Change Your Life in 7 Days - Chapter 18

Song Mingde is still talking on the other end. I’ve fallen silent. If this is fake, it means many things from before need to be overturned.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?” he asks. “What should I treat you to eat? I’ll treat you to anything.”

I hang up the phone and look at the documents in my hand. Eventually, I follow the address provided in the documents and arrive at Song Mingde’s residential area, where I stand for a while.

The security office on the ground floor lights up. An elderly man opens the door and yawns. “I say, what time is it… don’t wander around in the rain; go back and rest.”

I walk up and ask, “Sir, I’m here to find my classmate Song Mingde. Is he in this residential area?” Fortunately, I’ve already taken a photo of Song Mingde from the documents and show it to the elderly man.

The man, with sleepy eyes and tousled hair, glances at it casually. “Ah, him… I saw him this afternoon. He lives in Building 3.”

It seems that the Song Mingde from the documents is genuine

I arrived at the entrance to the apartment building and hesitated about whether to knock on the door. It was late at night, and if I were to go in and the person who answered the door was the “Song Mingde” from the documents who didn’t know me, what would I say? Do they have any connection between them? Why is it that someone can come back using another person’s identity? Perhaps, it’s the fake one who assumed the real identity, and the real one had no knowledge of this plan from start to finish.

I took two quick drags on my cigarette under the umbrella, and then I heard a familiar voice behind me.

“Are you looking for me?”

I turned to look, and there was Song Mingde, standing not far away with an umbrella. He had a smile on his face and checked the time on his phone.

“It’s almost dawn now, you didn’t come at this hour to take me out for a meal, did you?”

I didn’t beat around the bush either.

“Are you called Song Mingde?”

“Of course.”

“In that case, what’s the relationship between you and the Song Mingde from Unit 1, Apartment 603 in this building?”

Surprisingly, he didn’t seem nervous.

“Same name, same surname, what’s so strange about it?” Song Mingde replied.

“You assumed someone else’s identity, and yet you act so righteous?” I questioned.

“Well, you’ve seen the documents, right?” Song Mingde asked.

I continued my questioning, “Who are you really? What’s your purpose for coming back? And how did you manage to take someone else’s place?”

Song Mingde brushed off the rain from his clothes and said, “You should ask the professor about that. He’s the owner of the documents and must have known from the beginning that I was an imposter. Why didn’t he ask?”

This revelation left me momentarily speechless. It was true that the professor, as the initiator, should have been aware of any issues, so why did he let this situation happen?

Song Mingde continued, “So, you were all played by him. He’s the real mastermind behind all of this.”

I didn’t let him divert the conversation and grabbed his collar, demanding, “I don’t care about the others for now. What are you here for?”

But he remained calm and warned me, “There are surveillance cameras all around here…”

After adjusting his collar, Song Mingde responded, “You’ve misunderstood me. I came back out of curiosity. I mean, who wouldn’t want to try a chance to go back in time? Besides, I’m not familiar with any of you, and as of now, you’re the only one I can call a friend.”

“Don’t try to get close to me! You better come clean right now,” I insisted.

He took a couple of steps back and then reminded me, “Oh, I forgot to tell you something… You’re not very careful with your actions.”

Song Mingde continued, “Do you really think that Gao Linlin came back to salvage her relationship with her boyfriend? She’s a rich girl who’s not short of money, and she changes boyfriends like clothes! Before I came here, I read the news. Her villa suffered structural damage, and her basement wasn’t properly built. The heavy rain caused part of her villa to collapse. All her safes and precious collectibles got soaked, leading to significant losses… That was her real reason for returning.”

“What does that have to do with me?” I asked.

“It doesn’t have anything to do with you. I just wanted you to know that everyone is selfish, and they all came back for themselves, except for me!”

After he finished speaking, he abruptly turned and ran like a monkey. I slipped and couldn’t keep up with him. Song Mingde’s smug voice echoed from a distance, shouting, “That’s about enough! Take care of yourself and stop worrying about others!”

In the distance, the security guard’s light came back on. He shouted through the window, “Which little rascal is causing a ruckus in the middle of the night?!”

When I returned home, I noticed that several white trucks were parked at the entrance to Gao Linlin’s villa. It turned out that she had called a moving company, and they were transporting many large items to another property.

