That’s right.
By now, many things no longer mattered.
Why did Cheng Mengxue die?
It didn’t matter.
Why had his memories been incomplete at the time?
It didn’t matter.
Why had the two of them taken the long way around instead of going to the exam venue?
It didn’t matter.
It didn’t matter, it didn’t matter, it didn’t matter… none of it mattered.
The only thing that mattered was—
[ Retrieve the positron cannon as soon as possible, send the spacetime text message, and save Little Xue! ]
Whatever schemes and secrets Qin Feng had,
whatever lingering presence Nan Xiuxiu had,
all of it could wait.
First, pull Little Xue back from the grave of this timeline.
Picking up the Petition covered with signatures, Jiang Ran quickly left the projection room to find Senior Yan Rui.
…
“You’re truly incredibly capable, to actually get your hands on something like this.”
Senior Yan Rui looked at the paper filled with signatures, overwhelmed with admiration:
“I dare say, although this club regulation does indeed exist, for anyone to actually use this rule to save a club… this Petition is absolutely the first case.”
Obviously.
Because anyone with such connections and strength would never encounter the problem of having their club revoked in the first place.
“However, being able to delay the Film Photography Club’s dissolution by a year is truly a good thing.”
After his surprise, Yan Rui’s eyes were full of joy:
“Before, whenever I thought about the Film Photography Club being abolished under my watch, I felt pretty awful. But thankfully, with you, the club has been given another year of life.”
“Once the new semester starts and the freshmen enter school, you’ll definitely be able to recruit more like-minded companions and get the club running again.”
“Alright, let’s not talk about that for now. Let’s go to the Club Management Office first, restore the club’s qualifications, and transfer the president position.”
“From now on… you’ll be the master of this activity room, the new president of the Film Photography Club!”
As he spoke, Yan Rui walked toward the door.
While walking, he looked back:
“By the way, I still don’t know which college or major you’re from.”
“Uh…”
Jiang Ran scratched his head, not knowing how to answer.
By now, there was no hiding his identity, so he could only confess honestly:
“Sorry, Senior Yan Rui, I didn’t get a chance to explain before. Actually… I’m not a student at our Donghai University. I go to a different school.”
???
Yan Rui’s eyes widened.
“What?”
He had never expected Jiang Ran to pull something like this:
“You’re joking, right?”
He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
If he wasn’t a Donghai University student, then why care so much about the Film Photography Club’s life or death?
That made no sense.
“Fine, I can’t be bothered to pursue other questions, but the problem is…”
Yan Rui furrowed his brows:
“[ If you’re not a Donghai University student, how am I supposed to transfer the president position to you? ]
No matter what, it’s impossible for the club president to be held by a student from another school, right? That’s too ridiculous.”
Jiang Ran sighed, also helpless.
Who would have thought that on this timeline, he was just a vocational college student?
The problem Senior Yan Rui raised was very realistic. The club president position could be transferred to anyone, but it was impossible to give it to an external student.
The best plan was to find a trustworthy friend from this school to temporarily serve as president.
After all, Jiang Ran’s goal was only the positron cannon; he didn’t care at all whether the Film Photography Club survived or perished. He only wanted to use the president’s authority to retrieve the positron cannon, nothing more.
It was just a pity…
Although he knew many people at Donghai University, after the historical trajectory changed, those former friends didn’t recognize him at all, so naturally he couldn’t ask them for help.
Seeing Jiang Ran silent, Yan Rui understood that the other party was in a predicament.
He of course also wanted the Film Photography Club to continue. Lowering his head to look at the hard-won Petition, he closed his eyes and thought of a way out.
“Right.”
He slapped his hands together, remembering someone:
“Right, right, about two months ago, a sophomore girl came to me saying she wanted to join the Film Photography Club.”
“But at that time, the club qualifications had already been revoked, and I was busy with my graduation thesis defense, so I rejected her.”
“That girl looked like she really loved film photography, truly a fanatic. At the time, she held me and talked for a long time… of course, I didn’t understand anything she said. After all, I was also just pulled in by seniors to fill a quota.”
“If you don’t mind, how about I call that girl over and let her take over as president of the Film Photography Club? What do you think?”
Jiang Ran couldn’t ask for anything better:
“Of course that’s fine!”
This was truly help in a time of need.
