Ch 22: Text Messages Across Time

“Mr. Lin, we really troubled you. Thank you for your cooperation!” At 9:20, after the property staff finished checking the electrical meter box, they thanked Lin Wu.

“It’s nothing, no problem.” After moving his car earlier, Lin Wu hadn’t left right away. He moved it back into place, chatted briefly with the staff, then went upstairs.

“We bought shrimp and pork ribs. Come up and eat tomorrow.” As soon as Lin Wu reached his door, he saw Hao Shuqin coming out of his home holding a container.

“Aunt Hao?” Lin Wu was a little surprised.

“I accidentally put the perfume in the wrong bag and just found it in your tie bag. Your Uncle Wang bought shrimp and pork ribs. Come over with your mom tomorrow.” Hao Shuqin looked full of energy as she spoke cheerfully.

“I have something to do tomorrow. I need to go out.” Lin Wu said helplessly.

“Then forget it, the day after tomorrow works too. There’s a fireworks show then, we can go watch together.” After saying a couple more words, Hao Shuqin hummed a tune and went upstairs.

Lin Wu stood outside for a while, letting the breeze hit him, then went back inside. Luo Xiaorong was older now and slept more. After chatting with her for a bit, she soon dozed off. Lin Wu changed his clothes and returned to the study. The tie bag in the study had been opened, but he didn’t think much of it. He casually put it into a drawer and looked at the newspapers on the desk.

It was now 2024. Twenty years had passed since the first Xuhu case, and seventeen since the last one. Time and life both move forward. Everything in the past should have stayed in the past.

Lin Wu tried to think about it as rationally as possible. Just then, his phone lit up.

Unknown number: 【Fried dough cake, spicy pepper soup.】

Lin Wu already knew the unknown number belonged to a high school student named Qin Weidong, but out of habit, he still saved it as “unknown number.”

It was now 12:12. Lin Wu fell silent for a moment before replying: 【Lanzhou noodles, egg.】

After sending it, he didn’t wait for a reply and followed up with the same message as yesterday: 【Sorry, I’m not feeling well. Let’s talk tomorrow.】

His mind was a mess. He didn’t know how to face his seventeen-year-old self.

…

“I’ll watch some TV. Call me when you’re done.” At Xuhu Central Hospital, Qin Weidong handed the phone to Lin Wu and was about to turn on the TV. At that moment, Lin Wu stood up and returned the phone. “Thanks.”

“What’s wrong?” Qin Weidong paused, then asked, “Didn’t reach them?” It was now 10:15. Normally, they would just have finished chatting.

“I reached them, but it’s not convenient for them to text right now.” Lin Wu forced a neutral expression. Today was already the second day. He didn’t know what was happening in the future, but the other side’s refusal to communicate felt abnormal.

Seeing Lin Wu already sling his backpack on, Qin Weidong asked, “Coming again tomorrow?”

“Yes.” Lin Wu paused and asked, “Is there anything you want to eat? I can bring it for you.”

When he came today, he had brought two cups of oatmeal porridge and two desserts. Translated on Hololo novels. After arriving, he found Hu Wei wasn’t there. Qin Weidong told him Hu Wei had been caught skipping class by the homeroom teacher and was stuck at school writing a self-criticism, so he wouldn’t be coming these days. Qin Weidong was a patient, and Lin Wu worried it might be inconvenient for him, so he planned to take better care of him when he visited.

“One serving of wontons and one serving of soup dumplings.” Qin Weidong ordered without hesitation, then prepared to give Lin Wu money.

“No need, it won’t cost much.” Lin Wu refused.

“Then I won’t give it to you. This will count as tomorrow’s milk tea.” Prices in 2004 were relatively low, and a milk tea cost about the same as wontons and soup dumplings together.

“Alright.” Lin Wu nodded in agreement. As he was about to leave, Qin Weidong stopped him. “Wait.”

“What is it?”

“Take this for now. Call me when you get home.” Qin Weidong tossed him a phone. It was a new one he had bought recently. At noon, he had asked Hu Wei to get a SIM card for it, so it was usable.

“That’s too expensive!” Lin Wu’s first reaction was to refuse. This phone was the same model Qin Weidong was using. He had seen the price at a shop a few days ago, around 6,700.

“I’m not giving it to you. Just use it for a couple of days and return it when I’m discharged. Otherwise, if something happens to you after leaving the hospital, I’ll have to take responsibility!” Qin Weidong clearly hated the idea of something going wrong and being held accountable.

“No.” Lin Wu still didn’t want to take it.

“I’m just letting you use it for a couple of days. I’ll be discharged next week. Stop dragging this out!” Qin Weidong had already recovered from the fever, but like last time, Qin Jianzhang insisted he stay for a full week before discharge.

