Ch 17: Text Messages Across Time

Lin Wu thought about it all night and only fell asleep around three in the morning. The next day at school, there were dark circles under his eyes.

His deskmate, Li Jing, was also a top student. The two of them rarely spoke outside of studying. She had been absent the day before, and when she saw his condition today, she was startled. “What’s wrong with you?”

“I’m fine…” Lin Wu tried not to think about the messages from the future, but during class his mind kept drifting back. He ended up writing three sets of numbers in his notebook: 11.19, 12.15, 12.17.

Based on his own personality, after learning about the two “car accidents” on September 9, whether he believed it or not, he would definitely remind Wang Jiahui on November 19, just in case. If Wang Jiahui really died, then he would believe the messages, and on December 15 he would stay by Luo Xiaorong’s side the entire time. She would avoid the car accident, only to be killed two days later…

The logic was perfectly consistent, but only if the messages were real.

He absentmindedly clicked his pen. Aside from the absurdity of “his future self” and “messages across time,” he couldn’t find any flaws for now. According to the theory that “2004 influences 2024,” since he already knew Wang Jiahui and Luo Xiaorong would be killed, did that mean there would be new changes twenty years later?

Seventeen-year-old Lin Wu didn’t yet have the maturity of his thirty-seven-year-old self, but many of their thinking patterns were the same. He spiraled deeper into thought until his deskmate nudged him lightly with the corner of her book.

“What is it?” Lin Wu looked confused.

“The teacher’s calling on you,” she whispered.

It was chemistry class. Only then did Lin Wu realize the teacher had asked him to solve a problem, and he had been unresponsive. Several classmates were already looking his way. Translated on Hololo novels. He had previewed this type of question before. Steadying himself, he went up and solved it quickly. The day passed in a daze.

That evening, after returning home, Lin Wu went downstairs to wash some clothes, then sat in the corridor, his mood complicated.

According to the prediction, Wang Manshan would win a rice cooker in a supermarket lottery today, and at ten o’clock that night, he would bring over five jin of autumn pears…

It felt unscientific, until footsteps echoed in the stairwell—

Tap, tap, tap.

Then—

Knock, knock.

Someone was at the door.

Lin Wu stiffly opened it. Outside, Wang Manshan was about to knock again. When he saw Lin Wu, he looked surprised. “That was quick.” He was holding a red plastic bag, his expression full of joy.

“Uncle Wang, what brings you here?” Lin Wu asked.

“Haha, I won a five-liter rice cooker in the supermarket lottery tonight! I’ve been in a great mood. Then I saw someone selling autumn pears outside, and your Aunt Hao mentioned this morning we should get some to moisten the lungs. Perfect timing! I bought a bunch and brought some for you.” Wang Manshan spoke as he pushed the bag of pears into Lin Wu’s hands.

Looking at the pears, Lin Wu said in a daze, “That’s some luck…”

“Right? It’s all thanks to your mom changing jobs!” Wang Manshan had been happy about the prize all evening. The cooker sold for 370 yuan.

“Uncle Wang, how did you win the lottery?” Lin Wu asked.

“Same as usual. There’s a big box at the service desk. Spend over 68 yuan and you can draw. Mine was first prize. They said there were only three. I just reached in and grabbed one.” Worried about delaying Lin Wu’s rest, Wang Manshan checked the time. “Your Aunt Hao is waiting at home, I’ll head back now!”

“Be careful on your way.”

“Got it. You go back in too!”

Humming a tune, Wang Manshan went downstairs.

Lin Wu stood there, staring blankly at the pears in his arms.

Winning the prize was uncontrollable. Buying the pears was also uncontrollable. That meant everything the unknown number said was true… The other side really was him from twenty years in the future.

In a daze, he looked at the clock on the wall. 22:12.

If what the other side said was true… then the memories of his future self had already refreshed.

…

Waking up, eating, answering a chemistry question…

At the Xuhu hotel in 2024, Lin Wu refreshed his 2004 memories exactly at 22:12. He clearly saw himself distracted in class, then going home, washing clothes, waiting for Wang Manshan to arrive. The moment Wang Manshan appeared with the pears, he knew that his younger self had believed the “unknown number.”

It was like a new starting point. After that, the memories flashed rapidly like slides. He couldn’t see anything involving his thirty-seven-year-old self, because those events hadn’t happened yet. What he saw instead was a new outcome branching from September 17—

On November 19, he got up early, found Wang Jiahui, and warned her to be careful. Then he waited outside Lide High to walk home with her. He stayed downstairs at Wang Manshan’s place until midnight. Only after the day passed safely did he leave.

Wang Jiahui was not killed. She continued her normal life, going to school like any other high school girl.

Her fate had changed.

He planned to guard Luo Xiaorong on both December 15 and December 17, just as he had done for Wang Jiahui. But before December 15 even arrived, on the evening of December 2, both Wang Jiahui and Luo Xiaorong disappeared.

One was a minor, the other mentally impaired. The police immediately opened a case. The next morning, they were found by an abandoned artificial lake in the suburbs—

Both had been murdered.

