Chapter 37: Chapter 37: Xiuxiu
As long as he could contact Cheng Mengxue, things would be much simpler.
First, he’d sync up his memories through her.
Then, they could figure out what happened with Qin Feng together.
Jiang Ran already had a plan.
He sat up on the edge of the bed and saw a pencil and a notepad on the nightstand.
So he cradled the phone between his shoulder and ear, picked up the notepad, and prepared to jot down Cheng Mengxue’s phone number.
In the faint moonlight, he saw a line of small text written at the top of the notepad...
XXXX Villa Resort.
’A villa?’
He lifted his head and looked out the window.
The shadows of lush branches danced on the window screen like shadow puppets.
It seemed he wasn’t in a hotel, but a guest room in some resort villa.
’Why... am I staying in a place like this?’
’Whatever. I need to contact Cheng Mengxue first.’
However, he waited for over ten seconds, but there was no response from Wang Hao on the other end.
’?’
It was a little strange.
"Wang Hao? Did you fall asleep?"
Jiang Ran urged him:
"Hurry up and give me Xiaoxue’s number, didn’t you hear me?"
...
Still no response.
"Wang Hao!"
"Jiang Ran, you..."
Wang Hao’s voice finally came through, but he sounded hesitant.
"Are you... are you serious?"
"What’s wrong?"
Jiang Ran couldn’t understand why Wang Hao was being so weirdly fussy after the world-line shift.
He put down the notepad and switched the phone to his other hand.
"What’s wrong with you, dilly-dallying like this? You might not know Qin Feng, but you have to know Xiaoxue, right? Just give me her number already."
"Are you... feeling okay?"
Wang Hao asked cautiously:
"Or... did something happen to you?"
"Are you ever going to stop?!"
Jiang Ran was getting genuinely annoyed.
"I’m just asking you for Xiaoxue’s phone number! What does that have to do with being sick or something happening to me? Can’t you just act normal?!"
*Sigh*...
A sigh came from the other end of the line.
The sound made Jiang Ran’s scalp tingle and his breathing grow heavy.
"Jiang Ran, I don’t know what the hell is wrong with you tonight, and I have no idea what you mean by saying all this in the middle of the night."
"But, but..."
Wang Hao’s voice dropped.
"*But Xiaoxue... she passed away two years ago.*"
Jiang Ran shot up from the edge of the bed.
’What?’
’Passed away?’
’Cheng Mengxue is dead!?’
In an instant, the smiling, baby-faced girl with the ponytail flashed before his eyes.
From childhood to her teenage years, from the college entrance exam results, to the university sports field, to diving off a luxury cruise ship, to her blushing cheeks as she said those bold words...
"Are you serious?"
A chill ran through Jiang Ran’s entire body.
He didn’t believe it, couldn’t believe it, yet amidst all the strangeness and abnormalities, he was forced to.
"How... how did Xiaoxue die?"
"Two years ago? Two years ago... wasn’t that when we graduated high school? Our senior year, during the college entrance exams?"
"Yeah..."
Wang Hao on the other end was completely bewildered, answering blankly:
"It was on the second day of the exams. Xiaoxue got into a car accident on her way to the testing site... she died in the crash."
"Jiang Ran, what is up with you today? I don’t even know how to talk to you anymore. You’re acting so erratically, you’re starting to scare me, you know?"
"What about Xiuxiu? Where’s Xiuxiu? Is she with you?"
’Xiuxiu.’
He heard another completely unfamiliar name.
It sounded like a girl’s name, but Jiang Ran didn’t know anyone by that name.
"Didn’t you go with Xiuxiu to her best friend’s birthday party today? You even rented a villa just for it... are you two together right now?"
Wang Hao continued:
"Hey, let me give you a piece of advice. If you’re drunk and spouting nonsense, don’t bring up sore subjects in front of Xiuxiu. Just don’t mention Xiaoxue at all. It’s all in the past."
Jiang Ran couldn’t care less about some "Xiuxiu."
He only cared about Cheng Mengxue.
According to Wang Hao, Cheng Mengxue had died two years ago in a car crash on the second day of the college entrance exams.
’So, June 8th?’
’June 8th, 2023. Two years ago.’
’What exactly happened that day?’
"Jiang Ran?"
The voice on the phone called out, noticing the long silence:
"Jiang Ran? Are you listening? Where’s Xiuxiu?"
"Stop talking about Xiuxiu!"
Jiang Ran’s brain was overloaded.
"Tell me about Xiaoxue! What the hell happened to Cheng Mengxue!"
FLLUUUUUUSSSSHH——
Suddenly, the sound of a toilet flushing came from the bathroom.
’Someone’s in there!’
"Who’s there!"
Jiang Ran took a step back, his nerves stretched to the breaking point.
"What’s wrong? Don’t be so dramatic."
A sweet, soft, complaining voice came from the bathroom.
CREAK...
The glass partition door slid open, and two slender, bare feet stepped out one after the other.
"What’s the matter? Don’t you even recognize your own girlfriend?"
The girl in the nightgown smiled playfully as she sauntered over.
She brushed her forehead, sweeping her pink, wavy hair back, and stepped closer across the carpet.
WHOOSH—
A sudden gust of night wind billowed the white curtains, blocking Jiang Ran’s view and leaving him unable to see anything.
"Just now, I heard a very interesting name."
The girl’s voice grew closer.
Her toes rustled against the carpet, like the silk curtain brushing against his neck.
"Cheng... Meng... Xue. Whose name is that?"
The night wind died down, and the curtain stopped dancing, falling back into place before his eyes.
Everything in the room came back into view. The girl who had been standing far away a moment ago was now right in front of him, so close he could touch her.
Her pink nightgown and matching pink hair made her look like a flower fairy dancing in a forest. The scent of some floral shampoo filled his nostrils, forcing Jiang Ran to look away.
Just then.
The digits on the electronic clock on the desk changed. The LCD screen showed—
00:42
"So, tell me."
The girl lifted Jiang Ran’s chin, forcing his gaze back to hers.
Her pupils reflected the moonlight, her smile as beautiful as a flower.
"This Cheng Mengxue... she isn’t your... ex-girlfriend, is she?"
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