I watched as the workers in matching uniforms moved things in and out in the rain.

“You’re moving?” I asked Gao Linlin.

She was still packing things. “It’s about to rain heavily, and I’m taking advantage of the last opportunity to minimize losses and prevent problems.”

“Okay,” I replied.

“I still have some things left to pack, so I have to move to another place.”

As she spoke, she suddenly extended her hand for a handshake.

“These past few days of working together make us friends for life!” Gao Linlin exclaimed as she shook my hand.

I didn’t say much and went into the room to find my backpack. I stuffed all the documents into it. It seemed like it was time to part ways.

Outside, she gave special instructions to the driver, “Sir, please avoid taking Jingguang Road. The tunnel there is experiencing flooding.”

I approached her and asked, “Are you planning to leave tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I still have some packing to do. It should be almost done by tomorrow morning.”

“Focus on saving the larger items; you can leave behind the smaller, less important stuff. I recommend leaving tonight to prevent any unexpected complications,” I advised.

I pulled her aside and continued, “On my way back earlier, I noticed that the rain is much heavier than I remembered, and there’s more flooding on the roads than I expected. To avoid any uncertainties, it’s better to leave early.”

She hesitated and looked back at the house. Just then, our phones simultaneously received a severe rainstorm warning.

“All right!” She made up her mind.

She then told the moving company’s crew, “You all go ahead in the vehicle. I’ll catch up with you.”

In a hushed tone, she suggested, “We won’t be able to have a proper meal for the next few days, so why don’t we take this opportunity to enjoy a hotpot together?”

I responded, “…”

I had my backpack on, and we walked together along the road. As we passed by a tunnel, we noticed that the traffic ahead was blocked.

“You see, it’s already getting quite serious,” I remarked.

“Let’s walk around it,” she suggested.

It was 2:30 in the early morning. She kept scanning the distance, looking for any open shops while I followed her.

“Have you noticed something strange? In the original timeline, the flooding wasn’t this severe at this point.”

“Yeah,” she seemed distracted.

“Anyway, we know which areas are dangerous now, so we should be safe in the end.”

It was clear that this wealthy girl only cared about her own interests.

At this moment, she excitedly pointed across the road and shouted, “Fish Hotpot! This place is the best.”

I turned to look and saw an elaborately decorated hotpot restaurant on the opposite side. The conspicuous “Fish Hotpot” sign was blinking, making it look very festive.

Gao Linlin was about to wade across the water towards the restaurant, but as she took a step, she suddenly screamed. I grabbed her arm, but there was strong resistance, as if someone were pulling her foot underneath.

I thought, “Oh no!”

Could the road have collapsed?

The water had become turbulent, and I used my other arm to hold onto a nearby tree, attempting to pull her up. It was only then that I realized that I couldn’t hold onto her.

Gao Linlin shouted, “Help!”

At this moment, two muscular guys wearing safety helmets appeared out of nowhere and quickly grabbed me.

“What are you two doing here? Don’t you fear getting washed away?” one of them scolded.

I had already sensed the danger. As Gao Linlin pulled me down with her, I realized that there was nothing solid beneath us. We couldn’t touch the bottom!

Another big guy shouted behind him, “Quick, more people are getting washed away!”

Several people came over, one grabbing the other, creating a human chain to pull us down. They shouted, “Don’t let go! Don’t let go!”

Gao Linlin was still struggling, and her body was gradually being pulled down, as if someone were playing tug of war with us.

In the end, her hand slipped from mine, and I watched helplessly as the strong current carried her away. The guys beside me shouted, “Saving one is better than none!”

Finally, I was pulled to safety by the roadside.

I looked back at the spot where we had been, still feeling shaken. I asked one of the guys who had helped us, “Did the road collapse?”

One of the guys replied, panting, “This is a bridge, and the river is right next to it. Didn’t you know?”

Another person chimed in, “All the warning signs that were placed earlier got washed away. It’s too dangerous. We have to stay here and watch!”

At this moment, in the distance, someone cried out, “Help! Can someone please help…”

Several guys jumped up and ran towards the voice.

This night was bound to be anything but peaceful. I sat drenched by the roadside, my backpack soaked, and looked at the pitch-black floodwaters in front of me.

In this very moment, nearly all was lost.