novelraw Chapter 112 Cola
Chapter 112 Cola
The air turned tense.
Hostile.
Cheng Mengxue’s expression froze, her eyes clouded with confusion as she sat in her chair without moving.
Jiang Ran looked at her coldly.
This “impostor” had probably never imagined she would give herself away over something this trivial.
That was the power of details.
Perhaps with other matters—even without Cheng Mengxue’s memories—a skilled psychologist could still infer most things from context. But something like cola? There was no way to infer that.
It was too small a detail.
If Wang Hao hadn’t casually ordered a bottle of cola just now, Jiang Ran himself would never have thought of something so insignificant.
But…Just like what Chi Xiaoguo had said earlier when evaluating digital cameras.
The real is real. The fake is fake.
Coke is Coke. Pepsi is Pepsi.
They are things that can never be confused with each other.
So.
There was no doubt.
The Cheng Mengxue sitting across from him was fake.
Even as the conclusion sent chills down Jiang Ran’s spine, he couldn’t help admiring how formidable this impostor was. She was even more impressive than the agents, disguise masters, or shape-shifting witches in the movies.
She had truly done everything possible to play the role of “Cheng Mengxue” perfectly—so convincingly that it was indistinguishable from the real thing. Even Jiang Ran had to admit that if he hadn’t maintained absolute mental discipline, hammering a psychological iron seal into his own mind again and again, he might already have been fooled by her flawless performance.
However.
At this moment.
The truth had come out.
Jiang Ran looked at Cheng Mengxue with interest, waiting to see how she would try to argue her way out of it.
“Pfft.”
Covering her mouth, Cheng Mengxue suddenly burst into laughter.
“Hahahahahahahaha…”
She looked genuinely delighted, laughing so hard she clutched her stomach—just like in Worldline 0 when she had received the rice-cooker Rhine Cat.
“Oh my god, Jiang Ran! You’re killing me!”
She let out a long breath and wiped the corner of her eyes.
“I thought you were about to do something serious. Are you cosplaying Detective Conan or something? What is this, trying to identify the murderer?”
“Let me warn you—if you’re trying to weasel out of your debt, this isn’t the way! My allowance back then wasn’t much to begin with. Every time I paid for drinks for you guys, it hurt my heart!”
“So how could I possibly forget what drinks you bought every time? I’ll never forget it for the rest of my life! Every single time you bought Pepsi!”
“Cluck-cluck-cluck-cluck!”
Wang Hao started cackling uncontrollably like a hen about to lay an egg. He simply couldn’t hold it in anymore.
Jiang Ran gave a cold laugh.
Indeed.
Wang Hao—it was your turn now.
Time for you, the most valuable witness, to step forward. Time to end Fake Cheng Mengxue’s stubborn denial, tear away her forced smile, and strip off that false mask!
He raised his right hand high, thumb, index finger, and middle finger crossing as they gathered force—
Snap!
He snapped his fingers.
This was the signal he had agreed on with Wang Hao. It meant he could start speaking. It also represented the signing of a car purchase contract.
“Y-yes! Finally I can talk!” Wang Hao gasped, sucking in a huge breath of air.
“Wang Hao.”
Jiang Ran kept his gaze fixed on Cheng Mengxue.
“Tell her what cola I bought every time after high school P.E. class.”
“You always bought Pepsi!”
Wang Hao roared hoarsely, furious.
He had been making a thousand faces at Jiang Ran just now, trying to warn him: Brother, you got it wrong!
But Jiang Ran wouldn’t let him speak.
For the sake of his opening-day sales order as a future car salesman at a 4S dealership, Wang Hao had no choice but to keep his mouth shut and cluck like a chicken.
“Xiaoxue is absolutely right! Completely right!”
Wang Hao stood firmly on Cheng Mengxue’s side.
“You bought Pepsi! Not once—not a single time—did you ever buy Coca-Cola! I’ll testify for Xiaoxue!”
Jiang Ran stared at Wang Hao in shock.
He had never imagined that at such a critical moment, Wang Hao would betray him!
…
He liked cola. Didn’t he know his own tastes?
Of course he did.
Yes, this wasn’t Worldline 0 anymore—it was Worldline 1.
