Chapter 14: Chapter 14: Hero
"Just one," Cheng Mengxue said, blinking.
"Just one?"
"That’s right."
She took out her phone and handed it to Jiang Ran.
"See for yourself."
He took the phone and opened the messaging app.
On March 26th, she had indeed only received one Time SMS... It was the 65-character message Jiang Ran had written, character for character.
There were no other messages before or after it.
’How should I interpret this?’
Jiang Ran scratched his head.
That mysterious message and number that had appeared out of nowhere had made him paranoid for a long time. It was why he’d been against the plan to save Xu Yan, fearing some terrible consequence.
But from the looks of it...
’Am I just being too sensitive?’
He scrolled down a little further.
In the message log for March 22nd, those two Time SMS messages were right next to each other, lying there quietly.
’Could it be that this garbled message is really just gibberish? A glitch? Just me overthinking things?’
He handed the phone back.
The IV drip finished. A nurse removed the needle and told him he could leave after resting for a bit.
The nurse clearly knew about Jiang Ran’s rescue incident. She was incredibly nice to him, smiling and asking all sorts of questions, even praising him for being so amazing.
It made Jiang Ran a little uncomfortable.
"Hehe, and this is just the beginning!"
Cheng Mengxue gave a mysterious smile.
"There’s a surprise waiting for you when you get back to school!"
"A good surprise or a bad one?"
"A good one, of course!"
"What kind of surprise?"
"A surprise is a surprise!"
"Stop messing around. Give me a translation—what exactly is this ’surprise’?"
"The surprise is—"
"Is...?"
SWIPE.
Cheng Mengxue opened a webpage on her phone and shoved the screen in front of his face.
"This is the surprise! Jiang Ran! You’re a heroic good Samaritan!!"
...
Back at school, he finally understood what she meant by "surprise."
Students he knew and students he didn’t all crowded around to greet him.
"Way to go, Jiang Ran! You’re the man!"
"That was fucking awesome, bro! Mad respect! I don’t respect anyone but you! Seriously!"
"Did you know you’ve gone viral on Douyin? All sorts of videos of you have millions of likes!"
"Can I add you on WeChat, senior? I want to..."
Exaggerated.
"Exaggerated" was the only word for it.
Jiang Ran had always been a nobody at East Sea University.
Who among the students who’d gotten in here wasn’t once the pride of their high school class?
The place was full of valedictorians; even the slackers failing their classes had been top students in their own high school stories.
And on top of that, Jiang Ran had never joined any clubs, won any awards, or had any notable achievements.
But in the blink of an eye,
in the time it took to send a single Time SMS...
he had become a celebrated hero, praised by all.
RING RING RING RING, his phone rang.
The caller ID showed "Head Teacher."
’How ridiculous. I’ve been in college for two years, only ever dealt with my counselor, and never exchanged a single word with my head teacher.’
"Hello?"
"Hello, Jiang Ran? Are you back from the hospital?"
On the other end of the line, the head teacher sounded excited.
"Get to my office, quick! The TV station is here to interview you! The reporters have been waiting for a long time!"
When he arrived at the office, it was packed with people.
"That’s right. Jiang Ran has been an outstanding student ever since he enrolled—enthusiastic, kind, and always willing to help others. This is also a reflection of our class’s positive atmosphere."
The head teacher was sitting ramrod straight, in the middle of being interviewed.
His balding crown was slicked with hair gel; he had never looked so proud.
"I often teach them that while studying is important, being a person of good character and kindness is even more so."
"That is my educational philosophy. I am so gratified that Jiang Ran took these words to heart and remembered them."
"Educating students is a complex matter. You have to guide different students in different ways, and I have always been very concerned with my students’ growth and..."
He went on and on at the camera for half an hour.
"So, how was that?"
He wiped his sweat and looked at the cameraman.
"Is that all usable for broadcast?"
"We’ll have to cut a couple of lines," the cameraman said.
"Haha, cutting a couple of lines is fine!"
The head teacher said magnanimously.
"As long as you preserve the overall integrity of the piece."
"No, no, no..."
The cameraman corrected him.
