Chapter 17

Pain, pain, pain, pain, pain. The searing agony ripping through her heart made Yan Can curl up like a shrimp, sweat beading and sliding down her forehead. This time, it hurt even more than before!

If this kept looping a few more times, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say she really might be tortured to death by the pain!

After another round of that familiar cycle, her vision flickered in and out of darkness.

This time, she found herself standing on a crowded campus, students with backpacks streaming toward the school gate all around her. The screen of her phone was still lit in her hand; Su Ci had just hung up not long ago.

She didn’t even need to look at the phone to know this was ten minutes before the heroine’s accident. In the previous loop, she had seen with her own eyes the heroine get into that black car, then get hit and thrown by the cement truck in front of her, followed by the overturned vehicle exploding.

Watching Su Ci’s back disappear through the school gate ahead, Yan Can felt as if her heart had died.

Seriously, how was this loop getting more and more ridiculous? Ten minutes before the heroine died—how was she supposed to stop it? How was she supposed to stop it!

This was too much! What was she supposed to do about this? The heroine had already gotten into that death trap of a car! This goddamn transmigration world was deliberately making things hard for her!

Yan Can stood in the sun cursing for a full ten minutes. She didn’t even know exactly who she was cursing anymore; she just let loose a string of random abuse. She was furious enough to explode!

The familiar pain struck again, as if someone were tearing her apart...

Darkness and light flashed in and out, the familiar rhythm of entering the loop...

This time, Yan Can arrived five minutes before the heroine’s death, seated in the front passenger seat of Chen Shu’s car.

Yan Can...

Maybe she should try stopping the heroine’s car?

She had Chen Shu speed up and catch the black car ahead, then find a way to cut it off by taking a shortcut. Chen Shu stared at her in shock; seeing she didn’t seem to be joking, he said in abject alarm that he wasn’t a race car driver...

The ending, of course, was that she failed to stop it.

Again.

This time, she returned three minutes before the incident.

Yan Can chose to call the police, saying there was a bomb in the car ahead. The police told her to provide evidence...

...

Every loop landed right around ten minutes before the heroine’s death. Yan Can couldn’t make it in time at all; each time she was forced to relive the wrenching pain, and every time she entered the loop after that, she became extremely irritable.

Until this time—

She couldn’t remember which loop number this was, but at last, this time, Yan Can entered the loop an hour before the heroine’s accident.

“Huh? Why are you suddenly covered in sweat?!” Zhang Ru had only looked away for a moment, and when she looked back at Yan Can, she found the young lady’s face pale, sweat covering her forehead and neck. It startled her.

Yan Can closed her eyes and said weakly, “It hurts.”

After so many loops, she was almost immune to the pain... as if! It had turned into phantom pain!

After resting for a bit and waiting for the phantom pain to subside, she looked toward the podium. She was in physics class.

She let out a breath of relief; thankfully, this time she had made it back early enough.

“Hurts?” How bad would it have to be to hurt like that? Zhang Ru was just about to raise her hand and ask for leave for her when the physics teacher on the stage looked over. Probably their quiet conversation had caught the teacher’s attention.

Meeting her gaze, Yan Can decisively raised her hand. “Report, I’m feeling a little unwell and want to go to the infirmary.”

She had been keeping her head down just now, so the teacher hadn’t noticed anything wrong and had only assumed she was whispering to her deskmate. But when she looked up and saw the girl’s face white as paper and her whole forehead covered in cold sweat, the teacher’s heart tightened. She hurried down and asked if Yan Can was all right, whether they should call an ambulance if needed. Yan Can shook her head and said the infirmary would be enough, but the teacher was still worried and asked her deskmate Zhang Ru to accompany her.

A frail beauty was always hard not to pity. Zhang Ru’s expression turned serious; she set aside her usual unreliable air and radiated a trustworthy aura as she helped Yan Can out of the classroom and toward the infirmary.

The moment they reached a corner where the classroom was no longer visible, Yan Can straightened up and shook off Zhang Ru’s hand.

“I feel much better.”

Zhang Ru looked up in surprise, clearly unconvinced, but when she saw Yan Can’s face, her skin really wasn’t as pale as it had been just now.

And her voice was full of energy.

“Then should we go back and keep taking class?” she asked uncertainly. Being dismissed early and going home was impossible; the security guard would stop them.

“I’m not going back.” Yan Can exhaled. “You go back to class first. I’ll call Teacher Ji later to ask for leave, and have the driver take me home.”

