Chapter 16: Stuck in the Loop

*Fourth Loop

Wang Jiexiang appeared at the Employee Dormitory entrance and, as usual, was bumped into.

Brother Xu: “Little one…”

Wang Jiexiang raised her hand to interrupt him: “I didn’t do anything, I just walked to the wrong place.”

She turned around and headed downstairs, planning to directly cut the phone line at the phone booth.

She ran to the open space near the Auto Repair Shop, and the Barrier appeared again. Wang Jiexiang tried various methods, spending over half an hour, but still couldn’t get any closer.

In the distance, Yin Xian, who had just finished his meal, walked out of the Cafeteria.

Wang Jiexiang waved at him, trying to stop him: “Yin Xian! Yin Xian!”

He didn’t react at all.

She couldn’t approach him, he couldn’t hear her voice… and an invisible Barrier appeared around him.

“Don’t go,” Wang Jiexiang desperately hit the Barrier, but Yin Xian walked into the phone booth.

The smell of smoke hit her, and she sat on the ground, coughing.

The sound of Mahjong tiles clashing echoed in her ears.

Wang Jiexiang closed her eyes, unwilling to face it.

*Fifth Loop

Opening her eyes, she was back at the Employee Dormitory entrance.

Wang Jiexiang had no idea what to do anymore.

She began to feel frustrated and hopeless, doubting that there was any way out of this space.

The fifth time she met Brother Xu, he asked her who she was looking for, but Wang Jiexiang silently walked away.

No solution.

She quietly lingered by Yin Xian’s side, passively observing, seeing what his actions would be if she didn’t interfere.

Yin Xian came out of the Employee Dormitory and went straight to the Cafeteria.

After buying his meal, he found an empty seat for one and sat down.

Wang Jiexiang was confused: “Shouldn’t there be a plot where the workers tease him? Last time, I had to wait for ten minutes with my meal, and there were no seats…”

Oh! She suddenly understood.

When they were together, they were looking for a seat for two, which is why they ended up at the long table in the corner.

The mocking from the workers in their uniforms, going to the He Shan office to talk to her—these weren’t inevitable events in the original story. It was her presence, her interference, that made these plots happen and complicated things.

Yin Xian ate his meal alone.

Wang Jiexiang hid in a corner, observing this alternate world from the perspective of an onlooker.

The closest person to her was a bald man. Her gaze unintentionally swept over him. Then, she looked at the seat where Yin Xian was sitting. Suddenly, her eyes locked onto another face. He was sitting next to Yin Xian.

“My god, is this my imagination?”

The bald man from her side and the bald man next to Yin Xian had very similar features, almost like twin brothers.

After activating this “Connect-the-Dots” perspective, Wang Jiexiang kept spotting more faces that looked identical, one after another.

In the Second Cycle, she had glanced at the Cafeteria workers. At that time, she thought everyone wore the same uniform, had similar looks and heights, and after scanning around, she couldn’t remember a single face.

The reason she didn’t remember was simple.

The workers here had only a few types of looks, all so ordinary they were eerie.

They were like background extras, unnoticeable, so they were carelessly copied and pasted multiple times.

Wang Jiexiang felt a chill run down her spine, and the eerie atmosphere grew stronger.

When Yin Xian finished his meal, she immediately followed him, eager to leave this strange place.

He walked straight to the phone booth.

To stop the cycle, Wang Jiexiang had to prevent him from making a phone call.

She failed.

Once again, it was because of the Barrier.

After leaving the Cafeteria, a Barrier appeared beside Yin Xian.

Wang Jiexiang bit her fingers, awaiting the world to reset, slowly sorting out the information she had gathered in her mind.

*Sixth Loop

“Little one,” Brother Xu dutifully recited his line, “Why are you standing in front of the door?”

Hearing this line too many times somehow made her feel nostalgic.

Standing on tiptoe, she patted his shoulder and walked out of the Employee Dormitory.

From the previous world, she learned that Yin Xian’s story didn’t have these unexpected situations. The places he went to were only: Employee Dormitory, Cafeteria, and the phone booth.

At the Cafeteria, he didn’t interact or converse with anyone.

This meant that making a phone call was probably something he had planned to do that day.

