On a late evening on a day off, Li Haojun and Qin Wenjing had dinner and strolled along the path in the backyard. The evening breeze was getting cooler. Qin Wenjing wore an apricot-yellow batwing-sleeved long-sleeved sweater and tight dark blue jeans. Li Haojun walked beside her, his left hand resting on Qin Wenjing's hip, pulling her sweater closer.
They had walked this path countless times in the evening glow, but it never felt boring or tedious. Looking across, they saw the entrance to the solar farm's basement. Li Haojun hadn't been there in a long time. He vaguely felt that whenever he had a spare moment to devote his energy to it, work would arrange for him to travel away from Qin Wenjing. And to spend more time with the person he cared about, he had to prioritize spending his return time with her.
The sun had already disappeared below the horizon, leaving only the afterglow on the horizon. Through the silhouettes of the branches, it cast a dark red hue across the fields. A cold wind swept through the deep, quiet night sky, making one feel a sense of desolation.
Li Haojun turned her head. Thankfully, she had her lover by her side. The outline of her hair and the fluffy fabric of her sweater were dyed the same color as the clouds on the horizon. At this moment, Qin Wenjing turned to look at Li Haojun, their eyes meeting sweetly. Li Haojun, with his arm around Qin Wenjing, held her fingertips in his hands and said,
"It's getting chilly, let's go back,"
"Okay,"
Night had fallen. Qin Wenjing and Li Haojun lay on their sides on the bedroom bed, the lights off and the curtains open. Facing the starry night outside the window, Li Haojun lay behind her, his arms around her waist, watching the moonlight illuminate her face and hair.
"If one day I forget you, will you leave me?" Qin Wenjing gazed out the window and asked softly.
"No, why do you say that?"
"Nothing, just asking,"
"Has something happened?" Li Haojun pressed.
"No," Qin Wenjing said, without turning around, still facing the window, a slight smile on her lips. Afraid of worrying him, she quickly explained,
"Look how advanced technology is now, life expectancy is generally much longer, but accidents do happen occasionally, like with you. I'm just curious, what would you do if it happened to me?"
"Oh, I'd take care of you the same way, but I'm afraid you wouldn't like it," Li Haojun said, slightly rising to look down at Qin Wenjing's profile and gently brushing a strand of hair from her temple.
"Why wouldn't I like it?" Qin Wenjing retorted, forcing a smile as she snuggled closer to Li Haojun.
"That's hard to say. You might think I'm too old, or that I'm not handsome enough. Who knows what you'll think then?"
"Are you really that insecure?" Qin Wenjing finally turned around, laughing as she looked at Li Haojun.
“This isn’t a matter of confidence; it’s an objective law,” Li Haojun’s tone became a little urgent.
“Oh, oh, oh,” Qin Wenjing agreed, gently stroking his hand that was around her waist.
“In relationships between men and women, it’s always the woman who chooses the man. That’s how it is in ordinary relationships. Unless the man has power, wealth, or regresses to the primitive law of the jungle and uses violence.” Li Haojun explained earnestly.
“Hmm, I understand. I don’t think I’ll lose my memory. What’s the rush?” Qin Wenjing said, feigning anger and acting coquettishly.
Only then did Li Haojun realize that Qin Wenjing was testing him. He had been earnestly explaining the logic instead of grasping the key points, and he couldn’t help but feel a little ridiculous. But looking at Qin Wenjing’s sweet smile, he felt that being teased was worth it.
In the peaceful and tranquil atmosphere, Li Haojun’s left arm was around Qin Wenjing’s waist, and his right arm supported her shoulder and neck. Qin Wenjing turned her head and smiled back. What a beautiful world for the two of them.
Suddenly, a new message notification sounded from the living room. Qin Wenjing pouted and teased,
"Hmph, hurry up, your little lover's calling you."
"Let her wait," Li Haojun guessed it was Mariah sending tomorrow's work schedule, but how could he let another woman interfere at this time? This was the perfect opportunity to prove his loyalty.
As he spoke, Li Haojun leaned down and kissed Qin Wenjing's earlobe, neck, and lips…
They slept soundly through the night. The cheerful chirping of birds outside the window awakened the sleeping lovers.
"It's getting late, we overslept today. You still have work to do," Qin Wenjing said softly with a smile, looking at her man.
"It's alright, as long as you're happy." Qin Wenjing smiled gently, saying nothing, just taking Li Haojun's hand.
Just then, the sound of an aerial taxi landing outside the courtyard wall, along with the dinging notification sound from inside the living room, came at the same time. Li Haojun grinned, kissed Qin Wenjing's lips, got dressed, and left.
On a bright and sunny morning, in a cheerful mood, Li Haojun tucked one arm into his shirt sleeve and strode out the door. He glanced around before rushing across the road, opening the back door of the air taxi, and got in. Only after sitting down did he notice Cassia was also in the back seat. He glanced at the front seat to confirm it was empty.
