I opened my eyes again to find myself in an unfamiliar landscape. My body was still trembling slightly, the shock of the floodwaters hitting me had not yet dissipated.

  But I'm no longer there.

  The sky is overcast with clouds, gray. There are some farmhouses and thatched cottages around me, I lie on the ground, only feeling the chill to the bone, my back is cool too. The feeling is like lying on wet snow.

  I cast a sidelong glance at the ground.

  Damn! It's really snowing! Thick snow covers the ground, filling the entire field of vision.

  I sprang up with a start, to find myself lying outside a strange wooden house. I was wearing the same thin nightgown I had worn in my room before returning to the ship! And my toes were almost numb from the cold.

  I struggled to get up from the ground, and I already recognized where I was. This is the town of Lishui County where Wu Yu and I arrived before, Professor Chen's hometown. Far away, I can still see the Chen family ancestral house on the mountain waist. It's just that because I'm not familiar with it, I didn't recognize it for a moment earlier.

  In the winter, we returned from the timeline of that ship to the winter! But which winter is this, past or future? There's nothing more terrifying and absurd than this. I stumbled forward, hugging myself with both arms, shouting: "Wu Yu... Wu Yu..."

  No one responded, and the village was already sparse. In the distance, a window of a house opened, perhaps a stranger in the village was looking at me strangely. My mind slowly warmed up, recalling the scenes before I fainted. I met that fool, and he abandoned me to rush towards the shore. Amidst such a terrifying sky and earth, he stood alone, as if he would impulsively jump into the whirlpool the next moment.

  I've never seen him so pitiful before.

  Then came the collapse. I almost drowned, but Ou's figure kept appearing in front of me. He would sometimes appear in front of me and sometimes brush past me. It wasn't until I saw him use his body to collide with the rock wall and catch me that I understood. He had been trying to swim towards me all along.

  I've always thought he was a very intelligent man. And indeed he is. But also self-centered. This self-centeredness used to manifest as being utilitarian and not caring about others' feelings. Now it manifests as being arbitrary and stubborn, knowing that we both like each other but still refusing to get close. He's not selfish, but rather always confines himself within a fixed goal, unable to escape.

  After experiencing the horror of last night, he looked at the ship's shadow, looked at my appearance, and I seemed to see another him. That more desperate, kinder, and burdened man.

  Thinking of this, my tears almost fell out. The ground was covered with endless snow, and all the houses were dressed in white. But where was he? Was he back to the same time and place as me? As soon as I thought of this, my heart sank.

  Finally, after running through several small roads, I heard a faint movement in the bushes next to me. I ran over and indeed saw someone lying there. Tall figure, thin clothing, who else could it be but Wu Yu?

  He was propping himself up with his hands, trying to sit up, and looked utterly exhausted.

  I ran up to him and fell to my knees, hugging him tightly. His expression also changed in an instant, and he hugged me back tightly.

  "Winter?" he whispered in my ear, his voice hoarse and unlike himself. Our faces were pressed tightly together, our breath almost tangled as well.

  "Hmm... winter..."