Professor, your turtle!

In order to run to find Chen Zhen, Ji Fan skipped evening self-study for the first time in his life.

At this moment, standing under the apartment of Chen Zhen's house against the cool night wind, he felt a little desolate.

——He didn't live in the downtown area since he was a child, and he almost forgot that there is access control.

However, the electronic doorbell of this building was broken, and he was too embarrassed to stand downstairs and shout, so he could only shrink his neck and wait aside, waiting for a neighbor to come home and let him in.

This is an old community, and it seems that even the rooms are not full.Ji Fan squatted on the edge of the flower bed, waiting left and right, but no one was seen, but he was dizzy from the smell of food wafting from all directions.

So hungry... Just when he was about to give up and go back home, a hesitant voice suddenly came from behind, "Ji Fan?"

He turned his head following the sound, and saw Chen Zhen carrying a black schoolbag on one shoulder, and holding the freshly bought vegetables in his free hand.Looking at his dusty appearance, he seems to have just come back from outside.

"You—" Ji Fan stood up abruptly, but his eyes darkened and he almost fell.

Chen Zhen supported him steadily, and sighed helplessly, "Let's go upstairs and talk."

The two walked into the old tube building one after the other. Chen Zhen changed his hand to carry the vegetables, and skillfully took out the key and twisted the door lock.

"There's no one at home, you can do whatever you want."

Ji Fan murmured and knelt down to untie his shoelaces.

At this time, he noticed that Chen Zhen's white sneakers were casually kicked off, with a circle of loess remaining on the edge, which seemed to be almost dried, as if he had just gone to the mountains recently...

"Have you had dinner yet?" Chen Zhen's voice came from the kitchen.

"Ah, not yet, but don't bother, I..."

Chen Zhen didn't answer, and soon the sound of washing rice and chopping vegetables was heard.

Ji Fan "..."

He put on his slippers and looked around Chen Zhen's "home".

A very simple one-bedroom room, with a desk in the corner of the dining room, the bathroom and the kitchen are integrated, separated by a curtain in the middle, and the bedroom has no windows at all, only a single bed can be accommodated.

There are not many things in the room, and the arrangement is messy. It looks like a man living alone.

Ji Fan walked to the desk and flipped through it casually. In addition to textbooks, there were also many esoteric biology and physics textbooks piled up on the bookshelves.

Is it... Preparing for college in advance?

He randomly picked out a book and opened it. The pages were very old, as if it had been read many times.A trace of doubt flashed in his heart, just as he was about to take a closer look, a hand suddenly stretched out from the slant, and took the book away.

Ji Fan was startled.

"Eat first." Chen Zhen smiled and stuffed the book back into the bookshelf casually.

Chen Zhen's cooking was very rough. On the table were simply a plate of boiled vegetables, a plate of steamed pork ribs, seaweed soup and two bowls of white rice.

The two sat at the table facing each other, Ji Fan picked up a few chopsticks without knowing what to do, and couldn't help but look up, "That..."

"Let's talk after dinner." Chen Zhen said lightly.

His tone is very gentle, but he has a definite temperament, which makes people dare not refute at all.

Ji Fan picked up the bowl and took a sneak peek at him. He always felt that this guy looked like a mature young man. If he insisted, he looked a bit like Mr. Fu.

After eating in silence, Ji Fan was a little restless.After Chen Zhen soaked the bowls and chopsticks, made two cups of tea and brought them back, he said straightforwardly, "Tell me, what do you want to ask?"

Ji Fan struggled to start the conversation, "Well... you have asked for leave again these few days, and the students are very worried about you."

"That kid Guan Yu said?"

"Well, he cares about you."

Chen Zhen smiled faintly, "He is a good boy."

"Then what are you..."

"A little personal matter." Chen Zhen paused and said, "I went to visit the family's grave."

Ji Fan was stunned for a moment, and blurted out, "Xiguishan Cemetery?"

Chen Zhen glanced at him in surprise, but nodded calmly as expected.

Ji Fan pursed his lips, struggling.He had a growing question in his mind, but he didn't dare to ask it rashly, for fear that the other party would think he was crazy.

Chen Zhen frowned, "What exactly do you want to say?"

"My little uncle, um, his name is Chen Youzhen..." Ji Fan lowered his head, secretly watching the other person's expression from the end of his eyes from time to time, and asked cautiously, "Maybe, maybe you've heard of him?"

Chen Zhen's movements stopped, and after a while, he slowly put down the teacup.

"What do you know?"

The appearance of the other party almost confirmed the doubts in Ji Fan's heart.He said firmly, "You know him, don't you?"

Chen Zhen stroked the rim of the teacup, and was silent for a long time. It was so long that Ji Fan thought that he probably didn't want to answer, so he nodded slowly.

"I know," his expression was blurred in the dense water vapor, and he couldn't see clearly, "Not only do we know each other, but we are also acquainted."

Talking about the past, a gentle smile appeared on Chen Zhen's indifferent face for the first time, "He is my lover."

Ji Fan's lips trembled, but he couldn't react.

Chen Zhen stood up calmly, and took out the old photo that Ji Fan left him from a book in the corner.

"Do you remember I mentioned to you that night that time isn't actually linear?"

Ji Fan's eyes widened slightly, and his thoughts were instantly brought back to a certain humid rainy night.

"'Time is one-dimensional, and a single forward direction is irreversible.'  … A truth that everyone knows, but is it really the truth?"

"Would you believe me if I said I'm not 'Chen Zhen'?"

……

After a while, Ji Fan said hoarsely, "Who are you?"

Chen Zhen smiled, and stretched out his hand, "Let me introduce myself again. My surname is Yu, and my name is Yu Lanzhou. If calculated according to the date of birth, I should be 46 years old this year."

