Summary – Timeline

【Backstory】

An, Bai, and Chen are all the same age.

Bai Miaoqing and Chen Anran were next-door neighbors and had known each other since childhood, remaining close friends through junior high.

Both Bai and Chen attended Liuxiang Middle School during junior high.

When they were fifteen, rumors began circulating at Liuxiang Middle School about a ghost of a girl who had died for love at the reservoir behind the school. It was said this ghost could grant wishes, especially those related to unrequited love.

In reality, this legend was fabricated by students and had no basis in truth. (See the “Ghost Girl” chapter; both An and Bai question the validity of the legend in the psychological descriptions of the “Ghost Girl” and “Memory” chapters.)

However, because she secretly liked Bai Miaoqing, Chen Anran believed in the story. After the high school entrance exams, she arranged with Bai to explore the reservoir and make a wish, using the opportunity to test Bai’s feelings.

At this time, An, Bai, and Chen were all 15 years old.

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【The Reservoir Incident】

The Day Before:

Chen Anran wrote a note containing a hidden confession. She planned to hand it over when visiting Bai to set a meeting time and place for the next day.

However, due to extreme nervousness, she realized after knocking on Bai’s door that she had forgotten the note. She could only verbally agree on the time and place, then returned home and pasted the note into her diary, where she also wrote her final journal entry.

(See detailed descriptions in the chapters “The Note,” “Interrogation,” and “Reservoir” parts 1, 2, and 3.)

That Day:

Bai Miaoqing and Chen Anran went to the reservoir.

Chen confessed that she liked someone and tested Bai’s response. Realizing Bai didn’t reciprocate, she gave up on confessing directly.

Bai, mistakenly thinking Chen was going to abandon her, lost control emotionally and accidentally pushed Chen into the reservoir.

Shocked and mentally unbalanced, Bai rationalized her actions by blaming them on a ghost, then fled the scene.

Chen Anran drowned.

(See the “Memory” chapter.)

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【High School Period – The Appearance of An Ruxin】

At the reservoir that day, Bai and Chen made their respective wishes:

Bai wished to “become someone like Chen Anran,”

Chen wished that “Bai Miaoqing would like me too.”

Bai entered high school and became classmates with An Ruxin. Around this time, Chen Anran’s ghost began to haunt Bai, possessing her and nearly fully taking over her life. Bai viewed this as retribution and also as her wish coming true.

During high school, news surfaced about a male student from their junior high drowning. Bai mistakenly believed that this boy had been the one Chen secretly liked, and that his wish had also been granted. This further convinced Bai of the ghost’s existence and solidified her belief that she hadn’t killed Chen—the ghost had.

Chen’s ghost, thus, grew even more vengeful.

During high school, a romantic entanglement developed between An Ruxin and Bai (possessed by Chen), leading to a long period of unrequited love.

New Year’s Party – The beginning of An’s crush (target: Chen’s ghost)

Crying in the Bathroom Incident – Feelings deepen (target: the real Bai)

Pre-exam Confession Accepted – Relationship confirmed (target: real Bai)

Post-exam Cruel Breakup – Relationship ends (target: Chen’s ghost)

(See the “Sudden Change” and “Confession” chapters for details.)

At the same time, Bai began developing feelings for An Ruxin as well.

Chen Anran’s ghost’s abilities and behaviors were fairly consistent:

1. Possess Bai Miaoqing and take over her life.

2. Induce hallucinations or dreams, amplifying negative emotions (as explained by Bai in the “Interrogation” chapter).

3. The more miserable Bai’s life became, the less often the ghost appeared (“Confession” chapter).

4. Tended to sabotage any chance of Bai and An being together.

5. Her ultimate goal was to make Bai admit that the reservoir incident was her own doing, not the ghost’s—thus, she would never actually kill Bai. (Primarily seen in the “Dilemma” chapter.)

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【Post-High School ~ Before Main Story Begins】

Bai Miaoqing entered university but eventually dropped out and returned to her hometown due to constant harassment by Chen’s ghost. She lived in poverty but continued to stalk An Ruxin, secretly taking many blurry photos of her. (Described in the final chapter “Secret Crush.”)

The setup for Bai’s phone being filled with photos of An Ruxin was foreshadowed in the “Legend” chapter, where Bai burns an old photo of herself and Chen and looks through her phone album for comfort.

Due to complicated emotions, Bai vandalized and destroyed many of her high school photos (taken while possessed by Chen), leaving only childhood pictures with Chen. (See “Shocking Change” and “Photos” chapters.)

An Ruxin continued a quiet life. After failing the postgraduate entrance exam, she moved back to her hometown and found a job. (See Chapter 1, “Chance Encounter.”)

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【Main Story Begins】

An Ruxin and Bai Miaoqing meet again by chance.

Years later, Chen Anran’s ghost resurfaces and begins to haunt once more.