Chi Xiao’s mind was in a bit of a mess. He led Miaomiao toward another exit, rubbing his temples in frustration as he walked.

A moment later, his phone buzzed softly in his pocket—a new message had come in.

Sun Moon Volcano: 【It’s over~~~】

Sun Moon Volcano: 【I just saw you two. What were you thinking, dressing like a hitman? I almost laughed out loud.】

Sun Moon Volcano: 【It’s already dark. Is Miaomiao hungry?】

Sun Moon Volcano: 【They’re going to a celebration dinner, but I won’t join. I’ll treat you two to a seafood hotpot instead.】

Sun Moon Volcano: 【Where did you park? I’ll head over now.】

Chi Xiao picked up his phone and sent her the location of his car.

At that moment, his mood suddenly lightened.

The timeline he was in had already undergone significant changes compared to the other one. No matter what, the future was in his own hands, and he no longer needed to use the events of the other timeline as a reference.

At this moment, Ming Can hadn’t yet parted ways with her group.

They were all urging her to join them for the celebration dinner, but Ming Can shook her head apologetically, saying she really had something else to do tonight.

Just then, her phone buzzed. Chi Xiao had sent her the location of his car, and she lowered her head to reply to the message.

The girl next to her caught a glimpse of Ming Can chatting on WeChat, and the profile picture clearly belonged to a guy. She teased, “If you’re not eating with us, who are you eating with? Your boyfriend?”

Ming Can replied, “No one. You know me, don’t you?”

“True,” the girl said, a bit disappointed. “If anyone was lucky enough to win you over, they’d probably set off fireworks to announce it to the world.”

Ming Can laughed. “How boring.”

Earlier in the lobby, she and Chi Xiao had passed each other, both pretending not to know one another, avoiding eye contact.

In that moment, Ming Can suddenly felt a sense of secret collusion.

Along with it came a subtle, hidden joy.

It was strangely intoxicating.

–

They moved to a private room in a high-end seafood hotpot restaurant.

The makeup from the performance wasn’t too dramatic, so Ming Can wasn’t in a hurry to remove it. Her thick, curled lashes fluttered as she stared at the lobster meat boiling in the pot. Just as she reached out with her chopsticks, the man beside her stopped her. “It’s not ready yet.”

Ming Can sighed.

The performance had been exhausting, and she was now so hungry she could eat a whole cow.

The private room originally had a dedicated server for cooking the food, but to make conversation easier, they had opted out of the service. Naturally, the task of timing the cooking fell to Chi Xiao, who was currently learning how to cook.

He, on the other hand, wasn’t hungry and took his time with everything, which only made the two hungry creatures beside him even more impatient, almost banging on the table in frustration.

Finally, the lobster meat was ready. Chi Xiao scooped up two pieces, removed the shells, and handed one to each of the eager diners on his left and right.

Ming Can looked at the clean, shell-free meat in her bowl and whispered, “I could have done that myself.”

Chi Xiao replied, “Sure.”

She rolled her eyes inwardly, thinking, Couldn’t you have just insisted?

But then she saw him prepare the next piece of meat the same way, removing the shell before placing it in her bowl.

Ming Can’s eyes curved into a smile as she picked up her glass of drink and raised it to him. “To Miaomiao’s dad, thank you for your hard work.”

Chi Xiao raised his eyebrow, lifting his glass as well. Miaomiao grabbed his cup and joined in, and the three of them clinked their glasses together.

The private room was filled with steam from the hotpot. Ming Can, now halfway full, lazily propped her chin on her hand and turned to discuss with Chi Xiao how they would take care of Miaomiao in the coming days.

“It’s almost New Year,” Ming Can said. “You’ll have to go home for the holidays, right?”

Chi Xiao replied, “Not necessarily.”

Ming Can asked, “Are you really going to tell your dad you’re spending New Year in the U.S.?”

“Yeah,” Chi Xiao said indifferently. “He won’t bother verifying it with my mom.”

Ming Can couldn’t imagine what kind of grudge this couple held against each other. Despite having a child together, they seemed to treat him with indifference, and they seemed extremely reluctant to communicate with each other.

No matter how much they might resent each other, the child was innocent. Why couldn’t they show him a little more care?

Ming Can said, “My aunt will be back in Beicheng during the New Year. Miaomiao can stay with her for a while.”

Chi Xiao asked, “Doesn’t she need to celebrate New Year at home?”

