Chapter 219: Seventy Five

"What—what?! Why were you shouting? You surprised me..."

Wang Gege frowned slightly, clearly annoyed by his sudden reaction.

"This husband was also surprised by Furen’s question..." Xie Rong sighed, still looking at her in disbelief. "You could have just asked this husband directly. Why did you have to use that one reward for it?"

He shook his head helplessly, "You just wasted it..."

Wang Gege’s expression stiffened.

"Wasted it?" She glanced toward Mini, then back at Xie Rong.

"No, I’m sure my question is right..." She pressed her lips together, her expression becoming serious. "I need to be sure about the time you transmigrated here... just to confirm something."

Xie Rong nodded slowly. "This husband came here a year ago, right at the battlefield—"

"Which battlefield?" Wang Gege cut him off, making Xie Rong pause.

"Because the original Xie Rong was supposed to die on battlefield but after he got married to Yurou..."

His expression changed slightly after hearing Wang Gege’s words.

Wang Gege’s gaze remained fixed on him. "If you arrived on the battlefield a year before the marriage, where the original Xie Rong was not supposed to die yet, then how did you die?"

She frowned, realizing her question sounded a little confusing.

"I mean... the original Xie Rong was supposed to die after the marriage... much later. So when you said you woke up on the battlefield, supposedly after dying... the timeline doesn’t seem right."

Xie Rong fell silent, then frowned slightly as he tried to understand what she meant.

"What doesn’t seem right?"

"I mean..." Wang Gege took a breath. "Bai Ruoxi told me that the path between the two worlds suddenly opened, like a year ago. But the Shen Taotao inside me didn’t even return home right after she completed her mission. She only returned more than two months ago. That’s when I arrived here..."

She swallowed before continuing, "But you said you arrived in this timeline a year ago..."

Xie Rong’s expression gradually became more serious.

"Wait..." He lowered his gaze, piecing together the timeline in his mind. "If what Bai Ruoxi told you is true, then the path between the two worlds opened a year ago..."

"And yet I didn’t arrive here until more than two months ago," Wang Gege finished for him.

Xie Rong nodded slowly. "And this husband arrived a year ago."

"Exactly." Wang Gege’s brows furrowed. "So why were you here first?"

Neither of them spoke.

The more they tried to arrange the events in order, the more the timeline seemed to contradict itself.

Mini already spun around for how many times, waiting to give them its answer.

"The answer to the Host Question..."

The moment Mini’s words fell, both of them froze.

"Mr. Ethan Xu arrived right at the moment when the world rewinds back to a year ago..."

Wang Gege’s eyes widened.

Xie Rong’s expression turned completely still.

For several seconds, neither of them spoke.

"A... rewind?" Wang Gege finally repeated, her voice barely above a whisper.

Mini nodded. "Correct, Host."

Wang Gege immediately turned toward Xie Rong.

"So you didn’t arrive a year before me because you transmigrated in a different timeline..."

Her voice trembled slightly as the pieces finally began falling into place.

"You arrived when the world itself had already gone back a year before you opened your eyes."

"Correct, Host!" Mini nodded enthusiastically. "At the time Mr. Ethan transmigrated into Xie Rong’s body, he had already died. But a few seconds later, the world spun back in time... and the person inside Xie Rong’s body at that moment was already Mr. Ethan."

Wang Gege gasped.

"Aaaa..." Her eyes widened as another piece suddenly clicked into place. "Now something connects..."

Xie Rong looked at her, his expression becoming serious. "What?"

Wang Gege slowly turned toward him.

"The reason you thought you had arrived here a year before me..." She paused, her mind racing.

"It wasn’t because you came here earlier than I did." She swallowed. "It was because the world went back a year after you had already arrived."

"But, Mini..." Xie Rong looked at Mini, pressing his lips together as he thought about it. "Where did the original Xie Rong go? If the world returned to a year earlier, shouldn’t he still have been alive?"

Mini’s little body swayed slightly in the air.

"Husband’s Host..." Mini hesitated before lowering its little finger. "Mini is sorry, but Mini couldn’t answer that question..."

It paused for a moment, "The ’One Question To The World’ has already been redeemed."

Xie Rong’s expression darkened.

Wang Gege also fell silent.

They had finally obtained an answer to one mystery, only to uncover an even bigger one.

If the world had truly rewound itself...

Then what happened to the original Xie Rong?

Silence settled over the room.

