"2010? I... have returned to fifteen years ago?"

Qin Yun’s face showed a trace of shock; he had suddenly crossed such a vast river of time!

In 2010, the Yangtze River Fourth Bridge in Jinling was in the process of hoisting steel box girder bridge decks. The second phase of Deji Square in the city was advancing steadily. The now-high-end and grand West River New City was still filled with vast empty lands at that time. High-rise buildings like Huatai Securities, Futon World Trade Center, and the Youth Olympic Village were all still construction sites.

At this time, Qilin Science and Technology Innovation Park was just a large rural area in southeast Jinling, with barely any decent roads within the park.

Jinling was implementing a "separate rain and sewage" plan, investing 18.3 billion, with comprehensive construction over five years from early 2010 to the end of 2014, covering over 200 square kilometers, laying 500 kilometers of sewage trunk pipes, and improving sewage branch pipes for nearly 3,000 residential communities and 2,000 units.

However, the constant roadworks caused relentless disruption to the lives of the residents, leaving them deeply troubled by the continually ravaged roads.

It can be said that Jinling was still developing in this era, completely incomparable to the highly coveted new tier-one city it would become fifteen years later!

"Are you okay?" Seeing the trace of shock on Qin Yun’s face, the man who lent him the phone inquired.

It seemed that something was a bit off with Qin Yun.

"Oh, it’s nothing."

Hearing this, Qin Yun snapped back to reality, shook his head, and said, "Thanks for your phone. I forgot my family’s phone numbers."

He handed the phone back to the man.

The man smiled, said Qin Yun could seek help from the police station if he had difficulties, and even informed him of its exact location.

Watching the man leave, Qin Yun began examining this section of the city anew, taking in Jinling from fifteen years ago.

"What should I do now?"

Qin Yun muttered to himself. He was without a phone, and all other belongings were gone; he essentially had nothing, not even an identity card — a ghost without documentation.

As he pondered, Qin Yun suddenly realized an issue and hurriedly asked, "System, the fragment exists in 2010. If it takes me three years to find it here, would that mean I return three years later?"

He was here in search of that Exotic Fragment to expedite the upgrade of his Wealth System.

However, Qin Yun previously didn’t fully understand what returning to another time and space to find an Exotic Fragment would be like. Perhaps it was easy to find, or the time consumed might be short.

But given the current situation, it seemed like a purposeless search across the entire world. In such a situation, he had no clue how long this would take — perhaps even years might pass without finding it.

Would he have to search for several years and be missing from the real world for that long before returning?

"Host, the time flow ratio between this time-space and the original is thirty to one. In other words, thirty days here are equivalent to one day in the original time."

A mechanical, cold voice directly answered.

Hearing this, Qin Yun breathed a slight sigh of relief.

This time was manageable, within a bearable range.

The limit he had in mind was five months passing in the original time; because, even without coming here to find that Exotic Fragment, the Wealth System would upgrade to Level 3 in five months.

After all, the Wealth System’s balance had already reached over six billion!

In relation, five months in the real world would be equivalent to 150 months here — that’s over ten years.

With such a long time, he could traverse the entire Hua Country, plenty of time.

"Hopefully, it can be found quickly. At the latest, in three months — that is, three days in reality, and I’ll make a trip back," Qin Yun silently pondered.

He was having a bout of good luck and might find it quickly.

"Hmm?"

While thinking, Qin Yun suddenly glanced at a distance, his expression slightly changing.

There were some children playing — a total of five, with four together, and one little girl alone to the side.

The little girl looked about four or five years old, very thin, with somewhat yellowish hair. She was wearing noticeably oversized clothes, likely hand-me-downs from older siblings.

This was often the case before, with several children in a family: the oldest’s clothes would go to the second oldest, and those of the second to the third.

The little girl was sitting alone in a corner, curled up, watching the others play with no sign of envy in her eyes, seemingly accustomed to solitude. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

As he spotted these children, Qin Yun’s expression shifted slightly because one was riding a bicycle unsteadily. In panic, the bicycle headed straight towards the little girl’s corner.

"Get out of the way!"

The cyclist was also flustered, shouting urgently. Yet, the little girl, huddled in the corner, appeared terrified, not budging an inch.

"Oh no, the bicycle is going to hit that little girl."

A few people nearby noticed too, exclaiming in alarm.

At this moment, being the nearest, Qin Yun swiftly rushed over.

His physical condition far exceeded that of ordinary people, and he moved very quickly. Before the bicycle arrived, he’d reached the little girl, scooped her up, and stepped aside.

"Bang!"

The cyclist crashed into the wall and fell off, but quickly got up and approached the little girl that Qin Yun had picked up, apologizing: "I’m sorry, I’m sorry, my bicycle broke, and I couldn’t stop it in time just now."

After apologizing for a while, seeing the little girl was alright, he hurried off, seemingly with urgent business.

Qin Yun didn’t say anything. He put down the little girl in his arms and asked, "Are you okay?"

He couldn’t just stand by and watch the bicycle crash into her.

The little girl looked up at Qin Yun, shook her head, and whispered, "Thank you, uncle."

Qin Yun smiled, glanced around, and asked, "Where are your family?"

When the bicycle rushed over earlier, the parents of the other children rushed over in panic, quickly picking up their own kids, but no one came to this little girl’s side.

Such a little one, yet no family around.

Hearing Qin Yun’s words, the little girl shook her head.

She lowered her head, staring at her toes, not speaking.

Realizing he wasn’t getting anywhere, Qin Yun squatted down and asked, "Did you get separated from your family?"

Things clearly seemed off.

The little girl still didn’t speak, just looked at Qin Yun. She seemed very thin, a tiny thing with two small braids. When Qin Yun picked her up earlier, he felt she weighed almost nothing.

Seeing he couldn’t get an answer, Qin Yun said, "What’s your name?"

He thought about taking this little girl to the police station.

Of course, Qin Yun himself couldn’t meet the police; without an ID or phone number, it would be troublesome if asked.

For some reason, he couldn’t just leave her be.

This time, the little girl didn’t stay silent but instead softly said, "My name is Yu Leyao."

(Thanks to Half Life’s ’Cool to Injury’ for the 1500 reward, thank you.)