"Would I change anything?"

The director, already a bit tipsy, raised his glass toward Ren Yuxin. "Miss Yuxin! Do you… hic… ever think about becoming a full-time actress?"

Ren Yuxin, in the middle of savoring a bite of seafood, paused. "I've considered it."

"Well, you should!" the director exclaimed, slurring slightly. "It'd be a tragedy if you didn't. A friend of mine is hosting auditions for his new movie soon. I'll put in a good word for you. Hic! You'd be perfect."

Ren Yuxin smiled politely. "Thank you. I'll think about it."

"That's good, that's good," the director said. "It would be a pity if you didn't. I have a friend who's going to hold an audition for his new movie."

Ren Yuxin felt that she didn't need to think twice. Director Chen was one of the most renowned directors; surely his friends won't be normal. "Of course, director, you can just send me the script."

When the dinner finished, it was already 10 p.m.

Ren Yuxin's eyes were closed while she was in the car. It has been a tiring day; she was filming for 11 hours straight. She needs at least a one-week vacation after this.

The night continued with laughter, but as Ren Yuxin sipped her tea and gazed out the window at the city lights, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of nostalgia for the high school memories that still lingered in her mind.

For a moment, she wondered: If I could go back, would I change anything?

Ren Yuxin rubbed her temples as she leaned back in the car seat, exhaustion weighing her down.

The long day of filming had drained her completely. Her manager, drove quietly, respecting her silence as the city lights blurred past.

The ringing of her phone broke the calm.

She glanced at the screen: Second Brother. A faint smile tugged at her lips as she answered, "Brother?"

"Hmm," he hummed, his voice deep but unusually weary.

Ren Yuxin immediately sensed something was off. "Brother, how many days have you gone without sleeping?"

There was a soft laugh from the other side. "Five, I think."

Her frown deepened. "What? Five days? Are you trying to kill yourself? What are you even doing?"

"I'm fine," he replied, brushing her concern off lightly.

"You're not fine! You can't keep—"

Her scolding was interrupted by a deafening screech.

Her eyes snapped to the road ahead just as her manager gasped in panic. A massive truck barreled toward them, its horn blaring.

Everything seemed to slow down.

Ren Yuxin barely had time to register the collision before the impact threw her body forward.

The shattering of glass and the grinding of metal echoed in her ears as the world spun around her.

In the void between consciousness and unconsciousness, Ren Yuxin felt like she was drifting.

Voices surrounded her—muffled and frantic—but she couldn't make out what they were saying.

Suddenly, one voice pierced through the haze, panicked and familiar.

"Xiao Yu!"

Her mind stirred, struggling to match the voice to a face.

She wanted to open her eyes, to speak, but her body wouldn't obey.

Warm hands lifted her, cradling her like she was something fragile.

The voice grew louder, trembling with desperation.

"Please! Do anything to make sure she's okay!"

"Xiao Yu, wake up. Please, wake up."

The voice broke, soft sobs filling the air. It was her second brother.

"Don't scare me, Xiao Yu. Please… Brother promises he'll never leave you alone again."

His words were raw, filled with guilt and fear.

Ren Yuxin's heart ached at the sound. She tried to move, to reassure him, but every inch of her body felt like it was pierced by icy shards of glass.

"Xiao Yu, please don't leave me. You're the only one I have left."

The vulnerability in his voice shattered her. Her strong, unshakable second brother sounded like a child clinging to a lifeline.

She wanted to reach out, to wipe away his tears, but the darkness pulled her deeper.

I'm here, Brother, she thought, though the words wouldn't come out.

And then, everything faded into silence.

She braced herself for the familiar stark white walls of the hospital to fade in, but when she opened her eyes, it wasn't the hospital that greeted her.

It was a place she hadn't seen in years but still remembered vividly—the high school clinic.

The faded curtain hanging by the side, the faint smell of disinfectant, and the faint buzz of the ceiling fan above—it was unmistakable.

Ren Yuxin blinked, trying to reorient herself.

Her hand instinctively went to her pocket, where she found her phone. When she unlocked it, the date confirmed her suspicion.

It was January 2025.

She was back in her second year of high school.

But something was off.

The last time she'd found herself transported here, it was September.

Three months had passed.

This jump back wasn't just random; it was longer, more precise.

She sighed, her fingers tapping lightly against the edge of her phone.

There was one thing she had learned from these strange time leaps: she could stay in the past as long as her body in the present timeline remained unconscious. And with her present self recovering from an accident, it seemed she had some time to spend here.

Her thoughts lingered on her second brother.

He was the only family she had left in the

present.

Could she really leave him behind if given the choice?

When she was younger, Ren Yuxin often wondered what good deeds she had done in a past life to deserve her family.

Loving parents, doting older brothers—it had felt like a dream.

Until everything fell apart.

At twelve, her parents died in a plane crash.

A month later, her third brother went into a coma. Two years after that, her eldest brother disappeared, leaving her and her second brother to fend for themselves.

Her chest ached at the thought, but she shook her head.

She couldn't let herself dwell on it. She had something more urgent to focus on.

From her memories, the only time she was sent to the clinic during her second year was after a headache.

What came next was a major classroom commotion.