What followed unfolded almost exactly as it had during the most humiliating period of Xiao Liang’s life at twenty-two.

 

A crowd escorted him to the township police station. At first, the officer on duty, Qian Haiyun, merely handcuffed him in the interrogation room and didn’t make things too difficult. But before long, the station chief, Chen Shen, rushed over after hearing the news. Once he and Officer Du Jiang began questioning Xiao Liang, their tone was far less polite.

 

When Xiao Yujun arrived from the township clinic with his wounds freshly bandaged, things became even worse. Inside the interrogation room, he brazenly kicked and punched Xiao Liang again.

 

Chen Shen and Du Jiang, who often addressed Xiao Yujun like a brother in daily life, only reluctantly dragged the furious man away after letting him vent for quite some time.

 

Just like in the previous life, He Hong accused Xiao Liang of trying to assault her.

 

She claimed that she had taken him home out of concern after he got drunk, afraid he might run into trouble outside. Around five in the morning, she said, she heard him wake up and went into the bedroom with some water—only for him to try to molest her. He had even torn her skirt. Fortunately, Xiao Yujun had happened to pass by, heard her screams, and rushed in to catch him in the act.

 

No township leaders appeared.

 

Instead, Xiao Liang’s immediate superior—Du Xuebing, director of the Economic Management Station—came forward and testified that Xiao Liang had already been behaving improperly toward He Hong while drinking the night before, even touching her inappropriately.

 

The interrogation was finished by morning.

 

That afternoon, Xiao Liang was locked alone in the station’s holding cell, his mind in complete turmoil.

 

Anyone suddenly thrown back to the most miserable moment of their twenty-two-year-old life would have a hard time keeping their thoughts straight.

 

He stayed there until nine o’clock that night.

 

Du Jiang, reeking of alcohol, finally came to take him out of the cell. Xiao Liang’s hands had been cuffed behind his back the entire afternoon.

 

In the courtyard of the police station, Xiao Liang saw Yuan Wenhai—the deputy captain of the county Public Security Bureau’s criminal investigation unit—standing beside a police vehicle with Detective Zhou Jun and Station Chief Chen Shen.

 

They were all familiar faces from his previous life.

 

And just like before, their words and breath carried the thick smell of alcohol.

 

Clearly, the course of events from his past life had not changed up to this moment.

 

Earlier that afternoon, Chen Shen had reported the attempted rape case to the county bureau, which decided to open a formal investigation. Yuan Wenhai happened to have some free time recently, so he personally drove over to Yunshe with Zhou Jun to escort Xiao Liang back to the county for questioning.

 

But after arriving in Yunshe, Yuan Wenhai couldn’t refuse Chen Shen’s enthusiastic invitation. He and Zhou Jun ended up attending a lavish dinner that evening hosted by Chen Shen and Du Jiang.

 

Back in 1994, many grassroots officials still had no real awareness about not driving after drinking. Yuan Wenhai was confident in his alcohol tolerance, and after eating and drinking his fill, he wanted to head back to the county as soon as possible.

 

Xiao Liang looked up at the clear night sky.

 

The bright, swelling moon hung overhead, one corner veiled by thin clouds, its cold light shining quietly down.

 

A thought stirred in his mind.

 

If everything happening now wasn’t a dream—

 

If he truly had returned to 1994—

 

Then would the car crash he experienced in his previous life while being transported to the county police bureau… happen again?

---

The police jeep left Yunshe Town and rolled onto the gravel road winding along the northern foot of Mount Suyun, snaking through the darkness like a gray serpent.

 

Xiao Liang sat in the back seat between Du Jiang and Zhou Jun, his hands cuffed behind him.

 

Through the rearview mirror, he could see Yuan Wenhai at the wheel. The man’s eyelids were drooping heavily, fighting against sleep.

 

Yuan Wenhai’s hands lightly patted the steering wheel, which had long since developed a worn, glossy sheen from years of use. The blissful look on his face made Xiao Liang think of someone lazily patting the plump, snow-white hips of a lover.

 

Or perhaps, in his drunken haze, Yuan Wenhai himself imagined exactly that.

 

Alcohol dulled his senses.

 

His foot pressed the accelerator more and more freely.

 

Xiao Liang could clearly feel the jeep gaining speed.

 

The old vehicle rattled across the gravel road. Every screw and component seemed to tremble in strange exhilaration as the car vibrated violently.

 

Du Jiang and Zhou Jun, sitting on either side of him, had already fallen into drunken sleep.

 

Chen Shen sat in the front passenger seat. Though he had drunk plenty, he remained clear-headed, staring silently out the window.

 

Xiao Liang followed his gaze.

 

Outside the car, the roadside was lined with dark shrubs and weeds. In the distance, mountain ridges appeared only as faint outlines beneath the moonlight.

 

Who knew what Chen Shen was thinking?

 

Inside the dim cabin, Xiao Liang caught a glimpse of himself in the rearview mirror—messy hair and a swollen face.

 

At twenty-two, he should have had a lean, sharp-featured face that young girls found attractive.

 

Though the earlier beatings hadn’t caused serious injuries, bruises and swelling were unavoidable.

