Chapter 1277: Chapter 1277: Smooth Sailing
The moment he closed his eyes, he thought of Hannah Winter again.
He remembered the way the girl had looked at him, cautiously yet unable to conceal her admiration.
He had believed that with a chance to do things over, everything would have the best ending.
An ending that belonged to him alone.
But he hadn’t expected that he would fall in love with Hannah.
Fall in love with her, who was completely different from the one in his memories.
The glass he was clutching had emptied without him noticing, as cold as if filled with icy wind, chilling him to the bone.
Until the next moment, when warm water was poured in.
Hannah withdrew her hand, placed the kettle back in its spot, and sat down again.
The warmth in his palm slowly spread out, and Jackie Qualls only felt a sourness in his throat.
Yet, he still showed a smile to the person sitting opposite him.
A genuine, admiring smile, with no more pretense.
He asked the question he knew to be impossible but still wished to ask,
"I bought two plane tickets, would you go with me?"
The second he waited for an answer was lengthy and precious.
Hannah met his gaze, shook her head, and softly said, "Have a safe journey."
The winter sun, dissolved by rain, seemed exceptionally gentle, yet still stung his eyes sharply.
He thought, at least in this lifetime, he had finally tried.
Without any more reservations, and no hesitation.
The day Jackie Qualls left was December 31.
The dreary sky drizzled, and as the airplane crossed the night sky, it signified that all his narratives had officially come to an end.
In the original story, the seemingly perfect ending, a grand wedding, was just an extension of the plot.
After seeing the latest loaded ending, Jin Lian opened her mouth wide, and it took her a while to find her voice again, "So... Jackie Qualls was actually reborn?"
Tonight, for the New Year’s Eve, Hannah had thrown a party at the villa.
It was the peak of festivity now. Hayes Edwards, having had a couple of drinks, was insisting on calling Roy Yarn "big brother" and even boldly sang his most popular single in front of his former music teacher, James Landon.
A profoundly sad song that was utterly rendered with a "square dance flavor" by him.
While singing and wailing, he perfectly demonstrated what it means to sing one’s heart out.
After a couple of drinks, Hannah went to the balcony for some air.
As she looked up, she saw an airplane crossing the distant sky, while overhearing Jin Lian’s constant chatter.
"My lord, how could Jackie Qualls possibly be reborn?"
Jin Lian was extremely curious.
Hannah stretched out her hand and rubbed its head, looking up at the bright moon hanging in the distant treetops, "If I can cross into books, why couldn’t he be reborn?"
Jin Lian scratched its ear, sitting on its large round head and wagging its tail, "But it’s not the same, my lord. You can cross into books because of the live-streaming system, but Jackie Qualls being reborn..."
It said, and started to rummage through the earlier data, finding nothing amiss after searching. Suddenly realizing something, "My lord, you don’t suppose Jackie Qualls could be a bug, do you?"
Typically, if a character in the original plot encounters an issue, the live-streaming platform would first freeze the plot and then perform maintenance until it was fixed before allowing the live-stream to continue.
But from beginning to end, it had received no message that the plot needed freezing.
So it concluded, "This Jackie Qualls must be a bug!"
As it spoke, Jin Lian confidently extended its paw towards the sky.
