TMSCEW 108

The wait for the update felt like an eternity.

Ruan Jiujiu went from constantly refreshing the page to checking every few minutes, becoming increasingly weary as time passed, and her head felt as heavy as a pecking chicken.

The image of Cheng Jun’s face appeared in her mind, suddenly bringing her to full alertness. It had been such a long time; she had no idea how everyone in the other world was doing. Ruan Jiujiu couldn’t help but feel a sense of unease. When she arrived in this world, it was at noon, so she had no idea whether it was day or night for Cheng Jun and the others right now.

Cheng Jun, he should be okay, right?

The emptiness in her stomach began to torment her nerves as hunger set in.

Ruan Jiujiu sighed, hoping that everything would go according to her expectations. And just when she had been waiting for what felt like an eternity, the screen displayed that the author had updated three chapters of the extras just a minute ago.

Luckily, there was still a balance in her account, and Ruan Jiujiu quickly clicked on the update for the latest chapter.

She tightened her nerves and quickly skimmed through it.

The first chapter was titled “Old Shadow” and focused on the past life of the female lead, Xu Biying.

Here, the author provided additional background information. Xu Biying and the male lead, Gu You, had been childhood friends. However, in their previous life, Gu You had only regarded her as a sisterly figure. It was only through Xu Biying’s efforts and persistence that she managed to win his affection. Growing up in an environment that lacked security, she was emotionally sensitive, prone to suspicion, and had a low self-esteem. She easily doubted and questioned things, and often doubted herself. Marriage was like a lifeline to her but also a source of potential harm to herself and others.

Meanwhile, in her past life, the female lead had heard that her Bai Yu Guang(White Moonlight), Cheng Jun, had been stabbed and was in critical condition, with a slim chance of survival. At this moment, Xu Biying’s feelings towards Cheng Jun were a mixture of love and hate. She felt a sense of relief but couldn’t help bursting into tears.

As Ruan Jiujiu read this part, she couldn’t help but gasp and suddenly remembered the curse-like words Xu Biying had once spoken to her. Could it be that there was actually some truth to them?

The thought of Cheng Jun being harmed in a world she couldn’t reach made Ruan Jiujiu’s heart ache.

She tightly pursed her lips and slowly opened the next chapter.

The second chapter was titled “After the Fairy Tale.”

The extras depicted the married life of Gu You and Xu Biying. At first, the two of them were deeply in love, but as Gu You’s work became busier and he gained popularity, their conversations gradually dwindled, despite Xu Biying’s efforts to be caring and considerate. They were left with mundane discussions about daily life.

Xu Biying began to feel anxious, especially when she couldn’t get pregnant despite their efforts. Small conflicts began to surface between them, but every time, it was her who became overly emotional and unreasonable. Initially, Gu You would tolerate it, but gradually, he grew distant. He learned to occupy himself with work to avoid coming home to endless suspicions and worries.

In the third year of their marriage, Gu You finally suggested divorce.

Feeling exhausted, Xu Biying finally agreed to this decision. With her suitcase in hand, she left the confines of their home. As she stepped out the door, she felt a mix of reluctance and relief.

Standing there, after all these years, for the first time, she began to contemplate the next steps in her life.

The third chapter was titled “After the Old Dream.”

Xu Biying woke up and found herself lying in a hospital bed; it had all been just a dream. Her childhood friend Gu You had been married for many years, and they were deeply in love. As for Bai Yuguang, Cheng Jun, he had been rescued and was undergoing treatment in the hospital. It was at this moment that Xu Biying realized that Cheng Jun was actually Jia Cheng’s boss. In these two worlds, she had compared and fretted but had gained nothing in the end.

She lay on the hospital bed in a daze.

The story was still continuing, but when it came to Xu Biying’s future, it was up to her to decide.

Although the story had officially concluded, the author had written “Forever Unfinished” in the last line of the final chapter.

In the author’s notes, she mentioned: “Three worlds, three different lives. I won’t pass judgment here. The characters in the book continue to live their lives, and each of them has their own story. I don’t want their lives to stagnate just because the story has ended. That’s why this story has no ending.”

