Yuexin is sitting on the bed, lost in thoughts. Her gaze is fixed on the shiny golden stopwatch in her hand.
A thousand thoughts are forming in her head. She remembers how she got this stopwatch— A surprising, unbelievable incident.
Tomorrow, Morning—
At the park, 5 am. Lina had brought Yuexin to the park for a walk.
Although Yuexin did not want to come, Lina had dragged her alone.
Yuexin and Lina were walking in the park. Many people waved at Lina from a distance.
Lina responded with a smile and waved back.
Yuexin was surprised to see all this and said, "So many people know you..!"
"If you also come to jogging with me every day from now on, everyone will recognize you." Lina replied with a smile.
"Does my body have so much strength like yours? I'm old, my health is bad. If I go for jogging everyday, you'll see later that it will be counterproductive."
" You don't jog, that's why you're saying this. If you do this every day, after a few days, you'll see that it won't hurt anymore. All the problems in your body will start to disappear."
"Weisheng and you say the same thing. But tell me, what to do! I've suffered so much in my life, now I feel like suffering. So, now I want to spend my life just lying down and taking rest."
" Mr. Weisheng loves you a lot, right? "
" Hmm... a lot. Or look at me, if he not will he living with a crazy, ugly woman like me? What a great singer he is. How many movies he has done. How popular he is. If someone saw him, they'd say he's 58? Even 30 would be hard to believe. He's still so handsome at this age. Yet, he's still with me, warried about me. "
Lina fell silent after hearing Yuexin's words. She lowered her head and looked away indifferently, thinking about something else. Yuexin looked at her indifferently and said,
"What happened? What are you thinking?"
"Huh...! Nothing. I was thinking how much you two love each other. It's a pity that no one loved me like that."
"Why? What happened to your boyfriend? Doesn't he love you!" She asks jokingly.
Yuexin started laughing.
Hearing Yuexin's words, Lina went into deep thought. After thinking for a while, a smile appeared on her face. There was life in her smile.
"Oh! No, he loves me, he loves me so much...."
Yuexin also felt very happy seeing Lina so happy. She stared at Lina.
That's when Lina remembered something and said sadly,
"But I don't let him come near me, I don't let him love me, I don't let him touch me with his love. I'm afraid. What if he leaves me in his delusion!"
Yuexin saw the look of fear and pain on Lina's face. She looked at the sky. To reassure Lina she says,
"In girls' lives, their virginity is so important. It is more important than a girl's work outside. A girl's wealth is her virginity. So a girl gives this wealth very carefully to the right man. It makes lucky the one to whom she gives it. She proves her love by giving him this invaluable wealth. But the one who wants this as a proof of love—will never truly love you, never. On the other hand, the one who truly loves you—will never care about these things. If you stop him, he will never come to you again until you give him the permission. So, choose wisely. If you are not ready to be touched by the person, then let him know. If he does not move away even after you tell him, then he is not right one for you. And if he respects your decision, then don't wait any longer and marry him because you will not find a better life partner than him anywhere else."
Lina thought silently for a while after hearing Yuexin's words. As she pondered, a smile spread across her face as her calculations matched and her questions were answered.
____
Yuexin is walking barefoot on the grass in the park.
Lina told her to walk like this. Walking barefoot on wet grass is said to cure many diseases. Lina is currently talking to a friend of hers. Yuexin uses this opportunity not to see Lina around. She stops walking and sits down near the bench.
She has been panting for a while. She is about to sit on the bench and drink water from the bottle when she hears someone coughing. First, she looks around to see who is coughing like this. Then she notices an old woman standing a little distance to her left, coughing.
"Koff.... koff..."
Yuexin looks at her for a while. She feels bad seeing her struggling so much. When she looks at her bottle, she sees that there is only a small amount of water left in the bottle. Only enough to take three or four small swallows.
She feels bad seeing the old woman struggling so much. So she takes the remaining water to her instead of drinking it herself.
"Are you okay? Would you like to drink water?"
The old woman keeps coughing. She couldn't even speak because of the cough.
Yuexin opened the lid of the bottle and offered it to her. The old woman immediately took the bottle from her and drank all the water. Yuexin started patting her back.
When the old woman finished drinking the water, Yuexin asked her, "Do you feel okay now?"
The old woman handed the bottle to Yuexin and looked at her.
The old woman's expression changed as soon as she saw Yuexin. She looked at Yuexin strangely. Yuexin felt a little unprepared. So she wanted to leave.
"Okay, you stay. I'll go."
When Yuexin started to leave, the old woman held her hand and stopped her. Yuexin looked at her with a frown.
"Your name is Yuexin, right!"
As the old women say this, Yuexin was speechless. She was surprised. She couldn't understand how this old woman recognized her!
"You have a disease, right?"
This time Yuexin was stunned.
No one knows about her illness except her family and doctor. So how did she know!
"How did you know?" Yuexin asked in surprise.
The old woman continued to laugh.
"There are so many things that happen in the world. Things that are unknown, unexpected, and beyond our understanding."
"Huh!"
Yuexin doesn't understand what the old woman is saying.
"Keep it. In future, it will help you."
The old woman took out a small golden stopwatch from her bag and handed it to her.
