Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Nan Mu returned to the past for the third time, and his landing spot was still the dormitory.

He picked up the things he had brought with him and had just reached the door when the bathroom door of the neighboring dorm was suddenly pushed open from the inside.

Both parties were startled by the sudden encounter.

“Nan Mu? Why are you in my dorm?”

It was actually Wen Xin.

Nan Mu immediately realized that there might have been a slight deviation in his landing coordinates. “I… I just came over to visit…”

Wen Xin looked at the stuttering Nan Mu with a strange expression. “Who are you looking for?”

Everyone in this dorm was Wen Xin’s classmate, students from the Materials Science Department, and not from the same department as Nan Mu.

“They don’t seem to be here… I’ll head out first. See you later.”

After saying that, Nan Mu fled the scene.

He ran all the way downstairs before realizing that his timing was unfortunate; it was already past eight o’clock.

He couldn’t go back to his own dorm to stay, but he had no money on him. He still had to find a way to get a bit of “startup capital” to go home so he could “borrow” Nan’s dad’s secret stash of cash.

As he walked downstairs, a warm breeze blew past, and he realized he was drenched in sweat from his run.

Nan Mu was somewhat surprised that it was actually quite hot for an April day. He found a secluded spot by the lake and placed the clothes he was carrying on a bench. Just as he was about to take off his outer layer, he suddenly heard a familiar voice.

“I’ve been busy with exams lately, so I probably won’t have time. Thank you for the kind offer.”

Only then did Nan Mu notice a boy in a basketball jersey blocking Wen Miao at the end of the path, talking to her.

The boy wasn’t discouraged. “Is it because you don’t like the Water Park? How about the Botanical Garden then? I heard they’ve cultivated a lot of new plant species there. Maybe we could go and learn about them together?”

Nan Mu sneered. *Heh, learn about what plants? You want her to learn about you, more like. I’m almost embarrassed to call you out.*

He pricked up his ears, terrified that Wen Miao might agree.

“I really don’t have time lately, I’m sorry.”

Wen Miao’s airy voice drifted over, and Nan Mu breathed a sigh of relief.

The boy’s vigorous voice instantly lost its energy. The two seemed to continue talking, but Nan Mu was too far away to hear clearly.

He leaned behind a tree, pondering whether to move to a better vantage point, when a goose-yellow dress suddenly entered his field of vision, fluttering in the wind like a graceful spring breeze.

Nan Mu’s heart skipped a beat. He looked up. “Wen Miao?”

Wen Miao tilted her head and asked teasingly, “What are you doing hiding here? Eavesdropping?”

Nan Mu immediately denied it. “No, no, it’s just a coincidence.”

Wen Miao’s gaze fell on him. “What’s with the weather today? Why are you already wearing a down jacket?”

“It… it is a bit hot.” Nan Mu awkwardly took off his coat and rubbed his nose. “Are you planning to head back to the dorm?”

“Yeah. What about you?” Her eyes fell on the clothes on the bench behind him, and she frowned. “Where are you… going?”

Nan Mu wanted to say he was going home, but he was worried that Wen Miao would run into the past version of himself at school tomorrow and blow his cover. He could only stammer as he changed the subject. “Um… I wanted to ask you to a movie. Are you free lately?”

As soon as he said it, Nan Mu wanted to slap himself.

Just moments ago, he had heard Wen Miao use “no time” as an excuse to reject someone… Why was he seeking his own death? He wanted to smack his own head in frustration.

“I am free, actually.”

Nan Mu’s heart leaped. He stared at Wen Miao with wide eyes. Since it was getting dark, he couldn’t see her expression clearly.

“But… you won’t be like you were this morning, will you?”

“What?”

“You said last night you’d treat me to breakfast… but when I called you for breakfast this morning, you really did just eat. You didn’t say a single word the whole morning.” Wen Miao looked down and kicked a pebble at her feet. “When we watch the movie, you won’t just watch the movie and not talk to me at all, right?”

Nan Mu froze for a moment, suddenly sensing that something wasn’t quite right.

But he couldn’t exactly ask Wen Miao to pull out her phone to show him the time right now. He could only bite the bullet and try to smooth over the lie. “I… I was just nervous.”

