Chapter 185: The Flow of Time on the Other Side Part 2
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
He grabbed his change of clothes in a haste, and hurried into the bathroom, “I’ll also have a shower …” Fortunately, Shania’s focus was on her hair, and she did not notice Twain’s gruff, harried manner.
In the bathroom, Tang En turned on the cold water, and then stood under the shower nozzle and gave himself a slap in the face … Damn it, she’s just a 14-year-old kid, this may not be an appropriate situation!
To distract himself from this possible snafu on his part, Tang En began to recite the technical and tactical analysis handbook of the FIFA’s 2002 World Cup. He then further diverted himself by thinking about who he should add to his transfer-in list for the new season, and who would be transferred out on the list …
When the list became clearer in his mind, he had calmed, and decided all would be fine. Not knowing how long he had been in the shower, Tang En came out to find Shania all curled up and fast asleep. He stepped forward and covered her with a thin blanket. Then he went to the window. It was still currently in the afternoon.
The Chengdu skies were still grey, the same as they had been in 2007. Four seasons a year, with more rainy and cloudy days, it would almost rain every night in the summer, whether it be heavy or light. Tang En liked this kind of weather very much. Although the winter was cold and damp, the weather in Chengdu would turn lovely, when the sun did come out.
If there was such weather on the weekends in winter, he would sit in the warm sun, brew a pot of tea, and read a book. It was a leisurely and carefree way to spend a day.
Although Nottingham was nice, Sichuan was the place where he lived for more than twenty years. He stood in front of the window on the twenty-third floor, and looked at the endless flow of traffic and crowds on Shudu Avenue. Everything felt extremely familiar.
※※※
Tang En’s plan was first to bring Shania on a sightseeing tour within Chengdu and its surroundings for a few days, and then travel along the way to the south, to his hometown, and then, from his hometown to Kunming, to Dali, Yunnan, and then fly to Hong Kong en route to returning to England.
Shania was very interested in everything about China, which made Tang En very happy, because, originally, the suggestion to come to China was out of his own selfish interests. Thus, if Shania was unhappy, he would also feel guilty.
Tang En took her to Wenshufang to watch Li Boqing perform his Sanda Pingshu style of storytelling. Although Shania did not understand anything, she could appreciate that kind of traditional atmosphere. And she liked to touch the wood carving of the Maitreya Buddha at the entrance.
Also, since they were in Sichuan, then food was a must in the plan. There were more than enough snacks and street food to satisfy Shania. She told Twain, while training to be a model, that her dietary requirements were very strict, in order to maintain her physique. So, she always felt that she did not eat enough to feel full, but there was no other way.
When Tang En heard this, he finally understood why Shania liked to hang out with him. With him, she could be free to relax, and eat whatever she wanted to eat. Her modeling coach was not beside her with endless criticism. Occasionally, he just had to look stern, and she would immediately obey.
Perhaps she was stifled as a child in her own home. He thought of his childhood. In the countryside of South Sichuan, his parents were good-natured farmers. They would not plan their child’s future and life before he was born. Therefore, his childhood was carefree, and without worries, and he was free to do as he pleased. Other than not being able to compare to Shania now, in terms of material wealth, Tang En felt that his spiritual wealth was much more abundant.
The two of them spent three days in Chengdu, and were almost done with their sightseeing in the city. They had even been to Dujiangyan. Tang En planned to go to Mount Emei and Qingcheng Mountain, and then go to his hometown to visit his “parents”.
But his plan met with an unexpected event…
On Sunday, at Chunxi Road, outside the Southwest Book City, he encountered himself. This sounds somewhat paradoxical, so it could best be explained in this way:
Tony Twain encountered Tang En…
At that time, Twain was standing with Shania at the junction of Chunxi Road, waiting for the traffic signal to change. By the safety barrier opposite the road, a crowd was waiting. This was an intersection with a relatively concentrated flow of traffic and people, so the waiting time was longer.
Shania was still curiously observing the unfamiliar city, and the surrounding people with yellow skin and black hair. Twain was just glancing around without purpose or focus, as he usually did. But soon,he saw a once-familiar face in the opposite crowd!