He only wanted the positron cannon; he didn’t care at all who became president of the Film Photography Club. Anyone at all would do.
“Alright, then I’ll call her over.”
Senior Yan Rui took out his phone and sent a WeChat message to that girl.
A dozen or so minutes later.
A frantic figure arrived at the speed of light.
“Really?!”
She stared at the Petition in disbelief, then looked up at Jiang Ran:
“Senior! You’re too amazing! You actually really saved the Film Photography Club!”
“No, no, no.”
Jiang Ran waved his hand:
“I’m not a senior. We’re both sophomores, same year.”
“But you look older than me~” the girl quibbled.
Jiang Ran and Yan Rui looked at her speechlessly…
Petite figure, at most 155 cm, and that was while wearing platform shoes;
Soft, cute voice, childlike face and baby teeth, wearing a cute dress, with two little buns tied on top of her head;
This chibi college student—who wouldn’t look older than her?
If he saw her outside the university, Jiang Ran would definitely think she was an elementary school student. Just talking to her felt like a crime.
In the dozen or so minutes just now, Yan Rui had already given a simple introduction.
This girl’s name was [ Chi Xiaoguo ], from Guangxi. So besides being petite, she also spoke in a coquettish tone.
Truly living up to her name, she was indeed a very cute little girl, looking completely mismatched with something as ancient as a film camera.
“So that means, the Film Photography Club can continue, and I can join the Film Photography Club too!”
Chi Xiaoguo smiled, revealing two small tiger teeth, looking at Yan Rui:
“Right, Senior? It’s like that, right?”
Yan Rui nodded:
“That’s right. With this Petition, as long as I transfer the president position to you, we can delay the club dissolution deadline by one year.”
“If within that year we can recruit enough members, then the Film Photography Club can continue normally.”
“Yay! That’s wonderful!”
Chi Xiaoguo’s eyes were full of stars:
“Ah, sometimes I think about it, and I really am too lucky. So lucky I can’t believe it.”
“The Film Photography Club that was about to be revoked actually came back to life at the last moment. Just like when I applied to Donghai University—at first it seemed hopeless, but who would have thought—”
“[ In the end, I was actually admitted to the School of Fine Arts with the very last ranking in the entire college! ]”
“Hehe, when mountains and rivers end and you doubt there’s a road, suddenly willows dark and flowers bright reveal another village. Lucky breaks like this always seem to happen to me.”
…
The School of Fine Arts was the college Cheng Mengxue belonged to before the timeline changed.
Last place.
So lucky indeed.
If she had scored one point less, or if one more person had applied, Chi Xiaoguo would have failed to get in and missed out on Donghai University.
Hm?
Jiang Ran’s heartbeat missed half a beat.
One more person…
Last place…
“What’s your major?”
Jiang Ran already had a premonition:
“It wouldn’t be… Art and Design, would it?”
“Hm?”
Chi Xiaoguo blinked her eyes, clearly having been guessed correctly.
She was somewhat surprised:
“That’s right, Senior. I’m from Art and Design Class 2306. How did you guess…?”
Jiang Ran looked at Chi Xiaoguo without speaking.
Art and Design Class 2306.
This was exactly the class Cheng Mengxue belonged to before the timeline changed.
Jiang Ran knew very clearly that Cheng Mengxue’s class had twenty-six people total, ten boys and sixteen girls. There was simply no one named Chi Xiaoguo in it.
[ Closed loop. ]
He had just figured it out.
[ This is the closed loop of the spacetime butterfly effect. ]
The number of admissions for each university major is fixed.
Admit one more high-scoring student, and one low-scoring student must inevitably be cut; one more person makes the list, and one more person falls off it.
In the original timeline, Chi Xiaoguo was undoubtedly someone who failed to get in, missing Donghai University by one ranking.
But after the timeline changed, history changed, and Chi Xiaoguo’s life trajectory also changed accordingly.
Cheng Mengxue’s accidental death two years ago meant she naturally couldn’t fill out her college applications, nor could she come to Donghai University to study.
The butterfly effect occurred at this very moment, affecting the life of a little girl in Guangxi a thousand miles away.
Cheng Mengxue’s absence left one admission slot empty in the Art and Design major, allowing one more student to be admitted.
And that girl who “took the place” of Cheng Mengxue to attend Donghai University,
whose fate was changed by the butterfly effect…
was precisely Chi Xiaoguo.