Chapter One: The Enigmatic Web of Time and Space

Early March, in the heart of spring, at the Capital’s train station.

Galen trailed behind a girl, dragging a small suitcase, as they emerged from the underground passage onto the waiting platform.

The distant whistle of the train grew louder, signaling their imminent farewell.

“Yingying…”

Galen’s throat was dry. “This is as far as I can walk you. Remember to call me when you get home!”

“Alright!” As Chen Yingying turned away, tears streamed uncontrollably down her cheeks.

A month earlier, Galen had returned to his hometown for the New Year when his old classmate, Chen Xiaohe, sought him out, asking him to look after his younger sister, Chen Yingying, who was coming to the Capital to take the entrance exam for the Opera Academy. What began as a simple favor blossomed into feelings between the two.

Yet Yingying hadn’t accepted Galen’s confession outright. She told him she would only agree to be his girlfriend if she passed the arts exam and secured her future in the Capital.

Unfortunately, she failed. She decided to return home and prepare to retake the exam next year.

As for their budding relationship, neither mentioned it again. In Yingying’s words, she believed in love that stood the test of time, not in love at first sight.

The train arrived, and the crowd surged forward. Yingying boarded last, found her seat, and, through the window, waved goodbye, mouthing something silently.

Galen pondered her words several times before finally understanding. Unable to contain himself, he shouted, “Chen Yingying! I love you!”

Many passengers in the carriage turned to look out the window at him.

Yingying immediately covered her mouth and wept, trying hard not to make a sound.

The train departed. Galen ran alongside, chasing after it until it vanished from sight…

…

Life in the bustling city left people with no time to pause.

In the blink of an eye, more than two weeks had passed since Yingying left the Capital. Though separated by distance, the two exchanged countless messages daily and spoke on the phone every night.

To video chat, Galen had made a special trip to the secondhand market today and bought a used laptop. Though it cost only eight hundred yuan, the expense still stung.

With two younger brothers and a sister still in school, tuition fees weighed heavily on his parents. Over the years, not only had they depleted their savings, but they had also borrowed from every relative and friend they could.

To ease his family’s burden, Galen gave up further studies after graduating from the local arts academy and came to the Capital to work.

He started by hauling boxes for a song-and-dance troupe, DJing at nightclubs, working as an extra at film sets, and eventually found some stability as a resident singer in a bar.

From fifty yuan per show at the start to three hundred now, his perseverance meant he could now earn more than ten thousand yuan a month.

Still, even with such an income, living in the Capital was a struggle. Rent alone was a huge expense. Fortunately, he shared an apartment with two students, making things a little easier. Even so, he had to watch every penny.

He often thought that life might get easier once his siblings were all in college.

When he left the secondhand market, it was already five in the afternoon.

Though his bar gig was from eight to ten at night, the city’s notorious traffic and long subway rides meant he had to leave hours early.

Usually, Galen napped on the subway during this time, but today, with his precious new laptop in hand, he stayed alert, cradling it with care, his guitar resting protectively in front of him, eyes vigilant to his surroundings.

Transfer, ride, transfer, ride…

After several subway changes, Galen finally arrived at Houhai South Bank.

Checking his phone, it was just past seven-thirty. He relaxed his pace and walked into the bar.

“Hey, Galen! You’re here…” As soon as he entered, a young waiter greeted him. The waiter looked awkward, as if he’d been waiting there on purpose.

Galen nodded, not noticing anything amiss.

“Um, Galen… Manager Sun asked to see you. He’s at the bar,” the waiter said, forcing a smile before walking away.

Galen wondered to himself—he had just gotten paid yesterday, so why did the manager want to see him today?

“Manager Sun, you wanted to see me?” he asked.

At the bar, Manager Sun was chatting with the bartender. Hearing Galen, he turned and smiled faintly. “Galen, why don’t you head home early today? I’ll even give you an extra day’s pay along with your deposit. Here, take this.”

He handed over a stack of hundred-yuan bills, clearly prepared in advance.

Galen knew what settling up the deposit meant—he was being let go.

Still, he couldn’t help but ask, “Why?”

Manager Sun smiled. “To be honest, business isn’t easy these days. The bars nearby have all hired female singers to draw in customers, and we can’t fall behind…”

Galen glanced toward the stage by the window.

