DM Chapter 9

I Want to Go Back Now

Posted by April Fox, ? Views, Released on December 23, 2024

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Chapter 9: I Want to Go Back Now

Jiang Xiaoyuan left herself with fifty yuan, but it still wasn’t enough. Fortunately, Zhang Tian had some pocket money on her, so the two of them rummaged through their pockets desperately. Finally, what they found was just enough pocket money, neither more nor less, and they were still fifty short.

Jiang Xiaoyuan frowned. She had her own selfish desires. Even though this was relief, she couldn’t just leave nothing for herself, right? Does she have to drink the northwest wind[mfn]难不成要她喝西北风去？ (nán chéngbù yào tā hē xīběifēng qù?): a Chinese idiom that literally translates to “Does she have to drink the northwest wind?”. It is used to express disbelief or indignation at the idea that someone would be left with nothing to eat or drink. The northwest wind is often used as a metaphor for hardship and deprivation in Chinese culture.[/mfn]?

Fifty yuan for her was barely enough for a meal, just enough to fill her stomach without caring about the quality. To spend all the money without leaving any for herself, did they expect her to go hungry?

But what could she do?

Before Jiang Xiaoyuan could think of a solution, Zhang Tian took the initiative and ran over to the payment counter, saying, “Uncle, sorry, we didn’t bring enough money today, we’re short by fifty. Could you give us a discount, cut us some slack?”

The staff at the payment counter, who was actually only in his mid-thirties but prematurely gray, felt a bit aggrieved for being called “uncle” by such a young girl. He couldn’t help but touch his bald spot instinctively, feeling quite upset. After hearing her request, he couldn’t help but laugh, “This is the first time I’ve heard of bargaining in a hospital. Do you think this is a vegetable market?”

Zhang Tian: “But…”

The staff member interrupted, “If you don’t have enough money, go home and get some more. Next!”

Zhang Tian hurriedly explained, “All the money in my house is kept by my mom, and I don’t know her bank card password, Uncle, please…”

Jiang Xiaoyuan stood by in astonishment. She had never bargained with anyone in her life. She couldn’t imagine how this kid managed to say “cut us fifty” out loud. It took her a long time to come back to her senses. She felt that her face had been thrown into the Arctic Ocean!

f course people can be poor, but how can they be so shamelessly poor!

Feeling impulsive, Jiang Xiaoyuan was about to take out her last bit of private money. Just then, a slender hand reached out, with a fifty bill between its fingers. The owner of the hand lightly tapped Jiang Xiaoyuan’s shoulder with their wrist. “Hey, let me lend you this first.”

Jiang Xiaoyuan turned around to see the so-called fellow villager, Qi Lian. She hurriedly said, “No, no need, I…”

Before she could refuse, Zhang Tian had already swiftly taken the money.

Jiang Xiaoyuan: “…”

Zhang Tian: “Thank you, Uncle!”

“Uh…” Qi Lian blinked, “No need to be so polite, just call me big brother.”

Zhang Tian didn’t respond, already rushing back to the payment counter.

Jiang Xiaoyuan felt a bit embarrassed. She took out her remote-control phone and clumsily opened her contacts. “Let me save your number, I’ll pay you back later… Oh, do you want to write an IOU?”

She was used to using a smartphone, so whenever her phone didn’t obey her, her fingers couldn’t help but swipe at the screen.

Qi Lian glanced at her and suddenly asked, “Is this phone yours?”

Jiang Xiaoyuan froze.

Qi Lian: “Oh, I just think young people don’t use such old-fashioned phones much.”

Jiang Xiaoyuan forced a laugh, feeling her adrenaline levels soaring.

“For a few dozen yuan, there’s no need for an IOU,” Qi Lian said as he saw her fumbling to open her contacts. He recited his number and said, “Um, my last name isn’t ‘齐,’ it’s ‘祁,’ like in Qi Lian Mountain.”

The name seemed more fitting for a burly man, not the person in front of her.

After exchanging phone numbers, Qi Lian said gently, “I work at the newspaper. Many people from our hometown come here, and I have contacts with most of them. When we’re away from home, it’s natural to help each other. If you encounter any difficulties, just give me a call, no need to be polite.”

