Chapter 65

Chapter 65

Once the excitement faded, Sha Meijuan gradually calmed down, too guilty to speak as she looked at Tian Ruan.

Tian Ruan said, "Mom, you should rest. I’ll go check on Uncle Du."

At the mention of Du Danren, Sha Meijuan looked at the dumbbell and asked awkwardly, "How is he? I was too impulsive back then. I should go see him too and apologize."

As she spoke, she pushed aside the blanket and got out of the hospital bed, wiping the tear stains from the corners of her eyes and putting on a brave face. "I’ll wash up."

"Mm." Tian Ruan waited, tidying up the hospital room in the meantime.

Du Henbie watched Tian Ruan suspiciously, but he didn’t ask anything—finding his younger brother was all that mattered.

After Sha Meijuan washed up and put on a proper coat, she followed Tian Ruan to the elevator, heading two floors up to Du's hospital room.

As soon as they entered, Du Danren trembled at the sight of Sha Meijuan, his leg in a cast seeming to throb with pain again.

Madam Du, however, rose gracefully and beckoned Tian Ruan over when she saw him. She asked with concern, "Why are your eyes red? Have you been crying?"

Tian Ruan: "No, I haven’t."

Sha Meijuan glanced at Tian Ruan upon hearing this, but it seemed she could no longer do anything for him. She could only say awkwardly, "Mr. Du, Madam Du, this was all my fault. I shouldn’t have hit Mr. Du with the dumbbell. I’ll cover all the hospital bills."

Madam Du raised her chin slightly and said solemnly, "Ms. Sha, hello. I am Tian Ruan’s biological mother, Ruan Mengling."

"Hello..."

Du Danren instinctively responded, "Hello."

Sha Meijuan: "Hello, hello."

"Mm, hello."

"..."

Du Henbie rubbed his forehead. "None of you are handling this well."

Yu Jingmo, with amusement, pulled Tian Ruan to sit beside him. "Let’s all sit down and talk."

So they all sat, growing calmer.

"There’s no need for hospital bills," Madam Du said, feeling some sympathy for Sha Meijuan. "Tian Ruan’s father was also at fault for showing up unannounced and provoking you."

Du Danren: "I wasn’t provoking her. I just wanted to talk."

Madam Du: "Talk? You got your leg broken!"

Du Danren: "..."

Sha Meijuan became increasingly uncomfortable. "Madam Du, I’m truly sorry."

Madam Du reassured her, "It’s fine. I should thank you for raising Tian Ruan so well."

Sha Meijuan gave a weak smile. "He only started to straighten up this year. Before that, he was constantly giving me trouble—drinking, fighting, smoking, the whole nine yards."

Madam Du looked at Tian Ruan in surprise. "Is that true?"

Tian Ruan: "...That...wasn’t me. That was Tian Yuan."

"It's normal to be young and foolish." Yu Jingmo held Tian Ruan's slightly cool hand, gradually warming it as he looked at the young man beside him. "Now he's a good boy."

The term "good boy" made Tian Ruan blush, because when they were being mischievous together, Yu Jingmo had praised him the same way.

Apologies were made, words were spoken, and the past was behind them.

Madam Du promised to help Sha Meijuan find the real Tian Yuan, and Sha Meijuan left, thanking her profusely.

The sky darkened, but the last streaks of sunset still hung in the sky. Madam Du invited Tian Ruan to eat at home, but Tian Ruan said, "Liu Ma’s got dinner ready."

Madam Du didn’t press further—there would be plenty of chances to eat together in the future.

On the way back to the estate, Tian Ruan checked his class group chat. Some congratulated him on winning first place in the essay competition, some begged to copy homework, and others discussed this and that.

The car slowly came to a stop.

Tian Ruan thought they had arrived at the estate, but when he looked outside, he saw a row of stone bollards blocking the way. Not far off, lush greenery and rippling water revealed a park.

"Let’s take a walk." Yu Jingmo shut the car door with a thud, his long strides carrying him to Tian Ruan’s side as he took his backpack and tossed it back into the car.

Stepping over the narrow stone posts only wide enough for one person, Tian Ruan took deep breaths of the park’s fresh air, his tension melting away.

The dazzling sunset stretched across the western sky like a goddess’s veil. Tian Ruan walked under its glow, heading toward a winding trail leading to hidden pavilions.

