The Snowstorm You Missed

 

Late that⁠‌‍‍‍​‌⁠‌‍⁠‍‍⁠​‍​​⁠⁠‍‍‍​ night, An Yu sent his ideas for the new products to the employee group chat, then slumped over his desk and fell into a deep sleep.

He was shaken awake the next morning by message notifications.
<p style=”clear: both”>Mrs. Maddie had posted a picture directly in the group chat.</p>

<div style=”color: #7b7c80;font-size: .75em;padding-bottom: .25em;padding-top: 0;margin-left: .5em;margin-bottom: 0.25em;text-align: left;clear: both”>Maddie</div>
<div style=”float: left;color: #000000;margin: 0 0 0.5em;border-radius: 1em;padding: 0.5em 1em;background: #e5e5ea;max-width: 75%;clear: both;position: relative”>The taste-test samples are baked and packed. Boss, please come pick them up as soon as you can today. Don’t forget to think about the promotional copy.</div>
<p style=”clear: both”>An Yu was shocked:</p>

<div style=”float: right;color: #ffffff;margin: 0 0 0.5em;border-radius: 1em;padding: 0.5em 1em;background: #1289fe;max-width: 75%;clear: both;position: relative”>That fast? Did you even sleep?</div>
<p style=”clear: both”>Xu Shanshan appeared at lightning speed.</p>
<span style=”float: left;color: #000000;margin: 0 0 0.5em;border-radius: 1em;padding: 0.5em 1em;background: #e5e5ea;max-width: 75%;clear: both;position: relative”> Maddie is my god! Boss, I just got to the shop and I’ve already sampled them for you, hehe. They have a very unique texture, a rich flavor, they’re amazing!</span>
<p style=”clear: both”>An Yu caught her immediately and asked:</p>

<div style=”float: right;color: #ffffff;margin: 0 0 0.5em;border-radius: 1em;padding: 0.5em 1em;background: #1289fe;max-width: 75%;clear: both;position: relative”>The investment return rate for the days I was gone seems to be 0.01 percentage points lower than expected. What happened?</div>
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<div style=”color: #7b7c80;font-size: .75em;padding-bottom: .25em;padding-top: 0;margin-left: .5em;margin-bottom: 0.25em;text-align: left;clear: both”>Xu Shanshan</div>
<div style=”float: left;color: #000000;margin: 0 0 0.5em;border-radius: 1em;padding: 0.5em 1em;background: #e5e5ea;max-width: 75%;clear: both;position: relative”>…We have so many customers today, I have to go get busy, bye-bye!</div>
<p style=”clear: both”>An Yu was speechless.</p>
He opened his door, only to see a shopping box from the Spire Mall on the floor.

Inside was a neatly folded stack of clothes, all basic white styles: three were hoodies, and three were regular T-shirts.

The style was similar to what he usually wore, but the material was clearly different, feeling soft yet resilient to the touch.

The order notes specified that all six items were made of a high-polymer material.

The order was placed by Qin Zhilu. The unit price for a hoodie was 68,888 points, and a T-shirt was 49,999 points.

An Yu stared at the final total with total focus.

It was too much of a shock for so early in the morning.

He wanted to return a few items, but given the precedent of the octopus pillow, he didn’t dare act rashly.

In the end, he paced in place for several circles while holding the clothes like a hot potato, before returning to his room and locking them in his safe.

On the way to the bakery, Yan Xi kept sneaking glances at him from the rearview mirror. Finally, he couldn’t hold back any longer. “Are you alright, sir?”

“What?” An Yu struggled awake from his drowsiness. “What’s wrong with me?”

For some reason, he had been plagued by nightmares all night, reliving the interrogations and genetic induction experiments he had undergone when he first entered the main city.

Yan Xi chose his words carefully. “My condolences. You have to think of it this way: that four yuan was given to you by someone else, so you didn’t actually lose anything. It’s just the five thousand yuan for the book…”

He paused, struggling to come up with a reason. “That book must have tens of thousands of number strings in it, right? If you buy more, you’re bound to win a few times eventually.”

An Yu stared blankly for a long while before it finally clicked. “The lottery results are out?”

He immediately reached for his terminal.

Yan Xi sighed. “You didn’t win. Yesterday’s winning numbers were 18, 24, 05, 12, 09, 31. You didn’t match a single one.”

“How could that be…” An Yu despaired.

His words died in his throat.

A horrifying chill suddenly crept up his spine.

