002 Confused 2

The baseball bat froze, hanging in midair.

Li Chengyi's eyes widened in shock, staring at everything before him, unsure of how to react for a moment.

In front of him,

was a spacious and dimly-lit parking lot.

In the square, empty space, not a single car was present; it was like a sealed long box, with only the dim lighting illuminating the ground.

The lighting was a ghastly white, of two kinds.

One on the right, a long strip, fixed onto the black ceiling, stretching into the distant darkness.

The other on the left, sections of lights about a meter long, hung across the ceiling every dozen meters, one after another, also extending into the distant darkness.

The slightly reflective black ground gleamed faintly white under the lighting, with some blurry white lines of parking spaces still visible.

'What the hell? Am I dreaming?' Li Chengyi gently set down the baseball bat and pinched his own thigh hard.

Sharp pain spread rapidly throughout his body, snapping him back to alertness.

'It doesn't seem like a dream.' He quickly came to realize.

Time travel had already occurred, so it seemed normal for something else bizarre to happen.

He took a deep breath, inhaling, exhaling, and his expression gradually became calmer.

Standing by the door, he hesitated for a moment.

'First, determine if this is a dream.'

He picked up the bat, brought it close—almost touching his face—and carefully observed its texture up close.

The surface of the bat had tiny smooth rust spots, the silver paint reflecting the lights in the distance.

In the middle, there was a scroll-like pattern engraved, within which was a line of small words: "Life is about striking hard."

Below the words was the brand: B+ Sports. Below that were two neat characters representing the company's initials.

'Dreams can't be this clear and delicate!'

Li Chengyi felt hairy inside as he gripped the bat's non-slip handle, the dense texture providing a rough tactile sensation, making him further certain this was not a dream.

Generally, according to his experience, to judge whether or not it was a dream, all one needed to do was to observe the details to find clues.

The details in dreams are often blurry.

But now...

He stood at the door, took a deep breath, and looked out at the parking lot, not wanting to go out at all.

Subconsciously, he took a step back, wanting to shrink back into the room and close the door.

'Maybe if I close the door and open it again, everything will return to normal.'

He thought to himself, but his back was already pressed against a cold wall.

'!!!' Li Chengyi stiffened instantly and quickly turned his head to look.

His bedroom, which had been behind him, had somehow turned into a grey-white wall!

The room, gone!? His bedroom, gone!?

He stood there frozen, holding the bat in one hand, dressed in the gray underwear he slept in, completely unable to process what had happened.

The room was no more.

The door frame was gone too.

Behind him was only a stone wall identical to the other walls.

If it weren't for the bat in his hand, he might have thought that his previous sleep in his room was the illusion.

Li Chengyi reached out and gently touched the wall before him.

The hard, cold touch and the coarse texture told him the wall was real.

There were even some tiny damaged spots on the wall, as if something sharp and hard had struck it, revealing the grey-black material underneath.

'This... Just what the hell is going on!?' Li Chengyi was completely dumbfounded.

He turned back around, looked at the parking lot, and took another deep breath.

With hesitation and a pause, the expression on his face gradually calmed down, and his eyes flickered rapidly.

Before long, he finally exhaled deeply and took a step forward.

Whoosh!

Instantly, the world spun around, and Li Chengyi's vision blurred for a moment, his consciousness falling into a brief fuzziness.

He felt as if he was lifting off, the world whirling around him.

Drip, drip, drip...

The irritating sound of the alarm clock vibrated in his ear.

Li Chengyi's vision gradually cleared.

Before his eyes, the parking lot transformed into the white ceiling of his own room.

Block by block of metal plates, pieced together, white squares, black lines—this was the simple ceiling pattern of his home.

He sat on the bed, staring blankly as the phone on the nightstand vibrated slightly.

It was the set alarm clock.

The pale blue screen displayed the words 'Exercise.'

The time was 7:32 AM.

Li Chengyi took deep breaths, his heart still racing.

The scenes that had just unfolded were so vivid that he had not yet come back to his senses.

Sitting on the bed, waiting for his blood to slow down, he slowly picked up the phone amidst the ringing of the alarm.

The phone background was a deep blue sea, with three young people in red life jackets lying back on a round inflatable cushion in the center.

All three had their hands behind their heads, smiling happily.

Golden sunlight, a gray inflatable pad, red life jackets, and the brilliant smiles of three people constituted a warm tapestry in the heart of the deep blue sea.

Li Chengyi gazed at the background photo on his screen, his hand pinching the phone hanging in midair; he waited for a while until only vague memories surged forth in his mind.

'Lin Sang, Chen Xudong.'

He remembered the names of the other two aside from himself.

The girl was Lin Sang, and the sturdy boy was Chen Xudong.

This was taken by a drone two years ago when the three of them went together to the Bisha Archipelago near Lan Yang.

He put down his phone and examined its exterior.

