CH 83

Actually, Shu Shuishui’s initial intention wasn’t to “seek financial support.” As a self-reliant dormouse, Shu Shuishui believed he could sustain Gu Langu on his own.

However, the course of events turned out to be somewhat beyond Shu Shuishui’s expectations.

Last night, Shu Shuishui assessed the surroundings. Since it was a bustling city, it wasn’t the same city where Wu Lan had passed away. Shu Shuishui remembered the name and address of Li Meng’s Apartment. Carrying Gu Langu in his mouth, he walked for a while before finally finding the right direction.

The little dormouse gazed upward, pitter-pattering along the road. His petite shadow, due to his movement, continuously elongated and then shortened under the streetlights. Fortunately, he was only three streets away from Li Meng’s apartment. In fact, not much time passed before Shu Shuishui discovered the park where he used to stroll with Gu Langu.

At this point, it was already late at night. The park was eerily quiet. Wooden benches had only moonlight lingering on them. The pine tree’s delicate fragrance, even without getting close, wafted into one’s lungs, bringing a sense of tranquility to the mind and body. Shu Shuishui had no mind to appreciate the night scenery; he was eager to reach Li Meng’s apartment.

Stepping into the apartment, Shu Shuishui immediately noticed an issue. The interior had undergone significant renovations. Familiar items were nearly unrecognizable, even the walls had been repainted. Furthermore, the date on the notice board at the entrance was more than twenty years into the future!

Carrying the little black cat, Shu Shuishui lifted his tiny head to confirm the date once again. There was no mistake; it had indeed been over twenty years since he left.

To avoid surveillance, Shu Shuishui didn’t take the elevator. Li Meng lived on the fifth floor. Carrying the little milk cat, Shu Shuishui definitely couldn’t climb up. Without any other choice, he hid Gu Langu in a massive flowerpot at the corner of the first floor.

The flowerpot held lush plants. Carrying Gu Langu, Shu Shuishui climbed up, carefully placing a handkerchief on the surface to keep the little black cat warm. “Be good, Gu Gu, I’ll be right back,” he anxiously instructed before leaving.

“Meow~” The little milk cat responded with a soft, innocent meow.

Shu Shuishui tugged at the large leaves of the plants a couple more times, ensuring that the hiding spot for the little black cat was discreet. Only then did he jump down from the flowerpot with a soft thud and hastily made his way towards the stairs.

On the fifth floor, reaching the familiar spot, Shu Shuishui jumped up and pressed the doorbell. The little dormouse extended his tiny paw and patted the fur on his chest, standing outside the door in an upright yet nervous manner.

About a minute later, the door opened, but it was a middle-aged woman who stood there in surprise. She had discovered a small hamster at her doorstep, though it seemed that this lady had an extreme fear of rodents, even if they were as cute as Shu Shuishui.

After a brief scream, Shu Shuishui had to dodge a slipper and quickly slipped away. In just a short moment, she had taken in the situation inside the house from the doorway. The furniture in the room had all changed, including the decorations that Li Meng and Wu Lan had designed together.

Shu Shuishui didn’t know what had happened over these past twenty years, but it was clear that Li Meng no longer lived here! The little dormouse couldn’t afford to waste time, so he quickly returned to the first floor, climbed up the flowerpot, and let out a sigh of relief upon seeing Gu Langu inside.

With light pitter-pattering steps, he walked to the side of the little milk cat and gave its furry neck a gentle hug. “Gu Gu, don’t worry, Shui Shui is here.”

The little milk cat responded by nuzzling against Shu Shuishui’s soft fur a couple of times, and Shu Shuishui nuzzled back. The two of them engaged in this affectionate back-and-forth for a few minutes before Shu Shuishui finally carried the little milk cat and left the apartment.

In order to search for clues about Li Meng, Shu Shuishui couldn’t venture too far from the apartment, and he had to gain access to the interior of the building, leading to the idea of seeking financial support.

The park was unusually lively on this clear morning due to the cat and mouse pair seeking financial support inside the cardboard box.

Facing such adorable creatures, there were many people interested in adopting them, making the ownership issue of the cat and mouse still unresolved. Shu Shuishui discreetly observed the people around him, and indeed, he recognized a familiar face among them. For a dormouse with prosopagnosia1face blindness, this was quite a challenge, especially twenty years later.

