Chapter 42 : “Do You Want to Go Downstairs?

Jiang Nanshu stared blankly at the icon, full of confusion.

Was this installed by Song Ye?

Did he know she wanted to play this game, so he installed it for her?

When was the update for Echoes of Time and Space today?

She picked up her phone and messaged Song Ye.

Shu: Echoes of Time and Space, did you install this for me?

S: Didn’t you want to play it? The ending should be out.

Jiang Nanshu didn’t think too much about it either.

Not needing to install it was perfect.

She could start playing right away.

There were already people downstairs.

Jiang Yu and Lu Mingkun had already gone down,

and Lu Youchuan had also returned to his place.

After showering, she sat down in front of the computer.

Her phone kept vibrating nonstop, so she picked it up to check.

The group chat was still talking about the game.

Dev Chen Yang: This direction…

Why does it feel…

Kind of sweet?

Dev Lu Mingkun: This puzzle-solving method feels a bit confusing, not quite like before.

Planner Ying: This! This is exactly the vibe I want!

What’s wrong with sweet?

It was already super angsty during the plot twist, okay?

Planner C: Echoes of Time and Space is trending on the forums already.

Looks like a lot of players have been drawn in.

Planner Li Yi: Stop talking about company games in the group chat.

Or Brother Ye might mute you all.

…

Jiang Nanshu checked the forums and found it was trending.

This kind of DLC doesn’t take long to finish if you’re fast, maybe just two or three hours.

So, likely some players had already completed it.

She resisted the urge to look up guides or walkthroughs and launched the game.

She hadn’t played this type of single-player game in a long time.

She’d just been too busy lately, with little time for gaming.

She was mostly driven by curiosity and nostalgia,

wanting to know the game’s ending.

After logging in, it loaded to where she last left off,

The final save point from before.

Right upon entering, she saw a side quest that hadn’t been there before.

In three hours, this world will be destroyed.

The princess is still trapped in the house.

Please contact her as soon as possible and bring her out.

William had tried many methods before: calling, texting, but nothing worked.

Because her room had a signal jammer installed by the Demon King,

only a cat had managed to squeeze through a hole and escape.

The moment William picked up the cat, time began to rewind.

He stepped across trap mechanisms that floated like diary pages.

Each time he landed on a page, a few hints would appear in midair.

Back when William was trying to save the princess, he had made some wrong decisions.

Those embarrassing past events and memories slowly faded over time and didn’t feel so important anymore.

Without the princess, his life felt like it was missing a key puzzle piece, always incomplete.

Now, he had been given a chance to rewind time.

He could return to her side and make a new choice.

To earn that choice, he had to clear several stages.

First stage: Bring a gift for your reunion with the princess.

Jiang Nanshu looked at the game screen.

William had returned to when he was eighteen.

At this moment, he was standing outside the school store,

With the princess right beside him, looking up at him.

William walked into the store and stood in front of the shelves,

looking hesitant and unsure.

She felt like the store looked familiar.

The whole layout… looked just like the one at No. 1 High School.

She didn’t know what the stores at other schools looked like,

but the one at No. 16 High was different.

She stared at the shelves, filled with all kinds of snacks and drinks.

She was dumbfounded.

There was so much stuff.

What on earth should she pick?

Was this level even passable by a normal person?

She recalled the previous plot.

It seemed to mention that the princess liked sweets.

She had once received chocolates as a gift from someone.

She tried picking up the chocolate.

William picked up a box of chocolates.

Prompt: The princess might not like this gift. Try something else.

William then picked up a box of cake.

Prompt: The princess might not like this gift. Try something else.

William picked up a cup of instant milk tea.

Prompt: The princess might not like this gift. Try something else.

Jiang Nanshu frowned at the game screen.

She felt like this level was oddly designed.

Watching William walk toward the freezer, she stared at the colorful drinks inside.

As if guided by instinct, she picked up a can of Pepsi.

The screen rapidly transitioned.

William stood in front of the princess holding the Pepsi and handed it to her.

The princess took it and, with a cool move, popped the can open with one hand.

The next second, the soda sprayed all over William’s face and body.

The princess said to William: Sorry, I cannot help you wash your clothes.

William had two choices.

Let the princess help.

At that moment, Jiang Nan

stared dumbfounded at the game screen.

Her hand holding the mouse trembled slightly.