“…”

Reading this, Ruan Jiujiu felt her nerves tighten, and she didn’t even realize her palms were sweating. She wondered if this meant she didn’t need to worry about whether she would return to this world one day.

In her excitement, Ruan Jiujiu leaned closer to the computer, intending to leave a comment. However, as she was typing, she suddenly heard a loud and chaotic noise in her ears, as if it was coming from a vast wilderness, piercing through her eardrums and pounding her soft heart.

Her heart rate accelerated.

Wide-eyed, Ruan Jiujiu saw the large words on the screen dancing rapidly, but she couldn’t make out anything. Her head began to spin, and she rubbed her eyes vigorously. However, her feet suddenly found nothing beneath them. She instinctively leaned backward, waving her hands helplessly, and let out a sharp scream as she fell onto the cold asphalt road.

The network technician was helping to check her computer issue when he heard the short scream. He looked surprised, turned his gaze toward Ruan Jiujiu’s vacant seat, where her coat was draped over the backrest, and the computer had gone black due to a system crash. Something was shimmering on the ground, and he bent down to pick it up, revealing a finely crafted pair of earrings.

The network technician fell into deep thought.

…

After a while, Ruan Jiujiu finally regained her senses. Her body involuntarily shivered.

She lowered her head, and her hands sank into the icy snow. The sensation was incredibly real. The black night sky continued to shower her with fluttering snowflakes, covering her hair and clothes. Before long, Ruan Jiujiu had turned into a snowman.

She stood there, dazed, for a long time without reacting. Her nose started to itch, and she felt like a block of ice from head to toe.

“Achoo!”

Ruan Jiujiu sneezed, and her senses returned instantly. She shivered vigorously and hugged her arms tightly.

“Achoo! Achoo! Achoo!”

Just a moment ago, she had been enjoying the air conditioning in the hot internet cafe, wearing only a short-sleeved shirt while using the computer. But now, she found herself thrown into the cold winter. Ruan Jiujiu had taken off her coat in the internet cafe, and now she was only wearing a thin shirt. In this weather, it felt as if she were practically naked, with the cold wind cutting through her clothes and making her feel bone-chillingly cold.

Wait a minute.

Winter?

Ruan Jiujiu realized something very serious—wasn’t it almost summer? Why was it suddenly winter?

She reached into her pocket, took out her phone, and tried to restart it several times, but her phone had completely run out of battery. No matter how many times she tried to restart it, it wouldn’t work. Ruan Jiujiu shook her phone in frustration. In the cold winter night, pedestrians passing by were bundled up in thick winter clothes. They couldn’t help but look at Ruan Jiujiu, who had disheveled hair, was wearing short sleeves, and seemed to be acting strangely. She appeared disoriented, and they sighed, wondering how such a beautiful young woman had gone mad.

Her phone was of no use, so she had to find a place to charge it and figure out where she was. Ruan Jiujiu was absolutely certain that she had returned to the world from the novel, but what worried her was that she definitely hadn’t returned to the exact point in time when she had initially crossed over.

— What if it’s not the same world she crossed into?

— What if she arrived at a time when Cheng Jun still didn’t like her?

Just in case…

Ruan Jiujiu couldn’t bear to imagine any other possibilities. She stood up, her cheeks numb and bright red from the cold, and her feet felt like they were walking on ice, each step extremely difficult.

As she walked, tears began to flow from her eyes.

She had never seen this place before, and it had been a difficult journey to return. If Cheng Jun didn’t recognize her, she felt like she would cry.

She had already decided that if Cheng Jun, that dog of a man, had forgotten about her, she would give him a hard time and force him to fall in love with her. They were locked in together, and neither of them could leave each other.

The tears that streamed down her face seemed to have a tendency to freeze, and Ruan Jiūjiū was so cold that her movements became sluggish, and she could barely walk. Even the act of wiping her tears was extremely difficult.

In the distance, a patrol car slowly approached in Ruan Jiujiu’s direction. She stiffly waved her hand to signal them to stop.