In the end, Shu Shuishui chose a slightly graying-haired old lady. He remembered that twenty years ago, this woman used to come to the park for walks every day when she was middle-aged. She had a good temperament, and most importantly, she lived on the fifth floor!

Shu Shuishui was about to show some cuteness to the old lady, intending to establish a connection. But as he opened his mouth, Gu Langu almost called out with a “meow meow.”

Before Shu Shuishui could make his move, it seemed someone else was approaching. The people surrounding them spontaneously cleared a path, and a man in his forties or fifties walked over.

“Mr. Wu, you’re here for a stroll too.”

“Hello, Mr. Wu.”

“Mr. Wu…”

The people around warmly greeted the arriving man, showing that he was well-liked and held a good social standing.

Shu Shuishui extended his paw and held the little milk cat, his ears twitching. The person who arrived turned out to be Wu Lan! So, Wu Lan didn’t die! No, that’s not right—Wu Lan did die, so why was he alive again? After he had been transported, what exactly had happened in this world?

The dormouse displayed a contemplative expression that almost seemed human-like, provoking another round of discussions around him. Shu Shuishui finally realized why no one had cleared this instance in a year—the difficulty was far beyond ordinary.

Wu Lan, who was already of middle age, squatted down in front of the cardboard box. He was accompanied by several bodyguards-like individuals who looked surprised at the situation.

Shu Shuishui didn’t rush to identify himself. He stayed calm in the cardboard box, occasionally nudging the little milk cat.

Amidst the slightly astonished gazes of the onlookers, Wu Lan reached out and picked up the cardboard box. Clearly, he intended to adopt this cat-and-mouse pair. A brief silence settled over the area, and the issue of the cat and mouse’s ownership was resolved. Naturally, no one dared to compete with Wu Lan for this adorable duo.

However, it was quite a sight to see Wu Lan, dressed in a silver-gray suit, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, and meticulously groomed, holding a cardboard box with the words “Seeking Financial Support” scribbled crookedly on it. The image seemed rather incongruent.

After Wu Lan left, the park regained its liveliness only after a while. Faint conversations could still be heard, as nobody had heard before that Mr. Wu had a hobby of keeping pets.

And so it happened that Shu Shuishui, who had been raised by Li Meng twenty years ago, ended up living in Wu Lan’s apartment twenty years later due to a twist of fate.

This was also a luxurious apartment, but someone like Wu Lan should have lived in a villa according to public perception. His presence here was somewhat out of place. No one knew why Wu Lan chose to live here, not even Wu Lan himself.

On the first day of living in the apartment, Shu Shuishui keenly noticed that Wu Lan didn’t recognize him and didn’t recognize Gu Langu either. Moreover, his actions indicated that he was a novice at pet care, displaying stiffness and inexperience.

Wu Lan lived alone in a spacious apartment with an exceedingly minimalist interior design style. In fact, it was somewhat rigid and cold. Shu Shuishui discreetly observed the room, noticing an awkwardness in the decor. It seemed that the owner had strived to achieve a certain style but hadn’t quite succeeded, opting instead for simplicity.

While others might not have noticed, Shu Shuishui could discern that the apartment’s interior decoration was reminiscent of the style of Li Meng’s apartment from before.

Wu Lan looked at the cardboard box he had brought back. The little milk cat inside still had its eyes closed, while the little mouse had its bright, animated eyes darting around in all directions, appearing lively and energetic. Despite this, the little mouse remained obediently within the cardboard box, holding onto the cat and seeming afraid that someone might snatch it away.

Wu Lan couldn’t help but smile. “You’re the mouse’s,” Wu Lan pointed to the little cat, then he pointed at the little mouse, “and you two, are mine.”

Just as he finished speaking, Wu Lan saw the little mouse in the box turn around, facing away from him. Wu Lan raised an eyebrow, finding it amusing. He looked at the fuzzy little ball, extended a finger, and gently poked the back of the furry bundle.

The little ball’s ears twitched, and it turned its head back, looking at him with confusion, as if asking, “Why did you poke me?”

Wu Lan found himself oddly delighted. “What’s your name? Mister… Hamster.”

