In a corner of that page, there was a small section of tiny text, like fly specks. The main point was that the Transaction Device only had a thirty-year lifespan. After thirty years, it would automatically collapse and disappear due to reaching its expiration date.
The primary reason was the rudimentary materials used in its construction.
It was also considered a temporary communication tool.
It was never designed for long-term use from the start.
Ding Yun had bound the Transaction Device to Xiao Zhu Lingyun eleven years ago. In the altered future trajectory, her mother was diagnosed with cancer in '98, which was twenty-seven years later. The total duration, past and future, added up to thirty-eight years. This meant that when Xiao Zhu Lingyun's mother was diagnosed with late-stage stomach cancer,
Ding Yun would have already been out of contact with Xiao Zhu Lingyun for eight years.
Some might find this difficult to understand.
In reality, it had to be viewed from two timelines.
One was Xiao Zhu Lingyun's timeline. She was bound to the Transaction Device in '60. After the binding, the flow of time on her end synchronized with Ding Yun's. However many years passed on her end meant the same number of years passed on Ding Yun's.
So, her thirty years later would be in '90.
In the new destiny trajectory, her mother fell ill in '98 and passed away in '00. That was thirty-eight and forty years after she was bound to the Transaction Device.
Ding Yun's flow of time was synchronized with hers.
At that point, they clearly would no longer be able to communicate.
In the previous destiny trajectory, they likely never discovered the Transaction Device had a usage limit. By the time they did, they had already lost contact.
However, Ding Yun, having understood this point, was not giving up. She once again meticulously searched every corner of the relevant pages, examining even the smallest details, attempting to find a solution or see if another Transaction Device could be created and bound.
Unfortunately, in the end, she found nothing.
Meanwhile, Xiao Zhu Lingyun on her end was becoming anxious and had already inquired twice in quick succession.
"I've just re-examined everything carefully.
Your guess is correct. Twenty-seven years from now, we won't be able to continue our contact because the device I use to communicate with you can only last for thirty years. We have already been in contact for eleven years, and I can only continue to contact you for another nineteen years.
After nineteen years, we will be completely unable to communicate.
And there's no way to make any other changes."
Although this was her oversight, Ding Yun did not conceal it. She stated the true situation frankly and then proceeded with a barter.
She sent over the three items she had been delayed in giving to Xiao Zhu Lingyun.
Xiao Zhu Lingyun, accustomed to this, casually selected an item from the trade column and chose to trade, then asked with concern, "What do we do now?
What if these things don't work as well, and I can't keep my mother alive until I research an anti-cancer drug? I wouldn't be able to reach you either!"
"Don't worry. Every time I communicate with you, subtle changes occur in spacetime and destiny trajectories.
Whether it's effective or not.
We'll see when I can no longer contact you.
But you must remember, you absolutely must keep my warning in mind. If the changes are too great, we won't be able to connect.
You must remember, you must remember!"
In fact, if the timelines and destiny lines changed too drastically, it wasn't that they couldn't connect, but that connection would be pointless. If the changes created a new parallel universe, it would mean Ding Yun had failed her mission. If the mission had failed, why would Ding Yun still bother contacting her?
From Ding Yun's perspective, Xiao Zhu Lingyun was merely a tool to help her complete her mission. The fact that the latter possessed self-awareness and wasn't entirely under her control was the biggest potential threat to her mission's success.
However, some things were difficult to state directly.
She could only proceed with indirect methods to achieve her goals.
Xiao Zhu Lingyun, of course, was unaware of Ding Yun's thoughts. She immediately assured Ding Yun that she would adhere to their agreement and would never repeat her previous mistake.
Ding Yun, though still somewhat uneasy, had no other recourse. After a few more pleasantries, she ended the communication and nervously observed the remarks in the "Current Timeline" section of the Trans-Dimensional Second-hand Trading Device.
This section displayed the current changes in her timeline.
The display read:
Spacetime experienced slight turbulence. Timeline altered.
"?"
"Why is it still this?"
"Is this second-hand trading device broken or what? Maybe this thing isn't for trading second-hand goods; maybe it's a second-hand item itself..."
After her initial surprise, Ding Yun uttered a couple of sarcastic remarks before quickly pulling out her phone to search for information on Zhu Lingyun's encyclopedia, wanting to see what changes had appeared.
Then she discovered there had been changes.
For instance, Zhu Lingyun's mother was still alive and was now ninety-eight years old. Another change was that, perhaps due to a slight lack of pressure, the time it took her to develop the cancer drug was two months later than in the original timeline. However, it still occurred within the same year, so the overall impact wasn't significant.
Seeing this, Ding Yun suddenly slapped her forehead:
"Ah, I'm so foolish! The timeline changed last time, so it was bound to change again during this reversal.
It's fine as it is now. As for the drug development being delayed by a month or two, it's not a big deal. It seems I should contact Xiao Zhu Lingyun less often from now on and stop trading."
Ding Yun was quite satisfied with the current outcome. While not entirely perfect, nothing in this world was. She didn't want to risk another mishap by chasing perfection, only to regret it later.
So, she quickly decided to stop here.
From now on, at most, she would have occasional brief exchanges with Xiao Zhu Lingyun. All other aspects would be completely terminated.
The goal was to ensure the current outcome remained unchanged.
With that, the mission related to Zhu Lingyun, which Ding Yun had accepted, could be considered basically concluded. Apart from the need to indirectly influence events across spacetime,
And the concern about the butterfly effect's impact,
Overall, it hadn't taken much time.
Now, only Zhu Xin's mission remained.
Although Zhu Xin's mission might not seem difficult, it was actually the most troublesome and time-consuming. Especially the part about raising a good child. What constituted raising a good child? Was it when she graduated from university, or when she had a successful career after graduation?
Did having a son and a daughter count as being well-raised?
Unlike Zhu Lingyun's situation, which had a somewhat detailed standard – allowing her mother to live longer – raising a child well had no precise criteria.
Therefore, Ding Yun could only speculate.
She had to infer the original host's standards based on her personality.