Although Yan Can said there wasn’t really anything wrong and she just wanted to go home and rest, Zhang Ru still wasn’t at ease. “Should I go back with you?”

There was still time before the end of class. Yan Can was just waiting for Su Ci to get out of school; she only needed to find any excuse, keep Su Ci occupied, and stop her from getting into that car. Then everything would be done.

This time, it really should work.

Yan Can smiled, feeling strangely pleased.

In the end, Yan Can still politely declined Zhang Ru’s kindness and went alone to the sophomore building.

When the bell rang, Su Ci had only just stepped out of the classroom before someone called out to her.

“Yan Can?” Su Ci hadn’t expected to see her here. The dismissal bell had only just rung; the seniors were let out five minutes later than they were, so she must have happened to be in a class that got out early. “You came at the right time; I need to go home for a bit. Wait for me—”

“Let my driver take you.” Before Su Ci could finish, Yan Can cut her off.

“No need.” Su Ci refused in a flat voice. “You go back first. After I finish delivering something, I’ll take a taxi to your place.”

Remembering what they had said on the rooftop at noon, she added, “Don’t worry. I keep my word. I won’t stand you up.”

After finally looping back to a suitable time, how could Yan Can possibly let her do as she pleased?

She coaxed and persuaded her all the way, following Su Ci the entire time; by now the two of them had already reached downstairs.

No matter what Yan Can said, Su Ci refused just as she had in the previous loops.

Stubborn as a mule!

Yan Can had the urge to grab a stick and knock the heroine out so she could carry her away.

With no other choice, and seeing Su Ci get into that death trap of a black car right in front of her, Yan Can had no choice but to get in too and sit in the front passenger seat.

As the black car pulled away, Chen Shu had watched the whole struggle from the sidelines—watched the two of them tug back and forth, then get into the battered car and speed off into the distance...

Could it be that Miss still hadn’t coaxed her classmate into going with her?

Inside the car, Yan Can’s heartbeat had never been faster. In the previous loops, she had seen more than once that this car was sent flying by the cement truck, spinning in the air like a heap of scrap metal before crashing down and exploding.

Just thinking about it was chilling.

Su Ci hadn’t expected Yan Can to get into the car with her; she realized that the girl had been especially clingy all day today.

As they passed an overpass, the driver suddenly frowned. He noticed that the passenger beside him had seemed very off ever since getting in, her brows tightly knit. At this moment, the girl was clutching her chest, looking as if she were in great pain.

“Miss, are you all right?”

The driver’s worried voice came from the front.

From the back seat, Su Ci looked diagonally forward and also saw Yan Can’s pained expression.

When she didn’t get an answer, the driver looked at Su Ci in the rearview mirror. “What’s wrong with your friend? Should I take her to the hospital?”

Su Ci was a little worried now. She leaned forward slightly, wanting to see how Yan Can was doing. As that familiar scent drew near, just when the timing was right, Yan Can opened her moist eyes and looked at the driver, her voice weak. “Sir, please pull over. My heart really hurts.”

The girl’s eyes were red at the corners, her brow tightly furrowed. She had a beautiful face and looked terribly fragile. The driver was so startled he practically stopped breathing. “Should I take you to the hospital right now?” She didn’t look like she was in any shape to tough it out.

“No need. I’ll just buy some medicine at a pharmacy. Thank y—thank you...” As she spoke, she frowned even more deeply.

Afraid something might happen to her, the driver took a detour and found a place to stop.

“Thanks,” Yan Can said softly with her eyes lowered. Her hand rested on the seat belt as if she were about to get out.

“I’ll go with you.” The moment she unfastened her seat belt and her hand touched the door handle, Su Ci’s voice came from behind.

Yan Can let out a breath of relief in her heart.

Thank goodness, thank goodness; she’d bet right. Even if the heroine was cold toward her, if she really had something wrong, the heroine wouldn’t ignore her.

Su Ci helped Yan Can sit down by the side of the road. The sun was already tilting westward, and she shifted slightly to block the blinding light in front of Yan Can.

“Are you really not going to the hospital?” Seeing that she seemed to be in considerable pain, Su Ci was genuinely afraid something might happen to her. “You shouldn’t just take painkillers casually.”

“It’s fine. My period might be coming. Ibuprofen, Loxonin, any painkiller is fine; just get me one first.” Yan Can gave an apologetic smile. “It’s just that I can’t walk, so I’m sorry to trouble you to make the trip for me.”