It was just a simple rectangular silver box, not much different from the phones of his past life.

All screen, no buttons.

With a rustling sound,

he put down his phone, flipped off the blankets, stood up, walked to the window, pushed aside several coats hanging by the window, and opened it.

The cool air outside turned into a breeze against his cheek, bringing with it the aroma of fried eggs.

Outside the window, the light was pristine, and from his fourth-floor vantage point, rows of cars of various colors were parked below.

Opposite was another gray-white building of over ten stories, from which he could see into layers of windows, and the families inside gradually coming to life.

Li Chengyi turned his head and looked towards the distant sky.

In the azure sky, hazy white clouds like tufts of cotton sometimes obscured the sunlight, sometimes let slip a bit of gold.

He steadied his nerves, turned around, and walked to the table, taking out a meticulously cleaned mirror from the drawer.

He looked at himself in the mirror.

Reflected in the mirror was the face of an ordinary-looking young man with light yellow skin and black eyes.

His eyebrows were somewhat fine, and the corners of his eyes slightly upturned, seemingly always smiling; aside from that, there was nothing particularly memorable.

His nose was neither high nor low, his mouth neither wide nor narrow, neither thick nor thin.

He appeared to be in his twenties, his eyes curious with a hint of astonishment.

'Doesn't seem much different from my last life?' he thought.

Following the habit of his predecessor, he should now dress and go out for physical exercise.

Although his memory was blurry, he remembered many things.

Opening the wardrobe, he quickly picked out a set of gray sportswear, dressed, and then opened the door and went into the living room.

The living room was empty; his parents and sister from before were no longer there. Several pairs of shoes were also missing from the shoe cabinet by the door.

On the gray-white rectangular stone table lay a box with a gray powder that looked like jelly.

Li Chengyi walked over, picked it up, and glanced at it.

On the box was printed a line of words: Silver Ear and Green Bean Porridge - Gu Ding Brand.

Hesitating, he still tore off the lid of the box and began to drink.

The taste was sweet, just like what he had in his last life.

He quickly finished the breakfast, changed shoes, and put on a sport waist bag.

Li Chengyi carefully reviewed his blurred memory, took his phone and keys, and walked out the door.

In the spacious and cold staircase, the silver elevator moved faster than he had anticipated.

Almost as soon as he pressed the button and counted to four in his heart, he arrived at the ground floor.

Exiting the stairwell and walking out of the building, his feet touched the hard and tangible gray ground for the first time, grounding Li Chengyi's feelings.

Standing at the entrance to the building, he felt the mildly warm wind on his body, carrying the scent of flowers and breakfast, a fresh vibrancy surging within him.

Ding Ling Ling.

Suddenly, the sound of a bell came from the building entrance across the way.

An elderly man with graying hair was helping his granddaughter onto the back seat of a bicycle; he took one step, two, three, then with a push forward, he mounted the bike, cycling confidently to take her to school.

The girl, not even ten, yawned with her backpack on, a tear stain still visible at the corner of her eye and a handprint lingering on one cheek.

Li Chengyi warmed up his ankles while watching the girl and the old man steadily move away.

He made a couple of light hops, then followed in the direction of the bicycle, breaking into a jog.

That way led out of the Happiness Community, and to the small park at the side of the community where his predecessor usually exercised.

On the internal roads within the community, cars drove by one after another, all heading to work.

The leaves and branches above rustled with the wind, casting down flecks of pale yellow - perhaps flower petals, or fuzz from the leaves.

Li Chengyi ran out of the community, paused at the large stone inscribed with 'Happiness Community' in red by the gate, then continued running toward the side of the community.

The fresh air, the comfortable temperature, the bright light, and the clean streets.

The flow of vehicles and people busy with work and school runs, as well as those up early for a workout.

All this tangibility slowly steadied Li Chengyi's somewhat shaky mood.

He ran all the way to the park entrance, stopped by a circular clearing, and waited.

The two from his phone background, who used to exercise with him, were Lin Sang and Chen Xudong.

Five days a week, they would gather here for morning exercises.

Li Chengyi felt expectant and a little uneasy; everything in this world was new to him.

The interpersonal relationships of his predecessor, the past, all felt familiar yet strange to him.

As he pondered how to interact with his two friends, the unease from last night's bizarre experience also started to fade into the back of his mind.

He had a fleeting sense of feeling out of place, as if this was where he truly belonged, and the memories of his past life were just a vivid dream.

But this feeling was quickly cast aside.

Because someone was already jogging over from the right.

"Xiao Yi!" the person called out from a distance, his running form immaculate.

This man was tall and burly, easily 1.9 meters, with a crew cut, swollen muscles, and a large build, wearing a black sleeveless top and gray-white sports pants, broad-browed with a conspicuous red mole to the left of his frown. It was Chen Xudong, Chengyi's good friend and classmate from before.