“…Alright.” Lin Wu felt like it was burning in his hands. He placed the phone in the outer pocket of his backpack, zipped it tightly, and made sure there was no chance of losing it or having it stolen.

Qin Weidong was satisfied.

Ten minutes later, Lin Wu got into a taxi. The scenery outside the window kept flashing past, but his mind was filled with thoughts about his future self. By the time he came back to himself, the car had already reached the entrance of his residential complex.

“Twenty-eight.” The driver pointed at the meter.

“Okay.” Lin Wu paid and got out. His monthly allowance was only two hundred, and he had been spending more than usual recently. Still, he usually saved a small reserve for emergencies, so he didn’t need to touch the family savings yet.

After getting out, Lin Wu walked to the entrance of the complex. Then, as if remembering something, he took out Qin Weidong’s phone and typed:

【I’ve arrived.】

The phone already had Qin Weidong’s number saved, so he didn’t need to think. He just pressed and sent.

Ding ding, ding ding ding—

After sending the message, Lin Wu was about to put his phone away when it suddenly started ringing repeatedly.

The sound was especially loud in the night. Lin Wu jumped slightly in surprise, then, seeing that the caller was Qin Weidong, quickly answered.

“What’s wrong?” Lin Wu asked immediately.

“You there yet?” In the hospital, Qin Weidong casually flipped through TV channels with the remote as he spoke.

“I’m here.”

“Then why didn’t you call? I can’t be sure a text was really from you. What if it was some dangerous person? If something happened to you, I’d have to take responsibility.” After confirming it was Lin Wu, Qin Weidong started rambling half-jokingly.

Lin Wu didn’t think anything would happen to him, but to keep things simple, he said, “Sorry, I didn’t think of it.”

Qin Weidong was very satisfied with his attitude. “Where are you now?”

“Almost downstairs.” Lin Wu could already see his gray apartment building.

“When you get downstairs, send me a photo. Get your building in it too.”

“That’s not necessary, is it?” Lin Wu frowned.

“It is. I need to confirm you actually got there.”

Lin Wu felt the other party was overly cautious about safety, but in the end he said, “Alright.”

In the hospital room, Qin Weidong had been listless, but upon hearing that, he perked up immediately. He tested his own phone first. It had a 300,000-pixel camera, pretty good for the time, and it made people look decent.

He waited expectantly. Thirty seconds later, a multimedia message came through:

Under the night lighting, the first thing in frame was a slender, pale right hand with clearly defined knuckles. That hand held an A5 sheet of scratch paper, covered in dense mathematical formulas, as if it had been torn off casually.

Those formulas had been circled with a thick pen, and inside the circle were the words: “September 21, 11:52, Lin Wu.” Behind the paper was a streetlamp, and behind that, the building where Lin Wu lived.

Right hand, scratch paper, signature, building. Everything needed to prove Lin Wu’s identity was there.

“I told you to send a photo. Why did you send a piece of scratch paper?” Qin Weidong stared at the image, feeling inexplicably dry in his throat.

“As long as it proves it’s me.” Lin Wu walked up the stairs, his footsteps echoing. When he reached his door, he lowered his voice. “I’m home. I’ll stop here. Good night.”

“…Good night.” Qin Weidong hung up, feeling that Lin Wu’s final “good night” had been too soft. He pulled up the image again and compared it with his own hand. They were both hands, so why was the other one so pale?

He stared at it for a while, then, slightly annoyed, saved the image.

………

2024.

Early the next morning, Lin Wu first accompanied Luo Xiaorong for breakfast, then drove to a local farmers’ market. It was an old market located near an urban village. Translated on Hololo novels. The morning rush had already passed, so there weren’t many customers. After entering, Lin Wu walked familiarly into a small eatery.

“What would you like?” The owner had just finished serving a group of customers and greeted him warmly.

“A bowl of soy milk.” Lin Wu chose a seat facing the street, where he could see both the road and the fruit stand across it.

The stall owners were an elderly couple married for forty years. One was setting up a sunshade, while the other arranged pomelos below. They moved with practiced ease.

The eatery owner, in his thirties, noticed Lin Wu watching the pomelos and sat beside him to chat. “Want some pomelo? They just came into season. I bought one from them yesterday. Their fruit is really good, and they never shortchange customers…”

As he spoke, he was practically promoting the fruit stand.

“Stop talking nonsense.” The owner’s wife nudged him with her leg, signaling that he was talking too much.

The owner quickly corrected himself. “Hey, I’m not a shill. I buy from them all the time, and their stuff really is good. They’ve had a tough life. I heard they came from the north. They had a daughter when they were forty, but she passed away…”

The couple at the fruit stand were over seventy now, their backs bent, looking frail and worn.

