The Secret Realm of Time, His and Her Life Through the Changes

The three of them ate and drank to their hearts' content, chatting about everything under the sun, as if they were back in their sophomore year of college, when the four of them, their dorm buddies, would gather together to talk about life and dream about the bright future after graduation. Now they've graduated, and the future has arrived, but where is the future?

They drank until the dormitory was about to close, still not satisfied, but they had to hurry back to their dorm.

In their sophomore year, they could climb over the wall and play guerrilla warfare with the dorm supervisors. If they got caught, they'd beg for forgiveness, plead, and swear they wouldn't do it again. The supervisors would just feign anger, mutter a few words, and then let them go. Now they're seniors, graduating and supposed to be adults. They can't afford to move out of the dorms, leave campus, and establish themselves in society. How can they still have the nerve to cause trouble for others?

The three of them kept quiet and tacitly rushed back to their dormitory.

Just as Wang Jie lay down, he suddenly remembered that he hadn't told Zhou Yanruo that he was staying at the school tonight and wouldn't be able to meet her at the octagonal pavilion tomorrow morning.

He hurriedly got up and sent a message to Zhou Yanruo.

"You're going out again? Where are you going?" Jian Zheng asked in a low voice.

"I'm going out to find a phone to send a message to Zhou Yanruo."

"Damn, so you've started asking for instructions early and reporting late. Dude, you've really impressed me."

"Stop joking, go to sleep."

Wang Jie walked out of the dormitory, borrowed a phone from the dormitory supervisor, and sent a message to Zhou Yanruo: "I'm staying in the dormitory tonight, don't wait for me tomorrow morning."

He sat on the dormitory supervisor's chair, waiting so that he could reply promptly if Zhou Yanruo responded to his message.

His pager went off, and he checked it immediately. Sure enough, Zhou Yanruo had replied: "I'll wait for you at the school gate tomorrow."

Wang Jie replied to the message: "That's the time we arrive at school every day."

Zhou Yanruo replied to the message: "Pick me up at the bus stop, we can walk together for a while."

Wang Jie replied to the message: "See you at the bus stop at 7:30."

Zhou Yanruo replied to the message: "I'll take the bus one day earlier, around 7 o'clock."

Wang Jie replied to the message: "Okay, see you tomorrow."

Zhou Yanruo replied to the message: "I brought you breakfast, what would you like to eat?"

The dormitory supervisor had been giving Wang Jie strange looks, and finally couldn't help but say, "Wang Jie, why don't you just make a phone call? One minute you're staring at your pager and grinning like an idiot, the next you're sending a message."

A little embarrassed after being told off by the dormitory supervisor, Wang Jie held up his index finger and gestured to the supervisor, saying, "Auntie, I'll just post one last message."

He replied to Zhou Yanruo's message: "I want to eat glutinous rice."

Then she smiled at the dormitory supervisor and went back to her dormitory.

……

September, 2019

Shang Yibo curled up on the sofa, too lazy to move, in a dazed state between sleep and wakefulness.

I felt a faint vibration in my lower back, and then I vaguely heard my phone ring.

He followed the sound of his phone and found it lying in the crevice of the sofa. Without even looking at the caller ID, he knew it must be Ding Jiajia calling. He answered the phone: "Hello."

"Yibo, are you in your room?"

"if not."

Ding Jiajia was already used to Shang Yibo's tone and didn't take it to heart.

"We just finished a meeting, and things are almost settled. Brother Can asked me to give you an update on the situation."

"Well, it's fine whether you tell me or not."

"No, there have been some changes to Brother Can's plan. It's better if you know. Or should I come find you and tell you in person?"

When Ding Jiajia said the words "there have been changes," she hesitated for a moment, clearly testing the waters.

"Hmm, either way is fine," Shang Yibo said lazily, as always.

"You must not have eaten. What would you like to eat? I'll bring it over."

"Cifan (sticky rice cake)".

"What? What do you mean by 'what'?" Ding Jiajia had never heard of such a dish before, so she asked.

"Oh, it's nothing." Shang Yibo sat up straight, stretched his shoulders and neck, and said, "Anything's fine."

He stood up, his right leg numb, feeling like countless ants crawling all over it. He had to sit back down, squeezing his right leg hard with his hand while stomping on the floor as hard as he could.

After a long while, the tingling sensation gradually disappeared, and I was finally able to stand up.

He tripped over something, looked down, and saw the silk scarf wrapped around his ankle.

Shang Yibo bent down to pick up the silk scarf, carried it to the small bar at the entrance of the living room, and casually placed the scarf on the bar.

I opened a bottle of Perrier and downed half of it in one gulp.

There was a knock on the door, and Shang Yibo, who was standing at the door, went over and opened it.

Ding Jiajia, standing at the door, was taken aback. She hadn't expected the door to open so soon after she knocked.

She glanced at both sides of the corridor, then stepped into the room.

"I was worried you'd be waiting, so I bought two sandwiches in the lobby. Have some to eat first, and we'll order whatever you want later."

As soon as Ding Jiajia entered, she handed the sandwich bag she was carrying to Shang Yibo.

Shang Yibo didn't reach out to take it; after opening the door, he turned and walked into the living room.

Ding Jiajia placed the bag on the small bar counter by the door and saw a brightly colored silk scarf lying on the counter.

"This is President Zhou's silk scarf, right? She'll come to the hotel later to return it to her."

Shang Yibo remained silent.

Ding Jiajia walked into the living room and saw Shang Yibo standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window.

"We have now brought public opinion under control, and the first batch of announcements has been uploaded. We are waiting to see how it goes before deciding on the release schedule for subsequent announcements."

"Positive copywriting, collaboration between marketing accounts and influential figures also covered the negative press releases, and fans were also emptying their comments, with positive discussions replacing those negative topics."

"We also stopped reporters who would be publishing entertainment news in advance. We promised to share your schedule with them for a period of time."

Shang Yibo said coldly, "Heh, in the end, you still used me as a bargaining chip."

Ding Jiajia remained silent for a moment, then stammered, "And..."

Shang Yibo turned around, looked at Ding Jiajia, and said in a deep voice, "I knew it wouldn't be that easy. Now, speak."

“The most important thing is to suppress the rumors about you and President Zhou, so,” Ding Jiajia looked at Shang Yibo and quickly stated her conclusion, “President Zhou will be your manager.”

Upon hearing this, Shang Yibo, who had been expressionless, raised an eyebrow, and then, one side of his straight mouth subtly curled upwards.

Ding Jiajia noticed the changes in her micro-expressions, which seemed to give her great encouragement.

Then she launched into a long explanation: "Mr. Zhou is the chairman's assistant at Rushang Group, so it makes sense that she was sent here to be your agent. Especially since Ms. Zhou just returned from abroad, her background won't be exposed, and she's safe with you. Besides..."

"You've made this decision? Didn't you even respect other people's wishes?" Shang Yibo interrupted Ding Jiajia and said.

"President Zhou has agreed," Ding Jiajia said.

"I was the last to know. You just came to inform me, right?" Shang Yibo said with dissatisfaction, but his tone didn't seem angry.