But could a person’s taste in food or drinks really change?
Even if he walked into a supermarket right now to buy cola, he would choose Coca-Cola without hesitation.
Sure, the temporal butterfly effect could change many things.
But changes required triggers—opportunities, key turning points. Not every single detail in a worldline would be overturned by the butterfly effect.
Especially something like taste.
If you don’t like it, you don’t like it.
He couldn’t imagine any situation where he would ignore the better-tasting Coca-Cola he preferred and deliberately choose Pepsi instead.
“I would never drink Pepsi,” Jiang Ran insisted.
“You could only drink Pepsi,” Wang Hao insisted back.
Jiang Ran laughed in disbelief.
“Why? What, did the school convenience store owner force me to buy it?”
Wang Hao stared at him with utter disbelief.
“You… you really don’t remember?”
“You forgot? Song He’s dad is the director of the Food and Drug Supervision Bureau!”
“So what?”
Jiang Ran frowned.
“What does his dad being a director have to do with what cola I drink? Is there any connection at all?”
Song He.
On Worldline 1, he was the classmate who replaced Qin Feng in their class. His student number was 40.
Jiang Ran really wasn’t familiar with him. Since he had lost nearly ten years of memories from Worldline 1, it was natural that he didn’t remember what his high school life on this worldline had been like.
But that didn’t matter much.
High school was mainly about studying anyway. His experiences probably weren’t that different from Worldline 0’s version—at most the members of the “Iron Triangle” had changed, with Wang Hao replacing Qin Feng.
But!
Back to the point.
Whether Qin Feng came to Hangzhou No.1 High School or not, whether Song He’s father really was the Food and Drug Supervision Bureau director—what did that have to do with Pepsi or Coca-Cola?
No one could control that, right? If he wanted cola, shouldn’t he be free to choose whichever brand he liked?
Wang Hao’s expression turned strange.
He reached out and placed his hand on Jiang Ran’s forehead, feeling it.
“You don’t have a fever… why are you acting like you’ve got amnesia?”
Jiang Ran brushed his hand away.
“If you’ve got something to say, hurry up. Why could I only drink Pepsi? Explain it clearly.”
Wang Hao sighed and began recounting an old story that every member of the Iron Triangle should have known.
…
“Honestly, telling this story in front of you two feels pointless.”
“Did you forget? Our first P.E. class in high school. After class the three of us went to the school’s only convenience store to buy drinks.”
“Song He had been playing basketball with us that day too. That guy ran really fast. Because we were waiting for Xiaoxue, when we reached the store he had already bought his drink and was paying.”
“The drink Song He bought was Coca-Cola. And there was only one bottle left in the fridge.”
“In other words, the last bottle of cola was taken by Song He. Whether Pepsi or Coca-Cola, there wasn’t a single bottle left afterward.”
…
(Then came the investigation by the school, the expired drinks incident, parents making a scene, the convenience store changing operators, and Coca-Cola being removed from the shelves.)
…
“So it wasn’t about what you liked to drink.”
“Song He throwing up and having diarrhea made the school convenience store so scared that they never dared sell Coca-Cola again.”
“You couldn’t drink it even if you wanted to!”
“You just said you bought Coca-Cola every time after P.E.? Dream on! Our school store didn’t even sell Coca-Cola!”
“But you really liked cola and didn’t like other drinks. So every time after P.E., you had no choice but to settle for Pepsi.”
Wang Hao laid it all out clearly.
And Jiang Ran finally understood.
It made sense.
And yet it didn’t.
This was probably…
another kind of closed loop created by the temporal butterfly effect.
…
Jiang Ran had nothing to say.
He was the clown here.
But it wasn’t really his fault.
After the Worldline Transition, he had no memories from Worldline 1, so naturally he had no idea something like that had happened during high school.
…
Wang Hao suddenly froze.
The hand holding the cola bottle stiffened in midair.
His pupils trembled slightly.
He looked at Jiang Ran beside him, who was chatting and laughing with Cheng Mengxue…
Holy crap!
Wang Hao suddenly came to a realization.
What the hell!
Good brother… after all this circling around…
could it be that you’re the fake one?!