Chapter 26: I Crashed Into Xu Jingyang’s Leg
Jiang Xiaoyuan, overwhelmed with anxiety, locked the shop door again and followed Qi Lian out.
She realized that she only knew of Qi Lian’s existence; it was as if he had appeared out of thin air. She had no idea what he did, what his family background was like, or how he was connected to people like them, who were trapped in the crevices between two different times and spaces.
The two of them were like two completely unrelated signals, yet somehow they had collided on a strange frequency, forcing them to share the same bizarre experience.
Jiang Xiaoyuan didn’t know much about Qi Lian, so she had no way to trust him. But whether she trusted him or not, there were some things, some secrets, that she really had no one else to talk to except him.
Qi Lian drove her to a well-decorated restaurant. There were many booths, ensuring privacy, so they could talk without worrying about being overheard.
Under normal circumstances, Jiang Xiaoyuan wouldn’t have missed the chance to have a big meal, but she was in no mood today.
They ordered a few things casually. As they sat, Qi Lian restarted his phone in front of her. “Can I see that text message?”
Jiang Xiaoyuan made a “casual” gesture to him.
After all, there was nothing of importance in her phone, and she hadn’t sent any texts to anyone—Mingguang’s sudden intrusion had dragged Jiang Xiaoyuan out of her false numbness. When she examined her life, she realized how little she had connected with this time-space. Her family was far away, and they had never met. They only called each other once every ten days or so, mostly just for simple greetings, with nothing much to say.
As for other people, aside from the colleagues she saw daily at the shop, she only knew Qi Lian and the Zhang family.
The Zhang family owed her money and avoided her as much as possible, so they would never take the initiative to contact her.
She owed Qi Lian money, and aside from repaying the debt, she never disturbed him.
It turns out that integrating into a new time-space isn’t that simple, no matter how much she tried to hypnotize herself into believing she belonged here.
After reading through everything, Qi Lian pondered for a moment before handing the phone back to her: “What happened? What did you see in the hair salon? Could you tell me about it?”
Jiang Xiaoyuan looked down at the lemonade in the glass in the restaurant. In fact, she didn’t want to say a word. It was shameful to reveal too much self-confession in front of strangers.
However, her tongue betrayed her will, and before she realized it, she had already laid everything out.
She had bottled up too much for far too long.
Qi Lian didn’t interrupt her and quietly listened from start to finish.
In fact, before he came out that evening, Qi Lian wasn’t overly concerned about what was happening here. In his view, since Jiang Xiaoyuan already knew the truth about Mingguang, she naturally wouldn’t want to return there and risk her life. But as it got darker, he suddenly felt a bit uneasy and decided to come over out of a sense of responsibility to make sure she was safe. He didn’t expect that the virus would be even more persistent than he imagined.
When he thought about it carefully, it made sense. If the virus in the Lighthouse was so easy to deal with, how could it have tricked so many people over the years? Xu Jingyang had told him that different times and spaces don’t overlap—for example, in the case of Jiang Xiaoyuan, she had lived here for fifty days, but perhaps only one-thousandth of a second had passed in her original time-space. Qi Lian had no way of knowing how many years that virus had lived by borrowing different identities.
Probably enough for it to become a powerful old demon.
Qi Lian: “I think you’re actually quite lucky.”
Jiang Xiaoyuan looked at him, puzzled.
Qi Lian put down his chopsticks and wiped his mouth. “Honestly, if you hadn’t figured out what you really wanted after coming here, he might have turned you into a colorblind person or, worse, blinded you completely. And who could you have gone to for justice?”
Jiang Xiaoyuan thought about the fates of others and felt a chill run down her spine.
Qi Lian: “I won’t say much else, but if you really want to carve out your own path again and plan to study painting or photography, I can support you. I think you’re overthinking things—if you just want to regain your previous life, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have to go back to your original time-space.”
He maintained the same stance. Jiang Xiaoyuan didn’t know how much money Qi Lian owed Xu Jingyang, that he could be so altruistic and dedicate himself to helping a group of strangers. She said weakly: “I’ve already told you…”
Qi Lian raised his hand to cut her off: “You don’t want to accept my help because you might have been better off before, so your pride in the past makes you reluctant to accept charity, but—what I’m about to say might be a bit offensive, especially since we don’t know each other well, so don’t get mad.”
Jiang Xiaoyuan: “It’s okay, go ahead. I don’t have the energy to get mad today.”
Qi Lian adjusted his usually aloof demeanor, making sure to speak as gently as possible. “But even if you returned to your original time-space, wouldn’t you still be relying on your parents and family?”
Jiang Xiaoyuan: “…”
She felt a lump in her throat, but she couldn’t refute his words—because he was right.
If she was a successful person who could call the wind and rain anywhere, encountering such a strange experience of time-space conversion might make her feel frustrated, but after a few days of adjustment, she’d realize it wasn’t a big deal. At most, it would be like going back to square one, but she could start over, as she’d already been through it once before. There was no reason to despair and end up living a lonely life in a small hair salon.
Jiang Xiaoyuan let out a long breath, feeling as if she had melted into the restaurant’s soft sofa chair like a lump of mud. After a moment of silence, she admitted with difficulty, “Yeah, that’s how it is.”
It was just that over there, it was her parents, so she used their help without gratitude and with a clear conscience.
Qi Lian: “My offer of help stands for the long term.”
Jiang Xiaoyuan frowned slightly, looking at the man across from her with some suspicion. “Why are you helping… us?”
Qi Lian raised his head to meet her eyes. Jiang Xiaoyuan’s eyes were clear and straightforward, possibly because they were so big, nothing could be hidden in them. Any joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness would immediately spill out.
