"......"

"......"

Neither of them spoke, and the atmosphere was somewhat awkward.

"Actually..."

The woman broke the silence first:

"From the moment I saw you pretending to be me in the square and getting on the bus with Big Face Cat, I thought there was something wrong with your brain."

"So the misunderstanding is cleared up now?"

"Now I'm even more certain!"

Lin Xian spread his hands helplessly:

"To put it bluntly, you still don't believe me? But since you're here to steal the [Lin Xian]'s safe, you must have investigated Lin Xian, right? Don't you know what he looks like?"

Lin Xian pointed to his face:

"Take a good look at my face, compare it with the photos you investigated before, and see if it's exactly the same."

The woman shook her head:

"I've never investigated the owner of this safe, and I don't know what Lin Xian looks like."

Lin Xian was speechless.

He never thought... proving that he was himself would be such a difficult thing.

"However, who you are doesn't matter at all."

The woman spoke again:

"If you can really help me open the safe, I can tell you the answer."

She crossed her arms and looked at the clueless combination lock in front of her:

"If it was an electronic combination lock... I could crack it in a few minutes."

"But the problem is, these are all mechanical combination locks, with 8-digit passwords. Neither brute force nor listening techniques can crack them in a short time."

She turned her head and looked at Lin Xian:

"So I don't care who you are. You can be anyone. But as long as you can open this safe, you're my partner."

"Deal."

Lin Xian extended his right hand in a friendly gesture.

Although he wanted to get the answer out of her first.

But now there was no way to prove that he was Lin Xian... he really couldn't come up with any valuable chips, so he could only compromise.

"What should I call you?"

"CC."

The woman reached out and gave Lin Xian a high-five:

"Just call me CC."

Lin Xian realized that none of the characters in his dreams seemed to have normal names.

"What's your plan?" CC looked at Lin Xian.

"Let's try the date of my adulthood first, and then we'll try meaningful dates one by one."

……

……

Lin Xian racked his brains, thinking of one date after another related to himself.

CC tried them one by one.

But Lin Xian's brain was about to explode, and he still couldn't guess the correct password.

"My mom's birthday just now... still wrong?"

CC shook her head:

"Why don't you try your grandma's birthday?"

"I really don't know my grandma's birthday."

"Can't you tell I'm being sarcastic? You've just tried the birthdays of all your distant relatives, even your dog! Can't you change your way of thinking?"

CC looked at Lin Xian in confusion:

"Why does it have to be a date? Isn't there any other possibility for an 8-digit password?"

Lin Xian waved his hand:

"It must be a date, trust me. I can tell from the structure that it must be a date. It's been my habit to set passwords like that for a long time."

"Are you assuming you're Lin Xian when you're thinking?"

"I'll say it again." Lin Xian was helpless:

"I'm not assuming I'm Lin Xian, I AM Lin Xian! Can you be quiet and stop disturbing my thinking?"

"Heh, you're really getting into the role!"

CC chuckled:

"All the dates you just said were hundreds of years ago. If I didn't have no other choice... I wouldn't be here listening to your nonsense! Are all your family members old monsters who have lived for hundreds of years?"

Lin Xian closed his eyes...

Rubbing his hair constantly with both hands.

Think.

Think harder.

What exactly is it...

What other dates haven't I thought of?

Lin Xian felt that his brain was overheating, even running in overdrive.

But all the dates related to himself that he could think of had been tried...

None of them opened it!

This time, even Lin Xian himself was not confident.

Is this really his safe?

But this is his dream!

In his dream, would there be someone else's safe?

Lin Xian recalled what his friend had told him.

"【You will never see anything in a dream that is outside of your cognition.】"

Therefore.

This 8-digit password!

Must be in his memory!

What else haven't I thought of?

What else have I forgotten?

What else is hidden?

*click*!

With a crisp sound of a circuit being connected—

Wee-ooh! Wee-ooh! Wee-ooh! Wee-ooh!

An ear-piercing alarm sounded all around!

The main circuit was restored! Automatic alarm!

"Shit!"

Lin Xian's anxiety rose! He kicked the safe.

"Hurry up and think!!"

CC shouted.

Mixed with the ear-piercing sound of the alarm! It was as tense and irritable as a countdown to a bomb!

"I'm thinking!"

Lin Xian scratched his scalp:

"I can't think of it!"

His head was splitting!

His brain was overloaded!

Lin Xian felt the whole world spinning!

Like being thrown into a constantly rotating Rubik's Cube, with familiar memories flashing around like changing channels on a TV.

"The police will be here if you can't think of anything! I really shouldn't have believed you!"

Lin Xian squeezed his vision and looked at his watch:

[00:41:27]

Now it's not just a matter of the police... there are only 33 seconds left in the dream.

"Are you even capable of this!" CC roared:

"What about all the nice things you said just now!"

"Don't shout!"

Wee-ooh! Wee-ooh! Wee-ooh! Wee-ooh!

Shouting! Alarms! Ringing in his ears!

Lin Xian's head was about to explode!

The Rubik's Cube of memory spun faster and faster!

Countless dust-laden memories poured out like floods!

The scene in front of him was like a revolving lantern!

Lin Xian felt dizzy!

The deepest pile of soil buried in his heart was suddenly lifted!

"I used to like a girl..." Lin Xian covered his forehead and said through gritted teeth.

"What's wrong with you! I don't have time to listen to your love story!" CC roared amidst the alarm!

"She was my deskmate..."

"I! Don't! Want! To! Listen!"

"I don't want to talk about it either! Isn't this all for you?!" Lin Xian looked up and shouted, pointing at the safe:

"19990707! Her birthday!"

Lin Xian felt like a clown.

The most unspeakable secret, the last piece of his life's fig leaf, had been torn off!

"Hurry up!"

*click*, *click*, *click*.

CC quickly rotated the combination dials! She punched the latch!

It didn't open.

"Wrong password!"

Wee-ooh! Wee-ooh! Wee-ooh! Wee-ooh!

[00:41:47]

"20150609!" Lin Xian shouted, covering his ears!

"What date is this again!? Don't tell me it's the day you confessed!" CC screamed in the midst of the chaotic alarm!

"Damn it, stop guessing! Just enter the password!"

"It's entered!"

[00:41:56]

CC gritted her teeth!

She used all her strength! And slammed it hard on the latch!

*Bang*!

……

It didn't open.

Lin Xian instantly felt weak all over, dizzy and lightheaded.

With his last glance, he looked at CC in front of the safe.

In his blurred vision...

CC turned her head.

Her resentful gaze stared directly into his soul—

"Liar."

[00:42:00]

*BOOM*!!!!!!!

*BOOM*!!!!!!!

*BOOM*!!!!!!!

A scorching white light suddenly flashed and engulfed everything...

……

……

Twelfth Lunar Month.

Early winter dawn.

In a clean and tidy bedroom.

Lin Xian opened his eyes...