He searched for yesterday’s winning numbers in his browser, and staring at the string of digits that popped up, he felt the blood in his heart turn to ice in an instant.

This string of numbers was identical to the one in Codex’s book from yesterday.

He immediately remembered Codex’s brief awkward expression when he asked about buying the lottery ticket.

“Are you okay?” Yan Xi asked worriedly, turning to look at him, his mechanical eyes rattling in their sockets. “Or how about I submit a report to the Black Tower, and let the Black Tower cover these five thousand yuan. Compared to your well-being, High Peak won’t care about such a small sum. We just need to find another reason, otherwise, Eye might have trouble…”

“Mm,” An Yu lowered his gaze. “It’s fine. Just drop me off at the street corner. There are many people queuing; I’ll walk the rest of the way myself.”

Yan Xi breathed a sigh of relief. “Alright. Your shop will earn five thousand yuan back in no time. Speaking of which, the bakery business is truly booming. It’s been so many days, and the popularity seems to be increasing…”

An Yu got out at the street corner. Watching Yan Xi’s car drive away, he immediately pulled out his terminal.

Codex picked up the phone quickly. He seemed to still be half-asleep, his voice a bit soft and sweet. “An Yu? What’s wrong?”

An Yu gripped his terminal. “I had a neighbor named Ling Qiu.”

“Hmm… I’ve heard of him,” Codex gently yawned, seeming to have sat up in bed, his voice growing softer. “What’s wrong? Do you miss him?”

As long as he wasn’t nearby, and they were speaking over the phone, the Insight ability would not work.

An Yu had a clear idea now. He softly said, “He taught me a theory called the butterfly effect.”

The other end of the phone suddenly fell silent.

In the subtle atmosphere, An Yu lowered his voice. “If I hadn’t changed clothes, Eye’s numbers would have won. If I changed clothes, only with the last digit changed to 04 would it have won. But if both numbers were bought, the lottery system would randomize to a completely different set of numbers, right?”

Codex was silent for a full five minutes.

But An Yu was very patient. He held his terminal, looking at the long queue outside the bakery and then up at the office building opposite—

A giant electronic screen had been added to the office building’s exterior wall.

On the electronic screen, a girl in a light blue dress was smiling, her head tilted, her smooth black hair gently fluttering in the wind.

A moment later, she squatted down to play with a cat at her feet, yawned, then stood up and walked behind a desk, opened her computer, and on the screen, music editing software was displayed.

She began to busy herself with adjusting the audio tracks.

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In the bottom right corner of the large screen were her details.
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Height 158cm; Weight 41kg.

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Debut: 6 days.

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Main City residents, who rarely socialized with strangers, stood together, laughing and chatting, all discussing aboutMolly.

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He gave a bitter laugh. “Sorry, I should have thought of it earlier. The people from Brain said your IQ is very high. I shouldn’t be showing off in front of you. But I also have a premonition that it would be better to get closer to you, so I can’t help but tell you some things I shouldn’t.”

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“Hmm…” An Yu couldn’t quite understand what he meant, but he instinctively felt Codex was telling the truth. He asked again, “What do you mean by ‘thoughts are messy’?”

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“But I’m always wavering,” Codex sighed. “I always suddenly get a premonition of many possibilities. The tiny differences that determine which one will happen. Sometimes I can sort out what this crucial small difference is, sometimes I can’t.”

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“Okay.”

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“Like a world without light,” An Yu softly finished. “Only a pitch-black, cold, tall tower.”

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“Hello,” An Yu said, placing the small cloth bag he was carrying on the bedside table. “You look to be in good condition.”

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But unlike the little girl An Yu had seen in Chen Nian’s memories, she now had less childishness and cunning in her eyes, and a familiar serenity.

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She lowered her head, her fingers tracing the clean white bedspread. Suddenly, she softly asked, “Did you kill him?”

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An Yu didn’t know what to say. He hesitated. “I heard from him… no, <em>he</em> told me that your original life plan was to live a relaxed life in the Main City and raise a few small cats. Why are you willing to join the Protectors?”

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Sisi didn’t turn to look at him. She pointed to her head and said, “I heard his ability is like mine. Perhaps this unique ability left something in me. He died before I woke up, but after I regained consciousness, I heard something he left for me.”