He used to think it was best not to get too involved with her. After all, no one knew much about each other’s backgrounds. He thought that helping her settle down and meet her basic needs would be enough, and she could live out the rest of her life peacefully. But now it seemed like it wasn’t that simple.
He might need to prepare for a long battle against that persistent virus.
Qi Lian took a deep breath, slightly shifted his sitting position, and tilted his head as if seriously considering where to begin. Finally, he chose the most straightforward approach: “I crashed into Xu Jingyang’s leg.”
Jiang Xiaoyuan: “…”
The two of them were separated by an exquisite dining table, and they fell into silence for a while. After several long breaths, Jiang Xiaoyuan came back from the shock: “…Huh?”
Her blank single tone seemed to give Qi Lian a signal. He crossed his ten fingers, shifting them a few times as a rare trace of emotion broke through his usually composed exterior.
Qi Lian spoke in a low voice: “It was ten years ago. I was going through something that day and drove home in a fit of anger. That road was usually deserted, and it was nighttime. I was driving fast… and I happened to pass a crosswalk without traffic lights. By the time I saw someone, it was too late to brake.”
Jiang Xiaoyuan cautiously asked, “Were you drunk?”
Qi Lian shook his head.
Jiang Xiaoyuan pressed her lips together. “Then… you weren’t on drugs, right?”
Qi Lian glanced at her and, lowering his voice even more, as if afraid of scaring her, said, “I was stabbed on the leg, it’s numb, and I didn’t step on the brake for a while.”
Jiang Xiaoyuan: “…”
She must have looked a bit terrified because Qi Lian hurriedly reassured her, “No, no, you don’t need to be afraid. I don’t bite anymore.”
Jiang Xiaoyuan swallowed hard, struggling to regain her voice. “Then, then what?”
Qi Lian’s gaze drifted down to the water glass as if reminiscing. After a long pause, he continued, “I saw that I had hit someone, so I quickly got out of the car. I found that the person was still alive and didn’t dare move him, so I immediately called for help to get him to the hospital… Later, when I thought back on it, I realized that while I was watching over him, there were a few seconds when I felt a bit disoriented. I always thought it was because I was too panicked, but later I found out that it was at that moment that the Xu Jingyang from the other time-space had been swapped in.”
Jiang Xiaoyuan instinctively put herself in the situation Qi Lian had described, her fingers absentmindedly spinning the glass in her hand three times.
Qi Lian saw that she didn’t respond for a long time, and couldn’t help asking: “Don’t you have anything to say?”
Jiang Xiaoyuan snapped back to reality and blurted out: “So when he woke up in this world, not only did he find his leg gone, but he also endured a lot of pain, right?”
Qi Lian hadn’t anticipated this line of thought and was stunned for a moment, half a beat slower, before nodding.
Jiang Xiaoyuan: “I’ve heard that right after an amputation, people might still feel like the lost limb is there, as if it’s still attached… Is that true?”
Qi Lian remained silent.
“Oh, okay,” Jiang Xiaoyuan realized she was straying off-topic and quickly refocused. “So what happened next?”
Qi Lian: “Since I was the one who hit him, I naturally had felt the need to compensate him. Initially, I planned to offer him money, but then I found out his family wasn’t short of it. So, I did what I could, visiting him when I had time and helping out in any way I could. He never held it against me—maybe he blamed the virus in the Lighthouse for everything. Eventually, we ended up becoming acquainted in an unexpected way… My life was quite chaotic at that time, and he had a significant impact on me.”
Jiang Xiaoyuan was almost certain that Qi Lian—at least the previous Qi Lian—wasn’t exactly a model citizen. She couldn’t directly question him, so she tried to probe indirectly. “In what way did he influence you?”
Qi Lian looked at her with a smile, as if he saw through her little trick of beating around the bush, but he was kind enough not to expose her.
Qi Lian: “Maslow once said that people have various levels of needs. The lowest is survival—if you’re not fed and clothed, you’ll be uncomfortable. After you are well fed and clothed, you will also demand security, a sense of belonging, and respect from others. When all those are fulfilled, you strive for self-actualization.”
These were well-known ideas, often cited on TV and in newspapers. Jiang Xiaoyuan was familiar with them and nodded after a moment of thought.
Qi Lian: “We were all comfortably fed and clothed…”
Jiang Xiaoyuan couldn’t help but interject: “You were comfortably fed and clothed, creditor.”
Qi Lian smiled. “At that time, I thought I could just drift through life, enjoying myself with my wealth and leisure. But Xu Jingyang showed me that it’s not that simple. When you’ve met your basic needs and don’t strive for more, it’s self-deception, almost like deliberately denying yourself the essentials. It’s like how some girls starve themselves to lose weight—when you don’t eat, it’s uncomfortable, you feel weak and irritable, to the point where you’d even chew on the wall.
Jiang Xiaoyuan had never heard such an analogy before and blinked in surprise.
After a long pause, she came back to her senses: “After the fifty days were up, he stayed in this world for over three months.”
“Mm.” Qi Lian nodded. “Before he disappeared, he shared his story with me, but I didn’t believe him. I thought he might be delusional from the trauma, so I privately arranged for a psychologist. But before I could act, he disappeared, leaving behind a large sum of money specifically designated for me.”
It was indeed rare for a victim of an accident to leave their assets to the perpetrator.
“His intention was for me to manage his affairs and take care of anyone who might be in a similar situation in the future. Well, you already know what happened later. I searched for him for a long time without any clues until I received a message from a blank number, directing me to see that garbage sorter.”
Qi Lian picked up the teapot on the table and poured her half a cup of water: “So you don’t need to feel any burden or owe me anything. It was all arranged by Xu Jingyang. It wasn’t entirely for your benefit; it was to get rid of that virus. In this regard, we’re all in the same boat… Hmm, you understand.”
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