“Oh, Senior Sis.”
The guy pointed toward the window:
“Senior Sis Xu Yan is worrying herself sick on the sports field. She’s in a terrible mood, so you’d better not provoke her.”
Jiang Ran let out a breath of relief.
Good. This meant Xu Yan was still alive.
But why was she in such a bad mood?
He asked out of curiosity.
“Because of the College Student Film Festival.”
The guy smiled bitterly:
“Look, the submission deadline for the film festival is almost here, but our Film Club still can’t produce anything decent.”
“Senior Sis Xu Yan will be a senior next year, so this is her last chance. Her greatest dream is to win an award at the festival, but from the looks of it now… sigh, you know.”
The guy explained that without a good script, Xu Yan had been working tirelessly to the point of forgetting to eat or sleep, yet remained unsatisfied.
Long-term exhaustion combined with frustration had caused her to emotionally break down.
“I see.”
Jiang Ran understood, and he also figured something out.
Perhaps this was also an effect of the temporal butterfly effect.
In the original timeline, because he had written a script for Xu Yan, helping her resolve her greatest worry, that was why she had gone out on March 26th and jumped into the river to save a drowning child.
But in this current timeline, no one had written a script for Xu Yan. She was worried sick every day, utterly exhausted—how could she have any mood to go out?
Thus, by a strange twist of fate, she had unknowingly escaped death.
“Thanks, I’ll go find her on the sports field.”
Jiang Ran thanked the guy and headed straight for the sports field.
Sure enough.
From afar, he saw Xu Yan lying on the fitness equipment, listless.
“Hey.”
Jiang Ran greeted her.
Xu Yan turned her head.
She jumped off the fitness equipment as if she had seen a ghost, straightening up:
“Jiang Ran!”
She shouted loudly, looking extremely surprised.
This left Jiang Ran unsure how to respond, his hand freezing mid-wave.
“Heh, sorry.”
Xu Yan smiled somewhat unnaturally:
“I just didn’t expect you to come to school looking for me… You’ve been avoiding me these past two years, so I didn’t have the nerve to bother you.”
?
Jiang Ran tilted his head.
What kind of new plot development was this?
But he immediately thought—it must be because of Cheng Mengxue’s death.
Wang Hao had said that Cheng Mengxue’s unexpected death had been a huge blow to him, leaving him utterly dispirited and practically half-dead.
Could it be…
that because of this incident, he had grown distant from Xu Yan, with no contact or interaction between them for two years?
Very likely.
At least judging from Xu Yan’s reaction just now, the two of them weren’t as close as he had imagined.
“Hope I’m not disturbing you,” Jiang Ran replied.
“No, no, of course not.”
Xu Yan hurriedly waved her hands, looking at Jiang Ran:
“Rather, you’re in good spirits now. I’m really happy for you.”
“Anyway, just like we advised you before, [Little Xue’s death wasn’t your fault. You don’t need to blame yourself too much. No one ever blamed you.]”
“Ah, let’s not talk about that. You suddenly came to Donghai University to find me. Is there something you need?”
Jiang Ran handed over that Club Dissolution Notice and explained his purpose in coming.
Currently, as a vocational college student from another school, he really couldn’t think of an appropriate reason to explain why he wanted to save Donghai University’s Film Photography Club.
This was completely unrelated to him.
He fabricated a friend, starting with “I have a friend,” and cobbled together a story about someone who loved film cameras, hoping Xu Yan could help them preserve the Film Photography Club.
To be honest, even Jiang Ran himself thought this excuse was lame.
He had also considered that the Xu Yan of this timeline might refuse him, which would be perfectly reasonable.
But as he spoke, he discovered…
that the fabricated story actually didn’t matter.
From the look in Xu Yan’s eyes when she first saw him, it was destined that no matter what request he made, Xu Yan would agree.
This feeling was strange, yet obvious.
Xu Yan didn’t even seem to be listening carefully to the story he made up; she just kept nodding, waiting for him to finish.
“No problem.”
Sure enough, the moment Jiang Ran finished speaking, Xu Yan immediately agreed:
“Just leave this matter to me. I’ll help you take care of it.”
This…
Jiang Ran scratched his head.
Xu Yan being so straightforward made him somewhat embarrassed.
For some reason, he felt that Xu Yan was very gentle with him, very careful, very caring.
Just like his initial intuition, no matter what he said today, Xu Yan would agree.
Why was that?
Seeing Jiang Ran hesitate, Xu Yan smiled, very bright and cheerful:
“You don’t need to make that expression. It’s fine. It’s actually very simple, not a big deal at all.”
“Heh, do you know who my boyfriend is?”
This…
This question stumped Jiang Ran.
Was Xu Yan’s boyfriend in this timeline still the same one from the previous timeline?
Who exactly was this person?
However.
No matter who the boyfriend was.
Any boyfriend who could get things done was a good boyfriend.
“Come find me at the Film Club tomorrow.”
Xu Yan waved that Club Dissolution Notice, turned around and waved her hand, still as dashing as ever:
“See you tomorrow.”
…
The next day.
Jiang Ran made the long journey and arrived at Donghai University’s Film Club as promised.
“Here.”
Inside the screening room, Xu Yan handed a Petition to Jiang Ran.
Without looking, Jiang Ran knew what was on it.
Because this piece of paper… was the second time he had received it.
This feeling was wonderful.
The Petition from the original timeline had returned to his hands through an entirely new historical trajectory.
He turned to the front of the Petition.
It was densely packed with signatures from various club presidents, as well as signatures from five faculty advisors.
“Thank you.”
Jiang Ran said solemnly.
This gratitude came from the heart.
Because he was very clear about how laughable and absurd the excuse he made up yesterday had been.
But Xu Yan didn’t ask anything.
Even if she knew those reasons were made up, were false… she still didn’t say a word, unconditionally agreeing with Jiang Ran, unconditionally supporting him.
This kind of trust was hard not to be moved by.
Although Xu Yan was only a year older than him and Cheng Mengxue, in every aspect, she was indeed a very reliable older sister.
“We’ve been friends for so many years. No need to be so polite.”
Xu Yan punched Jiang Ran’s shoulder:
“It’s a good thing you’re pulling yourself together again. You still look so handsome when you perk up. Keep at it!”
This inexplicable encouragement made Jiang Ran feel a wave of warmth.
He looked at Xu Yan, wanting to repay her somehow:
“I heard you’ve been troubled about the script lately?”
At this topic, Xu Yan instantly sighed, covering her forehead and shaking her head:
“Ah, isn’t that right? This is my last chance to participate in the College Student Film Festival, but I can’t even grind out a satisfactory script.”
“Sometimes I think I should just make a casual short film if it really won’t do, but I’m still a bit unwilling.”
Jiang Ran smiled slightly:
“Do you have a laptop here?”
Xu Yan looked up, puzzled:
“We do, but do you want to use it?”
“Yes.”
Jiang Ran nodded:
“I have a ready-made script here. I think it’s pretty good.”
“If you don’t mind… I’d like to write it out and show you.”