novelraw Chapter 27 Palm and Back of the Hand
Chapter 27 Palm and Back of the Hand
Without a second of hesitation.
Phone in hand, Jiang Ran rushed out the door.
Cheng Mengxue and Qin Feng followed immediately. The three hailed a taxi at the campus gate and headed for Hangzhou City Hospital at top speed.
On the way, they learned the details.
The elevator in the building where Jiang Ran’s parents lived had malfunctioned and was under repair.
So Jiang Ran’s mother took the stairs downstairs. She slipped on the stairwell, fell headfirst, and lost consciousness on the spot. She was rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment.
The hospital said the situation was very bad—massive intracranial bleeding. A craniotomy had to be performed immediately.
The three arrived at the ICU entrance in a panic……
Relatives and friends were all there, palms slick with sweat.
Hours passed. Jiang Ran’s mother was still not out of danger.When signing the critical condition notice, the doctor said that even if they managed to save her life, there was a high likelihood of brain function impairment, and the family should prepare themselves mentally in advance.
Jiang Ran’s heart pounded like a drum. Cheng Mengxue kept holding his hand, gripping it tightly.
Qin Feng patted Jiang Ran on the shoulder.
“Let’s go back and use spacetime text messages.”
Jiang Ran frowned deeply.
“But……”
Both were parents. Both were children.
If he saved his own mother, then what about Qin Feng’s father?
Even though one was just hours ago and the other ten years ago, with butterfly effects and risks on completely different scales……
Parents were still parents. Could there really be a difference?
“Don’t worry about me.”
Qin Feng urged him on.
“Save Auntie first. We’ll talk about my wish later. Don’t worry—I know very well how vastly different the butterfly effects are between these two cases. You don’t need to have any misgivings.”
“And don’t feel guilty either. After the worldline changes, Xiaoxue and I won’t have this memory anyway. Just handle it yourself. In the spacetime text message, tell the you from a few hours ago not to tell us about this.”
“That’s impossible.”
Jiang Ran shook his head.
“I can’t hide this from you.”
“Jiang Ran……”
Cheng Mengxue’s eyes brimmed with tears as she held his hand.
“Let’s hurry back…… save Auntie!”
……
Another two hours of frantic taxi speeding later, the three returned to Donghai University and the student activity room.
Jiang Ran stood beside the transformer distribution box. The message had already been edited.
This time, the solution was simple.
The elevator malfunction was due to a loose bottom buffer. It wasn’t a major problem—just needed timely detection and repair.
If it had been discovered a day earlier and fixed a day earlier, the elevator would be operating normally today. Jiang Ran’s mother wouldn’t have needed to take the stairs, and the fall wouldn’t have happened.
So all they needed to do was notify property management two days in advance and have it repaired early.
“The message is ready!”
Jiang Ran shouted toward the window.
Cheng Mengxue straddled the windowsill, made an OK gesture, then looked at Qin Feng.
With the visualized control panel, everything became easy.
Qin Feng turned the knobs, zeroing out the year, month, and hour displays, and setting the day display to 2.
That way, the spacetime text message would be sent two days into the past.
“I’m set here too!”
Cheng Mengxue nodded, facing outside.
“Then I’ll count it down! 5! 4! 3! 2! 1! 0!”
The Positron Cannon roared. Jiang Ran pressed the send button—
Buzz!
Buzz!
Buzz!
The world spun. Gravity vanished. A wave of discomfort surged.
Jiang Ran clenched his teeth and endured it.
Two seconds later, everything faded.
He opened his eyes.
And found…… his position had changed again—from the outdoor distribution box just moments ago to the activity room sofa, sitting upright.
He immediately took out his phone and dialed his father.
“Hello? Dad! Where’s Mom?”
“Huh? Your mom just got back from buying groceries. She’s cooking right now.”
There was music on the other end—probably the TV. Jiang Ran finally relaxed.
