I saw them, and at the same time, they saw me.
Then, as if we'd planned it beforehand, we walked toward each other.
When we stood face to face, we both spoke almost at the same time: "Who are you, really? Why are you in my body?"
Hearing her words, it hit me immediately—I'd ended up in Xu Ke'er's body, and she'd ended up in mine.
Xu Ke'er grabbed the collar of my shirt, furious. "Get out of my body right now!"
I shot back, "Do you think I want to be in this body? Everything's a hassle, I almost got assaulted—this is a total nightmare!"
"Zhang Qiang, I don't care what you do. Get out of my body now, or I'll get someone to kill you!"
"Hey, can you not say my name using my own body? It feels weird," I continued. "Ke'er, there are too many people here—your roommate and my roommates are all around. If they see us acting like this, it'll ruin your reputation. Let's find a quieter place to talk this through, okay?"
Xu Ke'er glanced behind me, spotting Luo Shiyu and Zhou Jian's group. She let go of me at once. "Fine. Where to?"
"I know the end of the night market is empty. Let's go there. And first—no hitting."
She huffed and turned to leave.
I rushed over to Luo Shiyu. "Wait here for me. I'll be right back."
Luo Shiyu hurried to ask, "Ke'er, why did Zhang Qiang grab you like that? Does he think he can act out? Don't be scared—I'll get someone to beat him up right now."
"Beat him up? Are you serious?!" I snapped, annoyed. How much did this woman hate me? "Stay right here. If you dare run off, I'll spank you when we get back."
After saying that, I turned to leave—only to hear Zhou Jian mutter quietly, "Looks like Zhang Qiang's got a shot with Xu Ke'er."
The other two snickered along.
"Could you guys focus on studying for once? Have some ambition! Did I pay for you to come to school just to gossip?" I snapped.
Watching their confused faces, I fought back a laugh and hurried to catch up with Xu Ke'er.
At the end of the night market, there were barely any people around—perfect for us.
We stopped, and Xu Ke'er turned to glare at me. "Zhang Qiang, you better give me a perfect explanation. Otherwise, this isn't over."
"A perfect explanation? I wish I had one," I said angrily.
As soon as the words left my mouth, Xu Ke'er hit my arm. "How dare you talk to me like that? You're asking for trouble!"
Seeing she was about to hit me again, I puffed out my chest. "Go on, then! Hit me here if you dare!"
Xu Ke'er raised her hand, but froze. "Zhang Qiang, you bastard!"
"Thanks for the compliment—I'll keep up the good work," I said. "Done with the hitting? If so, let's talk seriously."
She glared at me, then turned to face the side.
I said, "Ke'er, I know being stuck in my body must suck. But trust me, being in yours isn't fun either. But this is the reality—neither of us can change it right now."
Seeing her scowl, I quickly added, "Think hard—what happened last night? Let's figure out why this is happening."
Xu Ke'er then told me what had happened the night before.
It turned out she'd gotten into a fight with Yu Xiaoman.
Yu Xiaoman was a well-known troublemaker in our college. She liked Han Hu, but Han Hu had a crush on Xu Ke'er—and Xu Ke'er didn't like Han Hu at all. That's why Yu Xiaoman had it out for Xu Ke'er. To make it worse, Yu Xiaoman was jealous of Xu Ke'er's looks.
Xu Ke'er was a typical "rich, pretty girl" from a wealthy family. She was also stubborn—she wouldn't back down from a challenge. When Yu Xiaoman dared to pick a fight, she'd jumped right in. Things had escalated, and neither would back down—so they'd agreed to meet up for a one-on-one fight.
That night, Yu Xiaoman and Xu Ke'er had fought alone on the grass by the man-made lake. I hadn't seen it, but knowing their personalities, it must have been intense.
Xu Ke'er said Yu Xiaoman had hit her head several times. She hadn't felt pain or dizziness then, but the next day at class, she'd felt groggy and weak. After lunch, she'd gone back to bed and skipped her afternoon classes. When she woke up, she'd found herself in my body.
After finishing, she asked, "Now it's your turn. What did you do last night?"
I told her the truth: "Yesterday, I went to your wedding…"
"Stop right there!" Xu Ke'er cut me off. "You can't even lie properly! I'm only a sophomore—I don't even have a boyfriend, let alone a wedding! If you keep spouting nonsense, I swear I'll—"
"What are you gonna do?" I puffed out my chest again.
She raised her hand to hit me, but hesitated. In a panic, she hit her own arm instead. "If you keep lying, I'll hit myself! This isn't my body anyway—I can do whatever I want with it!"
"You win," I said.
She smirked. "Thanks for the compliment—I'll keep up the good work."
Dammit, she was using my own line against me.
I continued, "But I'm not lying. You really did get married yesterday. I time-traveled here from four years later."