"Good morning, Cassia. Didn't Maria come with you?"
"Oh, she's not coming this time," she said, looking down at Li Haojun, but this didn't escape his chivalrous gaze.
"What's she busy with? Why isn't she coming?" Li Haojun asked, leaning down to look into her eyes.
She didn't look up, nor did she make eye contact. Li Haojun noticed her eyes were slightly red, as if she had been crying. Seeing her silence, he didn't press further. But how could she work in this state of mind? So, Li Haojun secretly messaged Maria, asking what was wrong with her sister. Unexpectedly, the usually cheerful Maria only replied with a cold, "Ask my sister, don't ask me." It seemed the two sisters had a disagreement; even seemingly harmonious sisters could bicker. So Li Haojun asked softly,
"Did you have a disagreement with your sister?" He looked at her profile.
"Yes," Cassia replied, expressionless.
"Would you like to tell me what happened? Maybe I can give you some advice," he asked, looking at Cassia again.
She didn't say anything, her head lowered, perhaps deep in thought.
"We had a little argument this morning," Cassia said softly.
Li Haojun wanted to laugh out loud, "A little argument and you're this upset?" Thinking it over, Cassia was gentle and peaceful, perhaps with a fragile heart, so he lowered his voice and whispered,
"Was it a small argument? A small argument could make you cry like this? Can you tell me what happened? Maybe I can help you analyze it."
"Well, it's just that she and I had a little disagreement," she seemed hesitant, not wanting to reveal too much. Li Haojun didn't press further and echoed,
"It's okay, it will pass. Time heals all wounds. Besides, life is full of little bumps and bruises." He looked at Cassia's expression after saying this,
"Hmm," she seemed to only respond politely.
Li Haojun took out his terminal device and checked the work schedule. Sure enough, it was all routine tasks: George and Elensburg's factories needed to sign off on a batch of raw materials and supplies, plus some routine inspections—simple tasks.
The morning had been sunny, but the weather gradually turned cloudy during the flight, inevitably affecting his mood. Fortunately, George wasn't far and would arrive soon. Li Haojun pushed open the hatch, intending to get down first and then help Kathy down. Although she was young and not incapacitated, respect for a lady was still due. But just as he pushed open the hatch with his left hand and stretched out his left leg to get down, his right arm was suddenly grabbed. Li Haojun turned around and saw Kathy holding his arm. Their eyes met, and Li Haojun knew something was about to happen.
Kathy hesitated for a moment, then said,
"I...I like you."
Li Haojun was also stunned, his mind racing, assessing various possibilities. Was she serious? She should be; she was usually very composed. Why was she like this? Since waking up from my despair, a series of good things had happened. Could it be that good fortune was falling from the sky? Was the world I was in a fake?
After only a moment of hesitation, Li Haojun grabbed Kathy's hand and said,
"Come on, let's talk about it down here," he said, pulling her down to the ground and walking towards the factory while watching her expression. But Kathy just followed with her head down.
Leaving the road and standing opposite Kathy, Li Haojun placed his hands on her shoulders and asked,
"Do you think you understand me?"
Kathy looked up at him and said,
"I do,"
"We've only just met, and I'm so much older than you. I don't even understand myself. Why don't you choose someone your own age?"
"I think they're immature, so I came to this company,"
"So how did you find this place, how did you find me?"
"A feeling,"
"Oh, that's wonderful," Li Haojun exclaimed, looking into her eyes, and Kathy didn't look away. Li Haojun was also surprised; he had just been intimate with Qin Wenjing last night, and this morning a young girl was confessing her feelings.
Just as he was wondering, Li Haojun noticed that Cassia was looking at him from slightly outwards.
"What are you thinking about? Is it her?" Cassia asked.
Li Haojun didn't answer, because after what happened so intimately last night, how could he mention it to an outsider today?
"Now you know I understand you, right? I can sense it,"
"You can sense what I'm thinking?"
"No, I can only roughly sense your feelings,"
"Oh," Li Haojun knew that some people possess abilities beyond ordinary people, but he didn't expect such a person to be in his life. He then sighed, perhaps realizing there was too much he didn't know.
"Can you sense other people too?" Li Haojun asked curiously.
"Not necessarily, it varies from person to person,"
Hearing her explanation, Li Haojun was slightly doubtful, wondering if what she said was true, or what her true feelings were like. His curiosity was acting up again. As he pondered this, he noticed Cassia looking at him and couldn't help but chuckle. Was he already invisible? He asked,
"You can sense my feelings, and your own feelings too. Do these two feelings interfere with each other?"
"No, I can distinguish them,"
"Oh," he said, pulling her hand towards the office.
Cassia didn't move, grabbing his arm.
"You still haven't answered me. Do you like me?"
"Yes, I do. You're a good girl." Li Haojun couldn't refuse, or give a negative or ambiguous answer. He wouldn't do anything against his conscience, nor was he a hypocrite.
