Shen Ning thought her future self must’ve gone through something unimaginable—otherwise, how else could she have ended up like that? Being sexually repressed was one thing, but now she was also overly helpful, waking up at the crack of dawn just to give her a morning pep talk.
“Don’t get the wrong idea. I can’t be bothered about anything else, it’s just that I have way too much to say when it comes to the grass that is Chuyao,” the reflection said, leaning against the classroom window, emphasizing her point.
“Anyway, don’t interrupt me—just listen. After you buy the phone, don’t leave right away. Have the store clerk unlock and activate it for you. Then hang around and use their wifi for as long as you can. The school network’s garbage—even if you get a SIM card, it’s still slow as hell. Downloading videos is torture, so use the time there to download as many as you can.”
Got it. Shen Ning only needed to hear things like that once to remember them.
“And another important thing: make sure Chuyao doesn’t catch you downloading anything! Or she’ll mock you for life!”
“……”
Okay, that was a pretty important tip she might have overlooked.
Today was already the last day before the operation. After their meeting the day before yesterday, Xu Chuyao had announced that she’d found out the exact time of the product launch—it was two days later at 10:30 a.m.—which meant, from their current perspective, it would happen tomorrow morning.
And so, as their commander, she promptly declared, “We’re departing at 7 a.m.!”
Three and a half hours early—she really didn’t take this lightly.
Some students had never gotten up that early before, but since the commander had spoken, everyone agreed without complaint and began preparing in their own ways.
As for Shen Ning, aside from listening to her reflection’s rambling, she also checked in with the few friends she had.
“I’m going to the Trade Plaza tomorrow. Do you want me to pick anything up for you?” she asked Xiao Snow.
“You’re heading out? Have fun shopping.” Xiao Snow was lying on his desk, examining the latest newspapers with a magnifying glass. “I don’t need anything.”
Shen Ning glanced at the paper and saw that it was the latest issue. “New news?”
“Nope. But the buzz over the mall attack has died down. I’m back to tracking those fringe disappearance cases, looking for clues.”
“Alright. Good luck.”
Next, Shen Ning checked in with Li Renhao. He didn’t ask her to buy anything this time, but instead offered some useful tips:
“I know Trade Plaza well. After entering the main gate, go left, then take the third alley. That’s the electronics section. There are a lot of phone stores there. I wouldn’t suggest the biggest one, though—it’s right next to the Liandong service center, and their SIM cards suck at school. Go to the one at the very back—it’s next to Diantong’s service center.”
See? This is why it pays to have friends.
Shen Ning had her friends. Xu Chuyao had her sisters too. Although Mi Xiaolu had fled in the middle of their last mission, that was understandable, and Yaoyao wasn’t mad.
It’s fine. Sisters are sisters.
Regarding this operation, Xu Chuyao summed it up concisely:
“My eyelid twitched—I knew something was off. Someone’s trying to set me up. But once I noticed it, the plot was doomed. I just asked our homeroom teacher to hang around nearby. When the person shows up, they’ll be furious. Ha.”
“Your tactics are amazing, Xu Chuyao,” Mi Xiaolu said.
If only you’d use more tactics next time when Shen Ning grabs your ankle in battle.
Class passed in a blur of daydreaming, and soon, the day of the operation arrived.
“Roll call!”
“Shi Lei.” — “Cheng Li.” — “Zhong Ming.” — “You Jia.” — “Yu Yuwei.” — “Shen Ning.”
Winter mornings came late. At around six, the sky was still pitch black. The early team members stood in front of the school gate, trying to stay awake as they reported their names to the commander.
“Great. Very energetic.” Xu Chuyao gave a crisp wave. “On the bus!”
The academy had never run such an early operation during winter. Even the driver couldn’t help but yawn. Outside, it looked like the middle of the night, with no sign of the sun rising anytime soon.
Sitting in the front seat, Xu Chuyao started to wonder—maybe they really had left too early. She’d initially wanted to scout the area ahead of time, but now she questioned whether three hours of scouting was truly necessary.
The sun wasn’t even up—how were they supposed to see the terrain?
“Uh, driver, just take it slow, okay? It’s still dark, and we really need to be mindful of road safety.”
As always, Shen Ning sat in her usual spot—the back row, next to the window. A layer of white fog had gathered on the glass, and her reflection was the only thing visible in it.
It was too early. Even her reflection hadn’t shown up yet.