Xu Ke'er burst out laughing. "Time-traveled from four years later? Ha! Why not say you're a prince from the Qing Dynasty while you're at it?"
Watching my own body act so prissy—hand covering her mouth, legs pressed together—I felt a weird twist in my stomach.
"I really did time-travel," I insisted.
She laughed even harder.
I'd had enough. "That's enough!" I shouted.
She stopped laughing at once, staring at me in shock.
Finally, some peace. I sighed. "I'm telling the truth. Yesterday was your wedding day. I got drunk, and then… I don't remember going home or where I slept. When I woke up, I was in your body. That's all I know."
She stopped joking, her voice sharp with anger. "That's not useful at all!"
I knew it wasn't helpful, but it was the truth. What else could I do?
"I don't care," Xu Ke'er said, ordering me. "You have to switch us back."
"If I could, don't you think I would've done it already?"
"I don't care how—just switch us back!" she insisted.
Her demands were getting ridiculous. Annoyed, I lifted my hand to my chest. "If you keep pushing me, I'll squeeze these. Believe me."
Xu Ke'er panicked. "If you dare touch my chest, I'll kill you!"
I moved my hand closer, grinning. "I wonder—will you kill me first, or will I squeeze them first?"
I wiggled my fingers like I was about to grab something.
"You… you…" Xu Ke'er ground her teeth. "Fine! I'll stop pushing. But look—on TV, main characters switch back after getting hit by a car or drowning. Why don't we try that?"
I jumped in shock. "Are you crazy? That's just TV nonsense! Only an idiot would believe that. If it fails, we'll die! No way—I'm not gonna die for no reason. I haven't even had a girlfriend yet!"
"Hmph, like a loser like you could get a girlfriend anyway," Xu Ke'er scoffed. "What woman would be blind enough to like you? Wait—even a blind woman wouldn't want you!"
The more I talked to her, the more I wondered if I'd been blind to ever like such a rude, unreasonable person.
But I decided to be the bigger person. "Well, right now I'm in the body of a department beauty. I can admire this figure whenever I want—it's like having a girlfriend already."
Xu Ke'er pointed at me, eyes blazing. "I'm warning you—if you do anything perverted, I'll never forgive you!"
I didn't have any dirty thoughts, and I didn't want to push her too far. "Then you have to promise me one thing. Until we switch back, don't mess up my life, and don't tell anyone who you really are."
"Why should I listen to you?" Xu Ke'er snapped.
I held my hand over my chest again. "You sure you don't want to think about it?"
She instantly put on a sad face, squirming and stamping her feet. "You're bullying me! I don't want this!"
Watching my own body act like a little kid, I couldn't stand it. "Stop jumping around. Look—I won't do anything weird if you don't. And I'll find out what's going on as soon as possible, then switch us back. But until then, we have to live as each other. There's no other way."
Xu Ke'er looked at me,委屈 (wronged),her lower lip sticking out. "I have to sleep in a room with guys who walk around naked? I… I can't take that!"
I tried to comfort her. "On TV, you probably drool over shirtless guys. Now you get a free show, and you're complaining?"
"They're celebrities! Those guys are animals!" she yelled. "It's not the same!"
I laughed and agreed. "Fair enough."
Xu Ke'er glared at me. "Why did you even go to my wedding? Who asked you to? Who allowed you? And you drank too—who told you to drink? If you hadn't gotten drunk, none of this would've happened! It's your fault! All your fault!"
Getting blamed for no reason was frustrating, but I let it slide—she'd been through enough with my teasing.
"Fine, fine—it's my fault. Happy now? If that's all, I'll go investigate." I didn't want to stay any longer. Who knew what else she'd blame me for?
"Wait!" Xu Ke'er called me back, holding out her hand. "You're such a poor loser—you can't have any money in your card. Give me my pocket money."
I was honest—I pulled out my wallet and handed her all the cash inside.
Glancing at it, I estimated there was at least 2,000 yuan. Dammit, Xu Ke'er's family was really rich.
After taking the cash, she snatched the wallet too and took out the bank card.
I panicked. "If you take the bank card, what will I use?"
She pulled out my own wallet, tossed my bank card at me, then turned and walked away in a huff.
We'd swapped bank cards. I watched her leave, feeling a twinge of regret—so much money gone.
When I met up with Luo Shiyu again, I felt exhausted. "It's late. Let's go back to rest."
As soon as I said that, Luo Shiyu asked at once, "Ke'er, what's really going on between you and Zhang Qiang?"
I saw the unhappiness on her face and felt speechless. Luo Shiyu, we're roommates, but this is getting too nosy.
I didn't want to talk about it, so I changed the subject. "I'm tired tonight. Let's go back."
"Go back? But we agreed to get a hotel room together, remember?"