Her mind was completely blank, unable to think at all, and just like that, she clicked the second option.

The screen transitioned again.

This time, she was wearing a dress, standing on stage.

She was about to perform a piano piece, but was conflicted.

She still hadn’t chosen a song.

Willi—

“Canon in D”

“For Elise”

“Moonlight Sonata”

“Dream Wedding”

“Childhood Memories”

Jiang Nanshu looked at the screen options.

She took a deep breath and chose “Dream Wedding.”

It was the correct answer.

But the BGM that started playing was “Canon in D,” and even the first note was slightly off.

Because the recording was live, the audio quality wasn’t that great.

But wearing her headphones, she could still hear clearly.

Faintly, a soft voice said: Nanshu looks like the princess.

It sounded like Cheng Jiajia’s voice.

Back in third year of middle school, during New Year’s Day,

The school required every class to perform a show.

Even though third-year classes were busy studying,

all class monitors had applied for exemption but still had to participate.

Jiang Tianlei, her father, had been a manager at a foreign company before he passed.

Though not as busy as Jiang Yu, he earned well.

His friends were all serious about raising their kids right.

Jiang Nanshu had been thrown into all kinds of training classes since she was little.

She was always busy, learning drawing, hosting, piano, dance… she’d done it all.

Eventually, Jiang Yu couldn’t stand it anymore and had several fights with Jiang Tianlei.

After she reached sixth grade, they cut down her activities, keeping only piano and dance.

Later, she stopped dancing too and focused on piano exams and competitions.

She had even won many big awards.

This kind of thing was documented in her school transfer records.

Her homeroom teacher knew about it.

So that year, at the New Year’s gala, the class’s art rep,

who was supposed to dance, had a sudden case of appendicitis and couldn’t go on stage.

Jiang Nanshu was called to the office by the homeroom teacher and asked if she could perform a piece on the piano.

These things were written in her school transfer records, so the homeroom teacher knew about it.

That New Year’s Eve, the class’s cultural committee member who was supposed to dance had acute appendicitis and couldn’t go on stage.

So the homeroom teacher called Jiang Nanshu to the office and asked if she could perform and play the piano.

After Jiang Tianlei passed away, Jiang Nanshu hadn’t touched a piano.

Because when Jiang Yu sold the house, she sold the piano too.

Back then, Jiang Tianlei had wanted her to apply to an arts college,

But Jiang Yu disagreed, and the two of them fought a lot over it.

But eventually, they made up.

In hindsight, Jiang Yu and Jiang Tianlei had quite a few disagreements in daily life.

But Jiang Tianlei once told her that every family has conflicts, and it’s normal.

But Daddy loves Mommy.

So back then, Jiang Nanshu always thought they loved each other very much.

Jiang Nanshu agreed to perform on stage.

She picked out several pieces and asked Song Ye which one he wanted to hear.

It was the first time Song Ye learned that she could play piano.

He also knew she hadn’t played for a long time, so he casually said, “Play what you’re familiar with, anything’s fine.”

“You can’t just pick randomly.”

Jiang Nanshu’s cheeks turned slightly red.

She blinked her big eyes at him and said seriously, “I only agreed to the teacher because I wanted to play for you.”

Song Ye froze.

Jiang Nanshu said, “So, you pick one.”

Song Ye chose “Marriage d’Amour.”

But on the night of the New Year’s performance, the conservative school counselor went to the homeroom teacher and told her to change the piece,

It was meant for weddings.

Dressed in a white performance gown, right before going on stage, Jiang Nanshu was suddenly forced to switch songs.

She was angry and aggrieved, and almost played the wrong note at the very beginning.

After finishing her performance, she bowed to the audience and walked off stage feeling dejected.

As soon as she stepped off, someone draped a wide, warm down jacket over her shoulders.

Song Ye was wearing only a thin sweater.

He looked down at her, a slight smile on his lips, and said, “Jiang Nanshu, even if you were the one chasing me, confessions can still be done by the guy.

There’s no need to feel regret.”

“……”

By this point in the game, Jiang Nanshu was completely certain, Song Ye was the producer of Echoes of Time and Space.

The version on her computer was a special one,

different from the one updated on the gaming platform.

She thought again about the original premise of the game:

The heroine was supposed to elope with the demon king.

She wanted to escape from William,

William was the one trying to capture the heroine.

So, the birth of this game must have come from Song Ye’s inner struggle and pain.