Lin Wu stirred his soy milk with a spoon. His eyelashes trembled slightly at the mention of a daughter. “Mm, I know.”

“Thanks for understanding, I’m really not a shill!” The owner let out a sigh of relief.

“Mm, you’re not.” Lin Wu looked across the street.

He knew the owner wasn’t lying. He also knew the couple’s daughter had indeed died. Her name was Xu Sitong, the seventh victim of the Xuhu murder case. Since 2005, he had been following the aftermath reports on the victims’ families.

Xu Sitong and her parents were originally from Shenhai. When they were younger, her parents had gone to Xuhu to sell produce to make a living. She was their only child, and from third grade onward, she studied in Xuhu while staying with them. Like many migrant families, they weren’t wealthy, but the three of them lived a warm and happy life.

In September 2006, Xu Sitong didn’t return home after school. Her body was later found in an abandoned dump. She had not been assaulted before death, but there were signs of abuse. Her cause of death was a slit throat. This was the part Lin Wu didn’t want to think about—

In the first and second endings, because the killer’s active period was short, Wang Jiahui and Luo Xiaorong hadn’t been subjected to abuse. But in the ending where they died at the artificial lake, both of them bore signs of abuse, brutal and violent.

It was an ending Lin Wu refused to revisit a second time.

After Xu Sitong’s death, her parents lost their emotional anchor. Every day they held up signs asking the police to solve the case quickly. Year after year passed. Eventually, they realized the case would never be solved. Longing to return to their roots, they moved back to Shenhai two years ago.

But Shenhai had changed drastically. Like fledglings unable to find their nest, they struggled to adapt. Eventually, with help from the local government, they settled in the urban village and opened this fruit stand.

After finishing his soy milk, Lin Wu walked over to the fruit stand.

“Buying something?” The elderly couple greeted Lin Wu warmly when they saw him.

“Mm.” Lin Wu browsed through the modest but orderly stall, picking carefully. In the end, he chose two durians, ten jin of mangosteens, and ten jin of blueberries, all among the more expensive fruits on display.

“Do you want another bag? I’m afraid one might not hold everything,” they asked, pleased to see him buying so much at once.

“No need, my car is right over there.” Lin Wu pointed toward the car across the street, paid by scanning, and prepared to leave.

“Wait a moment.” The old man quickly stopped him, took two pomegranates from the stall, and slipped them into Lin Wu’s bag. “These just came in, they’re very sweet. Take them home and try!”

“That’s not necessary. How much are these? I’ll pay you.” Pomegranates weren’t cheap in Shenhai, and Lin Wu was already preparing to scan again.

“It’s fine. You’ve been supporting our business these past couple of years. It’s only right,” the old man insisted.

Lin Wu’s hand paused mid-scan. “You recognize me?”

“Of course. Not many people here have a Xuhu accent. I remembered you the first time you came. Every time you come, you buy a lot, and not cheap stuff either.” As he spoke, the old man felt two pomegranates weren’t enough and reached for another peach.

“Really, no need!” Lin Wu quickly stopped him, then, despite their objections, scanned an extra fifty yuan before leaving.

It was now 11:20. Lin Wu didn’t want to go home. He wandered around a nearby mall, then ate hot pot by himself, watched a three-hour-long movie, and went to an arcade.

At seven in the evening, he sat by the seaside holding the pomegranates. The wind was strong, but it didn’t stop people from going out. Translated on Hololo novels. There were couples, parents with children, and staff preparing for the fireworks show the next day. The lights made the place lively and bright.

Lin Wu used a small knife to score a cross into a pomegranate, put on disposable gloves, and began peeling and eating. He carefully separated the seeds one by one, tossing them into a small bag he carried. After an unknown amount of time, he had eaten both pomegranates.

He checked his phone. 8:15. In the distance, he heard the playful laughter of three little girls. He looked over, and the girls curiously looked back. Lin Wu smiled at them, and they made a big heart gesture toward him.

Lin Wu returned the gesture. After a brief back-and-forth, he finally made a call he had hesitated over all day.

The call was to Hao Shuqin. Three seconds later, someone picked up. “Xiao Wu? What’s wrong?”

“Aunt Hao, there are some things I’d like to talk to you and Uncle Wang about.”

His tone was formal. He had expected surprise or shock, but there was none. Hao Shuqin said, “Alright! We also have something we want to ask you.”

Half an hour later, the three of them met at a café near the residential complex. It was a quiet, elegant place. They sat in a secluded corner, Lin Wu on one side, Wang Manshan and Hao Shuqin on the other.

“Uncle Wang, Aunt Hao… I’m sorry.” Lin Wu looked at them, his voice carrying both helplessness and a certain resolve.

