At the entrance.
Fu Nanzhi took a deep breath to calm herself, carefully adjusted her expression, and then gave herself a little fist pump for encouragement.
"Hello, I'm here to look for a place to live, may I ask... Hello, I'm here to look for a place to live, may I ask..."
She silently rehearsed the lines she had prepared several times before finally knocking on the door with a mixture of trepidation and anticipation.
"Knock knock knock!"
She knocked several times.
But after a long while, there was no response from anyone.
"What?! Did he move out?"
It wasn't until she called the landlord's number on the wall that she found out Shen Yi had already moved away.
"When did he move out?"
Fu Nanzhi pressed on.
The landlord scratched his head and thought for a moment,
"It was just a few days ago, at most three days. I haven't found the next tenant yet."
"Do you know where he moved to?"
"Who knows that."
"Thank you..."
Putting down the phone, Fu Nanzhi felt quite discouraged.
She felt wronged, not understanding why things weren't going as she wished after her rebirth.
Pouting, she couldn't help but open her contacts and scroll to the "Favorites" section.
After finding out Shen Yi's number, she had already set it up as a special contact.
Her finger hovered over the green call button, ready to press it.
She didn't want to care anymore. Even if she didn't say anything after connecting, just hearing his voice would be enough.
"Clatter clatter clatter..."
The sound of footsteps climbing the stairs came from behind.
Fu Nanzhi instinctively glanced back, and their eyes met, both of them stunned.
"Sister Nan?!"
"Cheng Jun?!"
The atmosphere froze, awkward and difficult to express.
No matter what they had thought before, facing each other was a different matter altogether.
"No honor, sneaking around." Cheng Jun thought to herself.
"Suspicious, be cautious." Fu Nanzhi mused.
Cheng Jun had also just learned about Shen Yi moving out.
Neither of them knew that the address on the records was Shen Yi's previous rental place. Later, he had moved due to rent issues, and the records hadn't been updated yet.
Since they didn't see him, there was no reason for them to stay any longer.
So, after a few words, they each left.
...
"The effect is only one-tenth now."
Shen Yi ran while secretly feeling the changes.
He hadn't paid much attention to what the middle-aged man had said. After leaving the lakeside, the sun gradually set.
As night fell, the ability to photosynthesize was suppressed to the lowest level.
In numerical terms, it was only 0.1, but it was better than nothing.
It was still better than being completely ineffective at night.
There were fewer pedestrians on the roadside at night, so it wasn't as noticeable.
So, Shen Yi gradually let go and ran with lightning speed, feeling like the wind couldn't catch up.
Endless energy surged forth, breathing in fresh air, as if he would never tire.
Only a few passersby noticed Shen Yi's speed in surprise, but before they could pull out their phones, he had already disappeared.
Shen Yi didn't have a destination in mind, just running forward with his heart.
After an unknown amount of time had passed, Shen Yi gradually slowed down to rest.
Having not eaten properly all day, and with the loss of sunlight, his physical strength began to wane.
Walking along the roadside, Shen Yi observed his surroundings to see where he was.
"How did I end up here?"
Looking up, he found himself right in front of the north gate of Songping Garden.
Shen Yi had unknowingly run to Fu Nanzhi's residence.
The security guard at the gate was dutifully on duty.
In his simulations, Shen Yi had once driven through the guard booth, but in reality, they had no memory of that.
"I wonder... how she is."
Shen Yi suddenly thought of Fu Nanzhi, and a surge of longing arose in his heart.
He had always been thinking about her, but he wasn't sure how to approach her.
Fu Nanzhi was closed-off and reserved, and an abrupt approach would only make things worse.
"In any case, I won't just stand by and watch you get into trouble."
Shen Yi silently repeated to himself.
According to the simulations, Fu Nanzhi would drown on a Thursday night half a year later.
Shen Yi wasn't sure if it would have happened anyway or if it was due to his interference, but he didn't dare to take the risk.
No matter what excuse he used, he had to save her.
"Excuse me, sir, are you here to visit someone?"
Perhaps seeing Shen Yi lingering at the gate for too long, a security guard approached politely to inquire.
Shen Yi's thoughts were interrupted, and he quickly waved his hand,
"Oh, no, I'm just taking a walk."
Feeling he had disturbed their work, Shen Yi made up an excuse to cover it.
At that moment, headlights shone over, and a car was coming in. Shen Yi stepped aside to make way.
The security guard immediately went over to salute the resident, and the barrier lifted.
The car slowly passed, and Shen Yi found it oddly familiar. In his simulations, Fu Nanzhi's first car seemed to be the same model.
He subconsciously looked at the person in the car and was stunned.
Fu Nanzhi, in a gloomy mood, drove home.
Not seeing Shen Yi was one thing, but unexpectedly running into her cousin Cheng Jun was another.
The awkwardness was one thing, but the encounter had completely exposed Cheng Jun's intentions.
Fu Nanzhi had long considered Shen Yi her private property and wouldn't tolerate anyone else getting involved.
No matter how reasonable Cheng Jun's excuses were, her actions had already betrayed her.
Now, not only did she need to get in touch with Shen Yi as soon as possible, but she also had to be wary of this childhood friend.
As the car arrived at the community gate, she lowered the window to acknowledge the security guard's greeting.
As the car passed the checkpoint, Fu Nanzhi noticed someone beside her looking at her.
She glanced sideways and their eyes met. The other person's gaze seemed complicated and intense, which made Fu Nanzhi frown slightly.
She had seen such looks before and didn't pay much attention, turning her head to leave.
The car drove into the community.
Suddenly, she felt a jolt in her heart, as if being gripped by an invisible hand, making it hard to breathe.
"Screech!"
A screeching brake sound rang out.
The figure was unfamiliar yet carried a sense of familiarity. The more Fu Nanzhi thought about it, the more she became concerned.
"No, I have to go check."
She muttered to herself.
If she was wrong, she was wrong, but she knew she would regret it if she didn't confirm.
She unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car, not even bothering to close the door.
The security guard noticed the unusual situation and hurried over to ask,
"Is everything okay? Do you need any help?"
Fu Nanzhi ignored them, not caring about her high heels, and ran out without looking back, leaving the security personnel baffled.
After leaving the community gate, Fu Nanzhi identified the direction.
Sure enough, in the distance, there was a figure slowly walking forward. She took a deep breath and hurried to catch up.
Shen Yi stepped on the squares of the pavement, his heart complicated and hard to understand.
It was the first time he had seen Fu Nanzhi in reality.
"It's reasonable that she didn't recognize me, after all, it was just a simulation..."
Shen Yi kept convincing himself, trying not to let his emotions get the better of him.
It was impossible not to have expectations, but seeing her turn away was still quite disappointing.
He sighed and prepared to go home.
"Click clack click clack."
At that moment, the sound of hurried footsteps approached, the tapping of high heels hitting the ground.
Shen Yi instinctively turned around and saw Fu Nanzhi leaning on her knees behind him.
"Excuse me... are you surnamed Shen?"
Finally catching up, Fu Nanzhi, despite her heavy breathing, looked hopeful and asked.
She had run all the way just to confirm a guess, to get an answer, regardless of the reasons.
The person who truly loves you will run to see you, without exception.