The only key point to passing the level and the ultimate goal, without a doubt, was: preventing him from going to the phone booth.

To prevent that, there must be no Barrier. Wang Jiexiang picked up a twig and wrote on the ground, summarizing the pattern of Barrier formation.

First Cycle: Contact with Yin Xian. Able to reach the open space, the known Barrier is outside the Auto Repair Shop, but she hadn’t gotten close to the phone booth.

Second Cycle: Contact with Yin Xian. She hadn’t gotten close to the phone booth, unsure where the Barrier was.

Third Cycle: Contact with Yin Xian. The Barrier appeared in the open space, at a distance from the phone booth.

Fourth Cycle: Barrier appeared in the open space, and Yin Xian also had a Barrier around him.

Fifth Cycle: Same as the Fourth Cycle.

In the first two cycles, her interaction with Yin Xian was the most frequent. In the Third Cycle, they interacted, but she was more focused on the surroundings, and there were fewer conversations. In the Fourth and Fifth cycles, she avoided Yin Xian.

“Is the formation of the Barrier based on the level of interaction between us?”

Breaking the twig, she stood up.

To verify her guess, Wang Jiexiang waited for Yin Xian to come out.

On his way to the Cafeteria, she asked him for directions.

“Excuse me, where is the nearest bathroom?”

Yin Xian pointed her in the right direction.

Wang Jiexiang pretended to walk that way for a while, then, upon hearing him walking away, she immediately turned around and followed him.

After Yin Xian finished his meal, Wang Jiexiang, like a paparazzi spotting a celebrity, hurriedly ran up to him.

“Wow, there’s no Barrier this time!” She excitedly grabbed his sleeve, jumping to make sure he saw her: “Hey, hey, can you hear me?”

Yin Xian was surprised: “…What happened to you at the bathroom?”

This was her chance. Wang Jiexiang’s eyes flashed: before he makes the call, she could just steal his phone card, and that would be the end of it.

She thought about it, and she did it. Her hand honestly found his bulging pants pocket, smoothly pulled out his wallet.

The next second, Wang Jiexiang was lifted off the ground.

Her collar was in Yin Xian’s grip, and he sneered.

“You’re too bold. Stealing from me right under my nose?”

She tried to explain, but Yin Xian thought she was just making excuses. She spoke until her throat was dry, but he ignored her.

He took the wallet back, and thief Jiexiang was tossed out of the Auto Repair Shop.

“You idiot!”

She shook the Auto Repair Shop’s railing and shouted at Yin Xian’s back.

“Idiot, if you have the guts, don’t make that phone call!”

She said this, and he, of course, went straight to the phone booth, hearing her but ignoring her.

Wang Jiexiang stomped her foot and walked toward a direction farther from the Auto Repair Shop.

Now that he had tossed her out, there was no Barrier outside the Auto Repair Shop, and she was free to move around.

“I don’t care about you anymore, you pissed me off.”

Wang Jiexiang crossed her arms, pouting, walking quickly.

The alternate world wouldn’t let her go.

Not even five minutes later, the smoke and mist caught up to her.

*Seventh Loop

The familiar Mahjong hall, the familiar Brother Xu.

“Little one, you…”

“I’m angry,” she puffed her cheeks, making her lips stick out so high they could hold a soy sauce bottle: “Don’t talk to me, I’m going to stay angry for three minutes.”

Three minutes passed.

Wang Jiexiang figured it out: this silly Yin Xian, she, Wang Jiexiang, was definitely going to save him.

She was sure she’d find a way to pass the level, quickly and effectively.

Once she had the Key to clear the level, she’d shake her hair and dramatically leave the useless Yin Xian, just like he left her to make the phone call.

After so many tries, Wang Jiexiang had figured out the most important information: interaction really does affect the Barrier; the key to trapping Yin Xian was that phone call.

That meant she needed to have close interaction with Yin Xian, even though it would trigger a lot of unnecessary plots, before she could have a chance to stop him from making the call.

However, Wang Jiexiang still had doubts: who was Yin Xian calling? What did he say on the phone?

—Okay, I’ll figure it out slowly, this cycle I’ll get to the bottom of it.

She clenched her fists, her determination reigniting.

Yin Xian was walking down the stairs when he ran into a young girl, Wang Jiexiang. She asked him, “Big bro, where’s the bathroom?”

