Professor, your turtle!

Ji Fan took out an old photo from his pocket: "You mean this one?"

"Hmm." Chen Zhen didn't look at him, and tapped the steering wheel with his fingertips regularly, as if playing a piece of music.

Ji Fan showed confusion, but still handed it to him: "It is possible, but..."

but why?

Chen Zhen took the photo, put it behind the sun visor of the driver's seat, and said calmly: "My house is close, so I can help you find someone else when you have time."

"Ah." Only then did Ji Fan realize that he was a little embarrassed.Probably because he has encountered too many strange things recently, he is simply paranoid.

——Obviously they just want to help.

"That's fine, thank you."

"No need." Chen Zhen started the car, squeezed two fingers together, pressed his upper lip habitually, and quickly put it down unnaturally - his fingers were empty, his skin was fair, and he could not tell that he had ever smoked habit.

Ji Fan on the side didn't notice his habitual movements at all, he just sat with his head down on the co-pilot, concentrating on his thoughts.

The evening rush hour of congestion has passed, and the traffic lights are green all the way, and the traffic is very smooth.

At the gate of Ji's small courtyard, Chen Zhen stopped the car, but still locked the door.

The rain outside the window was pattering, hitting the ceiling and glass, and the car was silent.

The engine died, and after a while, even the dome light went out.

"Chen Zhen?" Ji Fan pulled the handle, but found that it couldn't be opened, and turned to look at him in surprise.

Chen Zhen didn't answer, leaned back heavily on the back of the chair, crossed his fingers, and stretched his legs casually.

"You..." Ji Fan asked cautiously, "What's wrong with you? Is there something uncomfortable?"

"..."

Chen Zhen leaned against the chair cushion, closed her eyes, and said nothing.Ji Fan wanted to raise his hand to test the temperature of his forehead, but he didn't dare.

Just when he was in a dilemma, Chen Zhen said suddenly: "Ji Fan, do you believe that time is linear?"

"what?"

"'Time is one-dimensional, and it is irreversible in one direction.'" Chen Zhen chuckled to himself, "—everyone knows the truth, but is it really the truth?"

Ji Fan's heart beat faster, he pursed his lips and said, "What are you talking about?"

Chen Zhen turned her head lazily. In the dark night, her phoenix eyes shone mysteriously like wild cats.

"To put it another way, if I say I'm not 'Chen Zhen', do you believe me?"

Ji Fan's throat rolled and he swallowed involuntarily.

Chen Zhen stared at him for a while, then slowly withdrew his gaze, and said with a low smile, "Don't be so nervous. I am indeed the 'Chen Zhen' you know. That's right. It was just a hypothesis."

"But from another perspective, the 'I' of yesterday may not be the 'I' of today. If one day, another 'I' appears, do you think others can tell the difference?"

"I do not quite understand you."

"I have always believed that the uniqueness of human beings is not only in appearance, character, or thought." Chen Zhen paused for a moment, and said slowly, "Everyone is unique at different time points."

"However, assuming that one day, the one-dimensionality of time is broken, when time can no longer only move forward, there may be many similar-looking 'I' at the same time..."

Ji Fan opened his eyes slightly, with a hint of confusion on his face.

Chen Zhen stopped talking suddenly and did not continue to explain.

After the car was quiet for a while, he spoke lightly and changed the subject: "Actually, many things that we thought were irreversible are not really irreversible."

"All that's missing is an opportunity."

Ji Fan was confused: "Opportunity?"

"An opportunity to break the one-dimensional time, or to say, an opportunity to change the past." Chen Zhen pressed his lips habitually, and let out a long breath like smoking, "I'm still waiting, but you...you probably already It's time to wait."

change the past?

For some reason, that mysterious pet egg suddenly appeared in Ji Fan's mind.

He frowned slightly, and wanted to ask clearly, but he heard a soft "click", and the safety locks of the four doors all bounced open.

"It's getting late, you should go back." Chen Zhen looked straight ahead and issued an order to evict the guests.

"But..." Ji Fan hesitated to speak.

——What kind of "timeline theory", "changing the past"... If someone else were here, I'm afraid Chen Zhen would be talking crazy.

But Ji Fan had a strong intuition that the other party probably knew something.

"It's okay. Just listen to what I said today." Chen Zhen's tone was relaxed, as if the two of them were really just chatting just now.

"It's getting late, you go back."

Ji Fan was full of doubts, and stepped out of the car door stepping back and forth.

The moment the car started slowly, Chen Zhen suddenly lowered his voice and said "Thank you" in a low voice.

Hearing this, a flash of light flashed in Ji Fan's mind: "Wait—"

He trotted up, ran after the car for two steps, panted and patted the window: "Wait a minute! That man, the man in the photo, you know him, right?"