Ming Can explained, “She said she doesn’t have to go home. She’s been working independently for a long time, and my grandparents won’t mind too much.”

Chi Xiao glanced at Miaomiao, who was quietly eating from his bowl, not saying a word.

If he were Miaomiao, during such an important time as New Year, he would probably prefer to spend it with his dad rather than his great-aunt.

“I’ll take care of him,” Chi Xiao said. “I’m not going home, and no one really cares anyway.”

Ming Can felt a pang of sadness in her heart and nodded.

She turned to Miaomiao, gently touching his cheek, and said, “Mom will come to see you every day.”

Miaomiao smiled, revealing two rows of neat little white teeth.

In truth, he wasn’t that fussy. He was already very content. Today, sitting around the table with Mom and Dad, eating a steaming hotpot, felt just like New Year to him!

After finishing dinner and packing up to leave the private room, Chi Xiao put on his coat and, without hesitation, picked up Ming Can’s violin case, slinging it over his shoulder.

“Are you really not going to play anymore?” he suddenly asked.

Ming Can was taken aback, not expecting him to bring this up again.

She thought she had made herself clear the last time.

She wasn’t sure why he felt the need to confirm it again.

“Yeah,” Ming Can nodded, without hesitation. “I’ve lost interest. School and work will only get busier, and practicing feels like a waste of time now.”

A waste of time.

Only things you don’t enjoy feel like a waste of time, right?

Chi Xiao gave a slight nod.

He didn’t say anything more.

The server opened the door to the private room, and Chi Xiao walked out first.

Ming Can held Miaomiao’s hand, watching his tall, slender figure from behind. He looked broad and reliable, like a mountain, with her cream-colored triangular violin case slung over his shoulder. It didn’t quite match, but there was an inexplicable harmony to it.

As they stepped into the elevator, the atmosphere suddenly grew quiet.

Ming Can seemed to remember something, hesitating for a long time, her face turning slightly red. It wasn’t until the elevator was halfway down that she finally spoke, her words halting and unlike her usual self: “Senior, back in high school, that day you came to see me… were you carrying a violin case? Didn’t you play the piano? Why were you carrying a violin case?”

Although her words were vague, Chi Xiao immediately understood she was referring to the day he had confessed to her.

Chi Xiao kept both hands in his pockets, his eyelids lowered, his tone indifferent. “You must be remembering wrong.”

“I was probably carrying a tennis racket bag,” Chi Xiao said. “I played tennis a lot back then.”

“Oh,” Ming Can responded quietly.

Several years had passed, and she could no longer recall the exact details of that day.

For some reason, she had always subconsciously thought it was a violin case.

Maybe his tennis racket bag and her violin case had looked similar, causing her to mix them up.

–

That day had been exhausting, and Ming Can went to bed early that night.

The next morning, she was woken up by her alarm at seven. Feeling well-rested, she freshened up and put on a soft, gentle outfit before heading downstairs for breakfast.

Ming Zheng was on the phone in the living room.

It wasn’t an important call, so when he saw his daughter coming downstairs, he put the phone down and asked, “Where are you off to today?”

Ming Can had a busy social life and was almost always out and about. Fortunately, she always came home early in the evening, so Ming Zheng wasn’t too worried. He had grown used to it and simply asked about her plans casually.

“I’m going to visit Teacher Leting,” Ming Can said. “During yesterday’s performance, a friend mentioned that Teacher Leting had been hospitalized recently and just got discharged. We agreed to visit her at her studio today.”

Ming Zheng thought for a while before remembering who Teacher Leting was.

Teacher Leting, whose full name was Wang Leting, was a highly renowned violin maker. Her violins had won countless awards, and the ones Ming Can played most comfortably were all crafted by her.

Ming Zheng said, “You can’t go empty-handed.”

Ming Can replied, “I know. I prepared gifts yesterday, and they’re already in the car.”

Ming Zheng nodded. “It’s been years since I’ve seen you buy a new violin. If you see any you like today, just buy them all.”

Ming Can shook her head. “I don’t want to play the violin anymore. Today’s visit to Teacher Leting is also to say goodbye.”

“Why?” Ming Zheng was stunned. “You play so well. All your teachers have said you’re a prodigy…”

“No particular reason,” Ming Can shrugged, her expression indifferent. “I just don’t like it anymore.”

If it weren’t for you and Grandpa secretly discussing how you didn’t want me to apply to University B, hoping I’d study the violin and make it my career, staying away from the ‘filth of money’ like all the women in the Ming family, living as a noble ornament, I wouldn’t have developed such a rebellious mindset.

