It looks kind of advanced, and it's so light—light as a sheet of paper. A phone like this would definitely be easy to lose!

　　The moment he reached out and grabbed the phone, it automatically completed a series of unlocks, the screen lit up, and the brightness adjusted itself, just barely matching its high-end appearance.

　　On the main screen, the date, weather, location, and other information were displayed.

　　May 23, 2025, Friday, 6:03 AM, clear, Hushan City.

　　Ethan Foster: "..."

　　Calm down.

　　First, take a long, deep breath.

　　Next, close your eyes.

　　Then, open them again.

　　Finally, look back at the phone screen.

　　2025, location: Hushan City.

　　No change.

　　Calmness failed...

　　He was supposed to be in the summer of 2022, attending Chengjiang University.

　　Now, with one leap, he had jumped to 2025.

　　Three years, a whole three years!

　　Do you know how I got through these three years?

　　If you know...

　　Then tell me!

　　Because I have absolutely no idea how I got through these three years!

Chapter 2: Face the Cruelty of Reality

　　The phrase "three years later" often appears in movies and TV shows, serving as a plot twist or the end of a storyline.

　　This phrase is very useful—it allows for a big leap in the plot, and most of the time it's paired with a black screen and white text.

　　The reason everyone likes to use "three years later" as a turning point is probably because one or two years is too short; four or five years is too long, so three years, as a compromise, is especially favored—it fits the Daxia people's philosophy of moderation.

　　Ethan Foster doesn't dislike stories about time travel.

　　But suddenly becoming his three-years-later self, without any memories of the time in between—isn't that a bit much?

　　In novels or TV shows, when there's a "three years later" twist, the characters actually have memories of those three years.

　　But he doesn't. For him, it's like the camera just cut to the three-years-later point.

　　Isn't this like asking someone to perform without giving them the script?

　　Skipping the process and jumping straight to the ending—isn't that cheating?

　　Ethan Foster slowly turned off the phone and put it in a familiar spot within easy reach.

　　Leaning against the headboard, his thoughts began to drift again.

　　What if...

　　What if it really is 2025 now... did I just time jump, leaping from 2022 straight to 2025?

　　Or... is it that the 2025 version of me suffered some kind of brain damage and suddenly lost three whole years of memory, with my memories only going up to 2022?

　　Comparatively, the latter seems more likely.

　　After all, amnesia is more realistic than time travel; the former is too fantastical, the latter much more grounded.

　　So, am I supposed to have amnesia?

　　And besides these two possibilities, there's actually an even more fitting, more realistic one...

　　[I might be dreaming!] Lying on the soft pillow, Ethan Foster nodded to himself.

　　As the saying goes, "What you think about during the day, you dream about at night."

　　When he couldn't sleep in the early morning, his thoughts wandered, and he came up with a long story called "The Life of Ethan Foster", even almost coming up with a name for his granddaughter.

　　Thinking about so much before bed, it's only natural to dream at night about his own future, even scenes of being married.

　　—In the dream, he suddenly has a partner who fits his personal taste, and he doesn't have any memories of the three years in between. Doesn't that all make sense?

　　Perfectly reasonable!

　　Since it's still a dream, that's easy.

　　No need to worry, just let the dream continue.

　　When he wakes up, everything will go back to normal.

　　Ethan Foster put his hands behind his head and slid down to lie flat.

　　No need to overthink, no need to worry, just relax completely and happily enjoy this rare, beautiful dream.

　　The active Foster brain quieted down again, slowly stopping its thoughts.

　　When I wake up, I'll be back in my dorm at Chengjiang University, and then Grace Howard from the upper bunk might be calling me to get up, Henry Clark might bring us breakfast if he's in a good mood, and William Bolton will probably be the last one to get up...

　　Yeah, next time I have insomnia, I shouldn't come up with such a long life story, or I'll end up having another unrealistic dream like this.

　　When the dream ends, only sadness remains.

　　...

　　...

　　Ethan Foster relaxed his body and mind, and just as he was about to drift off into "deep sleep" again, a familiar ringtone suddenly sounded in his ear.

　　It was the phone alarm... In the past, this ringtone would call Ethan Foster to get up for class every day, so as soon as he heard it, he instantly perked up, his scalp tingling and blood rushing.

　　The alarm ringtone is truly one of the most merciless inventions in human history—utterly detestable, yet impossible to live without.

　　Ethan Foster opened his eyes and looked toward where the phone was ringing.

　　As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw his "other half" with her eyes closed, groggily reaching out and grabbing a matching couple's phone near the pillow, skillfully swiping to turn off the alarm without even opening her eyes.

　　Her movement to turn off the alarm was so practiced it was almost heartbreaking.

　　About five seconds later.

　　She yawned, slowly opened her eyes, and happened to meet Ethan's gaze as he looked at her.