Hello, How Long Has This Been Going On?

Tao Zhiyue's expression was tense, and a soft roar came from beside his ears.

He had a rare feeling of regret.

Maybe last night, he should go all out and tell Huo Ran everything.

The fat man happily recalled the basketball games in college, but his heart sank to the bottom of the sea bit by bit.

It turned out that "Tao Zhiyue" could play basketball, and he played it very well.

If "Huo Ran" hadn't left school early because he was in a hurry to travel, they would have met at the New Year's game before the winter vacation.

The junior with a fierce playing style and the senior with a gentle personality confront each other head-on on the sweaty basketball court.

Perfect for a love at first sight opening.

Perhaps earlier, Huo Ran did not study life sciences, but went to the School of Economics and Management that seemed more suitable for him, then the story would start earlier.

The whole body was filled with the fragrance of green grass, the sun at noon was too dazzling, and the air was stagnant, he almost wanted to close his eyes.

Tao Zhiyue's thoughts were in a mess, he had thousands of words, he didn't know where to start, and he didn't know how the next situation would develop.

He could only silently listen to Huo Ran's relaxed rebuttal, and Fatty's extremely firm insistence.

Until the fat man said, there was a long wound on "his" elbow.

Tao Zhiyue's eyes widened suddenly.

"...I don't know how deep the scar will be."

He remembered that dream, the winding mountain road with green trees, in the black convertible sports car that Huo Ran didn't like, and the lively Bossa Nova flowing in the air.

The person in the passenger seat had a long, light-colored scar on his elbow.

Outside the dream, in the real world, the warm wind gently brushed his arms with the feeling of autumn.

All eyes were on him, and Huo Ran beside him showed nervousness in his eyes.

He found his breath again.

So Tao Zhi stretched out his hand proactively, just like the person in the dream adjusting the music, with his elbow slightly bent, revealing the whole arm under the short sleeve.

No scars, nothing, not even the well-developed muscles typical of basketball fans.

His skin is still pale, his arms are thin, and he stays at home all year round without going out or exercising. Although he has gone out to play many places with Huo Ran in the past few months, it is not enough to make a big change.

Tao Zhiyue even smiled: "I don't know how to play basketball."

Huo Ran breathed a sigh of relief, he was about to say something, but he paused again, and then pretended to be relaxed and said to the fat man: "You are so right, you almost deceived me, I will say, if there is such a wound , I can't be unimpressed."

The fat man was shocked: "Damn it, why didn't it happen!"

The other onlookers who had their appetites whetted collectively sighed and complained to him one after another.

"Fuck, I didn't know why just now, I was so nervous, I didn't even know what I was nervous about."

"Fatty, you lied to us about what we said before. If you admit your mistake, you will wash your hair upside down?"

"Come here, get shampoo and washbasin!"

The fat man couldn't believe it: "No way, I definitely remember correctly, shit, I'm drunk, but haven't I started drinking yet?"

"Okay, you fat man, that's the main point here, and you're here to cheat and drink again."

"Fart, am I that kind of person?"

"It's useless to quibble, let the wine and shampoo be served together, we must see you washing your hair upside down today."

The topic quickly went off track again, Huo Ran listened for a while, then smiled and said, "I'll go to the wine cellar to get it."

"Xiao Huo always take me! Let me go to visit again."

"Don't think about it, you haven't settled the account last time."

While speaking, Huo Ran turned his head and said to Tao Zhiyue, "Would you like to go with me?"

There was a rare daze in his ever-bright eyes.

Tao Zhiyue nodded and held his hand unconsciously.

The whistle behind him suddenly rang out.

"It's too much! Show off when you get the chance."

"You two come back early, remember to get wine, nothing else."

Huo Ran was still smiling before turning around, but after turning his back to the crowd, the smile gradually faded away.

The wine cellar is on the second basement floor, and the wine cabinets on two walls are neatly filled with different varieties of red wine.

Along the way, Huo Ran didn't say anything until they walked into this space where only the two of them were alone, and they could hear each other's breathing in silence.

After hesitating for a while, he asked softly.

"Is it you that the fat man said?"

Tao Zhi thought for a long time before giving the most honest answer: "I don't know."

Huo Ran was a little surprised: "Is it amnesia?"

Then he denied himself: "No, you really don't know how to play basketball, and you haven't been injured. It's completely different from the person the fat man said. You have a very complete memory of the past, not amnesia."

"So... why don't you know?"

The independent air conditioner is blowing fresh air, the dark wine bottle is shining faintly, the constant temperature swimming pool in the distance is like a blue mirror, and Huo Ran's gradually confused voice echoes in the huge underground space.

Nothing like jubilation on the ground lawn.

Tao Zhiyue said in a low voice amidst the sense of confusion that seemed to have passed away.