I know rebelling is wrong. I know art is innocent. But no matter what, I can’t overcome it.

So be it.

Ming Can didn’t say anything more and quietly ate her breakfast in the dining room.

At nine in the morning.

The car drove into a villa district. Ming Can looked out the window and felt how time had changed. In her memory, this neighborhood had been luxurious and beautiful, but now it showed signs of aging, with many areas looking worn and old.

The car came to a stop in front of a simple yet elegant European-style villa.

Ming Can and her friend each carried a gift and walked up to the villa’s entrance, where they saw a sign made of purple nanmu wood—Leting Studio.

The door wasn’t locked, so they pushed it open and entered. Guided by a staff member, they made their way to a quiet workshop, where they met Teacher Leting.

Ming Can’s mother had also learned the violin, and the instrument she used back then was handmade by Teacher Leting. That was decades ago. Now, Teacher Leting was in her seventies, her hair completely white, but her passion for making violins remained undiminished. She had returned to the studio to continue her work shortly after being discharged from the hospital.

The staff members were all Teacher Leting’s apprentices. They had informed Ming Can earlier that Teacher Leting’s memory wasn’t the best and she might not remember the two of them.

Sure enough, Teacher Leting adjusted her reading glasses and looked at the two young, beautiful girls in front of her. She felt a sense of familiarity but couldn’t recall their names.

Ming Can took the initiative to introduce herself. “Teacher, I’m Sera, Elina’s daughter. Do you remember me? I came here to buy violins when I was very young, and I visited again two years ago. That day, when I was trying out a violin, you even played the piano to accompany me.”

“Sera!” Teacher Leting nodded, clearly remembering now. Her face lit up with fine laugh lines, looking very pleased. “Elina’s little prodigy. You were this tall when you could already play Bazzini’s 《La Ronde des Lutins》. I remember it vividly. You liked violins with clear, bright tones.”

The older the memory, the clearer it seemed to be for the elderly. Ming Can couldn’t even remember when she had learned 《La Ronde des Lutins》.

Ming Can and her friend handed their gifts to the apprentices nearby. The gifts weren’t extravagant, so Teacher Leting didn’t refuse them.

Now that she was older, Teacher Leting wasn’t fixated on the speed of making violins. She worked at a leisurely pace every day, and when guests or friends visited, she would take them on a tour. Today was no different. She led the two young women through the violin room, workshop, materials room, and the collection room, enthusiastically introducing everything.

In the apprentice workshop, Teacher Leting pointed to a corner and said to Ming Can with a chuckle, “You and Ah Xiao used to squat right here and argue for hours. You even said you’d buy one of his violins for eight million when you grew up. Your mom and I almost died laughing when we heard that.”

This incident supposedly happened the first time Ming Can came to Teacher Leting’s studio to buy a violin.

Later, every time Ming Can visited, Teacher Leting would bring up the story again. Ming Can had heard it so many times that, at first, she felt embarrassed, thinking her younger self had been too hot-tempered and cringey. She had even begged Teacher Leting to stop mentioning it. But now, she could laugh it off as a funny childhood memory.

Today, feeling a bit nostalgic, Ming Can casually asked Teacher Leting, “Is Ah Xiao still making violins?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen him in a long time. He wasn’t my formal apprentice—I taught him for free.” They happened to be standing by the window, and Teacher Leting pointed to a building outside. “Ah Xiao used to live there. After his parents divorced, his family moved away from here.”

Ming Can followed her gaze and saw a poorly maintained European-style villa, its walls covered in dried ivy, exuding a sense of desolation.

After chatting for another hour or so, it was almost noon. Ming Can and her friend carefully reminded Teacher Leting to take care of her health, then said their goodbyes and left.

As they passed the dilapidated villa, Ming Can couldn’t help but slow her steps.

Ah Xiao.

The name flashed through her mind, and she felt like she had heard it somewhere recently.

Suddenly, it came to her.

When she had taken Miaomiao to watch his dad play basketball a while ago, Miaomiao had referred to him that way.

In that moment, Ming Can stopped in her tracks.

“What’s wrong?” her friend asked.

“There’s something I suddenly want to ask Teacher Leting,” Ming Can said, taking a deep breath. “You go ahead. Don’t wait for me.”

With that, she took a couple of steps back, waved to her friend, and quickly turned around to run back toward Teacher Leting’s villa.