The police officer sitting in the passenger seat caught sight of Ruan Jiujiu and stopped the car. He got out of the car without a word and draped his coat over her shoulders. “What happened? Were you robbed?” Although the woman in front of him looked a bit disheveled and was covered in water stains, her appearance was neat, and her eyes were clear. They had seen their fair share of people, and they could tell that she was definitely not incoherent.

Ruan Jiūjiū was helped to sit in the back of the police car, the air conditioning was turned up, and as she regained her strength, she felt a burning pain in her hands and feet. Her body had not yet adapted to the warmth, and even her cheeks turned bright red. Ruan Jiūjiū was extremely uncomfortable. Her throat was itchy, and she coughed a few times. The police officer driving in the front seat glanced at her and asked, “What’s going on?”

Ruan Jiujiu was about to speak but couldn’t help coughing. Her throat was dry and itchy, and her whole body felt hot, likely from catching a cold.

Another police officer said, “Let’s go to the station first. She might have caught a chill. We should give her some hot water.”

“Alright.”

The police station was nearby, and Ruan Jiujiu entered wearing the coat. A group of officers, who were in the middle of eating takeout, stopped and stared at them.

Ruan Jiujiu felt a bit intimidated by their stares. She coughed and covered her face to avoid their gaze. A middle-aged police officer next to her waved his hand with a smile and said, “What are you looking at, you bunch of kids? If you can’t eat properly, then don’t eat!”

“Hey, we’re just concerned about the case. What happened to this lady?” a young man approached with a playful smile, holding a box of food in his hand.

Ruan Jiujiu lifted her head and involuntarily looked at the food in his hand.

“Gurgle…” she awkwardly clutched her stomach.

They fell silent for a moment.

A few minutes later…

In front of Ruan Jiujiu were the untouched takeout and hot water. She was so frustrated that tears welled up in her eyes. She felt utterly embarrassed today. Her stomach was acting up, causing her to embarrass herself repeatedly. However, her rational mind told her to save face, but her stomach kept making loud noises.

Even the old police officer sitting across from her couldn’t help but chuckle, “Go ahead and eat; there’s still plenty of takeout.”

“Thank you…”

Ruan Jiujiu borrowed a charger from one of the other police officers and patiently waited for a while. Her phone screen remained black, and several attempts to restart it were in vain. She had no idea what had gone wrong.

She had been back for an hour or two now, and Ruan Jiujiu still hadn’t figured out which winter’s day she was in.

“May I ask… what is the current date and year?” Ruan Jiujiu asked the old police officer sitting across from her.

He glanced at the time on his phone and said, “It’s 8:00 in the evening.”

“What I meant was… the specific date and year?”

“Why, did you time-travel or something?”

As one officer made this remark, others couldn’t help but laugh good-naturedly. Ruan Jiujiu silently cursed in her heart. She was indeed in a kind of time-travel situation. If these people knew that they were just nameless and faceless characters in a book, it would probably be even more frustrating for them.

“No, just confirming.”

The old police officer smiled and pointed his phone towards her. When she saw the time displayed on the screen, Ruan Jiujiu was taken aback.

Wait…

It had only been half a day for her, but in this world, half a year had passed? But in another world, she had been dead for several months already?

Ruan Jiujiu forced herself to calm down. She thought that the timelines in the two worlds might be different and somehow related to her.

“Contact information for your family?”

“I don’t remember.” Despite daily contact, who would remember everyone’s phone numbers or WeChat IDs! Ruan Jiujiu now regretted not memorizing Cheng Jun’s phone number.

The police station she was in was more than ten kilometers away from Jia Cheng’s home. If they didn’t clarify the situation, the police probably wouldn’t send her back. She was penniless and in a dire situation, and now that she hadn’t even figured out what time it was, Ruan Jiujiu’s head was a mess.

Ruan Jiujiu held a warm cup of water and said, “Can you help me contact my company?”

“Sure.”

“Jia Cheng Company, please contact Tu Nan or Cheng Jun for me.”

When the names Tu Nan and Cheng Jun were mentioned, everyone looked puzzled. They exchanged glances and, after a moment, someone asked in surprise, “You are…”

“I am Cheng Jun’s wife.”

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Author’s note: I will continue updating later in the evening. Thank you for your patience!

 

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