Ji Fan stared at his face in astonishment, unable to say a word.The Chen Zhen in front of him, or Yu Lanzhou, looked very young, no more than 20 years old.

Chen Zhen shrugged indifferently, withdrew his hand, and continued, "For some reason, it's not convenient for me to use my real name, so I borrowed his name. As you can see, I don't belong here."

"What exactly is going on?"

He took a sip of his tea and began to recall, "About 20 years ago, I was a researcher in the Physics Department of University T, and I have been engaged in experimental research. The specific subject...is to break through the one-dimensionality of time."

"I know this sounds crazy, but more than ten years ago, this was a very hot topic. Everyone in the research team was very optimistic and felt that we were only one step away from success." Chen Zhen closed his eyes, somewhat He said wearily, "Until something happened to the experiment one day."

"What accident?"

"That night, several core researchers including me were declared missing. Because it was a confidential project, it aroused great attention from above. Defected, or was kidnapped." Chen Zhen paused for a long time, then said calmly, "Everything that happened after that... was my fault."

"...Everyone close to us has been quarantined. My parents died young, and my relatives don't see each other very often. There is only Youzhen by my side." Chen Zhen shook his head, "He was forced to withdraw from the secret-related project at hand. Rumors raged, and soon, our relationship was completely exposed."

"It's all my fault. I hurt him." He buried his face deeply in his palms and was speechless.

Ji Fan didn't know what to say, leaned over hesitantly, and lightly pressed his trembling shoulder.

"...I'm fine," Chen Zhen took a deep breath and continued, "I actually don't know exactly what he went through in those years. When I regained consciousness, it was already March last year. As you can see, I His physical age suddenly went back six or seven years, and it was inexplicably 3 years later."

Ji Fan gasped softly, "So, the experiment...was the experiment successful?"

Chen Zhen smiled wryly, "That's right."

"According to the official records, I was already a dead person 20 years ago. The first thing I did after waking up was to find Youzhen, but I found out about his death." Changing a photo, he murmured, "I don't believe he will commit suicide. He has always been a lively and cheerful young man. I searched for him like crazy until..."

Until I saw his tombstone with my own eyes.

"I immediately turned my head and headed north again, wanting to go to the school to investigate what happened back then, and find out who drove him to a dead end. But I have no identity, and I can't even show my face openly. I wandered around T University for a few days, and I still have nothing No clue until someone came forward and helped me."

Having said that, Chen Zhen raised his eyes and looked straight at Ji Fan.

Ji Fan's back was numb from his gaze, and he asked in a daze, "What, what?"

Chen Zhen showed a look of surprise, "So you don't know? He didn't tell you?"

"what do you know?"

"I met you, Ji Fan," Chen Zhen said slowly, "It was 'you' who helped me."

I?

Ji Fan's Adam's apple rolled, and a crazy guess gradually took shape in his mind.

"You've seen that person too. He was in school on the day of the Biology League."

Ji Fan seemed to have been hit hard by a heavy hammer, and his fingertips trembled slightly, "You mean, you mean..."

The young man who sent the pet egg... turned out to be himself?

In an instant, countless fragments flashed through his mind.

"I was born into a cold family..."

"...I studied hard to get my mother's approval."

"That person? Well, he is actually a very good person, he treats me very well..."

"If it wasn't for... maybe I would like him, not necessarily."

……

"Ji Fan, I sent it to you in the hope that you will be happy."

"Ah..." Ji Fan let out a long groan, pressed his temples overwhelmed, and broke out in cold sweat.

The gentle and distant smile of the young man and the horrific scar on his wrist flashed in front of his eyes, and the terrible guess almost completely crushed him.

—So, was that his original life?

So much suffering, so many twists and turns, but in the end nothing is gained.That is the life that should belong to Ji Fan, a complete loser.

In the confusion, Chen Zhen gently embraced his shoulders and shook him like a coaxing child.

"Don't be afraid. Both you and him are very strong people. The pain is only temporary, so there is no need to be afraid."

"I, I..." Ji Fan raised his pale face, stared fixedly at the void in front of him, and after a long while, he covered his mouth suddenly and retched.

"It will be fine. Everything is over." Chen Zhen said gently, "It's all over."

"I……"

"Do you know, he, or you, persuaded me in the same way at the beginning-instead of obsessing about the past, it is better to think about ways to remedy it."

Ji Fan blinked slowly.

"The appearance of another 'you' means that linear time can indeed be broken. But with his ability, he can only go back ten years at most. The original key experimental data was completely sealed and destroyed after that accident. He Need my help."

"So I said yes."

"He got a new identity certificate for me, and sent me to you to take the college entrance examination again."

"He moved me, and I rekindled my hope. I thought, maybe this time, maybe this time, our research will be more successful?"

Ji Fan finally understood a little bit, and looked at him in a daze, "You want to..."

Chen Zhen nodded, speaking softly but firmly, "I want to go back. I want to go back to him."

Ji Fan was stunned for a moment, and said in a low voice, "For this reason, you are going to re-enter the graduate school of University T? But..."

——But don't you suspect that it was some people from the research institute that drove Chen Youzhen to a dead end?

Chen Zhen smiled knowingly, "Oh, of course I hate them."

"Every night after waking up, I have no peace. Every night I dream of Youzhen's withered face, his head and face covered with blood, crying for help. When I was most desperate, I even thought about it Break in, kill all those sanctimonious beasts, and personally avenge everyone who has hurt him."

He shook his head "But I can't."

"Ji Fan, you are still young, maybe you still don't understand, but..."

Chen Zhen quietly looked at the moonlight on the window sill, with that gentle, sad smile reappearing on his face.

He said softly, "His future is much more important than my past."