"I mean we have to edit it *down to* two lines. We can only *keep* two lines. After all, our main subject is Jiang Ran."
"Huh?"
His face fell.
...
After the interview, he got a notice from his counselor. The university was holding a "Deed Report and Heroic Act Commendation Ceremony" for him in the main auditorium tomorrow and told him to prepare.
"Do you have a suit?"
"No."
"Go borrow one from the student council. They have plenty."
...
In his two years of university, Jiang Ran had never been so busy. He finally understood what it meant to be dog-tired.
At the assembly the next day,
he sat to the left of the principal, read a report on his deeds written by Cheng Mengxue, and a speech on heroic action written by deepseek.
Then came the presentation of certificates, honorary titles, and the prize money from the East Sea City Good Samaritan Foundation.
The prize money was substantial—a full 50,000 yuan.
After the assembly, the two rescued children, holding bouquets and accompanied by their parents, presented the flowers to Jiang Ran.
"Thank you, big brother!" "Thank you for saving us!"
Experiencing such a scene for the first time, Jiang Ran couldn’t help but feel a little stiff.
Come to think of it...
’This is the first time in my life I’ve ever received flowers.’
No one had ever given him flowers before.
He didn’t feel anything special at that moment, just a little warmth.
’I... I really did something good.’
Every boy, in his youth, dreams of becoming a great hero who saves the world.
But as they grow older, they discover that the world is both very large and very small.
A family is a world; two people in love are also a world. Sometimes, a single person is a world, too.
But no matter which world...
they are all worth protecting.
"Jiang Ran."
Hearing the voice, he turned his head.
Xu Yan walked over with a smile and patted his shoulder.
"Not bad, Jiang Ran! I already thought you were a pretty great guy, but now I have to say, I’m truly impressed!"
"Back then, you pulled me back, and before I could even react, you jumped straight into the water. It was terrifying."
Jiang Ran looked at Xu Yan’s fair neck and rosy cheeks, feeling a little dazed.
He remembered the body being wheeled out of the operating room in the previous timeline, the white sheet covering the face.
That was a lifeless corpse.
But now, her sweet smile, the warmth from her hand on his shoulder—it was all irrefutable proof...
This was a vibrant, beautiful, living person.
’Someone who was dead in the original history, the original timeline, had been saved by them. She was continuing a new life in a new timeline.’
Even if... she herself knew nothing about it.
Only Jiang Ran remembered.
"You’re so brave!" Xu Yan praised him relentlessly.
He looked up.
He looked into her smiling eyes.
"You’re brave, too."
His voice was soft.
’All these flowers and praises should have been yours.’
...
Half an hour later, back in the club room.
Jiang Ran put the flowers, certificates, banner, and the prize money box on the table. He then took out the 50,000 yuan prize and handed it to Cheng Mengxue.
"Use this for the club’s activity fund."
The two of them were shocked.
"You’re being so generous! This is 50,000 yuan!"
"Don’t spend it recklessly," Jiang Ran warned.
For some reason... this 50,000 yuan felt heavy.
Qin Feng and Cheng Mengxue were over to the side, chattering excitedly about what to buy with the funds.
Jiang Ran sat on the sofa and looked at the small blackboard.
The mysterious, meaningless string of numbers was still written on it.
He closed his eyes.
The numbers floating before his eyes began to separate, twist, extend, and recombine... forming various words that flashed through his mind:
Time, Mystery, Pattern, Law
Fear, Unknown, Danger, Warning
Confusion, Exploration, Death, Change
History, Travel, River, Memory
Salvation, Answer, Code, Rebirth
World, Hero, Responsibility, Future
...
He slowly opened his eyes.
"I’ve changed my mind."
Hearing his voice, Qin Feng and Cheng Mengxue stopped their discussion and turned to look at him.
"I hesitated before, I was afraid, I was lost, but now... I’ve figured it out."
"If you want to find the answer, just thinking about it is useless. You have to take the risks you’re meant to take. Those necessary detours... you might not be able to skip a single meter of them."
Jiang Ran stood up, his gaze serious as he looked at the two of them.
"So, I take back what I said before."
"Let’s continue... with the Time SMS experiments."
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