The Beginning

Chapter 56: The Undeliverable Express (xiii)

After a night of watching the film, it would be a lie to say that I was not moved by this life.

You're just a young man in your early twenties, not an ascetic, and you still have the enthusiasm and hope that a young man should have, but the world is so hard and so harsh on you that all the bravado you once had in the army has been put away.

Now that you've been stirred up by Missy, your heart can't help but well up with pride.

He is a young man, so what is he afraid to try?

But the thought of what reality is like calms you down again.

"Right now I'm broke, I can't lose my job, and who knows when this shitty time loop will end, so I still have to work during the day ......"

You look at the disappointed look in her eyes and suddenly smile, "But, after work, I could really try a different way of living."

My little sister was very happy for you and even made suggestions for you.

"If you really think that time loops can give you a lot of opportunities, you can also deliberately not deliver all the deliveries, so that time is picked up for nothing, right? If you could have lived a hundred years, you would have lived a bit longer with all the extra time loops, so don't think about being stuck in time."

On this point, Missy and the elderly wanderer have the same idea, "It's boring to say that you're going through the same thing every day, but it's a big world and the world within your established circle of life is still brand new and you can explore its boundaries a little bit ......"

You understand exactly how Missy is thinking right now, she probably thinks that if she doesn't convince you with a lot of hard work, you'll turn around and be dead set on delivering again.

But you're really not that dull.

You talk until two o'clock in the middle of the night, and your long regular life makes you a little bit tired and doze off frequently, but Missy seems to be a night owl, the more she stays up, the more energetic she becomes.

Finally, you decline her kind offer to suggest that you can sleep on the sofa and, considering the inconvenience of being alone in the same room, you yawn and decide to go back to your rented room.

You repeatedly admonish Missy to watch the portal and tell her to remember to unlock the house, stuffing your brain with a time-loop type movie and drowsily heading out the door.

Before you leave, Missy suddenly pulls you in.

"Hmm?"

You look at her languid face in the street light of the building, thinking she is still worried about herself during the day, and can't help but promise again, "Don't worry, I'll definitely come to your rescue during the day and won't let the bad guys get away with it."

"It's not about that. ......"

She hesitated for a moment, probably thinking that people like you wouldn't understand unless you made it clear, and finally bit her lower lip and mustered up the courage to say it.

"If you want to try that method of falling in love, you can come and see me ......"

"Huh?"

You think you've fallen asleep and shake your head hard.

Once the words are out of your mouth, it is much easier to say them again.

"I don't ask for much, and I have a good feeling about you. I'm actually quite nerdy, apart from work, I'm just bored at home creating every day, sometimes I can't even leave the house once a week, I rely on my mobile phone for socializing and online shopping, but at the bottom of my heart, I've actually been longing for something wonderful and new and different to happen to me."

She is brave enough to spill her heart out to you.

"I'm willing to share this with you if you want, and I'm sure every timeline's own would be too. If you want someone to be with you and try a different life every day, be bold and come knock on my door ......"

It's almost like a confession or courtship, which leaves you, still emotionally blank, completely speechless.

Saying something so blunt had probably reached Missy's limit, and when she saw your eyes widen, her face heated up and she said nothing else, but closed the door gently, shutting her shyness out with it.

Your mind is still a muddle after you have walked all the way downstairs and back to your rented house.

Is this ...... you catching up with your girlfriend?

But you haven't even started chasing yet, have you?

No, you haven't even decided if you want to pursue it yet!

With a jumble of thoughts, you drift off to sleep.

The next morning, you start writing your plan for the day again, adding a few more items when you get to the one about "saving Qin Rourou".

[Saves Qin Rourou and invites her to dinner after work tonight].

[Enquire about taking the police officer's school.]

[Go learn a skill.]

You look at your full schedule, wash your face with cold water and start your day.

In order not to lose your job after the time loop, you continue to perform all the jobs that belong to you as a courier in earnest, but outside of work, for example while waiting for someone to pick up a courier, you use your phone to look up how a veteran should apply for police academy, what documents and information to prepare, etc.