It was always others asking her for favors. It was the first time Jiang Xiaoyuan had been helped by someone. Even though it was just fifty yuan, she didn’t know what to say for a moment.

Before she could think of how to express her gratitude, someone behind them called out “Brother Qi.”

Jiang Xiaoyuan turned around and was startled to see a medium-sized, very burly man standing behind her. He wore a half-sleeved shirt, a bandage wrapped around his head, and his fierce eyes were only partially visible. There was a scar on his forehead.

This person’s appearance seemed to proclaim loudly, “I’m not a good person.”

Without noticing Jiang Xiaoyuan, the man with the bandaged head spoke in a rough voice, “If I run into that group again…”

Qi Lian interrupted him, pointing at Jiang Xiaoyuan, “This is our fellow villager, just happened to run into her. Let’s talk a little longer.”

As he spoke, he raised his eyelids slightly, glanced at the burly man. The strong man was immediately stunned, as if a switch was pressed on his whole body. The man immediately closed his mouth, pretending to be naive, putting on a harmless smile and nodding at her.

Jiang Xiaoyuan smelled a strong smell of a ruffian from afar. The feeling of gratitude she had just felt disappeared completely.

Her eyes darted around, feeling uneasy. “Isn’t a ‘newspaper’ where they print newspapers? It’s not some abbreviation for ‘revenge society,’ is it? Did I… just borrow fifty yuan from the underworld?”

Was the money borrowed from a loan shark, with an interest rate of five hundred percent?

That would be ridiculous.

Fortunately, Qi Lian didn’t show any sinister expressions. He bid her farewell politely, leading the obviously aggressive injured animal back.

Jiang Xiaoyuan and Zhang Tian were at the hospital in a state of chaos for the entire day. Around dusk, a middle-aged man rushed in, introducing himself as Zhang Tian’s uncle.

This uncle was covered in dust and had a slight limp. He seemed to carry a sign that read “I have no money” on his person. After arriving, he comforted Zhang Tian and thanked Jiang Xiaoyuan profusely, his words full of gratitude, but he never mentioned repaying the money.

In the end, Zhang Tian, feeling guilty, pulled Jiang Xiaoyuan aside and said, “Sister, can I wait until my mother wakes up and gets the money before returning it to you?”

Jiang Xiaoyuan almost instinctively blurted out, “It’s just a small amount, don’t worry about it.”

However, she managed to hold back at the last minute and restrained her tendency to be overly generous.

Jiang Xiaoyuan forced a smile at Zhang Tian, abandoning her usual principles of dealing with others, and preserved the ownership of all her belongings.

The arrival of the uncle didn’t really improve the situation. With another man around, it became inconvenient for Jiang Xiaoyuan to stay at Zhang Tian’s house. She stayed at the hospital with Zhang Tian until the doctor announced that the patient was out of danger. Then she left alone—not because she wanted to perform an act of kindness anonymously, but because she urgently needed to solve some important personal matters.

The hospital restroom was filthy, just like the one at Zhang Tian’s house. Unable to bear it, Jiang Xiaoyuan ran until she found a McDonald’s, rushed in like she was throwing herself into the forest, and headed straight for the restroom.

Afterward, she felt like her whole body was floating, as if her life had lost its weight.

The overpowering smell of fast food in the restaurant made the frivolous Jiang Xiaoyuan feel like she could devour an elephant. She would rather starve to death than take a bite of this junk food. Yet now, she was so tempted that tears almost welled up in her eyes!

And the thought of having nowhere to stay and only fifty yuan left made Jiang Xiaoyuan hesitate. In the end, she couldn’t bring herself to spend this precious money on a pile of food she had always refused to compromise on.

With all her willpower, Jiang Xiaoyuan swallowed the saliva in her mouth and left.

She staggered to a bench on the roadside, not caring if it was dirty, and sat down heavily.

She stared into space, recalling the events of the past 24 hours.

The more she thought about it, the more absurd it seemed. Jiang Xiaoyuan decisively took out her phone, found the first message Ming Guang sent her, and replied without hesitation: “I want to go back now.”

