Chapter 23: One Call of Yi Yi – A Fifteen-Year Separation Between Them…

8 PM, Gu Yifeng’s Residence

How’s it going?Gu Yifeng stood behind Gao Yiyuan, his gaze fixed on the computer screen.

Surveillance footage from the municipal traffic system flashed frame by frame:

16:03 Armored vehicle exits hospital

16:07 Disappears at highway ramp

After that…

Damn it.Gao Yiyuan scratched his head: These surveillance feeds seem to have been tampered with, replaced with looped footage. The technique is extremely sophisticated…

Suddenly remembering something, their eyes met in the screen’s reflection—

Guo Qingyu!

Gu Yifeng’s phone screen lit up with a message from an unknown number:

30°52’15.6N 117°13’42.8E Coming to pick you up

Ni Qianfan leaned closer: Old Gu, could this be a trap?

Gu Yifeng instinctively reached for his gun but found nothing.

He irritably pinched the bridge of his nose.

You focus on recovering from your injuries. Leave this to me.Ni Qianfan grabbed the car keys and headed for the door.

Wait, I’m coming with you.

Gu Yifeng and Ni Qianfan’s car crunched over the gravel road, stopping outside an abandoned electronics factory in the suburbs.

Under the streetlight, a black sedan sat quietly parked.

Guo Qingyu leaned casually against the car body, twirling a black USB drive between his fingers.

Gu Yifeng strode forward, his voice tight with anger: Where is she?

Guo Qingyu lazily lifted his eyelids and tossed him the USB drive: I’m the one who saved her. You’ll repay the favor later.

Ni Qianfan took the USB drive from Gu Yifeng, inserted it into his portable terminal, and quickly scanned—

Human Application Experiment ReportSummary of Experimental AccidentsCloud River City Secret Base Construction PlanCloud Lake City Laboratory Expansion Plan

Ni Qianfan’s pupils contracted – this was truly a hot potato.

If anyone touches her again,Guo Qingyu adjusted his glasses, you know what to do.

Without another word, Gu Yifeng walked straight to the sedan’s back seat.

As he pulled open the car door, his hand paused.

Wen Yi lay curled quietly in the back seat, covered by Guo Qingyu’s suit jacket, only half of her pale face visible.

Gu Yifeng stiffly turned his head to glare at Guo Qingyu.

The atmosphere grew somewhat awkward.

Guo Qingyu waved dismissively: All ambition but no talent. Can’t control her powers properly, nearly got us all killed. I had to carry her back in the end. What a pain! Just get her out of here!Ni Qianfan keenly noticed that Gu Yifeng’s expression was extremely unpleasant, and immediately tried to smooth things over: I’ll do it!Old Gu, your hand injury hasn’t healed yet!

Moonlight flowed like water through the half-drawn bedroom curtains, spilling over Wen Yi’s pale face.

Gu Yifeng sat by the bedside, his fingertips brushing over Wen Yi’s sleeping features, his eyes growing darker.

That suit jacket, and all those disdainful cares, felt like thorns piercing his heart.

In the quiet of the night, they pricked at him, far more unbearable than any physical wounds.

He leaned over her, bracing himself beside her ear, his shadow completely enveloping her.

His first kiss landed on her brow, light as a feather yet carrying undeniable weight.

Eyes, nose tip… finally stopping at the corner of her mouth.

He repeatedly rubbed against her soft lips, as if marking his territory with his own scent.

His fingers parted her collar, revealing her luminous skin.

Gu Yifeng’s eyes darkened as he lowered his head to kiss and suck at the exposed flesh.

Warm lips and tongue licked across the collarbone, stubble brushing haphazardly against skin. Wen Yi let out a soft murmur in her sleep, unconsciously tilting her head to expose the vulnerable curve of her neck.

Delicate nibbles traveled from her neck down to the collarbone, leaving a trail of crimson love bites like red plum blossoms blooming in snow.

Gu Yifeng ignored the restless heat surging within him, holding her tightly as they slept.

Others couldn’t understand the reason behind his recent madness.

How could they possibly comprehend?

What existed between him and Wen Yi was never their first meeting, but a long-awaited reunion.

No one knew he carried a star in his heart that belonged solely to him—invisible to all astronomical telescopes, yet shining brightly through his loneliest years.

Their souls had once nestled together, keeping company through countless nights and days, until the day the stars collapsed.

Then began the endless waiting.

Fifteen years.

Over five thousand days and nights.

Only during the time without her did he truly understand what eternity meant.

Until that business card spanning fifteen years returned to his hands—

He had finally caught his fallen star returned to the mortal realm.

Gu Yifeng slowly closed his eyes, drifting back to that year when he was seventeen.

*

Outside the window, plane tree leaves rustled as they fell like faded letters being opened by the wind.

In the study room, Gu Yifeng glanced casually at the test questions before circling C with his pen.

He continued quietly conversing with the voice in his head:

You don’t belong to this world, do you?

Yes.

He moved to the next question—an easy one—lightly checking B with his pen tip.

Where do you come from? The past… or the future?

Future.

Can I meet you in the future then?

No.

His pen hovered over the test paper:

Why? How many years separate us?

A long silence followed.

Gu Yifeng set down his pen, waiting quietly.

Finally, the voice spoke again, carrying a tenderness that bordered on cruelty.

Forever

Forever?

His breath hitched slightly. Were they separated by forever? Would they never meet?

An indescribable sense of loss washed over him.

Then… are you male or female?

Female

What’s your name?

Yi

Which Yi?

Gu Yifeng glanced at his math test paper, lips unconsciously curving upward. Like the number one?