Through the slowly raised car window, he opened his eyes wide and saw Chen Zhen turn his face towards him.

The moment he passed by, the young man gave him a short smile and nodded slightly.

In the next second, the speed of the car increased.

The old silver-gray car turned a corner and completely disappeared at the intersection without a trace.

Ji Fan stopped in his tracks, because he was so shocked that he stood there in a daze.

His little uncle died 20 years ago, less than [-] years old when he passed away, and Ji Fan was not even born at that time.

Under normal circumstances, no matter what, Chen Zhen would never have seen that person.

However, Ji Fan just understood his mouth shape.

Chen Zhen said, I am looking for him.

——Do you still think that the time we live in is linear?

The spirit was tense to the extreme, as if there was an answer ready to come out, Ji Fan suddenly raised his hand to cover his mouth, retched uncontrollably, and his forehead was dripping with cold sweat.

Whether it's the person in the photo, the person Xu Haifan met, or even Chen Zhen himself, maybe...don't belong to this time and space.

After a while, Ji Fan collected himself, took out the pet egg from his trouser pocket, and held it in his hand, as if he was grabbing a life-saving straw.

In the dark, it emits a warm fluorescent light, and it seems to be just an ordinary toy.

But... He tightened his fingers a little bit, his mind was confused.

Even this mysterious gift, perhaps, shouldn't have appeared in this time and space.

Assuming that there is another "past" without pet eggs, then what happened to another "he"?

——Big brother always wears long sleeves, even if it is hot, he refuses to take off his clothes.

The more Ji Fan thought about it, the more confused he seemed to understand something, but he didn't seem to.

Walking home in a chaotic state, he bent down to scoop up a handful of cold water and splashed it on his face, finally regaining consciousness a bit.

He raised his face, the face of the person in the mirror was pale, and the angular lips were reddened by the wind, wet and dripping with water, showing a healthy and beautiful appearance.

Ji Fan slowly stroked the mirror, and looked at "myself".The corners of his lips twitched, and he said in a hoarse voice, "Is that you?"

The person in the mirror was silent as a matter of course, and the confusion in his eyes was no different from his main body.

Ji Fan closed his eyes, took two deep breaths, and forced himself to calm down.

He must think calmly.

In any case, there is Mr. Fu.

Everything is different, he is no longer alone.

Maybe, he needs to talk to him.

……

Opening his eyes, the little tortoise didn't just stay in the water tank obediently, but carelessly built a nest on Fu Mingyuan's pillow, looking like a domineering bully.

The door was shut tightly.Probably because Fu Mingyuan was afraid that the little penguin would rush in suddenly and accidentally trampled its fragile and fragile father with his big feet, so he locked the door specially.

Thinking of this, Ji Fan couldn't help showing a smile, and his tense spirit relaxed a little.

He changed back into human form, dressed and went out in twos and threes.

But what about Mr. Fu?

Ji Fan went around twice, but still saw no one, and felt a little restless in his heart.

The chubby little penguin was lying on its stomach in another room, sleeping soundly with its feet up.Fu Mingyuan couldn't find it anywhere.

Usually, the other party would leave a small note for him when he went out, such as repairs or replenishment of supplies. This was the first time that such an unexplained disappearance happened.

Ji Fan became more and more anxious.After confirming that the other party was really not at the base, he immediately turned his head and went back to his room, found the clothes he had gone out, and hurriedly put them on.

The weather outside is not too bad. Although the light is dim, the road can still be seen clearly.

Under such circumstances, if Mr. Fu didn't come back in time, something must have happened.

Ji Fan suppressed the uneasiness in his heart, rolled open the electric gate, held a powerful flashlight in one hand, waded through the snow with one foot deep and the other shallow, and trudged towards the location of the satellite base station in his memory.

Just two steps away, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a flash of fire not far away.

He rubbed his eyes, thinking he had misread it, and then, he saw another erratic fire light up.

Pressing out the bright flashlight, the faint light became clear.

Flickering, it seems that someone is burning something at the edge of the base?

There are only the last two human beings left in Antarctica, and the existence of "human beings" has become the last thing to be afraid of.

Ji Fan breathed a sigh of relief, rubbed his hands, and walked slowly towards the small fire.

As he got closer, he could gradually smell the smell of paper burning to ashes.

Getting closer, a tall and straight figure emerged from the darkness, and it was indeed Fu Mingyuan.

Ji Fan finally let go of his high-hanging heart, but in the next second, an indescribable annoyance rose in his chest.

"You..." Fu Mingyuan turned around when he heard the movement, and was startled, "Why are you here?"