It was a once very familiar face, although he had not seen it for one and a half years…
The man, who was standing across the street and holding a stack of books in the crowd, was Tony Twain’s former body… the real Tang En! And evidently, because he was staring too intently, he also attracted attention to the opposite Tang En. The two of them looked at each other across the street. Even the cars passing by in the middle could not interrupt them.
Such an encounter was so inconceivable, that Tang En could not describe this moment. Even though he was Tony Twain in appearance, he was still Tang En on the inside. Therefore, since he was still Tang En of China, then, who was that Chinese Tang En standing across the street? A Tang En, who had the same thinking, same memory, and same character as himself?
How could there be two identical Tang Ens in the world?
Besides, I have traveled back to 2003 from 2007, which is three years later, so … what happens to Tang En after 2007? Does he just disappear into thin air? Death? What happens to Tang En before 2007?
He had also lived through the period from 2003 to 2007. So, why did he not remember meeting a foreigner, who was staring so intently at him?
If he continued to delve deeper, if the time really progressed in a linear fashion, then it meant that, changing the past could affect the future. Could changing the future also affect the past?
Just like him, coming from the future, and then squeezing someone in the past out of his “place”, and then replacing that person… How would this kind of thing impact the person who had been squeezed out? In other words, when Tang En suddenly came to Nottingham in 2003, from China’s Sichuan Province in 2007, and possessed someone else’s body, what was the fate of the man whose body had been possessed by Tang En? The same one who had suddenly come to Nottingham, England, in the 2007, from Sichuan, China, in 2003, to the other person? Did he disappear into thin air? Could a person’s consciousness really be discarded, just like that?
The thought of it made Tang En shiver a little. He seemed to feel that he was touching a door, which had been strictly forbidden, and that what was behind that door … he did not know.
The middle-aged woman, who stood on the side of the road to maintain order, blew the whistle in her mouth, and then made way for the pedestrians. The crowd from both sides of the road merged together, and crossed the main road, which was not too wide.
Shania was going to walk over, but she found that Uncle Tony did not move beside her. He just stood there, and frowned, staring at a particular spot in front of him. She followed his gaze, and saw that there was a man on the other side of the street, who looked over at this side with the exact same expression.
Tang En realized that the other man had noticed him too. Suddenly, a seemingly preposterous, but entirely probable, idea jumped out in his mind: He had inexplicably transmigrated from 2007 to 2003, and possessed an Englishman Tony Twain’s body. And, the soul of the Englishman Tony Twain, whose body was taken over, possessed the body of the Chinese Tang En in 2003!
As to where this 2003 Chinese Tang En had gone, perhaps he had transmigrated to Sichuan, China in 2007, in order to fill in the gap first left by Tang En. Once he had woken up, he would be stunned that he had traveled to the future. However, Tang En, who transmigrated from 2007, could not think about this matter now.
It sounded like a very complicated matter, but if one did not look at “time” as a single line, but rather as a net, then this problem would be better understood. In other words, Tang En in 2007 and Tang En in 2003 were not on the same timeline.
Even though they all looked the same, that was just looking at their appearances, as in actual fact, they were not exactly the same. Then, there was a division point in the timeline of Tang En in 2007. From this point, the original timeline splintered into several different directions, one of which was folded into the timeline of Tang En in 2003.
Meanwhile, in England in 2003, Tony Twain’s timeline was splintered, when he first coached the Forest First Team, and one of which bent towards Tang En in 2007, and merged with Tang En’s splintered timeline. This was why Tang En had transmigrated and possessed another stranger’s body.
While this 2003 timeline was not done splitting yet, the other timeline flew towards the timeline of Tang En in Sichuan in 2003. At the same time, in Sichuan, China, that Tang En’s timeline also similarly splintered, one of which turned towards Tang En’s timeline in 2007.
After the divergence, it merged perfectly with his main timeline in 2007, and continued to progress in the original direction. Hence, he had replaced his future self!
Like the Chinese character “爪”, it was split into several lines in the middle, and then countless characters of “爪” were lined up in an array. They were connected to, or parallel to, each other, forming an intricate relationship.
Tang En was not a scientist, nor did he have any theoretical knowledge. He simply imagined it, solely based on the novels, movies, and comics that he had read in the past.
When the cars moved again at the intersection, many pedestrians gathered on both sides of the road, waiting to cross the street. Tony Twain was still on this side, and Tang En was still over on that side. There was a road between them, but it looked like the flow of time in between.