You find that Qin Rourou is right in saying that the province's police academy does admit veterans with a high school education or higher, and that there is a bonus point policy.

Although your school registration is still in your hometown, you got your high school diploma and college notice before joining the army, only you didn't report to the university and meet the recruitment requirements of this province.

You excitedly excerpted all the registration process from the website, excited as if you had discovered another world.

You meticulously completed the things you had written down in your plan, including the "try it with her" that Missy reminded you to try.

Thankfully, for the next several cycles of time, each of the "ladies" said yes to your invitation to meet you after work, dressed up, and learned about what was happening to you over dinner.

As Missy says, she is curious and receptive, and after learning what is happening to you, she is excited to discuss every possibility with you, taking you to try things you would never do on your own.

You were dragged into the city's famous barbershop, where you tried all sorts of haircuts you would never have thought of, and everyone agreed that your original round inch was the best for you.

She is excited to go shopping with you, picking out every outfit for you to wear when you leave work, and although they will all be gone the next day, you do learn in the process what kind of dress you are suited to and what is more comfortable and appropriate to wear.

Even trying on clothes, which you find most boring, is made less boring by someone giving you impartial advice and opinions rather than a sales pitch.

that although at the end of each time you always feel that you are being treated like one of those clothes-changing dolls that you played with as a child, your heart is still touched by the fact that someone cares.

Every day, like a normal couple, you use WeChat after work to discuss what to eat in the evening, what each other's tastes are and what you like best.

You search for those netflix restaurants that are in various recommendations and after trying them, you either spit on each other or promise to meet again.

This is how two young singles, both always alone with their dinner, quickly get to know each other.

You play video games and go to amusement parks together, you accompany her to her friends' parties, go to the cinema to see a film she has always wanted to see, and you have tried to do nothing but talk all night long with such gusto.

She accompanied you to try out various courses in training institutes such as baking, English, chef, accounting, electrician, baby sitting, computer design, computer operation, programming, etc. In the end you chose computer operation and car driving and she chose baking and flower arranging and gardening.

You start to get to know Qin Rourou better and better, your affection for her grows, and for her, every day she sees you is new, and she is forever curious and exploring you to the fullest.

With a 'date', your day becomes different and the same cycle of time day in and day out seems less difficult.

You begin to think that there is nothing wrong with time loops, and you begin to understand why so many people love the feeling of being in love, because it's so nice to have someone who needs you.

At one point, you were chatting with her on Twitter while you were working and you even almost delayed going to save that child.

Because of that, you don't think much about love when you go to work.

For you don't know if your tomorrow will come because of your love, and those things that have passed away may not have a chance to come again.

But during the ten days or so of "reacquainting" yourself with Qin Rourou, your feelings for her grow, and although it is only a matter of days, you are no longer able to deal with her in the same way as you did when you were just "friends".

Yet to her, you are just a stranger whom she has just accepted.

She may trust you for one reason or another, and she may enjoy the thrill of the movie, but if this stranger "you" always shows her a special familiarity, and starts to show some intimate physical gestures and familiar tones, her guard and reason will still prevail.

So one day you can have a straightforward, first-name relationship, and the next day it's politely "Mr. Song"; one day you can talk about everything, and the next day you have to start by "introducing yourself"! ......

It's as if your life has become one of those buggy games where both players are playing against each other's favorites, and your favor rating has been brushed up to almost full, but once you read the file and start over, the other player goes back to the passing mark, and your favor rating gets higher and higher, and you never get the "two lovers" ending.

You are scared, you start to feel miserable and you don't want to be in a relationship anymore.

So on the twentieth day of your time loop, you decide to "break" this weird relationship, even though the taste is already "addictive" to you and the other person is unforgettable to you.

On this day, you quietly left the cat litter on her doorstep and texted her.

Then you guarded the stairway, beat up the air conditioning man who was about to go upstairs and ferociously drove him away from the block.

