A Chan – CH 150

Chapter 150: Extra Chapter: The 0th Cycle (2)

That night, Zhang Jingchan dreamed of her again. They were together all night.

She covered her flat stomach and said shamelessly, “This is your child.”

He calmly asked, “How many months along?”

She lifted him up. She actually lifted him up and spun him around several times, laughing foolishly and brightly.

In the dimly lit room, he said, “Didn’t I say that if you dare lift me up, I’ll get my revenge? Don’t you like being lifted up high?”

Zhang Jingchan laughed out loud in his dream.

Then came the most difficult days. He collapsed in the hospital, and some said he was about to become a vegetable. He couldn’t see or move anything, yet he heard her voice, day after day, month after month, year after year, murmuring in his ear. She wanted him to wake up soon, to uphold male virtues, to be good to her, and not to change his heart; she also spoke of her academic struggles and work troubles; she longed for him to wake up quickly, wanted to get to know him, wanted to date him, and wanted a real boyfriend.

Zhang Jingchan felt like he was in a nightmare, desperately trying to open his eyes but unable to; desperately trying to see her face clearly but powerless.

In a daze, a soft hand grasped his arm. She lowered her head, her hair brushing against his skin, and said, “Let me stamp my name. Write it once a day; hypnotize us both.”

So he lowered his head, wanting to see what she had written on his arm.

What…all.

He saw the character “意” (yi) and immediately understood it was her name.

What were the first two characters?

His eyes widened in his dream, tears welling up, but her head blocked his view. He grabbed her arm and cried out, “Weiyi, let me see…”

Like a hammer blow, it pierced his chest.

48-year-old Zhang Jingchan suddenly opened his eyes in the dark night.

He finally remembered her name.

Li Weiyi.

—

Zhang Jingchan’s subordinates were incredibly efficient at finding her. The next afternoon, Zhang Jingchan stood in the president’s office of a subsidiary of Huicui, and through the glass, he saw Li Weiyi twenty-one years later.

He had investigated her experiences over the years thoroughly.

In January 2022, Li Weiyi was laid off from Muchen Group. In September of the same year, she interviewed and landed a job as a finance manager at another company. She subsequently changed jobs twice, steadily rising through the ranks due to her excellent business skills.

Eight years ago, she moved to a subsidiary of Huicui, where she had served as finance director ever since.

She had always been right under his nose; perhaps he had even seen her name on the list of outstanding employees, or perhaps they had brushed past each other in the headquarters elevator without him knowing.

Three years after breaking up with Xie Zhilu, Li Weiyi accepted the advances of a colleague, and the two married and had a daughter. Five years later, they divorced due to personality clashes, and their daughter stayed with Li Weiyi. Since then, she had remained single.

Zhang Jingchan sat behind his desk, watching her walk in step by step. His assistant and the subsidiary’s president both wore expressions of confusion.

Until she looked up and met his gaze, their eyes locked, neither looking away, neither speaking.

Zhang Jingchan’s voice was hoarse. He said to the others, “You all go out first; close the door.”

Only the two of them remained in the room.

Zhang Jingchan said, “Come here.”

Li Weiyi slowly walked to him. When she looked up again, tears were already in her eyes. Though no longer young, she was still beautiful and fair, just like the girl from years ago.

“Is it you?” he asked.

She nodded. “It’s me.”

“You only recently remembered?”

She paused for a moment, then answered, “Do you remember? We met once, on January 13th, 2022. You helped me and took me home. Actually, ever since then, I’ve had a bad feeling. I’ve always felt… life shouldn’t be like this; I’ve always felt I was waiting for something, but it never came.”

Zhang Jingchan listened, his mind reeling. Distant and blurry memories flooded back: the girl crying in the rain, the black umbrella that sheltered them both, and his last moments sitting in the car, watching the stranger’s head bowed as she went upstairs.

“Why didn’t it happen?” Zhang Jingchan looked up at her, tears welling in her dark eyes. “Why didn’t it happen in this cycle?”

“It shouldn’t have happened in the first place,” Li Weiyi said with a bitter smile. “Or perhaps, it didn’t happen in our time.”

“Then you now…” Zhang Jingchan hesitated but had already grasped her hand, as if he had held it a thousand times before.

She slowly withdrew her hand and said, “We aren’t young anymore. Those things aren’t really real for either of us. We should both think it over, think it through, and then make a decision.”

Zhang Jingchan knew she was right. What was the point of chasing after a hollow memory? They were no longer young, no longer at the age to act impulsively for love.

But on the night of January 12th, the night he met Li Weiyi, Zhang Jingchan’s dreams became increasingly vivid. The dimly lit river-crossing tunnel, the drizzling rain outside the window, the dense crowds exiting the subway, and the blinding white light.

And, again and again, violent impacts.

In his dreams, he repeatedly lost consciousness and awoke, only to find himself back in that car, Li Weiyi sitting beside him.

The next morning, January 13th.

Zhang Jingchan awoke with sunken eyes, his gaze calm and collected, and called his subordinate: “Investigate someone immediately.”

That evening, his subordinate brought the most complete, up-to-date, and confidential information.

Cheng Chuan, just released from prison in 2022, was imprisoned again for manslaughter in a dispute with another released inmate. Three days ago, the elderly Cheng Chuan was released from prison.

He managed to get his hands on an old, black SUV.

He had been seen near Xu Yi’s home and company in the past two days.

Zhang Jingchan stood by the window, shrouded in twilight, for a long time, finally smiling. For him, this life held no further expectation. Nothing could bring him joy or sorrow. Yet, he had kissed her so passionately in his dreams, he had seen his elderly, healthy, and happy parents in his dreams, and he had grown old with someone, surrounded by children, and lived a life without regrets.

So why not take a gamble?

Alone in the car, Zhang Jingchan picked up his phone; he had saved Li Weiyi’s number just yesterday. But after a while, he put it down again.

The other end of this journey might lead to another time and space.

Perhaps, death.

Zhang Jingchan drove alone towards the river-crossing tunnel.

—

Zhang Jingchan, from 2043, experienced three cycles.

The first time, when he opened his eyes in a flash of white light, he found himself standing on a bridge, a car passing through his body.

Then came the second and the third.

He looked down at his transparent arms and body, feeling no sadness. At that moment, he thought he had been hit and killed in 2043, his soul merely wandering the world.

Alone, he slowly walked forward amidst the bustling traffic, countless lights and shadows passing by.

Then Zhang Jingchan saw Cheng Chuan.

To be precise, it was middle-aged Cheng Chuan, neither the vibrant young man of 2014 nor the frail old man of 2043. Cheng Chuan looked much darker and thinner than in his youth, appearing to be in his late forties.

Zhang Jingchan suddenly understood.

This was no longer 2043, nor had he arrived in 2014.

This was 2022, the year their cycle was supposed to begin.