"Wait! Your ankle has a puppy-shaped birthmark! And when you watch Digimon, you close the living room door and watch it secretly because you're afraid the girl next door will think you're childish... because you really like her..."
He paused, straightened up. "Who the hell are you?"
A strange feeling flickered in my heart.
Everything was repeating itself.
No... not the same! I still had a chance to change the future!
Including Mia's life!
I picked up my phone and checked the time. 00:02.
Mia's father had already been strangled.
Working backward from the time it would take him to move to the next apartment, we had at most 2 more minutes!
Any later, and Mia wouldn't make it!
I opened the timer on my phone.
19
He stared at me in confusion.
"Is that a Jay Chou song?" he asked.
"It's a new song, 'Rice Fields.' And this thing in my hand is a phone," I said, speaking as fast as I could.
"How? There's no keyboard — how do you make calls?"
"Kevin." I looked at him directly. "Time is limited. I'm going to give you the key points right now."
"I know you really like Mia. But tonight, a murder is going to happen."
"At her house. Right now."
50 seconds!
"If you're going to save her, don't grab the kitchen knife — you're not strong enough. There's a fruit knife on the living room table."
40 seconds!
"You'll hide under the bed. You'll hear the man leave the living room. But that's a trick — he's hiding right outside the door, deliberately drawing you out so he can kill you quietly!"
30 seconds!
"On your right side, stab straight at him!"
25 seconds!
"No... no, that's wrong!" I remembered something, and my words came even faster, nearly a scream. "We shouldn't be thinking about how to fight him!"
15 seconds!
"Go into Mia's living room and throw everything you can find — anything — at the awning downstairs! As much as possible! As loud as possible! Then lead him to your apartment! That way Mia will be safe, and she'll have a chance to scream for help! And I'll help you!"
3 seconds!
"Kevin! There's no time! —"
On the other end of the video, my younger self, shocked by my scream, started running.
18
His figure disappeared from the video.
I picked up my phone and typed in the search terms: "2004, Qingliu County, Riverside Road, murder"
A news article opened.
It was about that murder.
The events of that night were recorded in the news, every word clear.
"Murderer Ma Juemin broke in to commit the crime..."
"The boy next door entered the apartment and narrowly escaped being killed along with the girl..."
"The boy fell from the building, alerting the neighbors. The killer fled, and the girl was saved as a result..."
"The killer turned himself in after being unable to escape..."
My hands were trembling. All I could do now was pray.
20
BAM! A loud crash.
I knew that sound. It was the sound of a heavy object hitting the awning.
Another crash!
Through the video, I could see the living room window from my old room.
Lights appeared outside the window.
The neighbors had been woken by the noise!
What happened to us?!
I leaned so close to the screen I was practically on top of it, listening carefully.
Frantic footsteps burst into the apartment.
I saw my younger self appear on the video, running frantically toward the room. But in the next second, a massive figure tackled him to the ground.
The man pinned me down, and clearly paused in surprise.
"A boy?"
At the same time.
"Help—!" Mia's scream came from next door.
That was the 2004 version of her, screaming with everything she had.
"There's a bad man, help—!"
The man looked up in shock.
"Look at me!" I roared.
His gaze finally landed on the screen.
After seventeen years.
We had finally, met again.
21
"I'm the only person who knows the future," I said. "And the only one who can save you."
A flicker of confusion crossed his face.
Not enough. Still not enough. I couldn't give him the chance to turn himself in. I had to keep him trapped here.
"Listen carefully. Tonight is your first time killing. You were nervous and forgot to close the door. You heard his daughter had gone to a relative's house, so you thought there was only one person inside. You left too many openings. You will definitely get caught," I said.
"So what should I do?!" he asked frantically.
From the other end of the video, new sounds emerged.
The sounds were faint, but I heard them.
They were neighbors coming up the stairs.
He'd taken the bait.
He could never escape now.
"Now. Run." I smiled. "Trust me, you can get out."
22
The last thing I saw was the man releasing my younger self without hesitation and bolting for the exit.
