known, she probably wouldn’t have accepted, since she believed she could score high enough on the College Entrance Examination to qualify for even better offers and scholarships.
After a brief, eerie silence in the recording, there was a soft chuckle from the other end of the line. In the background, Tong Yang could faintly hear the voices of Tong Le and Yang Lin chatting.
“Is that so?”
The familiar voice had an indescribable tone to it, something unsettling.
Suddenly, Tong Yang realized something: the woman in the recording, who sounded just like her, didn’t seem like the chaotic or numb individuals she had encountered in the parallel world. In fact, she seemed like a normal person.
And it was precisely because the woman seemed so normal that Tong Yang found the situation even more disturbing.
If, until now, she had been able to easily distinguish people from the parallel world by their appearance or behavior, what about this “person” who had pretended to be her and called the admissions office?
She sounded exactly like a regular person, blending seamlessly into the real world. How could anyone prove that these individuals weren’t real?
Or, if this person had the same voice, the same tone, and the same appearance as her, what would happen if they both appeared in the real world at the same time? How would the people around her—people who knew her—be able to tell who was the real Tong Yang? And who would be the Tong Yang from the dangerous and unknown parallel world?
What if this “Tong Yang” showed up in front of Tong Le? What then?
“Alright, next Wednesday, at 6 PM, at my house.”
“Great! So we’re set?”
“Mm.”
The call ended with a casual “Mm.”
Tong Yang’s back was drenched in cold sweat. If she thought about it on a larger scale, what if many people resembling her friends started appearing? How would anyone know who was the real one?
Compared to the obviously deranged, violent, or numb “hunters” from the parallel world, it was these seemingly ordinary people who were far more terrifying.
Because they could infiltrate every corner of life, and there was no way to tell them apart.
The future was constantly changing, and even if nothing had happened yet, how could she be sure that Tong Le wouldn’t get caught up in something dangerous later?
The consequences of this situation might be even bigger than she had imagined. Before things spiraled out of control, she needed to figure out what triggered these crossings between the two worlds. There was no more time to waste.
“Tong Yang, are you alright? You look pale. Are you feeling unwell?” one of the admissions officers asked, concerned.
Tong Yang shook her head, signaling that she was fine, but her mind had already drifted far away.
She thought of a question.
Why did the “Tong Yang” on the phone set up a meeting with the admissions officers for today?
Why today of all days?