The entire morning, Li Haojun accompanied Cassia through the entire material receiving procedure, familiarizing her with the routine operations, and also because he was worried about her being distracted and causing a safety accident due to what happened that morning.
The morning passed quickly. During lunch, while chatting, Li Haojun couldn't resist asking out of curiosity:
"Excuse me, besides sensing my current mood or thoughts, can you receive information across time? Like the past or the future?"
"Well, more or less, some things,"
"For example? Can you give an example?"
"Like how I got here. I can sense some possibilities about my own future. For others, I can only sense their recent past or future, and that sense is unstable, sometimes there, sometimes not."
"Oh, I see. So how do you predict your future? Specifically, how? Can you tell me?"
"Dreaming,"
"Hahaha,"
"Some of it appears in dreams..." "Sometimes focusing can help,"
"Oh, I see. So, do you know what the future holds for us?"
"Well, not necessarily. It depends on our choices."
"Hmm, true. Excuse my boldness, but are you human?"
"Biologically speaking, yes, but my senses are a bit more acute in some ways,"
"So, can you sense my thoughts all the time?"
"Not really. Sometimes, or in certain situations,"
"Oh, thankfully, I'm not always transparent,"
"Hmm, hehe,"... After finishing the morning's task at the George factory, they took the pre-arranged taxi to Elensburg as planned. They were supposed to receive supplies and complete their task in the afternoon before going home. However, the planned freight didn't arrive as scheduled. Soon after, the freight company sent a video of the truck being stuck in Othello, where people were protesting.212Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRwb1skoazZ
Li Haojun switched between several videos and understood their demands. It turned out that residents of categories C and D were dissatisfied with their category classification or the rights of residents within their respective categories. After watching for a while, Li Haojun muttered to himself,
"If their protest is peaceful, that's fine, but they shouldn't be blocking traffic. There will be consequences."
"What consequences?" Kashia asked, watching alongside him.
"I don't know, but adults have to be responsible for the consequences of their actions. Disrupting social order has consequences."
"Let me check," Kashia said while researching,
"Category D residents might be sent to the Free Zone, and Category C residents might be downgraded to Category D residents. Actually, they should apply for a re-evaluation or object to the evaluation rules, but they chose the simplest and most brutal method."
"Hmm, God helps those who help themselves. Sometimes, some people can't be helped unless they improve their understanding. You see, sometimes you can see police drones in the videos, constantly collecting information from the scene. It's very likely that all the participants have already been identified." After saying that, Li Haojun suddenly remembered to ask,
"Can you foresee certain outcomes?"
"No," Kashia smiled and then added,
"I'm not a god, nor a time machine. I just sometimes see some things about myself." Kassia hesitated for a moment, then continued,
"And there are people I care about," she said, her gaze fixed on Li Haojun.
Li Haojun understood her meaning, of course, but he couldn't be too close, yet he also couldn't hurt this girl—a true dilemma.
Kassia clearly understood his situation and didn't press him further. However, the afternoon truck hadn't arrived, and their original return trip had been canceled by Maria, who had instead booked dinner.
The sky was already dark outside the south-facing window of the restaurant. Looking at the abundant food, Li Haojun couldn't help but ask Kassia,
"Look, so much delicious food. Are you still angry with your sister?"
"No, actually, she was more angry with me this morning,"
"Oh, I see. Then you…" Li Haojun started to ask, then swallowed the rest of his sentence.
"Hmph," Kassia sneered. He had never seen her so cold. Li Haojun felt a pang of guilt, blaming himself for mistreating this girl.
"Could you tell me, before you came here, were the scenes you saw the same as when you saw the real me?"
Finally, Li Haojun saw a slight smile on Cassia's lips.
"Some are the same, some are different, but it doesn't matter. What matters is how you will treat me in this timeline," she said, glancing up at Li Haojun.
"Is it the gears of fate?" Li Haojun asked solemnly.
"Hmm, where isn't it?"
"Where?" Li Haojun paused.
"Is it a past life? Otherwise, how could I dare accept your unwarranted kindness?"
"Perhaps, I'm not quite sure. I just felt, sensed you, and was drawn here." Hearing Cassia say this, Li Haojun reached out and stroked the back of her hand resting on the table. Silence would be too hurtful.
Cassia looked at her hand, then looked up at Li Haojun, expressionless, a stark contrast to the naive, hesitant Cassia who used to ask questions so timidly. Seeing such a resolute look, Li Haojun couldn't help but ask,
"Before coming here, did you know about my relationship with Qin Wenjing?"
"Yes, I knew,"
"Then..." Li Haojun hesitated, wondering how to answer. Asking her, "Then what are you doing here?" He couldn't just say that.
"Actually, there are many things I can't choose. It's just that at this time, I came to this place," Kathy replied calmly.
"Then do you remember what happened between us before?"
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and then Add to home screen.