Emmmm… Is the phone store even open yet?
Anyway, thanks to the driver’s perseverance, the bus finally rolled into the Trade Plaza by the time the sky had lightened.
Most shops weren’t open yet, and there were no tourists in sight—only people getting ready to start work. There were quite a few of them, but the atmosphere wasn’t lively. The streets were empty, except around the breakfast shops, which were crowded.
“I’m going to scout the area around the parking lot. Yu Yuwei, come with me. Everyone else—free time, but stay inside Trade Plaza and regroup at the exhibit booth by 9:30,” Xu Chuyao instructed.
She knew Shen Ning wanted to shop, so she took someone else familiar along instead.
The rest of the group exchanged glances and quickly reached a unanimous decision:
“Let’s eat first.”
While the others headed to the breakfast shop, Shen Ning quietly walked off in the opposite direction and soon found the electronics section Li Renhao had described. She followed his directions all the way to the back and spotted the Diantong service center.
Right next to it—this was the place.
The phone store had just opened. A clerk arranging some items at the front desk looked up. “Sorry, miss. We’re not officially open yet. For after-sales, battery replacements, screen repairs, or returns and exchanges, please come back after 10 a.m.”
Ten? But the meetup was at 9:30.
Shen Ning thought for a second and asked, “What about just buying a phone?”
The clerks at the front desk blinked in surprise, then immediately smiled brightly.
“Of course you can, sweetie!”
The purchasing process went smoothly. Shen Ning didn’t understand all the tech jargon, so she asked the salesgirl to recommend something. The girl quickly brought out three models for her to choose from.
“These three will meet your needs and offer great value. Plus, there’s a discount if you buy today!”
Shen Ning glanced at the prices—5,000 yuan. No idea if that was expensive or not, but she had three years’ worth of school stipends saved up, so she could afford it.
“This one, then.”
She picked a porcelain-black model—same color as Xu Chuyao’s hair.
“No problem, I’ll wrap it up for you right away. By the way, sweetie, where do you live? If it’s inconvenient, we can offer home delivery service.”
The salesgirl smiled even more warmly. She hadn’t expected this teenage girl, showing up at dawn, to be so easy to deal with—not picky about specs, price, or even gifts. And she’d just sold a tough-to-move business model so easily. Out of guilt, she even wanted to offer delivery.
“I don’t live at home,” Shen Ning blinked. “I’m a student at Ling Awakening Academy. Can you still deliver there?”
The other clerks nearby fell silent instantly. The salesgirl, quick as lightning, swept all three models off the table in one motion.
“Actually, I just remembered—we have another phone that’s much more suitable for students and also cheaper.”
“But I liked the style of that one just now…”
“Elegant Piano Black, right? No problem! We’ve still got it!”
So much for delivery. Shen Ning was a bit disappointed. Sitting in the store with her new phone—over 3,000 yuan—she stared into space.
Where was her reflection?
“Um, sweetie, is there a problem?” the salesgirl asked gently. “Need help with anything?”
“No, I’m… just using the wifi.”
She’d learned that line from her reflection yesterday.
“Oh, sure! Go ahead, take your time. I’ll bring you some water.”
But her reflection still hadn’t shown up. Shen Ning just sat there awkwardly. She didn’t know what to download, or even where to start. And for some reason, she felt like the staff kept sneaking glances at her, with even their movements growing quieter.
She felt kind of embarrassed.
Whether to break the awkwardness or to avoid wasting time, she couldn’t just sit there. She had to do something.
Closing her eyes slightly, Shen Ning opened her system panel and entered the Achievement System.
[Achievement Points Remaining: 2. Use to summon a version of yourself from a future timeline to provide tactical support.
Use now?]
She never really used it anyway—it always came to her on its own. Might as well. Confirm!
Buzz~~
A strange, invisible ripple, like a stone tossed into the river of time. Shen Ning looked down—and saw the reflection of a white-haired girl in the glass display case.
It was her. But not quite.
Her bangs nearly covered her eyes, messy white hair stirring despite the still air. Her emotionless gaze shimmered with shattered killing intent.
“…So? Want me to teach you how to kill them?”
Shen Ning’s eye twitched.
This… wasn’t the sexually repressed one.
That’s probably the original original Shen Ning where Chuyao doesn’t exist. I wonder what she’ll think of the current Shen Ning 😭