The story starts two days ago.
Two days ago, Wang Zikai, Gao Yang's best friend, stole Gao Yang's phone and sent a 300-character "confession" to Li Weiwei as a prank.
By the time Gao Yang found out, it was too late to recall the message. He immediately sent a follow-up message to explain, but Li Weiwei never replied. Not only that, for the next two days, she avoided talking to him and even deliberately distanced herself from him at school.
Li Weiwei and Gao Yang had been childhood friends. Their families lived close by, and they met in kindergarten. Later, they moved to a town and went to the same high school, so their bond was quite strong.
According to the memories from Gao Yang's six-year-old self, he had indeed had a crush on Li Weiwei. When he first saw her as a little beauty in kindergarten, he secretly decided that he would marry her when he grew up. Unfortunately, his dream was never realized because Gao Yang had already crossed over into this new world.
Over the years, thanks to Li Weiwei, Gao Yang had often been the subject of envy and jealousy among his male classmates.
Gao Yang naturally had strong feelings for Li Weiwei. To say he liked her would be an understatement—who wouldn't like a beautiful girl? But he had never really thought about it in a romantic sense. If he had to be honest, it was probably because he had never truly felt that "butterfly-in-the-stomach" sensation.
In just two months, his classmates would graduate and go their separate ways.
As Gao Yang's best friend, Wang Zikai couldn't stand it—actually, he was just bored and decided to "matchmake" the two of them, which led to this prank.
Now, two days later, Li Weiwei finally replied to his WeChat message: "I agree to it."
Gao Yang felt conflicted. He thought, I already explained that this was a prank message from Wang Zikai! Why is she ignoring that and responding as if she didn't read my clarification?
No, I have to explain again...
His WeChat buzzed again: "Want to meet up today?"
Gao Yang hesitated, then replied with "Sure."
…
2 PM, Shanqing District, Dawan Plaza.
When Gao Yang arrived, Li Weiwei had already been waiting for a while.
It was a rare weekend off, and Li Weiwei had changed into a light green sweater, her hair, usually tied up, now falling gently on her shoulders. The wind blew, making her hair and skirt flutter slightly. She held her hair in place and waved cheerfully at Gao Yang, "Over here, Gao Yang!"
The spring breeze was bright and warm, and the girl's smile was as radiant as a flower.
At that moment, Gao Yang could somewhat understand the feelings of those "licking dogs" in class. He truly was living a life full of blessings but not appreciating them.
Gao Yang smiled and walked over. "Sorry, I'm late."
"It's fine. I already walked around with Qingling. We just bought some study materials in the bookstore. I also got you two books," Li Weiwei said.
It was then that Gao Yang noticed a tall girl standing behind Li Weiwei, wearing a ponytail. The girl was coolly playing with her phone with one hand in her pocket.
The ponytail girl was named Qingling, standing at 1.67 meters tall, and she was the class's sprinting champion. She was also Li Weiwei's best friend.
Besides that, Qingling was widely regarded as the school's goddess.
Her face was beautiful, and her skin was as pale as snow despite being out in the sun all the time. Due to her regular training, her figure, which was accentuated by her tight-fitting sportswear, had an artistic, pleasing curve. Her long legs were especially attractive to any straight man.
But interestingly enough, compared to Li Weiwei, who frequently handed out "good person cards," Qingling had almost no suitors. The reason was that she never talked to boys. More precisely, her gaze toward them always carried an air of disgust, like looking at a fly.
Over time, everyone knew that she had misandry, so no one dared to approach her anymore.
However, Gao Yang thought she wasn't really misandrist. She was more likely a beautiful… lily.
As if sensing Gao Yang's gaze, Qingling lowered her phone and met his eyes. The intensity of her aura, the deep disgust in her expression, made Gao Yang feel as if he wasn't just a fly but a fly buzzing around a pile of shit.
"Qingling, aren't you coming?" Li Weiwei called to her.
"No, you two have fun," Qingling said, flashing Li Weiwei a smile that was as gentle as an angel's.