Yesterday, that seat had been his. Tonight, a slender girl with long hair tucked under a baseball cap was adjusting the keyboard there. The breeze from Shichahai outside the window lifted her hair, drawing the gaze of passersby.

“Well, thank you, Manager Sun,” Galen said with a bitter smile. He’d sung at this bar for over half a year, but that was the nature of the business—newcomers replaced the old. Today, it was his turn.

“Uh… Galen!” Manager Sun called as Galen was about to leave. “If you want, you can come back at ten for the late set.”

“No, thank you,” Galen replied. After ten, the bar flooded with customers. Though the pay for singers was higher, the risks increased as well. A previous female singer had been drugged by some patrons, and a male singer who’d accepted cigarettes ended up in rehab.

Stepping out into the cool night breeze, Galen walked by the lakeside, where many young couples were taking photos.

The sight made him miss Chen Yingying even more.

He suddenly felt an urgent desire to return to his rented room and video call her.

As for finding a new job, that could wait until tomorrow.

When the boat reaches the bridge, it will straighten itself; after the deepest gloom, one finds a village bathed in light. He’d been out of work before. In a city this large, no one starves.

After several subway transfers, Galen returned to his apartment.

It was an old three-bedroom unit, with each tenant paying seventeen hundred yuan a month.

As soon as he entered, he saw his roommates, Wang Qilin and Cai Fei, each holding a game controller, playing on the TV in the living room.

Wang Qilin, who studied ballet, looked delicate and gentle—of the three, he was clearly the more passive one. Cai Fei, on the other hand, was a martial arts student at the sports university, big and burly, with a fierce appearance, and had claimed the dominant position with ease.

Seeing Galen return, Wang Qilin asked, “Hey, Galen, why are you back so early? Didn’t you have a bar gig?”

“Sigh, lost my job. Have to start job hunting again tomorrow,” Galen replied with a wry smile.

The two exchanged glances and immediately offered him words of comfort, even trying to lend him money, telling him not to worry.

Galen politely refused their kindness. Preoccupied with video calling Yingying, he chatted briefly before heading to his room.

He took the laptop from his bag, placed it on the desk, connected it to the internet and a power source, and impatiently turned it on.

A soft glow came from the screen, followed by a flood of English text.

“Huh? Why is it in English?” Galen frowned. All domestic computers used Chinese systems these days; when had he last seen an English one? Was this some ancient relic from more than a decade ago?

The screen changed, the system booted up, and the words “windowsxp” appeared before him.

“What’s this? Window XP?” Galen frowned deeper. Only Western countries used English systems, and these days, there were only two English systems: Store and Office. He’d never heard of anything called Windows—could it be some small company’s own creation?

He only relaxed when the words “Starting up” appeared in Chinese. For eight hundred yuan, at least it wasn’t a total scam.

“QQ Browser? Tencent QQ? What are these?” Galen raised an eyebrow, suspiciously eyeing the unfamiliar icons on the desktop—programs he’d never heard of.

At first, he thought they were just obscure little apps, but then he realized something was off—it was impossible not to recognize a single one.

He opened the browser. It showed a website called “2345 Navigation.”

There were plenty of such navigation sites at home, but the most popular was “4321 Navigation.” Seeing this, Galen cursed inwardly—what a blatant knockoff.

Then he looked at the search bar: it was embedded with something called Baidu. Now he was truly amazed. The world’s largest search engine was called Kedu—meaning instant, speed—with the English name “duk,” standing for “do you know?” This one had only changed a single letter—shameless!

Wait…

What was this news?

On the entertainment news section, he saw headlines like “Baby’s Plastic Surgery Assessment,” “Nirvana in Fire Broadcast in Korea,” “Running Man Season 3 Premiere,” and a slew of other terms.

He’d never heard of these people or news, yet they were front and center.

Suddenly, a terrifying thought struck him. His fingers trembling, he typed “2015” into the search bar.

When the results appeared, he almost stopped breathing—the results were completely different from the world he knew!

Not satisfied, Galen tried other keywords: history, current events, music, art, film, literature…

Through this computer, Galen glimpsed a strange new world. The information—unseen, unheard of—convinced him that this was a laptop capable of connecting to some mysterious space or planet.

Perhaps, this very laptop had come from a world entirely unlike his own.