As he said this, Wu Lan himself was momentarily surprised by the appellation that came out of his mouth. However, he quickly dismissed the inexplicable emotion and proceeded to search online for tips on pet care. He also instructed someone to prepare pet supplies.

After Wu Lan left, Shu Shuishui secretly breathed a sigh of relief and leaned in close to the little milk cat’s ear, whispering softly, “Gu Gu isn’t his, you know.”

Wu Lan clearly didn’t remember Li Meng, but from his body to his thoughts, he subconsciously followed traces of Li Meng’s presence. For example, living in this apartment and unconsciously uttering “Mister Hamster.”

After being transported, Li Meng must have done something. Li Meng disappeared, but Wu Lan returned.

With accommodation and dining issues resolved, Shu Shuishui began searching for clues. The first step was to sneak into the room where Li Meng had lived. Shu Shuishui took the risk of climbing down from the sixth-floor balcony to reach the balcony on the fifth floor.

Standing on the fifth-floor balcony, although the luxurious three-story residence had been demolished, Shu Shuishui still discovered remnants of the past from the balcony. Before stepping into the living room, Shu Shuishui took out four pairs of little shoe covers and carefully put them on his feet.

One was to avoid leaving paw prints when visiting without anyone at home, and the other was because Shu Shuishui remembered that the new owner of this house didn’t seem to like rodents. At least Shu Shuishui was experiencing the novelty of being treated to shoe covers.

Walking with all four feet clad in blue shoe covers, Shu Shuishui entered the living room. To make the shoe covers more ceremonial, he abandoned his usual method of walking on two feet.

The cautious little dormouse trod carefully in the living room, avoiding touching objects. Although the interior had undergone redecoration, the observant Shu Shuishui still found many traces of Li Meng’s previous residence. The new owner had retained some decorations, probably because they found them attractive.

These remaining decorations indicated that Shu Shuishui hadn’t arrived in the wrong time and space, but where was Li Meng? Where had he gone?

In the days that followed, Shu Shuishui continued to diligently gather clues about Li Meng and observed Wu Lan’s daily life.

Wu Lan was a good pet owner, displaying absolute patience towards his pets. Of course, the little dormouse and the little milk cat were both well-behaved. The little milk cat was a bit fierce, though—whenever Wu Lan tried to play with the mouse, the cat would bite his fingers, expressing its discontent.

During this period, the little milk cat’s eyes also opened. Its gleaming eyes seemed full of intelligence, but it was merely an illusion. Its lack of intelligence was evident from its behavior, like chasing its own tail for hours on end.

Seeing that Gu Langu wasn’t in a state of retrogression, Shu Shuishui breathed a sigh of relief. It appeared that upon leaving that particular time and space, the little milk cat had also returned to normal. However, he himself continued to experience degradation. If he wasn’t tied to the timeline, Shu Shuishui could only speculate that his degradation was linked to Li Meng.

Li Meng’s life was likely undergoing regression as well. Calculating based on time, twenty years had passed, and Li Meng might have regressed to a child-like state.

With this hypothesis in mind, Shu Shuishui’s investigation gained a new focus.

Ultimately, not disappointing the expectations, one day when Shu Shuishui was taken out by Wu Lan to bask in the sun, he heard what seemed like a clue related to Li Meng.

It was an elderly resident gossiping with a new resident, discussing the incident of an abandoned baby appearing in front of the apartment. The incident had occurred a few months prior. Since it happened in the morning, the person who discovered the child had reported it to the police.

By the time dawn broke, the police had mostly resolved the matter. As a result, the news didn’t spread further. However, a portion of the apartment’s residents had been alarmed and learned about the incident.

“What happened afterward?” the new resident couldn’t help but inquire with curiosity.

“It ended without further developments. The child’s parents weren’t found. They conducted two or three investigations around the area, but the parents couldn’t be located. The child was sent to an orphanage, and there’s been no news since then,” the elderly resident continued with a sigh. “I even caught a glimpse of that child from a distance. He was extraordinarily cute. How could someone be so heartless? The child is so pitiable…”

An abandoned baby with no parents to be found? Shu Shuishui quickly captured the crucial point. Could it be Li Meng? Had Li Meng actually turned into a baby? And he had been sent to an orphanage.

