The mountains wore a hazy jade veil, mist clinging to every slope.

A scene fit for immortals—

Yet the forest of tombstones lent it an air of desolation.

Autumn Ease gripped his umbrella, shook his head as if nothing had happened, but his heart hammered against his ribs.

What if he hadn’t made that choice? What if he hadn’t controlled the female version of himself to grab the wrist of his male self? Would he truly have been shoved into the cremation chamber?

That place hadn’t felt like a dream. It had felt real.

As if, for a split second, Autumn Ease had slipped into a parallel world—and only escaped after making his choice.

Having read his share of sci-fi, he easily pictured a simple model of parallel worlds in his head.

Suddenly, a chilling thought struck him:

*What if I actually died that day?*

*What if my consciousness just jumped into a version of myself who survived?*

But he hadn’t felt any scene shift that day…

Autumn Ease wasn’t a scientist.

He barely understood basic physics. Explaining this weirdness was impossible.

So after all that thinking, he could only sigh softly, shivering with lingering fear, praying nothing like this would ever happen again.

Fine rain fell. Autumn Ease gazed into the distance. His heartbeat slowed. Even Hangzhou’s cityscape held a strange beauty now.

But the beauty shattered quickly.

Rain poured like a collapsed sky, scattering the mist and stripping the mountains bare.

Some beauty lies in mystery; when laid bare, even mountains lose their charm.

People and places alike.

The funeral ended. Another banquet began.

Guests laughed and chatted. The cousin’s daughter who’d wept so bitterly earlier now smiled as she toasted table after table.

This felt less like a post-funeral meal, more like a wedding feast.

The living must go on. Grief fades. Memories blur.

After the banquet, Autumn Ease received a gift pack—modest: one bottle of shampoo, one bar of soap, one towel.

Perhaps meant to wash away travel dust… or funeral gloom.

No strange events occurred as he bid goodbye to uncles and aunts, then boarded the high-speed train home.

His tense shoulders relaxed slightly. Yet a premonition clung to him: a vast net was closing around him, an inescapable vortex…

As if fate itself promised more bizarre encounters ahead.

His train seat was by the window.

The seat beside him stayed empty until his stop.

*Did that mysterious girl buy it?* he wondered. *Did something stop her from boarding the return train? Or… was she disappointed I still couldn’t remember who she was?*

Too many guesses. No certain answers.

"*Passengers, Hangzhou East Station has arrived…*"

The announcement jolted Autumn Ease awake. He stood up.

He hadn’t bought a ticket to his small hometown.

First, he’d need to transfer to a bus from this major hub anyway. Second, tomorrow was his last day off before work.

Returning home tonight would only mean another exhausting pre-dawn trip back tomorrow.

He’d studied and found work in Hangzhou.

Big cities choked with crowds and high costs. Yet he chased dreams here—game development, tech jobs. Small towns offered little beyond customer service gigs…

Cities this vast suffocated… but brimmed with chances. Maybe.

Hangzhou ranked high among China’s major cities. Passengers flooded the platform. Autumn Ease felt like a worker ant swept along in the colony’s tide.

He was pushed forward, barely in control.

Finally past the automated gates, he entered the cavernous hall.

Travelers streamed endlessly through the space.

Autumn Ease wiped sweat from his brow, catching his breath.

He’d been here countless times but still got lost easily. Thankfully, he only needed the subway—not elevators to street level.

Unseen, a pair of calm eyes watched him disappear into the crowd.

Riding the subway, Autumn Ease felt like a programmed machine, moving on autopilot. His soul seemed adrift beyond the clouds.

Only the icy slap of rain outside the station snapped him back into his body.

"*Ugh… Hangzhou’s drowning too,*" he muttered, scratching his head under the platform awning. He didn’t want to step out. Even with an umbrella, he’d be soaked in seconds.

He was poor. His apartment was close, but taxis started at ¥11—nearly a day’s food budget.

Bike-sharing was best.

By 2014, Hangzhou’s signature red public bikes were everywhere. All you needed was a rental card.

But cycling in this downpour? He’d get drenched faster.

"*Eh, I’ll shower anyway,*" he told himself. He rented a bike, balancing an umbrella in one hand and the handlebars with the other, wobbling into the rain.

Xiasha was Hangzhou’s university district. Few braved the storm; those who did took cabs.

The umbrella barely helped. Soon, his grip-arm was soaked through.

He pedaled slowly. Heavy rain and dusk slashed visibility.

"*Huh?*"

Ahead, a girl stood in the downpour. Seventeen or eighteen. Long hair plastered to her back. No umbrella.

Rain soaked her clothes, yet she didn’t move.

Autumn Ease glanced curiously—*probably heartbroken*—but found himself slowing… stopping.

Only when his bike settled did he realize he’d halted.

Raindrops traced paths down her smooth oval face. Almond-shaped eyes held a trace of confusion, a flicker of defiance.

A teardrop mole sat beneath her left eye.

Honestly? She was stunning.

*What idiot dumped her and left her like this?*

Autumn Ease told himself he just felt sorry for her.

(Though if she’d weighed 180 pounds? He’d have pedaled right past.)

He was average-looking himself… but still human. Still noticed beauty.

*Perfectly normal.*

"*Uh…*" He scratched his head, tongue-tied.

This wasn’t a pickup. Just concern.

*…Better than those creeps with obvious agendas, anyway.*

The girl looked up. Her tear-streaked face froze. Surprise flashed in her eyes.

*Shocked a stranger cared?*

*But pretty girls get help all the time… right?*

*…Then again, life’s full of surprises.*

"*Here. Take this.*"

No smooth lines came to him. He thrust his umbrella toward her.

She stared blankly, then numbly took it.

The moment the umbrella left his hand, Autumn Ease understood its value.

Raindrops stung his scalp like pebbles.

He didn’t speak. Just pedaled away, cheeks burning.

*It’s fine,* he reasoned. *I’m showering anyway.*

*…Wait. Didn’t I just say that?*

Riding umbrella-less was faster.

But regret gnawed at him.

*Why didn’t I ask for her number?*

He wasn’t cut out for this.

More importantly—he’d feel guilty.

"*Taking responsibility for a girl from my dreams… Am I the world’s biggest fool?*"

He sped through streets. The girl vanished behind the rain curtain.

Long after he left, she jolted as if waking. She tried to run after him—

Tripped on a stone. Fell hard.

Still, she clutched the umbrella.

Mouth wide open in the downpour, she screamed two words. But the rain drowned her voice. Even passersby heard nothing…