Later, as he reached the lower floor, he ran into her again while she was playing. She said, “Big bro, the stone I picked up is gone. I don’t know who stole it. Did you see anything?”

At the cafeteria entrance, he encountered her for the third time, waiting for someone. She waved, “Big bro, what a coincidence, meeting you again! I’m waiting for my mom, won’t chat much, haha.”

After getting his meal and sitting down to eat, he thought he finally had some peace.

But Wang Jiexiang showed up again, like a lingering ghost.

“Is the food good?”

“What’s the cafeteria’s specialty?”

He didn’t answer, but her chatter kept drifting into his ears.

“Are there usually this many people here?”

“Why are the chairs plastic instead of wood?”

“Big bro, there’s a rubber ball in the security room. I want to play with it. Can you go borrow it with me after you eat? I’m shy and scared of strangers, I don’t dare talk to the uncle there…”

Yin Xian must’ve had enough. After he left the cafeteria, he led her straight to the security office.

Once she got the ball, he snapped at her, “Play with your ball! Don’t talk to me again.”

She quickly agreed.

Once Yin Xian entered the phone booth, she dribbled the ball and quietly approached.

Finally, after all that effort, Wang Jiexiang managed to eavesdrop on Yin Xian’s phone call.

“Dad, I’m planning to quit.”

He spoke with his back to her, his tone unreadable.

His father shouted something on the other end, but Wang Jiexiang couldn’t catch it clearly.

Since Yin Xian wasn’t looking her way, she pulled her hair aside and pressed her ear to the glass of the phone booth.

“It’s useless for you to be angry. I’ve already made up my mind—I’m just letting you know. The market for automotive products is booming. Switching to sales gives me better prospects and much higher income. The repair shop doesn’t value technical services at all. Repairs are getting more complex, yet they’re still hiring that same bunch of lazy, unmotivated veterans. I’m in charge of that area—I know it too well. The rework and compensation rates are skyrocketing. At this rate, the factory’s collapse is only a matter of time.”

Hearing this, Wang Jiexiang couldn’t help cursing herself for being an idiot.

She had heard all this before! Before she entered the house, the Rabbit had told her: technical service doesn’t pay as well as sales. Back then, he wanted to switch to sales. His family opposed it. He broke ties with them and set out on his own.

His wound came from his family. Why had she forgotten everything Rabbit told her when she came in?

Yin Xian’s father spoke with a stern tone and a thunderous voice that made Wang Jiexiang freeze.

“You still know you’re a technician? Then do your technical work quietly. Why are you worrying about things that aren’t your concern? The factory’s going to collapse? A factory that big? Even if you died, it wouldn’t collapse. Besides, you have the skills—why worry about finding a job?”

“Going into sales? Hah, sounds like you’ve gone money-mad. Short-sighted fool! You’ve got a real skill, and yet you want to bow and scrape, begging people to buy car seats, GPS systems, apply film for them—ridiculous.”

Yin Xian asked coldly, “You’re an engineer, so that means I have to be one too?”

The person on the other end couldn’t be reasoned with. He just kept cursing, ignoring the question entirely.

“Oh, so now you’ve got the guts to talk back, huh? You ungrateful brat. I raised you with great effort, paved the road smooth for you. The factory director is my old buddy—his daughter is even dating you—and now you’ve lost your mind and want to quit. I’m telling you, you’re not allowed to quit. Don’t embarrass me!”

Before hanging up, Yin Xian said one last time:

“In short, I quit.”

The world began resetting, and Wang Jiexiang caught the choking scent of smoke.

It had happened so many times she didn’t even bother to cough anymore.

Yin Xian turned around. They looked at each other through a pane of glass, just as the world was being overwritten.

The him she saw had a young face and a pair of hollow, dazed eyes.

“Why?” she didn’t understand.

He should’ve been full of energy—this was the moment he’d finally chosen to take control of his own life.

But he looked lost, his back hunched; like a drained battery, or a brand-new hot water bag accidentally slashed open.

The gray mist slowly swallowed them both.

Wang Jiexiang wiped the glass that was becoming impossible to see through. She didn’t know if he could still hear her words.

“Hey!”

“I’ll see you again soon, Yin Xian.”