If Li Meng had turned into a baby, they would have lost the ability to move independently. Shu Shuishui would have to search on his own. He had already inspected Li Meng’s previous residence and hadn’t found any valuable clues.

As a dormouse, his actions were quite limited. However, being a tech-challenged dormouse, he was fortunate to have basic computer skills, such as searching for information and news.

While Wu Lan was out, Shu Shuishui discreetly opened Wu Lan’s laptop. With his tiny paws, he typed on the keyboard letter by letter, searching for the city’s orphanages.

Among them, the largest one with records of receiving abandoned babies happened to be nearby. Roughly estimating, with his own pace, it would take about half an hour to get there.

Shu Shuishui memorized the route diligently, cleared the browsing history, turned off the laptop, and cleaned the keyboard, all in one fluid motion.

Returning to his nest, the little milk cat was busy gnawing on a lifelike fish toy. Upon spotting Shu Shuishui, the kitten immediately dropped the toy and wobbled over on its four tiny legs. It simultaneously meowed while rubbing its head against Shu Shuishui’s, using its small noggin.

Shu Shuishui got a head-bumping from the kitten. The little milk cat was growing quickly. In just a few days, Shu Shuishui couldn’t carry the kitten around like before. But the little milk cat seemed to miss being carried by the mouse, often coming close and lowering its head in front of Shu Shuishui, exposing its neck.

Shu Shuishui extended his paw and gave it a pat, regretfully telling the little milk cat that it had grown into a big cat and he couldn’t carry it anymore. “Gu Gu, when will you grow up?”

Gu Langu had no memory, truly believing himself to be a little milk cat. It loved the milk bottle and loved the water, but most of all, it loved Shu Shuishui holding up the milk bottle to feed it.

The milk bottle was prepared by Wu Lan. Initially, Wu Lan intended to try being a “milk dad,” but he quickly realized he was less competent than a mouse. When he tried to feed the kitten, it pretended not to see, refused to eat, kicked the bottle around, and only calmed down and behaved when the little mouse held the bottle to feed it.

After a couple of tries, Wu Lan finally accepted that the two creatures he had adopted had a strong bond. Even though this realization was bittersweet, it didn’t diminish Wu Lan’s enthusiasm for his pets.

According to Shu Shuishui’s recent investigation, Wu Lan’s life trajectory took a turn with a contract. Wu Lan’s life is inspirational and quite legendary, resembling a textbook-worthy tale of perseverance.

But there’s one peculiar thing – Wu Lan has yet to get married, not even an ambiguous relationship. Many people suspect that Wu Lan lacks emotional connections or might have psychological issues. Wu Lan, however, has never offered an explanation in formal settings, appearing rather indifferent to the speculations.

Shu Shuishui knows that Wu Lan is searching for someone, but Wu Lan himself doesn’t even know who he’s searching for. Consequently, his life has lost its direction. Even though his achievements could be considered perfect, he has lost his “Mr. Hamster”.

Shu Shuishui holds the bottle to feed the kitten. “Don’t worry, Gu Gu, Shui Shui won’t lose you.”

“Meow~” the little kitten responds, then happily goes to play with its own tail.

One night, Shu Shuishui took action. With the reassurance that Gu Langu was safe at Wu Lan’s home, Shu Shuishui arrived at the orphanage.

The orphanage was divided into two sections, one for the elderly and the other for children. Shu Shuishui roamed around for a while before finally finding the nursery for infants.

The on-duty nurse was asleep, so Shu Shuishui climbed onto each baby’s crib to inspect. Then, he realized that all these human infants look the same! The prosopagnosic2face blind mouse was at a loss; how was he supposed to find the right one?

Just as Shu Shuishui was at a loss, the baby in one of the cribs suddenly opened their eyes, curiously gazing at the mouse perched on the railing. They even reached out their tiny hand to touch, though they couldn’t actually reach. The infant began to babble in a language that no one else could understand.

“Xiao Meng Meng, is that you?” Shu Shuishui asked while leaning on the railing.

The baby didn’t react, clearly unable to comprehend what Shu Shuishui was saying. On the neighboring cribs, the babies seemed to be infected too, as one by one they woke up, some even started crying.