 

Watching Yuan Wenhai’s increasingly unfocused eyes in the mirror, Xiao Liang’s heart tightened.

 

But he pressed his lips together firmly.

 

He wanted to see it with his own eyes.

 

Would the accident happen again?

 

Perhaps that would be the most direct proof that he had truly returned to 1994.

 

In the next instant, Yuan Wenhai suddenly jolted awake in the mirror.

 

But before he could even hit the brakes, the police jeep had already veered off the road shoulder and slammed violently into a boulder.

 

Just like in his previous life—though this time better prepared—Xiao Liang braced himself, pressing his shoulder against the back of the front seat to absorb the impact.

 

Du Jiang and Zhou Jun, on either side of him, acted like human cushions.

 

Aside from banging his head against the roof a couple of times, the injuries he suffered during the rollover were actually lighter than in his previous life.

 

Through the shattered window, moonlight spilled silently across the ravine below.

 

The distant mountain ridges looked like faint charcoal sketches against the night sky.

 

The overturned car left Xiao Liang hanging awkwardly, his head pressed uncomfortably against the seat. After struggling clumsily, he crawled out of the wreck and collapsed onto the grass, gasping like a fish thrown ashore by the tide.

 

The police jeep lay upside down in the rocky ditch, its wheels pointing toward the sky.

 

“Xiao Liang! Hurry and pull Captain Yuan and Chief Chen out of the car! The rear’s on fire—save them!”

 

Hearing the shout, Xiao Liang sat up.

 

Du Jiang lay not far away in the ditch, urging him desperately.

 

When the jeep overturned, Du Jiang had been thrown out through the door.

 

His right leg bent backward at an unnatural angle—exactly the same as in Xiao Liang’s previous life.

 

The difference now was that Xiao Liang knew better how to protect himself.

 

Despite being beaten several times by Xiao Yujun earlier, he had suffered little real injury. And during the crash, he had consciously avoided the worst of the impact.

 

Xiao Liang ignored Du Jiang.

 

He also ignored the small flames beginning to lick up from the rear of the jeep.

 

Instead, he lay back down on the grassy slope, staring blankly at the round moon hanging in the lead-blue sky.

 

“Chen Shen was just doing his duty interrogating you! Captain Yuan and Zhou Jun are only taking you to the county bureau because of orders!” Du Jiang shouted anxiously. “You can’t just watch us die! Xiao Liang! Xiao Liang!”

 

When Xiao Liang didn’t respond, Du Jiang cursed loudly and began shouting the names of Yuan Wenhai, Chen Shen, and Zhou Jun.

 

Zhou Jun never moved.

 

Yuan Wenhai, his face covered in blood, soon regained consciousness. He braced himself and tried to push open the door—but the door on his side was jammed.

 

The front of the vehicle was severely crushed.

 

He couldn’t climb out through the front window, nor could he crawl into the back seat to escape.

 

Yuan Wenhai began pounding on the window, trying to attract Xiao Liang’s attention.

 

Xiao Liang remembered clearly.

 

In his previous life, the moment he woke up after the crash, he had rushed to pull Yuan Wenhai, Chen Shen, and the severely injured Zhou Jun out of the wreck without a second thought.

 

Back then, he had only worked at the Yunshe Township government for two years.

 

Even after being framed by Xiao Yujun, He Hong, and his own superior Du Xuebing, he still couldn’t bring himself to leave people to die.

 

After waiting for a long time with no response, Yuan Wenhai stopped banging on the window.

 

Silence fell over the overturned vehicle.

 

A moment later, Chen Shen’s weak voice drifted out from inside the wreck.

 

“Xiao Liang! Damn it—help us pry the door open! I know you were framed!”

 

Those words startled Xiao Liang.

 

He stood up and walked toward the jeep, ignoring the burning pain where the handcuffs cut into his wrists. As he approached the rear of the vehicle, where flames were already beginning to crawl up the chassis, he stumbled over a rock and nearly fell.

 

He reached out and touched the trunk near the fire.

 

The heat instantly burned his hand.

 

He wasn’t worried about an explosion.

 

No matter how old the police jeep was, even if the ruptured fuel tank caught fire directly, it wouldn’t explode that easily.

 

After burning for a while, pressure might build inside the tank and spit flames outward, creating a terrifying scene—but at most it would ignite the undercarriage, the tires, and the interior, eventually engulfing the entire vehicle in flames.

 

Explosions like in the movies didn’t happen.

 

Xiao Liang studied the flames climbing the underside of the jeep. Judging by their pace, the fire still had time before spreading completely.

 

He walked around to the other side and crouched down.

 

Inside, Chen Shen hung upside down in the crushed passenger seat, his body restrained by the seatbelt. He groaned in pain.

 

Aside from the obvious injuries, one thing stood out.

 

A palm-sized shard of window glass was embedded deep in Chen Shen’s left shoulder. Blood poured out, running down his neck and face before dripping onto the overturned roof.

 

“Xiao Liang… I know you were framed,” Chen Shen gasped through the pain, sucking in cold air as he struggled to turn his head toward him. “Pull us out. Once we get to the county bureau, your case can be cleared up.”

 

Under the moonlight, Chen Shen’s pleading expression made Xiao Liang’s mind drift into a daze.