…

Then I’ll call you Yi Yi from now on?His voice carried laughter, like a tentative probe.

Recently, classmates from Class 10, Grade 12 noticed something strange.

Their aloof top student Gu Yifeng kept talking to himself and often broke into inexplicable grins.

Perhaps it was due to the severe shock of unexpectedly losing his father recently. Everyone tactfully left him alone.

Enjoying the peace, Gu Yifeng spent every day teasing Yi Yiacross dimensions.

Yi Yi, can you solve this problem?

No

Yi Yi, check what Liu Junru scored on this month’s exam? Last month he beat me by one point.

…493

Damn!

Yi Yi, are you better at math or physics?

Neither…

Then you must be good at liberal arts? Great, you can answer the classical Chinese questions for me next time.

Refused

Yi Yi,he suddenly lowered his voice, You can see me, right? Do you peek when I change clothes?

No…

Gu Yifeng actually detected a trace of embarrassment in the virtual voice.

He buried his face in his arms, shoulders trembling slightly—so this was what it felt like teasing Yi Yi across time and space.

What about bathing? Using the toilet?He deliberately drew out his tone.

The voice in his mind finally snapped,

Get lost!! The pitch suddenly rose, and he could almost picture the girl on the other end blushing in frustration.

Hahaha…Gu Yifeng couldn’t hold back his laughter. This was the first time in three months since his father passed that he genuinely laughed until his eyes grew warm.

Ever since meeting Yi Yi, Gu Yifeng had been searching for a scientific basis for their communication.

He speculated that Yi Yi could generate gravitational waves at specific frequencies in the High-Dimensional Space, which then transformed into detectable sound waves in lower-dimensional space.

Cross-dimensional signal transmission must consume enormous energy—no wonder she never used two words where one would suffice.

In this miraculous relationship, the usually aloof and taciturn Gu Yifeng had somehow become the chatterbox.

Yi Yi, the cafeteria’s tomato and egg stir-fry had sugar added today. I don’t like it. Do you prefer sweet or sour?

Sweet

Do you add sugar or milk to your coffee?

Just sugar

Yi Yi, this zhajiangmian is absolutely delicious. Let me eat it for you to see.

No noodles

Yi Yi, do I look better in blue or black?

Black

Alright, I’ll wear black for you from now on.

Yi Yi, I shaved today. Do I look handsome?

…

38.6°C… Yi Yi, I feel awful.

Go to hospital

…I’d rather die than go.

Go now

Then coax me into going?The boy buried his face in the pillow, muffling his laughter. Say it cutely for me?

After a long silence

Please……Okay?

Each call of Yi Yiwas like quantum entanglement lingering in the morning light, a gentle gravitational echo at midnight.

It was the starlight he secretly clung to during his lonely years.

Yi Yi, I’m planning to change my application to police academy. Do you support me?

Okay

Yi Yi, I got into police academy with the top score.

Awesome

Yi Yi, I’m playing soccer with Dai Yiming from the forensic department later. Help me guide the ball into the goal. Aim carefully, don’t score an own goal.

Don’t worry

Yi Yi, I’ll be working at Yunhu Criminal Investigation Division after graduating next month, inheriting my father’s badge number.

You can do it

Will you stay with me to punish evil and uphold justice?

Will

Yi Yi, Yi Yi…He kept repeating the name.

Each syllable was like a star falling into the cracks of the universe, waiting for a response in the silent darkness.

The night before graduation, Gu Yifeng lay in bed reading when he suddenly spoke:

Yi Yi, I received a confession from a junior today.

…Not bad The reply came half a beat slower than usual.

You’re not jealous, are you?

No The voice lacked its usual clarity.

Don’t worry, I turned her down.

Oh…

Do you know why?

None of my business

Because there’s someone I like.

What…

???

Gu Yifeng listened to his heart pounding wildly:

I said, there’s someone I like.He stubbornly repeated.

…Oh

I’ve never seen her, never heard her real voice.He suddenly laughed,

She doesn’t exist in my spacetime. We can never truly be together.

He heard the faint hum of air currents, light as a teardrop falling through the High-dimensional Space-time.

But I still… like her, for no reason. Yi Yi, does this count as love?

Ren Yi Yi answered with silence. He continued speaking to himself, as if asking and answering his own questions.

I think I’ll stay with her forever in this way.

After a long while, an extremely soft sigh echoed in his mind.

Will you stay with me forever? Yi Yi.

Yi Yi’s voice came intermittently,

[…With my

[Remaining life…

His heart suddenly contracted—she was responding to his confession.

Gu Yifeng leaned against the headboard and called out to her softly:

Yi Yi, you can interfere with local gravity fields, creating minor perturbations in real space, right?

[Yes

His Adam’s apple bobbed, his voice carrying a tentative tone: Then… can you ‘touch’ me?

After a moment of silence, Yi Yi’s voice sounded:

[You want to do…

Yes, I want to, with you.

[What

[???

An eerie silence suddenly fell in his mind, leaving only faint background noise of air currents.

Can you? Yi Yi, I want you.

Just as he thought he would hear [rejection again,

A subtle yet real energy fluctuation suddenly brushed across his collarbone.

The air current carried a slightly warm temperature, as if someone was tracing the line of his neck with a fingertip.

Gu Yifeng’s breath hitched, his muscles tensing abruptly.

Yi Yi—his voice tightened.

The energy suddenly shifted downward, slowly moving along the lines of his abdominal muscles, hovering dangerously at his waist before gradually flowing lower.

Gu Yifeng gripped the bedsheet tightly.

Author’s note:

———————-

Using Yi Yiinstead of Yi Yibecause Yi Yilooks too much like a dash.