“That’s good. You and Mom are getting older. If you take the stairs downstairs in the future, be careful—it’s easy to slip.”
“What! Who takes the stairs when there’s an elevator!”
His dad sounded unconcerned.
“Come to think of it, the elevator was shut down for repairs a couple days ago. It won’t fall halfway down, will it?”
“It’s fine.”
Jiang Ran smiled.
“For older folks like you, even if the elevator malfunctions, it’s still safer than the stairs. There are so many locking mechanisms—it’s basically impossible for it to fall.”
After a bit of small talk, he hung up.
Qin Feng and Cheng Mengxue looked over.
“You just experienced a worldline transition?” Qin Feng asked.
Jiang Ran nodded.
He didn’t hide anything. He told them about using a spacetime text message to save his mother.
“So what are we doing now?”
He put his phone away and synchronized memories with them.
“What were we just discussing? Where did we leave off?”
“We were talking about Qin Feng’s wish……”
Cheng Mengxue hugged the Rhine Cat softly.
“Qin Feng said he wanted to use spacetime text messages to save his father, who died ten years ago.”
……
Alright.
What was meant to come still came. What was bound to happen still happened.
Judging from the atmosphere in the room, they must have been at a stalemate over this for quite some time.
“Let’s vote.”
Cheng Mengxue raised her head.
“Like we did before when solving problems—when there’s a disagreement, we settle it by voting. The minority obeys the majority.”
“I abstain.”
Qin Feng stood up from his chair and walked toward the door.
“I know this is no small matter. Reviving someone who died ten years ago, rewriting a decade of history…… the spacetime butterfly effect would be far too intense, impossible to estimate.”
“But this person is my father, after all. My rationality might not be able to make a sufficiently rational choice. So I abstain.”
Snap.
As he passed the sofa, Jiang Ran grabbed Qin Feng’s wrist.
“Don’t go.”
He didn’t look up.
“We’re a trio. How can we vote if you leave? We’ve never been separated when making decisions.”
“I have to go.”
Qin Feng glanced at Cheng Mengxue, then looked down at Jiang Ran.
“You understand, Jiang Ran. If the three of us vote together, the result will definitely pass.”
Jiang Ran knew what he meant.
Because Cheng Mengxue would certainly vote in favor, and with Qin Feng that would make two votes for. By majority rule, Jiang Ran’s opposing vote would be meaningless.
“I don’t want to put you in a difficult position.”
Qin Feng’s voice was very soft.
“I miss my father deeply, but I also cherish you two as friends. To me, both sides of the scale weigh the same.”
“So…… let the two of you discuss it. Take as long as you need. Days, months—it’s all fine. I’ll wait for your answer.”
With that—
He gently closed the activity room door and walked away.
……
Only Jiang Ran and Cheng Mengxue remained in the room.
Yet the silence and heaviness did not dissipate. Instead, they grew denser by the moment.
Jiang Ran lowered his head, elbows braced on his thighs, hands covering his face.
“Am I…… being selfish?”
He said it to Cheng Mengxue, and to himself.
“When saving Xu Yan, I opposed it. When saving Qin Feng’s father, I fall silent…… but when it comes to saving my own mother, I only hesitated for show.”
Cheng Mengxue stuffed the warm rice-cooker Rhine Cat into Jiang Ran’s arms, still carrying body heat. Then she touched the back of his neck and rested her head against his shoulder.
“Because…… it’s different.”
She closed her eyes, her voice gentle.
“You still saved Xu Yan in the end. And Qin Feng’s father passed away ten years ago—the butterfly effects over ten years…… even Qin Feng himself says he can’t gamble on it.”
“Jiang Ran, I understand your hesitation better than anyone…… you’re not a coward, and you’re absolutely not a selfish person.”
Jiang Ran’s breathing grew heavier.
“Then what if……”
He bit his lip.
Paused.
And voiced the question he almost didn’t dare to think about:
[Then what if the one who died ten years ago was my father—would Qin Feng…… agree?]