But feelings cannot be repressed, and the heavier you repress them, the deeper your thoughts become. You look at the flat of Missy's house, and after a violent internal struggle, you finally choose to bite your tongue and turn around and leave the place, not choosing to see her again.

For the rest of the day, you mechanically repeat the delivery like a wandering soul, also as usual, using various methods to make sure the person comes and collects it.

You try to numb yourself with work, but without the anticipation of being off work, you don't even seem to have the drive you used to have.

"Hey ......"

You make a breathless call to a courier, your eyes darting to the name on the delivery note.

" Mr Xiao Heyun? You have a delivery that arrived, are you at home now ......"

Halfway through, you pause, looking incredulously at the delivery in your hand.

Xiao Heyun?

It's clearly 2pm and this phone number that you never get through in the afternoon is now getting through?

Excitement and shock suddenly leave you speechless, and as you take the phone down to look at the status of the call, a thought flashes through your mind.

Maybe this is the opportunity for change!

Maybe if we get the delivery out today, the time loop can end!

" Mr. Xiao, you have a parcel with valuables that has arrived and I am making a delivery, where should I send it to? It's a delivered item, are you at home now? Is it convenient to collect it?"

You are typing in an emotional tone and feel tears coming down your face.

"Huh? What delivery? I'm not in the dorm, you can just leave it in the security room!"

However, the person on the other end seems to be busy and does not want to take your call.

You've tried it before, the security guards in this community are reluctant to accept a paid courier with valuable items written on it, even if you offer to pay for it first, the other party will never agree to sign for it temporarily, for fear of taking responsibility.

You start to emphasise to this "Xiao Heyun" gentleman that it is a delivery item and that it is best to sign for it in person or to a designated collection point, even if it is further away.

You don't want to put it off for another minute, who knows if his phone will still be ringing in the next moment?

"Is it okay if you deliver it tomorrow then?"

The person tells you that he has no friends who can sign for expensive packages, that he is not at home, and that the package contains a camera he bought on a second-hand salted fish, and that he must inspect it in person before he can sign for it.

You desperately offer to pay for the damage if there is any, but the other party doesn't give you the chance to continue pleading.

"Master courier, I'm really busy, why don't you settle for another courier first, no I'll contact you later and go to the courier point to get it myself, okay?"

Xiao Heyun is in a hurry and hangs up on you in a hurry after all this.

You anxiously redial, trying to discuss other possible solutions, only to have the person on the other end hang up on you.

You persistently continue to call, as if you can't call him on his mobile phone, but after dialing a few times, you find that he has blacked out your mobile number?

You time loop so many times, and this experience of a phone call is the only time in so many thousand time loops that is different from the one before.

You become convinced that this delivery is the most important opportunity to end this cycle of time.

So you immediately turn around and head for Miss Cat Litter's house.

You need to tell her the good news, borrow a mobile phone from her and use her phone to call Xiao Heyun and ask him to take your delivery anyway.

With the anticipation of ending this tedious cycle of time and a vision of a better future for you and your lady, you anxiously pick up speed and wind through the streets.

As a result, because you were in such a hurry, you lost your old caution and care, and just as you were driving in the middle of the road, you realised that you had accidentally run a red light.

An SUV that has just run out of the junction collides with you and you are knocked out with your car, hitting your head hard on the concrete floor and being hit in the head again by the falling courier truck.

A severe headache comes over you with a blur of consciousness and you pass out.

When I opened my eyes again, I was actually back in the basement in the morning.

You look at your unscathed head in the mirror and know that you have not broken out of the time loop and that you have wasted even a precious day getting nothing done because of a careless accident.

You don't know if the boy was saved in the end, and the agitation and remorse make you start pacing the house in circles like a trapped animal, unable to calm down at all.

I've seen hope and lost it, and I don't know yet if today is the day of dawn ......

Already convinced that delivering Xiao Heyun's delivery is the way to break out of the time loop, various external and internal factors drive you to make a decision.

You decide that today, you will keep Xiao Heyun trapped in the house and not let him out.