Alone in this somewhat unfamiliar environment, she slowly explored her surroundings.

Until... Li Wanran discovered a photo album in the drawer beneath the living room TV.

Holding the album, she moved to the sofa, took off her slippers, curled up sideways, and carefully opened the album to examine its contents.

She was shocked.

The album contained photos from her high school days.

She immediately recognized all three people in the photos.

Liu Changqing stood in the middle, with An Yuanyao on his left... and herself on the right.

In the photo, both women stood very close to Liu Changqing.

As if... they shared special feelings for him.

Seeing this photo deepened Li Wanran's confusion. She turned to other pages.

She remembered clearly that during high school, An Yuanyao barely knew Liu Changqing - they'd hardly even met...

So why were there photos of all three together?

What exactly... had happened?

Her bewilderment grew as she continued flipping through the album. After an unknown number of pages showing the trio, suddenly one person disappeared from the photos.

An Yuanyao vanished from the pictures.

Only she and Liu Changqing remained.

In these photos, she clung tightly to his arm, resting her head against his shoulder.

Her smile... looked radiant.

Her fingertips turned pale from gripping the album too tightly. Li Wanran began turning pages faster, seeing photos of them traveling together, their wedding photos, photos of her pregnant...

And finally... family portraits with four people.

Her hands suddenly lost strength, and the thick album slipped from her grasp.

Falling to the floor.

Her eyes widened in utter disbelief.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't understand what had happened. Why had the world changed like this? Why...

In this world, she lived such a happy life.

With complicated emotions in her eyes, Li Wanran stared at the fallen album. After what felt like ages, she slowly reached down to pick it up.

Closed the album.

And gently brushed off nonexistent dust with her palm.

Clutching the album tightly.

Her gaze drifted toward the balcony and the view beyond.

This... wasn't her world...

Not the world where she'd divorced her husband, lost both children, lived alone in a tiny apartment, worked at a dance studio, and muddled through empty years...

What exactly... had happened.

Why had everything changed?

She lost track of time until the sound of keys at the door snapped her out of her thoughts.

She looked toward the entrance.

Seeing her husband returning after dropping off their children.

The husband... she'd once pushed away with her own hands.

Liu Changqing.

"What are you doing sitting there?"

After removing his shoes and changing into slippers, Liu Changqing walked toward the sofa.

Sat down beside her.

Put his arm around her.

Gave a gentle squeeze.

"Why are you so tense? Want me to give you a massage?"

Unaccustomed to such intimacy, Li Wanran shook her head slightly at his offer.

"I'm... I'm fine..."

"You got out the photo album?"

"Mmm... wanted to look..."

"I see..."

Taking the album from his wife, Liu Changqing flipped through a few pages before closing it again.

"Hungry? Let me heat up some porridge for you."

"Okay..."

After her quiet response, Liu Changqing released her, placed the album on the coffee table, and started to leave.

But before he'd taken more than a few steps, Li Wanran suddenly asked:

"What... do you do for work now? Still the clothing factory?"

"Clothing factory? When did I ever do that?"

Turning back to face her, Liu Changqing replied:

"Taobao, QQ, Huawei - they're all ours. You're acting really strange today, asking such odd questions."

"Wh-what? You never ran a clothing factory?"

"Why would I open a factory? Did you just wake up or something?"

"......"

"Never mind, I'll make breakfast. If you're not sleepy, go wash up. It'll be ready soon."

"......"

Watching Liu Changqing disappear into the kitchen, Li Wanran sat frozen, staring blankly at the TV.

This wasn't right... Liu Changqing wasn't like this...

In her memory, he'd started with a factory, then after their divorce moved into gaming, invested in QQ, and finally...

He shouldn't be like this now. Moreover, this Liu Changqing didn't resemble his high school self at all - he acted more like the post-divorce Liu Changqing from her world...

His mannerisms, his speech patterns, all matched...

Not the hesitant, never-contradicting Liu Changqing from before.

What... was going on?

Why did An Yuanyao know Liu Changqing in high school here? Why did he say she'd left because of their marriage...

This world...

This... different world.

"Honey! Go wash up already, stop dawdling!"

"......"

This... happy world.

——————————

Li Wanran gradually adapted to her new identity.

A happily married housewife home alone.

With a son and daughter.

Her son Liu Zhiyue was fifteen.

Her daughter Liu Xiazhi was ten.

Her husband had a successful career. Their family was perfect.

This was... everything Li Wanran had once dreamed of.

Through careful questioning, she also pieced together what had happened differently in this world.

During their first year of high school, her best friend An Yuanyao encountered some hoodlums after school. Unlike in her memories, it wasn't Li Chongming who came to the rescue - Liu Changqing stepped in.

His experience dealing with troublemakers let him easily resolve the situation. From then on, An Yuanyao began noticing him, and through her, Li Wanran met him too.

Through their interactions, they gradually came to understand each other.

Grew familiar with each other.

Until... she fell for him.

This time, she had won.

Though her methods hadn't been entirely honorable, after becoming intimate with Liu Changqing, she'd leveraged his sense of responsibility to secure victory.

After graduating high school, they married and enrolled at the same university. She gave birth during freshman year, taking a year off from school.

They officially registered their marriage once they came of age.

Then came her husband's series of business ventures - his endless stream of innovative ideas that he actually realized.

The novel chat software, e-commerce platform development, and... revolutionary mobile phone technology.

Though her father had provided some initial funding, he'd built these enterprises from the ground up. Unlike in her memories where he'd just run a small clothing factory with modest success.

The Liu Changqing of this world... resembled the one from her world.

After their divorce...

The reborn Liu Changqing.

A different... Liu Changqing.