The noise from the video became chaotic — shouting, fighting.
But eventually, the sounds calmed down.
The sound of approaching sirens grew louder and louder until they stopped directly below.
I stared at the video.
My 2004 self sat up, coughing.
There were marks on his neck, but they weren't severe.
I let out a long breath of relief.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine..." He coughed. "I can hear the uncles wrestling him down, and police sounds. Mia seems to be crying..."
"Go find an adult. Have them take both of you to the hospital. Also..." I paused, falling silent.
What should I say at a moment like this?
I thought about it for a long time. Finally, I had my answer.
"Kevin, I need you to do me a favor. From your position, say something to Mia."
"What?"
"Tell her this: 'Mia, you don't owe anyone. You belong only to yourself.'"
"Keep saying it. Even if she gets tired of hearing it. Keep saying it until both of you have forgotten everything about tonight."
"Big brother, can I ask you something..." he said.
More commotion outside — the sound of police escorting the man downstairs.
He looked at me. "You're in the future, aren't you?"
I was about to answer.
The next second, the frozen computer came back to life.
The video window vanished completely.
All that remained was the webpage I'd been browsing, and a corner ad for some browser game playing its loop.
23
I sat there in stunned silence.
Everything that had happened felt as unreal as a dream.
BOOM—
A sound like summer fireworks.
I looked down at my phone.
My phone had completely "come apart."
Like an invisible hand had disassembled it. From the screen to every component, everything separated and floated in midair.
BOOM— Another firework-like sound.
Next, my bed disappeared.
Bed legs, bed boards, every piece of the frame — everything broke down to its smallest elements, floating in the air.
BOOM—
BOOM—
BOOM—
I finally understood. The entire space around me was being disassembled by some unknown force.
The floor separated from the walls. The walls broke apart. As if in a vacuum, everything floated, including me.
I watched every disassembled component transform at high speed. The materials, the shapes, the structures — all changing.
Faster and faster.
Finally, the transformations stopped.
In the next moment, it was as if the entire disassembly process played in reverse.
Each smallest element converged toward its new destination. Steel rebars re-twisted, walls stitched together, the phone reformed...
I hit the ground hard.
24
I pushed myself up. Immediately, I noticed something.
My legs could bear weight.
I wobbled.
It had been seventeen years since I'd last stood.
I could barely believe what I was seeing.
A beautifully renovated home. Spotless floor.
On the wall hung a family photo of four.
Me. My parents. And Mia.
I finally understood why the video had ended at that moment.
The die had been cast. The future was set.
Though what that future actually looked like...
My phone buzzed.
I answered. It was Mia calling.
Her voice came through clearly.
"I'm taking Mom and Dad back to Qingliu tomorrow. The doctor checked them — just a minor stomach issue, nothing serious. They scared themselves," she said.
"..."
"Housing prices in the city went up again. I think you should consider buying a place in the city. Mom and Dad are getting older. Small things are fine, but if something happens, city hospitals are better than county ones," she said.
"..."
"Stop not saying anything. I'm your older sister, when I tell you something you need to listen." She sounded annoyed.
I laughed.
It felt strange. The timing couldn't have been worse. But right then, I really needed to confirm something.
My fingers tapped twice on the phone's microphone.
A moment of silence on the other end. Then, two faint taps came back.
25
"You have something wrong with your brain, don't say anything for half the day."
"I just came back from the past. It's complicated. I need a minute."
"What are you even talking about..."
...
The call didn't last long.
She seemed to have settled in the city and still had to stay up late working on a presentation.
I had too many things I needed to confirm.
I opened the window. The street view outside — this was still Qingliu County. And this was the same old building I'd grown up in. Only, it had been renovated.
"2004, Qingliu County, Riverside Road, murder"
I pulled up search results on my phone.
Article after article opened, and I finally understood where that night had ultimately led.
26
On that night in 2004, I pushed open the door to Mia's apartment. No one knew why, but the first thing I did after going in was grab the tea tray from the coffee table and hurl it at the awning below.