Sisi paused. “The Brain researchers said that there are two Protectors in the Spire’s high level who were one person before their abnormality, then they split into two. I even wonder if his body just died, and his soul merged into my body. But unfortunately, besides being able to recall that message repeatedly, I can no longer interact with him. Perhaps it really was just a trace of residual consciousness, infused into my brain when he prolonged my life for the last time before his death.”

“What was it?” An Yu immediately asked.

“To set everything back on track,” Sisi looked up. “Perhaps it’s impossible in this lifetime, but he was willing to strive for it.”

“Also, he wanted me to stay away from you. He felt you were a vast and terrifying presence, so I had the Brain people arrange for us to meet, but…” She smiled helplessly, “I think you’re very normal. Maybe he had a delusion before he died.”

An Yu merely nodded at her words, not explaining further. Only when he folded the Commander in his bandages did that effect occur.

“Anyway, that’s how it is,” Sisi lay down again, smiling faintly. “He’s dead, but I’m awake. I’ll fulfill what he wanted to do, and I’ll cherish this life.”

A blurry layer of tears welled up in her black eyes, but she quickly wiped them away.

An Yu looked at the small cloth bag on the bedside table. “Then, welcome to the Spire. This is a new product from Corner Bakery, consider it a welcome gift. Try it.”

“What is it?” Sisi smiled, reaching for the small cloth bag and shaking it. “Biscuits?”

“Yes,” An Yu said. “I also tasted them earlier; the flavor’s not bad. The inspiration came from the orphanage’s meals.”

Sisi couldn’t help but laugh. She casually pulled out the product description card from the top of the box and mumbled, “Inspired by the orphanage? Can it still be sold in the great and glorious Main City?”

An Yu didn’t answer and turned to leave the room.

Before he had taken a few steps, a sobbing sound came from the room behind him. He paused, but continued walking forwards amidst the little girl’s increasingly loud sobs.

Author’s Note:
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<h4 style=”text-align: center”><strong><span style=”letter-spacing: 1px”>Snowflake fragments</span></strong></h4>
<h4 style=”text-align: center”><strong><span style=”letter-spacing: 1px”>[Chen Nian (3/3) </span></strong></h4>
<h5 style=”text-align: center”><strong><span style=”letter-spacing: 1px”>[The Snowstorm You Missed]</span></strong></h5>
Sisi, do you remember the snow dust outside the window before we fell asleep head-to-head?

In these ten years, it never stopped.

But when you open your eyes, the sunlight finally dispelled them, right?

For ten years, I longed for the snowstorm to disappear, and for you to wake up.

You missed ten years of disaster, and I missed you.

The world is like a runaway train, and in its frantic lane changes and collisions, too many people miss each other.

If there’s still a chance, I want to join those who desperately push the train, trying to force it back on track.

But no matter how the outcome unfolds, I hope my beloved can live a little easier life.

Settle in the Main City, never worry about food or clothing.

Re-enter a good school, and raise a few genetically pure kittens.

…

Don’t dwell on it anymore, the snowstorm you missed.

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<h4 style=”text-align: center”><strong><span style=”letter-spacing: 1px”> An Yu’s Bakery Diary: 02 – One of the New Products from the orphanage</span></strong></h4>
&nbsp;

Corner Bakery began its expansion.

Busy Main City elites, after work, were passionately speculating.

How many new products would there be?

Would they sell coffee? It’s really needed!

Would there be a comfortably furnished in-store dining area?

Would the queue time get longer or shorter?

Was the elusive boss still insisting on wearing inauspicious white clothes?

…

The bakery hadn’t even finished expanding yet, but a blackboard outside the shop already displayed new product information.

The hand-drawn image was a pristine white cheese biscuit, sculpted into the shape of a burning candle.

The Unextinguishable Candle Biscuit

“A tribute from the high-risk aberrant orphanage to the Main City. Rest assured, it’s utterly sincere, with no curses whatsoever.”

“Its hard texture is like a compressed biscuit, not very easy to digest, but it can fill you up for a long time. The presenter is very kind, considering the tastes of Main City residents, and decided to use rich, sweet, high-quality cheese, so the price is slightly higher.”

“A burnt-out candle once brought light. A consumed biscuit once provided energy for the body. Even if they are eventually depleted, please don’t forget their tireless support.”

“Friendly reminder: Do not eat too much, or you’ll hiccup all night.”

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M1zushi: did my dear readers like the chat messages? I <del datetime=”2025-08-23T21:00:14+00:00″>procrastinated</del> 1 hour trying to fix it bcs the texts were merging together
code: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6434845/chapters/14729722