“Okay. Wait here.” Su Ci finished speaking and turned to leave, then after a few steps came back again. “You—”

Yan Can jumped. She looked up at her with tear-bright eyes. “I-What about me?”

Su Ci opened her mouth, then shook her head. “Nothing.” She turned and headed toward a pharmacy not far away.

After she left, Yan Can immediately sat up straight and looked at the time on her watch; there were still two minutes left.

In the previous loop, that cement truck had gone out of control two minutes later and charged straight at them.

But this time they had gotten out early; the driver had already been delayed several minutes while waiting for them to get out. They should be able to avoid it.

That counted as doing a good deed.

Thinking of this, Yan Can straightened up and looked at the person approaching, a smile unconsciously appearing at the corners of her mouth.

Su Ci was carrying a bag of medicine, her phone pressed to her ear as she listened to a call.

Squinting slightly, Yan Can thought to herself that the reason she hadn’t been able to get through before was apparently because of this. Who was she talking to that she could stay on the phone for so long?

Usually, when Yan Can sent messages or called, this person wouldn’t even bother to respond; yet other people’s calls she answered so readily, still taking calls right before disaster struck.

It was really irritating!

Since the matter had been resolved, Yan Can stopped pretending. She got up and walked briskly toward Su Ci.

Su Ci ended the call and saw Yan Can walking toward her. Her steps were light, and she seemed to be in pretty good shape. Her brows furrowed very slightly, as if wondering why she had suddenly stopped hurting.

Anyway, the task was done, and Yan Can wasn’t afraid of being exposed. Stopping a few steps away from her, she rubbed the bridge of her nose and gave a guilty little smile. “I sat for a while, and it doesn’t hurt as much anymore.”

Su Ci said nothing.

Yan Can saw that she didn’t seem angry; thinking that things had finally ended perfectly, she tested the waters. “Then should we go to your place first?”

Su Ci handed her the bag in her hand. When Yan Can took it, she glanced inside; it contained ibuprofen and a small bottle of mineral water. Su Ci lowered her eyes and hailed a taxi on her phone; the two of them stood by the roadside waiting together.

While they waited, Yan Can couldn’t help trying to make conversation. “What’s the license plate number?”

Su Ci told her the plate number, model, and color.

The moment Yan Can heard it was black, her face fell at once. She muttered, “Why is it black again?”

Su Ci ignored her.

Since she ignored her, Yan Can kept searching for something else to say. “The charm I gave you—why don’t you hang it on your phone?”

Su Ci said, “I’m not going to hang a plush toy on my phone.”

Yan Can immediately said, “If you don’t want to hang it on your phone, you can hang it on your keychain instead.”

Su Ci looked at her but didn’t say anything.

Judging by that expression, the keychain probably wouldn’t be hung either.

This person was just infuriating! Yan Can discovered she could always manage to make her angry.

She settled for a second-best option. “Fine, if you don’t want to hang it up, then at least hang it on your backpack.”

Su Ci still said nothing, as if she hadn’t heard her at all.

Yan Can looked at her; she really had no way at all with this person.

...

The black sedan arrived in five minutes, but the place where the two of them were waiting wasn’t quite right. Not wanting to trouble the driver by making him wait while they walked over, they started heading there.

It wasn’t far; they reached it in a moment. Su Ci was walking in front, reaching out to open the car door when a loud commotion suddenly came from their side, followed by cries of alarm from the crowd. Yan Can looked up and saw a freight truck out of control barreling toward them.

In an instant, Yan Can’s scalp went numb. How could this happen?!

This was really too much!

So this world absolutely refused to let the heroine die any other way?

And if the heroine was going to die, why did it have to drag her along too?!

Yan Can was completely numb. Su Ci looked numb too; otherwise, she wouldn’t be standing there like a wooden post. The people around them had already fled, and even the car that had come to pick them up had driven a hundred meters away, yet the two of them were still standing there dumbly.

“Holy shit! Run!” Yan Can reacted first, grabbing Su Ci by the wrist and pulling her to the side as they ran.

Su Ci seemed to have been frightened stupid. Yan Can had to use a lot of force to get her moving. She had thought they were doomed again this time, but unexpectedly the truck skidded; originally charging toward them, it suddenly changed direction and slammed headfirst into the nearest big tree.

Yan Can...

That was close!

Yan Can clutched her chest and slowly steadied her breathing. But before her heart could fully settle, the tree that had been knocked down made a sharp cracking sound and toppled straight toward them—