Yu Jingmo followed him for a while, the muffled sound of leather shoes alternating with the crisp crunch of dried leaves underfoot.

Tian Ruan looked up, searching for fall treasures, and gathered many beautiful pinecones. When his own pockets couldn’t hold any more, he stuffed them into Yu Jingmo’s. "Mr. Yu, help me carry these. They can be used for crafts."

"What will you make?" Yu Jingmo watched as Tian Ruan stuffed the pinecones into his pricey custom suit, making no move to refuse.

"Wind chimes, decorative art—anything."

"Mhm."

The two walked a full loop around the park until Tian Ruan spotted small boats by the lake and was itching to ride one.

Yu Jingmo strode straight to the ticket booth, glanced at the price list, paid with a quick scan, and said, "Let’s go."

Tian Ruan happily boarded the boat, sitting on one side while the other side was still free.

Yu Jingmo stepped in with his long legs, making the boat lurch. Tian Ruan, startled, clung to Yu Jingmo’s leg until the boat steadied, then let go. Yu Jingmo settled in, hogging most of the room.

"Mr. Yu, you’re too tall," Tian Ruan said, gripping the oar at the boat’s edge.

Yu Jingmo replied, "The boat’s just too small. Paddle."

Each took an oar, but their coordination had the boat going in circles on the water.

"..."

Yu Jingmo sighed. "You’re paddling too fast. Sync with me."

Tian Ruan slowed down, but the boat kept circling, leaving him dizzy.

Yu Jingmo took his hand. "Let go. I’ll paddle."

But the boat kept circling.

"..."

The two inept rowers stared at each other, and Tian Ruan burst into laughter, "So there are things you can't do too!"

After fumbling together for over ten minutes, they finally managed to steer the boat away from the dock, gradually mastering the technique and coordinating better.

"Life's like rowing - nobody's born knowing how," Yu Jingmo said.

"?" Tian Ruan nodded in agreement, looking puzzled.

Yu Jingmo took in his clueless look and asked, "How old are you?"

"Twenty?"

"But you haven't actually lived twenty years, right?"

Tian Ruan stammered, "Wh-what do you mean?"

Yu Jingmo sighed, "I figured I'd wait till you were ready to tell me. But you're so clueless - did you really think I hadn't noticed? I can't keep watching you play dumb."

"......"

"You're Tian Ruan, not Tian Yuan. Right?"

Tian Ruan was dumbstruck, as if lightning cleaving through fog had illuminated a path before him—Yu Jingmo had known his secret all along.

He thought he'd hidden it well, but in reality, the cracks were everywhere.

Tian Ruan suddenly remembered the first time he and Yu Jingmo had their "mutual assistance." Yu Jingmo had asked if he was an adult, but he'd been too flustered to dwell on it. Looking back now, Yu Jingmo had been probing all along. He'd just been too dense to connect the dots.

Tian Ruan wanted to kick himself. At first, he'd tried to mimic Tian Yuan's persona, but over time, he'd forgotten. After starting school, his mindset had become entirely student-like, never considering himself from another angle.

From Yu Jingmo's perspective, how could he not notice his "wife" transforming from a bed-hopping hustler into a school-obsessed sweetheart? Even if Yu Jingmo wasn't close to Tian Yuan, he knew a person's fundamental behavior wouldn't change so drastically. Such a radical shift in a short time could only mean two things: possession or replacement.

Ruling out possession, the only possibility left was that his "wife" had been replaced.

Breaking out in a cold sweat, Tian Ruan stared blankly at Yu Jingmo.

Yu Jingmo pinched his cheek, "Spacing out again?"

Tian Ruan mumbled sheepishly, "I'm really not Tian Yuan, not your wife."

Yu Jingmo said, "The one I married is you, the one who's been by my side day in, day out is you, the one sharing my bed is you. You are my wife."

"......" Tian Ruan should've been freaking out, but instead, his heart raced. "But I replaced Tian Yuan. Doesn't that seem strange to you?"

"It is strange. Why did you replace him?" Yu Jingmo asked, "Are you some celestial being?"

Tian Ruan shook his head, "I'm just an ordinary person."

Yu Jingmo mussed his hair, "To me, you must have something special about you to disappear and reappear like this."

His eyes went wide, "How did you know I disappeared and reappeared?"