The crying woke up the nurse on duty, who hurriedly rushed over, checking each baby. Finding nothing amiss, the babies were soothed, and the room quieted down once more.

Amidst the deep night, the nurse was exhausted and didn’t notice the little dormouse that had visited during the night hiding under the crib.

Gradually, the babies, along with the nurse, drifted back to sleep, except for one exception. The baby by the window stirred, kicking off the blanket with effort, rolling over, and then laboriously propping themselves up on the railing. This action was quite challenging for them.

Shu Shuishui also noticed this special case and without hesitation climbed onto the crib, looking at the baby struggling to sit up without any independent support.

Shu Shuishui couldn’t see Li Meng’s familiar features on this tiny infant, but deep within, he had a feeling that this was Li Meng! He might be waiting, not for them, but perhaps for Wu Lan.

The infant’s eyes held innocence and naivety, clearly indicating that the regression wasn’t just physical but also affected their memories. Yet, after being awakened, Li Meng refused to sleep again. He sat up, as if he had done this movement thousands of times, it had become ingrained in every cell of his body.

Shu Shuishui took out the ring from his spiritual storage; the ring had finally found its rightful place.

Facing the baby’s tiny fingers, Shu Shuishui slid the ring onto their hand. The baby was obedient, offering no resistance and seeming to understand what Shu Shuishui was doing.

The moment the ring was put on, the surrounding space-time froze, and after a moment, it began to reconfigure.

In the brief temporal turbulence, Shu Shuishui caught glimpses of some scenes. After making that call, Li Meng realized something was wrong. Immediately after, he discovered that Shu Shuishui was gone, along with the big black cat.

Wu Lan had disappeared. Except for Li Meng, no one remembered Wu Lan. Everything about him seemed to have been erased. At that moment, Li Meng understood that Wu Lan had become the temporal anomaly in his place and had been erased.

In order to restore everything to its rightful course, Li Meng harnessed his ability to reverse time, continuously attempting various methods. Eventually, he succeeded. He traveled back in time, rectified Wu Lan’s life path, at the cost of his own twenty years, and… never meeting again.

If encountering each other meant disaster, then it was better not to meet, at least still knowing the other existed in some corner of the world.

This was the life of Wu Lan and Li Meng, but despite living their lives to the fullest, they couldn’t let go due to their regrets and attachments. And so, this alternate reality came into being.

As the alternate reality concluded, those who had participated and survived were ejected from it. When they reappeared in the central square, most of them wore puzzled expressions. This was undoubtedly the most bewildering alternate reality they had ever participated in. People around them started asking questions, but this time, there was no need to pretend – everyone was unclear about what had just happened.

Shu Shuishui gripped the ring in his palm, still hearing Li Meng’s words in his ears. “Shui Shui, do you believe in past lives and present ones?”

After saying those words, Li Meng vanished while holding Wu Lan’s hand. Shu Shuishui looked at the ring, understanding that the two of them had finally achieved their wishes. The function of the ring was to transcend the limitations of time and remain unaffected by its constraints. In their future lives, regardless of birth, aging, sickness, or death, regardless of how the cycles of reincarnation turned, because of the bond the ring represented, they would always meet, know each other, and love each other.

So, could it be that Li Meng and Wu Lan were their past lives, just as he himself had transcended time due to the ring’s existence and arrived at the Cang Zhan Star? Was this how he would meet Wu Lan again?

Shu Shuishui shook his little head. This was too complex – the cycle of cause and effect, reincarnation – who could truly understand it all? But now he had the ring, a pair of rings in fact, one for himself and one to share with Gu Langu. With this thought in mind, Shu Shuishui scanned the area to find Gu Langu.

A hand reached out and lifted Shu Shuishui up.

Soon, Shu Shuishui saw Gu Langu’s usually serene and tranquil eyes. However, at this moment, those eyes seemed to hold a multitude of unspoken words, yet in the end, they only uttered, “Shui Shui, I missed you.”

Shu Shuishui leaned in, snuggling against Gu Langu’s nose. “I missed you too, Gu Gu.”

Translator’s Corner:

What if Shui Shui’s speculation is true? What if he and Gu Gu are the present Li Meng and Wu Lan. I really wanna know >.