"Because of my past, I am not in this world."

He finally got the secret out of his mouth.

Huo Ran's expression was blank for a few seconds, and he repeated his words in a murmur: "Not in this world?"

Every time he watched horror movies, Huo Ran would say that he is a firm materialist and does not believe in ghosts and ghosts.

In fact, every time he heard him say that, Tao Zhiyue couldn't help thinking about what kind of reaction he would have if he knew his origin one day.

Huo Ran asked: "Is it a literal meaning? Or a metaphor?"

Now he knew, it was a subconscious unwillingness to accept the reaction.

Tao Zhiyue stared at his face, and explained in a very calm tone: "One day when I came home from get off work, when I was in a daze on the subway, my eyes suddenly went dark."

"When I opened my eyes again, I came to this world. It's hard to explain, maybe it's like the earth and Saturn, which were impossible to intersect, intersected in a certain dimension, and a broken piece was thrown out of Saturn's rings. Stone, sinking into the earth."

"At first I thought it was my soul that had entered someone else's body, so I often felt unreal, and I was afraid that everything I got now might be lost at any time."

"It wasn't until just now that I realized that it was always the real and complete me."

In his plain but shocking narration, Huo Ran was silent for a long time.

"That's why you don't take the subway." He remembered something, "Is it your concern about the horror movie where the actor was caught in the subway again?"

"yes."

There are also some fears of the deathbed.

Huo Ran stared at him steadily, as if confirming whether the person in front of him was a hallucination.

"If someone else had told me about it, I would have thought he was crazy."

"But you said, I don't seem to be that surprised, maybe because I have seen many traces piecemeal."

"The sister you dreamed about, the vampire game no one else played, and the look of disappointment on your birthday..."

Trapped in trivial memory fragments, Huo Ran asked with some uncertainty: "I want to know, is what you are telling me now the whole secret?"

At this time, Tao Zhiyu would rather that Huo Ran was not so sharp.

After struggling for a moment, he still answered honestly: "No."

Judging from Huo Ran's attitude towards "another world", Tao Zhi was more unsure about his reaction after learning that this world was a novel.

Seeing his hesitant expression, Huo Ran seemed to understand something.

"Is the part you keep related to me?"

He thought for a while, and used a very clever questioning method: "If it were me, would I also choose to hide this part of the matter from you?"

"meeting."

Huo Ran seemed to have made up his mind: "Then let me ask, you just need to tell me whether it is right or not."

"good."

Tao Zhiyue responded briefly, but his heart was filled with a touch of sourness.

Even at such times, Huo Ran is still considerate.

"When we met at the hot pot restaurant, you heard my name and your reaction was very unexpected. Is it because you knew me before?"

"yes."

"Was it in college?" He asked while organizing his thoughts, "No, you are two people, you should not remember anything about college at all."

"Well, I don't remember."

"Where did that student No. 7 go?"

"I'm also looking for an answer."

"So... when did you know about me?"

Huo Ran had a flash of inspiration, "Have you heard of Xinghong Games? I was going to come to Jinbei earlier, but I didn't come because the investment in that company was not negotiated."

That was also the first company Tao Zhiyue joined in Shanbei. It was a new game company with good benefits and no need for 996.

He was very satisfied with the job, but one day he suddenly learned that the company's A round of financing was led by a capital company under Huoshi.

So he immediately resigned and left.

"I heard that it was my first job in this world."

In Tao Zhiyue's unreserved confession, Huo Ran gradually approached the answer.

He asked directly: "Is it because of me that you resigned?"

"yes."

"Are you hiding from me?"

"Yes... used to be."

The sound of each other's breathing became more and more distinct.

Tao Zhiyue never let go of his hand, feeling the warmth of his palm from always warm to slightly chilly.

This time Huo Ran thought for a few minutes before whispering: "I seem to understand."

"Actually, I also have a secret to keep from you."

"The day you got drunk, I not only asked you what you like, but also what you hate."

"You said you hated one person the most."

"That person became disabled due to an accident, but he vented his anger on his old lover who abandoned him, and finally killed him."

"I always thought that the old lover with a tragic ending was your friend, that's why you know this story."

"But in normal life, I've never heard you mention that friend, as if he only existed after that drunk."

"You came here in a van on the day you moved, but you don't actually get motion sickness, do you?"

"Maybe you just can't ride with me, why? For fear of an accident?"

Tao Zhiyue no longer answered right or wrong, he just held Huo Ran's hand tightly, hoping that his body temperature, which was not high enough, could survive a little longer.

Huo Ran has already understood the answer he gave.

"That's me, isn't it?"

"And that old lover with a miserable ending is you."

"Before we met, you knew the story that might happen. If you knew my existence, you would avoid me. Even if I am different from the Huo Ran in the story."

"So, am I living in a world by design?"