"That time you grilled Sha Meijuan about whether you'd gone missing as a child—you weren't suspecting Tian Yuan—you were suspecting yourself."

"...It was me." Tian Ruan didn't know how to explain. "I got transported to another world, adopted by a couple named Tian. But soon after, they died in a plane crash. I lived there for eighteen years. Right before my gaokao, I fell into the water while riding a bus and woke up in this world."

Yu Jingmo saw right through that. "You seemed to 'know' things before they happened, like with that whole Yu Fada family business."

"..." Tian Ruan was stunned by Yu Jingmo's attention to detail. How does he even remember something so small?

"Did you see this world in the one you came from?"

He hesitated before answering, "Mr. Yu, if I tell you, you might be disappointed."

"I won't be disappointed." Yu Jingmo's dark eyes, lit by the sunset, looked almost mesmerizing in the light. His voice was gentle. "Only those who hold great hope can be disappointed by the opposite answer. I have nothing to be disappointed about—I accept any answer."

For a second, Tian Ruan seemed to glimpse the young Yu Jingmo—orphaned, left on his own, calmly handling all the aftermath, holding the Yu family together by himself.

No one ever asked if he was tired, disappointed, or if he regretted it.

Yu Jingmo wouldn’t be, because he accepted all answers.

Tian Ruan felt a little calmer. Looking at Yu Jingmo right in front of him, he could now speak more openly about his origins: "The world I came from had wars too, just like here. People were dying every day. They were almost the same, but not quite. Because the world we're in now was created based on that one."

"A parallel world?" Yu Jingmo grasped it immediately.

"Pretty much. But some events in this world were written in books, and anyone could read them—even me. And now they’re playing out here just like in the book."

"You mean, this world is a book?"

Tian Ruan nodded lightly. "In this world, apart from the main and supporting characters, everyone else is an NPC."

Yu Jingmo raised an eyebrow slightly. "Am I an NPC too?"

"No. You... matter a lot."

"Just not the main character."

Tian Ruan nodded regretfully. "You're not the main character, and I'm just a minor supporting character. In Tian Yuan’s storyline, he was supposed to die in a rich-family power struggle two years later."

Yu Jingmo: "So, to change that outcome, you went to school."

"I actually like school." Tian Ruan defended himself. "I love learning, and I’ve got my own dreams."

Yu Jingmo chuckled. "I can see that."

But Tian Ruan grew troubled again. "At first, I thought I’d just transmigrated here, but then Madam Du appeared—she’s actually my birth mom, and I actually belong to this world. There’s one thing I still don’t get..."

"What?"

"Why did I replace Tian Yuan's identity, and not someone else's? Why couldn’t I just be the Du family’s young master without taking someone else’s place?"

Yu Jingmo pondered for a long while. "This isn’t too hard to figure out. Let’s sort it out from the beginning."

Tian Ruan had always known Yu Jingmo was far smarter than him, which was why he admitted everything openly—hoping Yu Jingmo could provide answers. He immediately leaned in closer, eager to hear. "Okay."

Yu Jingmo lifted a finger and tapped the slight furrow between Tian Ruan's brows, watching as the young man's long lashes fluttered. "First, tell me your thoughts."

"?" Tian Ruan organized his thoughts. "I think, twenty years ago, Tian Yuan's father took the wrong child, causing me to disappear from this world. Eighteen years later, when I returned, he was already dead. Me replacing his child feels like karma or something."

"That makes sense, but rather than karma, I lean more toward quantum entanglement."

Tian Ruan had some understanding of quantum entanglement and nodded. "From a scientific perspective, that’s certainly possible."

Yu Jingmo: "Let’s go back to the starting point—our birth. Under this premise, we’ll assume the existence of a world’s will, serving the protagonist of this world. No problem with that, right?"

"No problem."

The world’s will has always existed—invisible and untouchable, yet it exists precisely because of the protagonists.

Yu Jingmo: "Twenty years ago, Sha Meijuan was just an ordinary woman in this world, and her husband was just another ordinary NPC. We’ll label him 'a' and Sha Meijuan 'b.' 'a' and 'b' had a child, 'c.'"

"a + b = c?"

"Coincidentally, Madam Du happened to be giving birth in the same hospital, and Du Danren was also there. Let’s call them '1' and '2.' 1 + 2 = 3, and this '3' is you."