"No, I can't take it from you. It looks very expensive...." Yuexin said, surprised.
" Expensive! Yes, expensive. Very expensive. It can control the most precious thing in the world. "
" What do you mean? "
" Time.... Time.... There is nothing more precious than time. "
" But time can never be controlled. "
" It can't be controlled...! But it is possible to travel? "
After hearing the old man's contradictory words, Yuexin laughed and said,
" What are you saying? Are you feeling very bad? "
" You don't believe me, do you! But I know you'll use it. So listen carefully, this stopwatch has the power to make you time travel. You can go wherever you want, whenever you want. Future or past—this stopwatch will take you to any moment you desire.
If you want to go to the past, turn it forward. If you want to go to the future, turn it backward. Stop at the number of years you want to travel. But, remember, you will only have three chances. After 3 uses, it won't work anymore.
But if the soul doesn't exist where you go... remember this—you will be trapped. Imprisoned inside the time. Your existence will be erased from the world's memory. "
" I don't need it. Take it. I am happy with my life. "
" Happy? Hahaha..... " The old woman laughed out loud.
" The one who is happy—in the present,
has a past full of sorrow.
No one knows what the future holds.
Everyone cheats. Everyone lies.
Sooner or later—they will be caught.
The closest people do it first.
Secretly or openly—without fear.
Only when You are in trouble,
you'll know what a true love can do. "
The old woman kept saying this and kept walking away. Just then Lina was coming towards her. Lina and the old woman faced each other. Seeing Lina, she looked at her with big eyes. Then a big smile tugged at the corner of her lips.
Seeing the old woman looking at her like this, Lina got scared. The old woman started to wobble while walking. There was only one thing on her face.
"The one who is happy—in the present,
has a past full of sorrow.
No one knows what the future holds."
Lina looked back at the old woman leaving. Then she went to Yuexin.
Yuexin was watching the stopwatch given by the old woman very carefully. She found the old woman's words very strange.
Then Lina came to her. Lina saw Yuexin standing there with something in her hand and asked with curiosity.
"Mrs. Yuexin, what is in your hand?"
Yuexin was surprised by Lina's sudden appearance.
"Huh...! "
"What's in your hand?" Lina pointed to her hand.
Yuexin quickly hid the stopwatch behind her.
"Where? It's nothing. Let's go home, Lina. I feel really tired."
Yuexin changed the subject.
"Okay, okay. Let's go."
Lina and Yuexin walked towards the house.
Yuexin was a little surprised by her own behavior today. Ever since Lina came, she had always told Lina everything. Never, she had hidden anything from her. But why she didn't tell her about that old woman and her stopwatch today. She didn't know. But something inside her was holding her back today.
Present—
The thing that Yuexin didn't value back then, now seems very precious to her. The old woman she thought was crazy back then, now she wants to trust her very much.
The incident a while ago, this loud nasty noise in the present and the hardships she had gone through in life were having an effect on her. After a hundred hesitations, Yuexin wiped away her tears and started using the stopper.
Sighing, she placed her finger on the middle button of the clock, just as the old women said.
As she started to use it, the old women's words keep ringing in her ears.
She slowly turned her finger...
1... 5... 10... 15...
A click-click sound was heard in the wheel of the button, and in the silent night, each click created a storm inside her. Along with the click, the storm also accelerated.
20... 25... 30... 35...
Yuexin's breathing became heavy.
...38... 39... 40.
She stopped.
She quickly pressed another button on her right hand—which, as she knew, would stop the hand and take her through time into the past.
But...
Nothing happened.
Neither time changed, nor light, nor feelings, nor magical thing.
Yuexin was sitting there. The room was the same. The silence of the night outside, the ticking of the clock, did not change at all.
Her eyes welled up with tears. The hope she had in her heart was shattered in an instant.
She couldn't hold herself back—she suddenly threw her head back on the bed,
grasping the sheets and crying.
Her tears seemed to spread all the sorrow, humiliation, and pain of defeat to every corner of the room.
That night passed silently...
---
Yuexin woke up the next morning, slowly opening her eyes. Tired and sleepless, she yawned.
She looked out the window with sleepy eyes.
The golden sunlight was pouring into the room through the window. She silently felt it. A drop of water rolled down her eyes.
She started to get out of bed. The moment she stepped out of bed, her heart stopped beating.
The room seemed unfamiliar. It was a big difference from the room she had slept in that night.
The color of the walls has changed, the window curtains are of old design, the bedsheet has been changed, the bed frame is old wood. Everything has change. There are posters of some famous stars in the room.
Suddenly something hits on her head, she ran and picked up the calendar on the table.
Her eyes immediately fixed on the date—"September 1, 1985"
Her chest heaved. Her hands trembled.
Yuexin is sitting in her room, stunned. She still can't believe the time travel thing. As Yuexin was processing everything, she suddenly remembered something.
Yuexin ran out of her room. She frantically checked every room on the upper floor. But she couldn't find what she was looking for. Suddenly, her eyes fell on the dining table on the lower floor.
Finally, she calmed down.
Tears welled up in her eyes. It felt like the water was going to run down her cheeks. Yuexin quickly ran down the stairs. She hugged the man sitting at the table and started crying.