They didn’t ask why he was apologizing. Hao Shuqin spoke first. “Xiao Wu, your Uncle Wang and I have had a question for many years…” She exchanged a glance with Wang Manshan before continuing, “Twenty years ago, you told us three possible endings for your mother and Huihui. In those three endings… what happened to us?”

What happened to us.

It was a question they had wanted to ask for twenty years, but had avoided because they didn’t want to face it. Now, they felt it was finally time.

………

“Where did you get these buns? They’re pretty good!” At the same moment Hao Shuqin asked her question, in 2004 at the Central Hospital, Qin Weidong took a bite of a bun and leaned over to ask Lin Wu.

It was now 9:17. Just like yesterday, Lin Wu had come in and immediately started doing homework at the desk. Qin Weidong was eating at the small table by his bed, but perhaps because it was too quiet eating alone, he moved over and sat on the sofa beside Lin Wu.

“The shop in front of our school. It’s called Zheng Ji Soup Dumplings.” Lin Wu kept his head down, working on problems, his voice calm and sincere.

“They’re good. Bring me another basket tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

Qin Weidong ate half a basket. Seeing Lin Wu working on a chemistry test, the notes neat and orderly, he grew curious again. “You can actually understand all that?”

“More or less.”

“You’re being modest. I heard you’re ranked first in your school.”

“Who told you that?”

“Luo…” Qin Weidong almost said Luo Liang, but remembering Lin Wu didn’t get along with him, he changed his words mid-sentence. “Why are you asking so many questions?!”

Lin Wu was displeased. He put down his pen and looked at him. “How am I being long-winded? You’re the one who keeps asking.”

“Alright, alright, I’m the one being long-winded. I’m the one asking too many questions.”

Seeing Lin Wu pick up his pen and continue working, the tension that had suddenly risen in Qin Weidong quietly eased.

He continued chatting from the side, asking trivial things like, “How many papers do you do in a day?” and “How did you practice your handwriting?” Lin Wu answered some and ignored others that felt too pointless. Qin Weidong didn’t press further.

The two of them chatted like that, on and off, for a while until a nurse came in and knocked on the door.

“What is it?” Qin Weidong looked up and asked.

“You still need another IV bottle tonight. We’re short on staff for the night shift. Do you have any family here? Come downstairs with me to pick up some medicine, the pharmacy closes at twelve.”

“So troublesome.” Qin Weidong got up reluctantly. He felt like resting quietly for a couple of days would be enough, but the hospital still had him scheduled for three more days of IV treatment.

He was about to put on a jacket and go down when Lin Wu stood up.

“I’ll go.”

“You?” Qin Weidong was a little surprised.

“The pharmacy is in the west wing. You’ve just recovered from a cold, it’s better not to go out in the wind.” To get there, one had to pass through a drafty corridor. Lin Wu felt it wasn’t suitable for him right now.

“Then… thanks.” Qin Weidong wasn’t fully recovered and felt a bit embarrassed.

“It’s fine.” Lin Wu set down his pen and followed the nurse out.

The private ward was left with only Qin Weidong. He didn’t feel like playing games, so after pacing around for a bit, his gaze fell on Lin Wu’s test papers. He hadn’t been making conversation for no reason earlier. Lin Wu’s handwriting really was good, the chemical formulas neat as if printed from a textbook.

He admired them for a moment, then glanced at the other books on the desk, Chinese, math, physics, English… Lin Wu carried quite a lot of books after school.

He flipped through them casually, but when he reached a third-year English textbook, he suddenly paused.

This book was the same as the others, all senior-year materials, but there was something different—

Inside, he found five lottery tickets. One was placed alone on a page, while the other four were tucked together on another page. The single one seemed more important, the others almost like supporting pieces.

Qin Weidong picked up the single ticket and looked at the numbers.

【02.21.25.13.19.09.15】

It was placed very neatly. The drawing date was tomorrow.

Oh?

Qin Weidong grinned.

Lin Wu looked so reserved. Who would’ve thought he liked buying lottery tickets?

“You only need two bottles tonight. The nurse will come at eleven.” At 9:50, Lin Wu returned, slightly out of breath, carrying two IV bottles.

“You didn’t take the elevator?” Qin Weidong frowned. He had already told him there was one.

“It’s under maintenance. The other elevators are too troublesome.” Lin Wu was methodical when it came to studying, but for small matters like this, he didn’t mind taking the stairs.

He set the IV bottles down. At 10:10, after finishing a round of Sokoban, Qin Weidong handed him the phone.

Lin Wu took it skillfully and waited for 10:12 to arrive.

✧˖°.──⋆⭒˚.⋆💌⋆⭒˚.⋆──✧˖°.