For a moment, neither Wang Gege nor Xie Rong knew what else to say. The answer they had received had explained why Xie Rong arrived a year earlier than her, yet it had also opened another mystery they could no longer answer.

Wang Gege eventually turned toward Xie Rong. "Husband..."

"Hmm?"

"Do you have any reward like mine?"

Xie Rong blinked before shaking his head. "No."

"Nothing?" Wang Gege’s eyebrows raised slightly.

"Nothing." He looked at her calmly. "Gemi has never given this husband anything like your ’One Question To The World.’"

Wang Gege’s shoulders drooped, "Then... we’re stuck again."

Xie Rong reached over and gently patted her head. "Perhaps."

He glanced toward Mini, who was still floating quietly in front of them.

"These days, Gemi hasn’t given this husband any mission either, except for that favourability increase..."

Wang Gege’s eyes widened.

"Oh—uh!" She suddenly became curious. "Then... how much has the favourability increased?"

Her eyes sparkled as she leaned closer. "I mean... what does my current feeling toward you actually count as in the favourability?"

Xie Rong paused. Then the corner of his lips slowly lifted.

"So Furen is curious about how much she likes this husband? Can’t you tell yourself?"

Wang Gege’s cheeks puffed slightly. "How am I supposed to know? Feelings don’t come with numbers!"

Xie Rong chuckled softly at her answer.

"All right, let’s see that stat of your favourability towards me..." He glanced at her before calling out for Gemi.

"Gemi..."

A few seconds passed before a familiar Ding! echoed through the room.

A light blue holographic screen appeared before them.

[YES?]

Wang Gege leaned forward immediately, her eyes fixed on the screen.

Xie Rong glanced at her amused expression before asking,

"Show this husband Furen’s current favourability."

Mini also hovered in front of the screen, trying to peek at the stat.

[CURRENT FAVOURABILITY: 75]

"75!"

Both of them shouted at the same time.

Wang Gege’s eyes widened as she stared at the number. Then she slowly glanced at Xie Rong, her expression suddenly becoming a little guilty.

"There must be something wrong?"

Xie Rong raised an eyebrow. "Why does Furen look guilty?"

"Because..." Wang Gege hesitated, then quietly pointed at the screen. "Seventy five doesn’t sound very high..."

Xie Rong looked at the number for a moment before calmly turning toward her.

"This husband guesses Furen isn’t fully in love with this husband yet."

Wang Gege’s cheeks immediately reddened.

"Or perhaps..." He paused, his gaze becoming thoughtful. "Furen still doesn’t completely trust this husband?"

"Trust?" Wang Gege blinked.

Xie Rong nodded.

"Favourability may not only measure affection. Perhaps it also measures how much Furen trusts this husband, how important this husband is to Furen, or even how deeply Furen’s feelings have settled."

Wang Gege stared at the number again.

"Gemi... what’s the total count for the favourability? 100?"

The screen flickered once.

[1000]

"Thousand?!" Wang Gege once again shouted in shock. "You’ve got to be kidding me..."

The screen flickered several times before an emoji suddenly appeared on it, a wide grinning face.

[GOT YOU!]

Wang Gege’s mouth dropped open.

Mini, who had been watching the whole interaction, immediately covered its mouth with its tiny palm.

"Gemi loves to joke around..."

Xie Rong snapped his head toward Mini as if it had just revealed something shocking. "Love to joke around?"

Mini nodded innocently. "Mm! Gemi has been doing it more often lately."

Xie Rong’s expression became complicated.

"No... the system upgrade must have messed up Gemi’s personality." He frowned slightly. "Gemi was always rather robotic before, with hardly any emotion."

Wang Gege burst out laughing. "Gemi needed to loosen up sometimes too... Anyway, the husband needs to try harder to increase the favourability."

"Wait..." Xie Rong suddenly turned his attention back to the holographic screen, his expression becoming serious. "Gemi... about the time exchange from before, if this husband uses it, will my memories be wiped out?"

The screen flickered for a moment.

[TIME EXCHANGE?]

Xie Rong nodded. "Yes. If this one exchanges it, will it affect my memories?"

The playful expression on the screen disappeared.

[NEGATIVE.]

[TIME EXCHANGE WILL NOT ERASE HOST’S MEMORIES.]

"Good..." Xie Rong’s voice was calm as he looked at the holographic screen. "Then, Gemi, change all the remaining favourability to time."

[DONE.]

[CURRENT TIME EXCHANGE: 15 MINUTES.]