The message showed that it failed to send—normal, because the number Ming Guang had sent from was simply non-existent.

Jiang Xiaoyuan stared blankly at the message that bounced back to her outbox, despairingly holding her “remote control” to her chest.

At this point, she had completely disregarded the authenticity of the subsequent warning messages. It was better for her to die happily than to live in this unlucky time and space for the rest of her life.

“Forty-eight more days,” Jiang Xiaoyuan thought anxiously. “Where am I going to live? How am I going to make it through?”

She didn’t plan to find a job to support herself. Firstly, she didn’t intend to stay here for long, and secondly, she didn’t know how to do anything.

Jiang Xiaoyuan prepared to treat this experience as a period of harsh wilderness survival.

After waiting for a long time without Ming Guang’s reply, as if that was indeed just a wrong number she dialed, Jiang Xiaoyuan stood up listlessly, intending to go wherever fate took her, even if it meant sleeping on the streets.

Then suddenly, her vision darkened, and she finally fainted from hunger.

It seemed like this time and space knew she considered herself an outsider and didn’t treat her kindly either. As she fell, Jiang Xiaoyuan once again felt the sensation of being pushed out of this time and space.

In a daze, she seemed to return to the lighthouse at the intersection of time and space. However, this time, besides darkness, there seemed to be a layer of fog shrouding everything, separating her from whatever she saw or heard.

Not far away, faint and painful sounds reached her ears, occasionally mixed with a few screams, piercing into people’s ears like files scraping against bones.

Jiang Xiaoyuan was puzzled. Holding her breath, she cautiously approached the source of the sound.

After turning several corners, Jiang Xiaoyuan hid herself in the darkness and cautiously peeked out, seeing a large pillar resembling a medieval stake, with a person tied to it.

Her pupils shrank violently and she bit her hand fiercely to prevent herself from making any noise.

Countless wires were connected to the person’s body, and half of their skin had been peeled off, revealing a large area of circuitry and mechanical components underneath. Half of their face was also peeled off, with dark eye sockets and sensors in the “muscles” on their face.

Through the remaining half of the face, Jiang Xiaoyuan reluctantly recognized him as the assistant at the lighthouse.

The sound of footsteps came from afar, and Jiang Xiaoyuan immediately shrank into herself into a ball. Only when the footsteps stopped did she cautiously poke her head in fear.

She saw that the person approaching was Ming Guang. In front of him was a transparent screen, which he calmly showed to the almost dying assistant at the lighthouse.

Ming Guang: “It’s useless to secretly warn the Nail behind my back. Look, she still replied to me. No one will believe you at all. Think about it, she fell from high in the sky to the ground, and you run to tell her not to bother, she can’t go back. How do you think she would feel? If it were you, would you believe it?”

The assistant at the lighthouse moved slightly, glaring at him coldly.

Jiang Xiaoyuan’s heart jumped wildly—so the series of shocking warning messages was sent by the lighthouse assistant. But how did he get caught while eavesdropping?

At this moment, Jiang Xiaoyuan suddenly remembered that the first warning message had the words “Do not reply upon receipt.” Right! At that time, she was feeling upset and sent back a “Who are you?” Could it be because of this…

A block of ice seemed to fall into Jiang Xiaoyuan’s chest, and her back was soaked in cold sweat.

Ming Guang leaned close to the lighthouse assistant’s ear and said word by word, “The coordinates of that woman’s time and space must be mine.”

Jiang Xiaoyuan didn’t know what he did, but suddenly, the lighthouse assistant let out a heart-wrenching scream, as if he were burning all over.

Jiang Xiaoyuan’s footsteps involuntarily moved half a step forward. Just then, a mechanical voice came from the lighthouse: “Temporal disturbance, warning, temporal disturbance—”

Jiang Xiaoyuan’s heart skipped a beat, almost unable to form words.

Accidentally overhearing someone planning to harm her, and being discovered while eavesdropping, was an unprecedented experience in Jiang Xiaoyuan’s short twenty-odd years of life. She was stunned for a moment.

The lighthouse’s light seemed to scan everything as it swept past, as if it was about to fall on her head—