——I can’t see you when I wake up, do you know how anxious I am?

Ji Fan was so full of grievances that he couldn't speak, so he swooped over, raised his fluffy gloves, and hammered his thick winter clothes twice.

——It is heavy, but it can be transmitted to the body through layers of fabrics, leaving only a teasing feeling that is nowhere near itching.

But Mr. Fu grasped the spirit well.

He stretched his arms around the person in his arms, laughed softly, and coaxed softly: "I was wrong. I thought you would come in a while, and you were not far away, so I didn't tell you."

After hearing this explanation, Ji Fan didn't feel relieved at all.He was hugged tightly, and it was inconvenient to use his fists, so he had to grind his teeth against the other's neck.

"Hey, I'll make trouble with you when I get back." Fu Mingyuan knew he was wrong, and let him bite in a good-tempered manner, coaxed a few more words, and threw the last thing in his palm into the fire.

trouble?Who made a fuss?

Unconvinced, Ji Fan struggled to poke his head out.At this moment, he was attracted by the dying fire at his feet.

A thin layer of ash fell from the bottom of the dry wood, and it was blown away by the wind.

In the light of the fire, a ball of white paper was curled up, and a small and delicate outline could be vaguely seen, which seemed to be...

Wait, paper flowers?

Ji Fan vaguely thought of something, looked up in the direction, and saw a vague outline of an active volcano on the distant horizon.

Could it be that……

He frowned, pulled off his gloves, wrote "flower" in Fu Mingyuan's palm, and drew a big question mark forcefully.

"Yes. It's just for commemoration," Fu Mingyuan straightened his hat for him, and said casually, "After all, we are leaving."

No, no!Ji Fan broke free from his embrace, looked up at him, and narrowed his eyes slightly.

"What's wrong?" Fu Mingyuan touched his face with his backhand.

At this moment, Ji Fan took advantage of the opportunity to insert his finger into the opponent's pocket, and as expected, he took out a delicate paper rose from it.

——Pure and beautiful white roses, just like the harmonica that Andre played to Misha.

Holding the fragile rose in one hand, he wrote stubbornly with the other: "Misha?"

Fu Mingyuan was silent for a while, and then slowly said: "They... are indeed together."

Ji Fan didn't speak, just looked at him quietly.

After a long time, when the fire was about to go out, Fu Mingyuan looked down at him and said in a low voice, "Well, they didn't survive."

"I lied to you."

A faint fire flickered and then went out completely.

"Don't," the darkness fell suddenly, Fu Mingyuan stepped forward and hugged him in a little panic, as if seeking a certain sense of security, "I didn't mean to lie to you, I was just afraid that you would be sad."

"..."

Ji Fan buried himself in his chest, and after a while, he hummed softly.

"What's the matter?" Fu Mingyuan hurriedly let go of him, but he didn't dare to let go completely, he firmly grabbed the soft fur edge on the brim of Ji Fan's hat.

Spreading the nervous fingers of the other party, Ji Fan wrote slowly: "Next time, you should tell me the truth..."

"Well, I promise." Fu Mingyuan immediately agreed.

"Tell me, so I can fold it for you." After writing, Ji Fan stood on tiptoe and patted the back of the other person's head comfortingly.

"...Hmm." Fu Mingyuan paused, then asked cautiously, "Aren't you angry?"

"Not yet." Ji Fan returned the last flower to him, "What about this one? Burn it?"

"According to Russian customs, flowers should be given in even numbers, and the number is enough. As for this one, this one..." Mr. Fu stuttered for some reason.

Clearing his throat, he finally finished the second half of the sentence: "This is an extra flower, if you want it, I can give it to you."

extra?

Ji Fan raised his eyebrows.According to Fu Mingyuan's mathematical intuition, even if he closes his eyes and folds paper while singing the Russian version of Dongfanghong, it is impossible to fold an extra flower for nothing.

——Clearly this guy specially folded it, but I'm too embarrassed to say it.

Lying again.

Under the cover of darkness, Ji Fan's fingers climbed dishonestly up to the side of the head, and lightly tugged on the other's ear as a punishment.

They stood side by side for a while.

A muted wind rolled across the wilderness, whizzing and carrying the ashes of paper roses, drifting all the way, drifting, until they fell into the distance and merged with the volcanic ash.

Wind, snow, and ashes are mixed together, like a silent and grand sacrifice.

Seeing the traces of the fire being covered by the fresh snow falling again, Fu Mingyuan held Ji Fan's hand tightly, and said briefly: "Let's go back."

The ice and snow are howling, the palm is hot, and the last paper rose is hidden in the pocket.

Ji Fan nodded. For some reason, his previously restless mood gradually returned to calm.