My skill tree increases every day.

I should be, probably, likely safe now.

This is what Lin Yu is thinking right now.

This conclusion did not come from his subjective conjecture, but was supported by some evidence.

Of course, this evidence is not some baseless rumor like "Ms. Marry is suspected of being under investigation."

It was a message that Chen Shuyan had just sent.

Chen Shuyan: Lin Yu, you left something with me. I'll bring it to you next time.

The accompanying image is a small card with a close-up photo of Lin Yu taken a few years ago.

He was very thin back then.

"Oh, so that's where my ID card is."

Lin Yu had always had a question: after losing these things, he gained his memories, but where did those things go? Now he had some guesses.

Perhaps it's some kind of exchange.

It is those lost things that have given us these memories.

But shouldn't the memories gained from exchanging the ID card belong to my future self? Why did they end up in Chen Shuyan's hands? Lin Yu didn't delve into these questions. In any case, now that the ID card had been found, did that mean the scene in his memory would never happen again?

It must be that some of my actions have changed the future, causing my future self to receive payment but be unable to ship the goods, so I have to issue a refund!

Surely my superpower can't possibly allow me to offer refunds only, right?

But isn't this woman a bit too honest?

I just said I lost my ID card, and you sent it to me? Don't I have any dignity? Doesn't this make me look like a fool?

Bah! You lowly woman!

She has absolutely no idea how to take care of a man's feelings!

He eventually replied with a message.

Lin Yu: Okay, give it to me next time we meet. Thanks.

Anyway, let's go back first.

……

Old Wu Jing people generally don't have much of a nightlife. Rather than going out drinking and clubbing late at night, they prefer to cut half a duck and go home.

However, this doesn't stop the roadside from being lined with food stalls in the early hours of the morning. At this time, the stalls usually sell late-night snacks such as barbecue, fried noodles, and fried rice.

Thick white smoke almost completely covered the street.

Lin Yu rode his electric scooter through the thick white fog carrying heavy cooking fumes back to his rented apartment.

Pushing open the door, I saw a dim, fluorescent light flickering in the room.

"Why are you back again?" Liu Zhiyuan was still wearing the same shorts as always, lying on the bed with his phone in his arms.

This small apartment was converted from a one-bedroom unit, so Liu Zhiyuan's bed faced directly towards the front door.

"I've been wanting to ask you this for a while now, aren't you cold?"

"It's all thanks to our firepower!" Liu Zhiyuan said smugly. "No, that's not the point. The point is, why are you back again?"

"That's not important."

Lin Yu tossed the key into a small bowl on the shoe cabinet, making a crisp "clang" sound.

He didn't answer Liu Zhiyuan's question directly. He kicked off his shoes, grabbed his clothes, and walked towards the bathroom, saying, "Why aren't you coming back? Camping outside?"

That's the advantage of living off-campus; you can take a nice hot shower no matter how late it is.

"Come on," Liu Zhiyuan said, his eyes never leaving his phone screen, his fingers flying across the keys without stopping. "What was the result?"

"Nothing came of it."

Lin Yu's vague answer was lost in the rushing water.

When Lin Yu came out drying his hair, Liu Zhiyuan had already finished his battle and started watching short videos, with exaggerated laughter and canned food sound effects in the background.

Seeing Lin Yu come out, he quickly straightened up and asked, "So, what happened to you tonight? Why are you back again?"

"What could happen?" Lin Yu draped a towel over his shoulder. "We'll go hiking, stargazing, and then take her back to her hotel."

"and then?"

"And then I came back."

"What do you mean 'then you came back'? Everyone else was with you... and you came back alone?"

"What else can I do? Stay in a hotel every night? Do you think I have money to burn?"

"You!... You're utterly unreasonable!"

Liu Zhiyuan looked at him with a disappointed expression.

"You think I don't know what you're thinking?" Lin Yu gave Liu Zhiyuan a disdainful look. "Do you think I'm that kind of person?"

"Sizzle!"

"Seriously," Liu Zhiyuan lay back down, staring at the ceiling, "that girl is pretty good, beautiful and smart. She's clearly interested in you, aren't you even a little bit tempted?"

Are you tempted?

Lin Yu looked at his right palm, which seemed to still feel itchy from insects crawling across it.

What flashed through my mind was Chen Shuyan's smiling face as she turned back under the starry sky, that not-so-refined smile. But then, something else...

Ugh?

Nothing bad happened!

Those bad memories seem to be starting to fade.

This had never happened before. Even the memories of sailing on the first day, the most complicated memories of repairing the clock, and the memories of that unknown cult that Lin Yu least wanted to remember, were all still crystal clear.

This particular memory, however, has begun to fade.

Could it be that the refund and return were successful?

"What's wrong? Why aren't you saying anything?"

"Don't make a sound, I'm thinking."

Lin Yu dismissed Liu Zhiyuan and returned to his room.

Lying in bed, Lin Yu stared at the familiar ceiling, and everything that had happened today replayed in his mind like a revolving lantern.

Lin Yu turned over and buried his face in the pillow. The familiar scent on the pillow calmed him down a little.

Lin Yu wrapped himself in the blanket and closed his eyes with a sigh of relief. His consciousness gradually blurred, as if he were sinking into an unknown dimension, and he slowly drifted into sleep.

As his consciousness gradually sank, Lin Yu had a very long and deep dream.

There was no mountain breeze, no starry sky, and no fireflies in my dream.

There was only one room filled with sunlight.

Lin Yu sat at his desk by the window, where the warm afternoon sunlight streamed in through the blinds, casting dappled patterns of light onto the photo album in his hands.

Lin Yu gently flipped through the photo album in his hand, which contained photos of Lin Yu with different people in different places.

Just as Lin Yu was flipping through the photo album, a pair of slender, fair hands reached out from behind and gently wrapped around his neck.

Those hands had long, slender fingers, fair skin, and a pale pinkish hue at the joints. A thin silver chain was wrapped around their wrists.

Looking through my head, I saw Chen Shuyan's warm smile.

She bent down and affectionately rested her chin on Lin Yu's shoulder. Chen Shuyan's hair was not tied up; her long, smooth, black hair fell softly over Lin Yu's shoulders and the back of his neck.

A few strands of hair brushed against her cheek.

It's itchy.

"What are you looking at?"

A warm breath touched Lin Yu's ear.

With a warm voice, she moved her face closer and closer.

……

Lin Yu didn't remember much about what happened after that.