Her eyes stung with a sharp ache, and she felt the urge to cry.

She blinked hard to suppress the sourness.

Taking a deep breath, she continued the game.

The heroine said to William,

“William, I’m about to do something very important.

Can you give me a gift for good luck?”

William went searching for a gift for the heroine.

He passed a luxurious street and found a restaurant with unusual decor.

When William walked into the restaurant, he discovered it was very strange false advertising.

It didn’t sell food at all, but was a pet store.

There were many cats inside with name tags waiting to be adopted.

Jiang Nanshu checked each cat’s profile one by one.

After going through over twenty profiles, she hesitated between the cats named “Beibei” and “Rousong,” and finally picked Rousong.

The scene changed again.

Outside an old and dimly lit apartment building, under the shadow of a tree,

William stood with the heroine, handing her the cat.

The heroine was very happy holding the cat, but said,

“This isn’t enough. I still need one more gift.”

William was given two choices.

[Hug the heroine]

[Say to the heroine: I like you.]

Jiang Nanshu hesitated because that hug reminded her of what Song Ye had once given her.

She moved the mouse over the first option but couldn’t bring herself to click.

Biting her lip, she moved the mouse to the other side and chose the second option.

The scene changed once more.

Game prompt: Side quest completed. William can now bring the heroine home.

A second later, the scene changed again,

and a message appeared saying she had unlocked an Easter egg.

It was a short video clip.

The video played automatically.

It began with a photo of Rousong, from a tiny fluffball to a slightly bigger one.

Then Song Ye appeared in the frame.

There was young Song Ye with Rousong on his lap, absentmindedly scratching its belly.

Then came scenes from his university days at Qingdao, hanging out in his dorm, playing basketball, speaking on stage, chatting with classmates…

Next came footage from his time abroad as an exchange student, not swimming, fencing, horseback riding, and even skydiving.

There were also photos and videos from his working days overseas.

Finally, clips from his life after returning to China…

Song Ye wasn’t someone who liked taking pictures.

Many of the photos and videos were candid shots taken by classmates, friends, or family.

There were a few posed photos of him looking directly into the camera.

But the material was rich nonetheless; after all, a handsome guy will always have classmates eager to photograph him.

Collecting all these clips probably took a lot of time.

These were all moments Jiang Nanshu had never been part of.

This was Song Ye’s life over the past few years,

everything she hadn’t seen, hadn’t been involved in.

He compiled all these moments and played them in front of her.

It was as if he was telling her: this is all of me after we parted ways.

Would you be willing to be a part of my life?

Or… my future?

The tears that had been welling in Jiang Nanshu’s eyes finally fell the moment the video ended.

Tears streamed down uncontrollably.

She raised her hand and fiercely wiped the corners of her eyes, crying and cursing, “Asshole.”

She hadn’t cried in a long time.

The last time was when she found out Song Ye misunderstood her,

thinking she was two-timing.

She’d wanted to cry then, but held it in.

But this time, her tears broke like a dam.

She sat at her desk crying for over ten minutes.

Her phone on the table rang—Song Ye’s name flashed on the screen.

Sniffling, she raised her hand and declined the call.

Jerk!

Jerk, jerk!

Jerk, jerk, jerk!

Was this a confession or emotional torture?

After a while

A new WeChat message arrived.

S: [Asleep?]

Jiang Nanshu looked at it and ignored it.

She grabbed a tissue and wiped her tears and snot.

Her chest felt stuffed with bitter emotion, making it almost impossible to speak.

She didn’t want Song Ye to hear her crying voice.

She took several deep breaths to calm herself.

Then picked up her water cup and drank half a cup.

After a few minutes, once she felt steadier,

she picked up her phone and called Song Ye.

As soon as the call connected,

she heard the sound of a car window being rolled up.

Song Ye asked in a low voice,

“Why did you hang up just now?”

Jiang Nanshu froze for a few seconds,

then suddenly got up, opened her door,

and quickly walked out to the balcony.

Looking down, sure enough,

she saw a black car parked downstairs.

She asked in a quiet voice, “Are you downstairs at my place?”

Song Ye gave a soft “Mm.”

After a brief pause, he asked again, “Have you been crying?”

“No, I haven’t!”

Song Ye was silent for a few seconds, then gently asked,

“Do you want to come downstairs for a bit?”