That part was the truth. Back then, whenever he saw Wen Miao, he didn’t even know where to put his hands or feet, let alone how to talk to her. It was mostly just nerves.
Wen Miao stifled a laugh. “I’m not the Dean of Students. What’s there to be nervous about?”

Nan Mu didn’t speak; he just stared at Wen Miao with a silent, intense gaze.

Wen Miao felt his look was so burning that she didn’t dare meet his eyes, subconsciously turning her head away. “Then it’s a date?”

“Yeah.” Nan Mu suddenly remembered something. “Right, I lost my original phone. Until I get my number back, you can reach me at my other number first.”

Wen Miao quickly pulled out her phone. “What’s the number?”

Nan Mu hesitated for a moment. “I forgot to bring my phone when I came out just now. I don’t use that number much, so I didn’t memorize it… How about this: I’ll wait for you at the school gate tomorrow afternoon.”

After setting a time, Nan Mu walked Wen Miao to her dormitory building and immediately started running toward his home.

Fortunately, his home was right here in City A; otherwise, being penniless would have truly driven him crazy.

The streets were still busy with traffic at night. He found a nearby supermarket and stored all his clothes in a free locker.

Then he jogged all the way home, covering more than ten kilometers.

When he reached the house, he didn’t go in immediately. He loitered by the door until after 2:00 AM, making sure Nan’s dad and Nan’s mom were in a deep sleep before tiptoeing inside using the smart lock code.

Nan Mu went to his room first, pulled an old phone out of a box of junk at the bottom of his closet, and plugged it in to turn it on.

It had been a long time, but as soon as it powered up and connected to the network, the time jumped onto the screen.

October 9th, 02:37.

“Holy crap!” Nan Mu cursed under his breath.

What was going on? Wasn’t the set time April 9th? How did he end up back on October 9th…

While Nan Mu grumbled and sent a silent ‘concern’ toward Qiu Ziyu, he had no choice but to accept the reality and start hunting for money.

Luckily, he’d had a piggy bank since he was a kid, and there was a decent amount of money inside, though most of it was saved from his childhood. Since electronic payments had become popular in high school, he rarely used cash and hadn’t put any more money into it.

He gave up on the coins in the piggy bank, gathered the paper bills, and then went to look for Nan’s dad’s secret stash.

Nan Mu first went to shake Nan’s dad’s globe-it was empty. Then he went to the vase in the living room and shone a flashlight inside.

Jackpot. Three neat stacks of red hundred-yuan bills, still bound with bank bands.

Nan Mu poured the money out of the vase. As he held the cash, he suddenly remembered the way Nan’s mom had once furiously accused Nan’s dad of framing her, and he couldn’t help but chuckle softly.

Just as he was about to leave with the money, his parents’ bedroom door suddenly opened. He made a split-second decision and ducked onto the balcony, watching as Nan’s dad yawned and walked into the bathroom.

Nan Mu stood on the balcony and looked around. The balcony was fitted with security bars, making it impossible to leave that way. There was no other way out except through the front door.

Left with no choice, he had to stay on the balcony until Nan’s dad finished in the bathroom and returned to the bedroom. He waited a good while longer before tiptoeing out through the main door.

…

Although Nan Mu didn’t have his ID card, he had taken his driver’s license-which he’d only had for a year-when he left. He used the license to check into a room at a hotel across from the school.

After a whole night of running around, it was already past 4:00 AM.

The birds outside the hotel window were already awake, chirping incessantly.

Nan Mu gradually drifted off. The moment he slipped into darkness, his mind was still haunted by the memory of Nan’s dad’s heartbroken expression when he discovered the money was missing.

-“What thirty thousand yuan bonus? I never took it!”

-“It was many years ago, eight or nine years… the year our son broke his leg and went to the hospital because he tried to save that kid who fell from upstairs…”

-“Did that happen that year? Why don’t I remember?”

-“It did.”

-“Impossible. I’d definitely remember that much money… Fine, Old Nan, are you trying to turn the tables on me now?”

As dawn broke, he suddenly snapped his eyes open and sat up in bed.

Now that he had taken the money, Nan’s mom naturally wouldn’t find it, which explained why she would be so furious and think Nan’s dad was lying.

But…

Why was it that even before he came back to change things, Nan’s mom had already never received that money?