The man heard the noise and came out of the bathroom.
Almost simultaneously, I changed direction and ran back home.
The man chased after me and eventually pinned me down in my apartment.
"A boy?" The man paused in surprise.
The neighbors' lights were already on.
Mia heard the commotion, crawled out from under the bed, and rushed to the living room window.
In 2004, I was pinned to the ground, struggling with everything I had.
And Mia screamed with all her might.
What came after, there weren't many records of.
I could only piece together fragments from chat logs between me and Mia, and between me and my parents:
That night, the man was arrested. Sentenced to death with reprieve.
Mia was adopted by my parents.
It turned out that when people aren't pushed to the brink, they're not that selfish.
They treated her like their own daughter. She slowly emerged from the shadows, went to school, went to college. Eventually, she got a job at a foreign company in the city, bought a modest apartment before housing prices exploded...
A life that didn't belong to anyone else. Only to herself.
In the photo on the wall, Mia's neck showed no ligature marks.
She hadn't had nightmares in years.
And my dry-heave condition had disappeared too.
Everything had been settled.
27
"Stop fiddling with that piece-of-junk computer and go to bed early." Mia sent me a message.
Piece-of-junk computer?
I scrolled through our chat history and discovered that after 2004, I'd insisted on keeping that old computer. Even when I moved, when I bought a house — I'd brought it with me.
It was in my study.
28
The study window was open. Cool night air drifted in.
The bulky monitor, the white computer tower, sitting on a desk by the window.
The screen was still on.
I reached out to close the window, and that was when I noticed a news article open on the computer.
"2004 Qingliu Murder Convict Released from Prison."
"There have been online claims that Ma's sister married a high-ranking official in 2007..."
"Significant merits, multiple sentence reductions. Public opinion suspects manipulation..."
"These claims have not been verified. Public sentiment is still brewing..."
I froze.
"In previous interviews, Ma has repeatedly stated that time is reversible... According to Ma, he believes anyone has the opportunity to change what has already happened..."
"...Perhaps meaning he's willing to atone for past mistakes through his own actions..."
My eyes settled on those words.
"Time is reversible."
29
A flicker of unease crossed my heart.
Time is reversible. To others, those might sound like the ravings of a madman.
But I had witnessed it.
"Ma was released from prison on August 1, 2021..."
I frowned and glanced at the digital clock on the desk.
August 6, 2021.
Ten minutes until midnight.
This night again, of all nights.
I finally understood where the unease was coming from.
On that summer night in 2004, that man — in my home — he had seen the future.
30
But how could he be sure...
I clutched my head, flashes of everything that had happened racing through my mind.
The first summer night, the 2021 version of me, sitting dispirited at the computer:
"Kevin, I can tell you your future. After that murder, you completely changed. You abandoned your studies, you got into fights constantly, then gambling, online loans, mountains of debt."
The second summer night, the 2021 version of me, roaring: "Go into Mia's living room and throw everything you can find, anything, as hard as you can at the awning below! The more the better! The louder the better! Then lead him to your apartment! That way Mia will be safe! And I'll help you!"
The incident report, detailing the man's entire plan:
"The suspect Ma believed that if he made Old Yu disappear and created the illusion that Yu had fled with the money, he could pin the entire debt on his partner"...
My eyes flew open.
Fundamentally, that man and I were the same.
We were both gamblers!
A shadow appeared behind me. I turned in shock, but it was too late.
My head was grabbed by a massive, terrifyingly strong hand and slammed into the desk.
I wobbled and crumpled to the floor.
31
He grabbed my head and smashed it against the floor several more times.
My ears buzzed. My consciousness was fading.
He lifted my head and examined my face closely.
He'd aged considerably. He had a buzz cut.
But the viciousness in his eyes had never changed.
"Just as I thought. The person I saw in 2004 was you." He grinned with excited malice.
How did he get in...
I reached out, trying to break free, but my head took another brutal hit.
"I met a lot of good teachers inside, you know," he said. "If you put cooking oil on lock-picking tools, you can open a lock without making a sound."