“There’s no surveillance here. Based on the victims’ characteristics and fatal wounds, the perpetrator is likely the same as in the previous cases…” the police said heavily after their preliminary conclusion.

Wang Manshan and Hao Shuqin cried until they were inconsolable. After that, everything followed the same path: Lin Wu got into university, and the couple later took their own lives.

Looking at this new ending, Lin Wu felt as if his heart was being crushed.

He thought of those words from the first change in outcome:

“A new path, and also an old one. Everything is changing. It may become better, or worse. Once a move is made, it cannot be undone.”

He began writing and calculating in his notebook. If the original ending was Outcome 1, then now there were:

Outcome 1: Wang Jiahui becomes vegetative, Luo Xiaorong dies in a car accident. (11.19, 12.15)
9.9 (Outcome 2): Wang Jiahui is murdered, Luo Xiaorong is murdered. (11.19, 12.17)
9.17 (Outcome 3): Both are murdered on the same day. (12.2)

…

These three outcomes were each worse than the last.

Lin Wu went back to the washroom. After the change leading to Outcome 3, he was still wearing the dark gray sleepwear, and his profession and life experiences remained unchanged.

He recalled the details after Wang Jiahui and Luo Xiaorong were killed—

According to the police investigation, the killer who murdered them was the same person as in the first two cases. After this, the perpetrator committed additional crimes in 2005 and 2007, with the victims unchanged. Translated on Hololo novels. The police concluded that this was a series of random killings targeting high school girls. Luo Xiaorong had only been implicated because she was with Wang Jiahui. The case remained unsolved to this day.

Lin Wu wrote four words in his notebook:

“Not random…”

If there hadn’t been the first two outcomes, he would also have believed it was random. But with those as reference, even though the time and location changed, the ending remained the same, which meant the killer had targeted both of them long before.

If it was intentional murder, it could involve someone they knew. He ran through every possibility in his mind, but found no leads.

Unconsciously biting his lip, Lin Wu thought: today is September 17. There is still time.

Before his seventeen-year-old self contacts him, he must find a method that guarantees both of their safety.

He had already refreshed today’s memories. He was certain that his younger self would reach out.

…

2004, September 18.

Lin Wu arrived at school again with dark circles under his eyes.

“Are you okay?” Li Jing couldn’t help asking when she saw that he looked even worse than yesterday.

“I’m fine.” He had only fallen asleep at three the night before. After two consecutive nights like that, plus the pressure of studying during the day, he was mentally drained.

“Senior year is stressful, but you don’t have to push yourself this hard.” Li Jing tried to reassure him, inwardly marveling that he could still rank first despite this level of pressure.

“Thanks.” Lin Wu gave a small smile and took out his workbook to start doing problems.

At noon, he managed to nap for an hour. During the break before the second class in the afternoon, he went to the senior-year office.

His goal was simple: to request leave from one evening study session.

“You just took leave last week. Why are you asking again?” The homeroom teacher, a woman in her fifties, frowned.

“There’s something at home…” He had already asked around that morning. Evening study at Lide High also ran from seven to eight thirty. He planned to skip one session, go there, find the tall boy, and then contact his future self.

“Do you really have to take leave?” The teacher clearly disliked high-performing students skipping class.

“Yes.” Lin Wu nodded firmly.

“It’s your final year. Your focus should be on studying…” After a brief lecture, she sighed. “Go write a leave slip. Don’t let it happen again.”

“Thank you, teacher.” Lin Wu let out a breath of relief.

At six in the evening, school ended on time. It would take at most twenty minutes to get to Lide High. Their senior students also finished at six, with evening study starting at seven. He could go between six and seven, but since his goal was the ten o’clock messages, going too early would be pointless and might disrupt their study session. After thinking it through, he decided to wait until after their evening study ended.

He bought a stone-baked flatbread and a serving of millet porridge from a roadside stall, eating slowly until it was 6:40. He briefly thought he should attend half of his own evening study session, but since he had already taken leave, going back now felt awkward.

Standing by the roadside, he debated whether to find a well-lit place to review vocabulary when two girls passed by in front of him. They were holding milk tea, which looked very tempting.

Lin Wu was naturally cautious. He was now 99% certain the unknown number was his future self, but until he was completely sure, there was still that 1% of doubt.

That doubt came from his instinct to guard against the unknown. After all, within two days, he was being asked to accept that the world was not governed by normal rules, and that his closest loved one would die within three months… He needed time to process it.

So he needed a second confirmation. Before that, he could not fully trust that the boy had no ill intent.

This mindset might not be particularly easygoing, but he had no intention of changing it. He needed that caution to protect himself and Luo Xiaorong.

After standing there for a moment, Lin Wu turned and walked toward a milk tea shop ahead. It was in the opposite direction of Lide High. He lined up and bought a cup of milk tea, then went next door to a bakery and bought a slice of chocolate cake and a box of cream puffs.

His reasoning was simple:

No matter whether this was a prank or not, his relationship with the boy had already softened on the surface. Borrowing someone’s phone without any real connection required basic courtesy.

And if it turned out to be a prank in the end… then this would simply be a lesson he deserved to learn.

✧˖°.──⋆⭒˚.⋆💌⋆⭒˚.⋆──✧˖°.