His men had checked the surveillance footage, examining it frame by frame. They confirmed that after he and Assistant Sun got out of the car, no one suspicious had approached the vehicle, let alone magically materialized a person and stuffed her inside.

’So, everything she said was true...’

Xu Su fiddled with the hem of her skirt and looked up. "So, did you find this world’s version of me?"

Zhou Mochen didn’t answer her. Instead, he turned to the slightly stunned Shen Chen. "Ah Chen, you must not mention what happened today to anyone."

His tone was so serious it made Shen Chen’s mind race with speculation. With a solemn expression, he said, "Don’t worry."

The atmosphere suddenly grew tense, and only Xu Su was left confused.

Zhou Mochen lowered his gaze to her and said flatly, "I used the information you gave me to pull up the student roster for all of Kang County First Middle School. There are no students named Xu Su."

Xu Su’s eyes widened involuntarily. "I’m not there? This world doesn’t have a me?"

’Is this a dream?’

She lifted her wrist and bit down...

It still hurt.

"Don’t hurt yourself like that." Zhou Mochen pulled her wrist down with a sigh. "What’s your exact address? Who are your family members? Tell me everything in detail. I’ve already sent people to Chang City to verify things. Whether you exist there or not, we need to get to the bottom of this."

Hearing him say that, Xu Su thought it made perfect sense and spilled all of her personal information.

Shen Chen, who had been silent at her side, was a different story. A storm was brewing in his eyes. After she finished explaining her origins in detail, he finally couldn’t hold back any longer. "What in the world is going on? Are you two acting out some kind of sci-fi movie?"

"It might as well be a sci-fi movie," Xu Su said. She glanced at Zhou Mochen, then lowered her head in frustration. "If I’d known this would happen, I never would have kept thinking about seeing you as a teenager. Who knew that my daydreams would actually come true?"

Zhou Mochen had already heard her mention some of this in the car and had pieced most of it together. He couldn’t help but smile. "So now that you’ve met me, are you disappointed?"

Xu Su froze, then slowly shook her head.

’How could I be disappointed?’ The young man before her was even more captivating than the image she had painted in her mind countless times.

"In that case, don’t be sad," Zhou Mochen said. "You came here, so your wish came true, didn’t it?"

"...That’s not how it works." Xu Su was taken aback by his words and explained earnestly, "My boyfriend is the twenty-four-year-old you, but I don’t know the current you. So wanting to see you... I wouldn’t call that my wish coming true."

’It was just a small regret at most, a very insignificant one...’

Zhou Mochen hummed in acknowledgment and nodded slightly. "We’ll get to know each other soon enough. I’ll take good care of you."

"Take care of me? You’re younger than I am! You’re eighteen, and I’m nineteen..." Xu Su trailed off, then suddenly froze. She looked at the handsome young man before her, a grin spreading across her face like some kind of creepy old lady. "Hey, why don’t you call me ’Big Sister’?"

Seeing that she was no longer downcast, Zhou Mochen’s expression gradually relaxed. He watched her calmly for a moment. "What’s in it for me if I do?"

"What do you want?" Xu Su glared, feigning fierceness. "You never gave me anything when you made me call you ’Brother’!"

’He was always bullying me, too!’

"So, you call that version of me ’Brother,’ huh..."

Zhou Mochen’s eyes darkened. "Tell me when we met, and when we got together."

"I first met you during my first year of high school." There was no reason to hide it. "I was only sixteen at the time, and you were already twenty-one. And, well, you were completely crazy about me, you know?"

Xu Su was deliberately teasing him, but to her surprise, Zhou Mochen just nodded thoughtfully, not doubting her words in the slightest. "Is that right? Then why would I have gone to Chang City?"

"Business. Your company had a real estate project in Chang City. You were only supposed to be there for a short business trip, but then you fell for me at first sight and couldn’t bear to leave."

Shen Chen, who was getting lost listening to all this, couldn’t help but interject again. "Wait, are you saying Brother Zhou fell in love with you at first sight?"

He just couldn’t imagine the phrase "love at first sight" having anything to do with Brother Zhou.

"Yup!" Xu Su nodded firmly and looked at Zhou Mochen. "Tell him. Did you fall for me at first sight or not?"

"..." Zhou Mochen averted his gaze, a flicker of awkwardness on his face.

Seeing that reaction, Shen Chen had no more doubts.

Xu Su watched Zhou Mochen, fascinated. She absolutely adored this awkward side of him. She couldn’t resist grabbing his arm. "I answered your questions, so how about you call me ’Big Sister’?"

Zhou Mochen was silent for a few seconds. When he looked at her, his eyes seemed to ripple. "Big Sister..."

"!!!" Her heart hammered against her ribs at the sound of his voice. Xu Su quickly clutched her chest and sighed, "That was intense!"

"..." Zhou Mochen looked at her, exasperated. "Satisfied?"

"Mhm!" Xu Su nodded emphatically, beaming. "You have no idea how moody your future self is. He’s always flipping out and throwing tantrums, loves to pick fights with me, and won’t let me break up with him. The second I mention it, his whole expression changes!"

’Sure enough, the teenage Zhou Mochen is so much better behaved than he is six years from now. He actually called me Big Sister.’

Xu Su vented all her frustrations to the Zhou Mochen in front of her.

"Breaking up?" Zhou Mochen paused, then suddenly said, "Right, you still haven’t answered my question. Before you met me, how many boyfriends did you have?"

"..." Xu Su froze and gave a stiff smile. "That’s not important."

"No, it’s very important," Zhou Mochen said, looking at her. "According to you, you met me when you were sixteen. So does that mean you had boyfriends before you were sixteen?"

Beside them, Shen Chen’s eyebrow twitched. He nodded slowly in agreement. "That question is indeed very important."

Xu Su hemmed and hawed, unable to speak. ’Damn it,’ she thought, ’why did I have to go and run my mouth? I just exposed my own past for no reason.’

"That look on your face..." Shen Chen studied her for a moment, then couldn’t help but blurt out, "Did you cheat on him?"

"No!" Xu Su sat bolt upright and quickly explained, "I didn’t cheat!"

The smile on Zhou Mochen’s face had vanished.

Xu Su bit her lip. "When I was sixteen, I thought you were really annoying, so I developed a crush on someone else."

"I see..." Zhou Mochen gave a slight nod, asking as if he didn’t care at all, "What’s his name?"

"Stop asking. I’m not going to tell you." Xu Su took a deep breath. "This world doesn’t even have me, so he definitely doesn’t exist here either."

In fact, Xu Su still believed this world was just a dream.

It was just a little too realistic.

At this thought, she relaxed a little...

Zhou Mochen said no more. Instead, it was Shen Chen who hesitated for a moment before asking, "Your name is Xu Su, right? In your world, what’s our relationship like?"

When they first met, her reaction had made it obvious she knew him well.

"We’re good friends," Xu Su answered casually. Then, she suddenly remembered his "condition" and quickly turned to scan Shen Chen from head to toe.