Double standards! So much double standards!
…
In the afternoon, Gao Yang spent a happy day with Li Weiwei—drinking milk tea, watching a movie, and eating barbecue, all in the spirit of a blissful, popular day.
That night, Gao Yang walked Li Weiwei home. On the quiet, deserted road, Li Weiwei was walking ahead. After a while, she suddenly turned around and said, "Hey, are you regretting it?"
"Huh? Regretting what?" Gao Yang asked.
Li Weiwei blushed. "Regretting confessing to me."
"Weiwei, actually…"
"I thought you'd be happier if I agreed to your confession," Li Weiwei tilted her head, her eyes showing some insecurity. "But then again, I'm not sure. Do guys lose interest right after they get a girl? And then realize they didn't actually like her in the first place?"
"No, it's just that that message…" Gao Yang started to explain.
"Gao Yang," Li Weiwei squinted at him, her tone not happy, "What's going on with you today? Are you hiding something from me?"
"…Is there?"
"There is! You've been distracted all day." Li Weiwei sounded a little upset.
In fact, Gao Yang had indeed been absent-minded. He had hoped that the "date" would distract him, but the more he tried to avoid thinking about it, the more he couldn't stop thinking.
Gao Yang hesitated for a moment and then finally asked, "Li Weiwei, I want to ask you something."
"Sure, ask away."
"Back in eighth grade, your grandmother passed away from a stroke, right?"
"Yeah."
"Did you see her one last time?"
Li Weiwei paused, blinking. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, did you see her body after she passed?"
"I was at school. By the time I came home, my parents had already sent her for cremation."
"I see."
Gao Yang thought to himself: As expected.
"Is there something strange about it?" Li Weiwei asked, confused.
"Nothing..." Gao Yang hesitated, unsure if he should speak further.
Before he crossed over, Gao Yang was only six years old, but he had attended the funeral of the dean. Even at that young age, he had vaguely realized that this parallel world was different from his original one.
For instance, in this world, people were quickly cremated after death, and there wasn't the custom of holding a "funeral service" to mourn the deceased.
The rush to do it seemed as though they were trying to destroy evidence, like with his own grandfather or Li Weiwei's grandmother.
That thought made Gao Yang shiver.
"What's wrong with you… you look pale," Li Weiwei noticed his strange expression.
Gao Yang paused and said, "Li Weiwei, have you ever thought that the world we live in might actually be full of dangers?"
Li Weiwei immediately became tense. "What are you trying to say? Don't scare me…"
"I was grabbed by a psychopath last night, did you hear about it?"
"I heard. Fortunately, the police shot him, and you weren't hurt. I was worried about you." Li Weiwei blushed as she said this. "Actually, because of that, I decided to accept your confession."
Gao Yang shook his head. "No, actually, he wasn't trying to hurt me. He was warning me."
"Warning?" Li Weiwei looked confused. "Warning about what?"
Gao Yang briefly explained the situation and also mentioned the incident with his grandfather when he was five.
Li Weiwei grew more and more frightened, unconsciously leaning closer to Gao Yang, her arm brushing against his.
"Isn't it a dream? After all, you were so young back then…"
"No, it definitely wasn't a dream!" Gao Yang was firm.
"Do you think your grandfather was…" Li Weiwei hesitated.
Gao Yang shook his head. "Not necessarily, but I just feel like something isn't right."
"You said you peeked into the room that time, didn't you? What did you see?"
Gao Yang fell silent. In his memory, he did see something in the dream, but even he wasn't sure if it was an illusion.
"Actually…"
"Ah! Never mind, let's not talk about it…" Li Weiwei lowered her head. "Let's go home."
"Li Weiwei, don't you believe me?" Gao Yang grabbed her hand.
Li Weiwei froze, taking some time to overcome her fear before firmly nodding. "I believe you."
"I believe you too. There's no one else I can talk to about this," Gao Yang took a deep breath and gathered his courage to speak, "Actually, I saw a hand."
"A hand?"
"Yes, to be