"Hmm."

"Under the world’s will, 'a,' 'b,' and 'c' were a perfectly ordinary family of three in this world, where accidents, deaths, and separations were inevitable. 'a' and 'b' were destined to lose 'c.'"

Tian Ruan’s heart skipped a beat. Breaking free from the original narrative, this was indeed a plausible scenario.

Yu Jingmo: "In their small storyline, 'a' was supposed to take 'c' away, causing 'c' to go missing—maybe kidnapped, maybe worse. 'a' and 'b' would spend their lives searching for 'c.' In the broader world, anything could happen, but all within the control of the world’s will."

Tian Ruan nodded.

"But 'a' mistakenly took '3,' the child of '1' and '2.' 'a' and '3' became quantum-entangled, and the originally fated disappearance of 'c' was replaced by '3.' Under causality, 'c' and '3' also became quantum-entangled."

Tian Ruan continued nodding.

"'a' and 'b' did not lose 'c,' and their lives carried on. This defied the world’s will, but under another will, 'c' became Tian Yuan."

"...Why did it have to be 'c' who became Tian Yuan?"

"Ask the original author, then." Yu Jingmo dismissively revealed the truth of this world’s operation. "This world was built upon the blueprint of the original author’s novel, but from the very beginning, it developed a will of its own that escaped the author’s control—because this world is real."

Tian Ruan’s mind tied itself in knots.

Seeing his confusion, Yu Jingmo pointed to the fruit tree by the shore. "Why does an apple tree bear apples and not stones?"

Tian Ruan: "Obviously not."

"When you played *The Hero’s Adventure House*, why did you open the green treasure chest and not the red one?"

"Red means traps."

"Exactly. It’s all by design—especially in this world."

Tian Ruan seemed to grasp a little. "You mean, if 'c' had gone missing, someone else would have become Tian Yuan? Since 'c' didn’t go missing, he *is* Tian Yuan?"

Yu Jingmo nodded. "Take two worldlines: γ and β. In worldline γ, 'a' took 'c,' 'c' went missing, and '3' would grow up safely as the young master of the Du family. In that worldline, you might never have gotten involved in the main plot—staying abroad for good. 'c' wouldn’t have become Tian Yuan but someone else in another place."

He continued, "But in worldline β, 'a' took '3,' causing '3' to go missing, while 'c' didn’t. Under the author’s will, 'c' became Tian Yuan, and then under the world’s will, '3' replaced him—because the world’s will detected your quantum entanglement. This was the tug-of-war between the world’s and author’s wills."

Tian Ruan listened, stunned, as if understanding a little. "Because of 'a’s' mistake, I was forced into worldline β. But does my quantum entanglement with Tian Yuan mean one must lose?"

Yu Jingmo looked at Tian Ruan gently. "According to quantum conservation, no one truly disappears—just like how you returned. Tian Yuan might have simply gone where he was meant to be. The two worldlines gradually converge."

"Parallel timelines can converge?"

"Under the spatial curvature of non-Euclidean geometry, even two parallel lines will eventually intersect. It’s inevitable."

"Can’t it be changed?"

"Of course it can." Yu Jingmo took his hand and pressed it against his own chest. "In worldline β, if you deviate from the main plot and push me into the lake to drown me, you’ll enter a third worldline. But our quantum entanglement will remain. You’ll inevitably face 'punishment' from the world’s will, and I might end up as your 'late husband,' following you around."

Tian Ruan’s palm rested against Yu Jingmo’s chest, feeling the vivid, powerful heartbeat beneath. He didn’t dare imagine killing Yu Jingmo and tried to pull his hand back, but it was held firmly in place.

"You dare?"

Tian Ruan flinched, his sudden movement causing the small boat to rock. "I don't want to..."

Yu Jingmo released his hand and embraced him instead, the boat gradually steadying. "Just teasing. I won't turn into a ghost to scare you."

Tian Ruan was moved to tears.

"..."

Never having comforted anyone before, Yu Jingmo patted Tian Ruan's back gently and said, "Don't be afraid."

Tian Ruan asked a fundamental human question: "Why do I exist?" he said.

Yu Jingmo replied, "To exist is reason enough."

"Really?"

"Yes. No matter what trouble you cause, I'll have your back."

—