Episode 4

> "微风吹动了我的头发，教我如何不想她"" (The gentle wind tugs at my hair, teaching me how to never think of her.)
>
> -刘半农 (Liu Bannong), Quote in the episode title card

***Confess*** (Chinese: 告白 *Gàobái*) is the fourth episode of the first season of Link Click.

## Synopsis

After the basketball game, Cheng Xiaoshi continues the mission smoothly, spurred on by Lu Guang's assurance that the "node", or critical point in history, has not been altered. Cheng Xiaoshi learns that the team captain pushed for the basketball court to not be torn down if they could win the game, and the coach lacks the heart to admit that the gym will be torn down anyway. Cheng Xiaoshi bikes the captain home and delivers the message to him. The two meet the captain's sister, and the three of them go home together. The sister walks with Cheng Xiaoshi afterward, at which time Cheng Xiaoshi delivers the second message. After going home and resolving a fight with Chen's mother, the final message was delivered. Cheng Xiaoshi soon realizes that this mission was directed toward an unspeakable memory- an earthquake that is destined to kill Chen Xiao's friends and family.

## Plot

Chen Xiao prepares to shoot his final ball. A flashback ensues, of Lu Guang explaining the concept of time nodes to Cheng Xiaoshi. According to the photo-watcher, anything Cheng Xiaoshi does or changes in the past could create a time warp, and rewrite the future that they're in currently. The only exception is a specific node, one that can still correct things even if all the past before the node was altered. If the time node was altered, then all the corresponding past could be rewritten.

In the game, Chen Xiao delivers the ball to a teammate, who shoots it in the last few seconds. Another flashback appears, this time of Chen Xiao in the future talking about what happened during that day. The basketball drops into the hoop after an agonizing second of it spiraling, and the court erupts into cheers. The Motor Factory High School teammates congratulate each other while the Long Yang team argues and is yelled at by Liu Lei. Chen Xiao's team steps forward to applaud his skills, yet Cheng Xiaoshi is unresponsive, the full impact of his choice crashed upon him. He thinks about all the little things he had done to change the past, like taking a photo and scoring too much.

Cheng Xiaoshi yells within his mind for Lu Guang, but receives no response. Lu Hongbin puts a hand on his shoulder, aggravating Cheng Xiaoshi, who yells at him to leave him alone. After trying one more time and hearing no reply, he readies to clap himself out of the picture. Lu Guang's voice suddenly shouts out, stopping Cheng Xiaoshi from leaving. Slightly annoyed, Cheng Xiaoshi worriedly smiles, calling Lu Guang an asshole for leaving him on edge. Lu Guang justifies his actions by saying that he was trying to find the words that the client wanted them to deliver. Cheng Xiaoshi believes that Lu Guang deliberately stayed silent in order to teach him a lesson about the consequences of changing the timeline.

The chemistry teacher walks up to Chen Xiao and hands him the camera that he forgot. Chen Xiao excitedly asks if they would be able to play more games since they won this one, but he sadly shakes his head and says that the court would be trashed either way.

Before Cheng Xiaoshi can deliver his words, he must first bring Lu Hongbin back home. Due to the captain's injured knee, he is unable to pedal for himself, leaving Chen Xiao to be the one to bike uphill with him as a passenger. Though visibly tired, he keeps at it, refusing Lu Hongbin's offer to take a rest. Once they've gotten to a good speed, Lu Guang directs Cheng Xiaoshi to deliver the first set of words. The speech he says is blanked out by music.

Chen Xiao and Lu Hongbin finally make their way down the hill to his house, but are intercepted by a pretty-looking girl. Liu Meng stops the two, and reprimands him lightly for sneaking off to play basketball instead of studying. She then notices his injured leg, and continues to scold him as the elder brother. Lu Guang clarifies that she is Lu Hongbin's sister, and their client's first love. Cheng Xiaoshi silently tells him that he could already tell through Chen Xiao's bodily reaction. Suddenly, she notices Chen Xiao, and is confused by his new appearance without glasses. When she finally recognizes him, her demeanor softens although she continues to half-heartedly berate them. Lu Hongbin gets her to stop, and calls for Chen Xiao to take a picture for memory. After the first picture is done, Lu Hongbin pushes Liu Meng into Chen Xiao, knowing about his crush and trying to get the two to take a picture together as well. Cheng Xiaoshi puts his hand on her shoulder, but is stopped by Lu Guang.

The three walk home together. When Chen Xiao moves to leave, Lu Hongbin has his sister follow along with him. Cheng Xiaoshi wonders how Chen Xiao could've thought his feelings were unrequited, with all of Liu Meng's emotions shown plainly on her face. He also makes note of the strong emotions he feels as Chen Xiao and how much he had wanted to tell her the words. She turns around to compliment Chen Xiao on his looks without glasses. She then starts to open up about her family, talking about Lu Hongbin being her half-brother and her father wanting her to study in the city. With the sun beginning to set, Lu Guang feeds Cheng Xiaoshi the lines, and he recites them to her. This speech is too, blanked out. When he finishes, Liu Meng approaches him and happily asks him to pinkie promise on his words.

Chen Xiao begins to bike home as the night grows dark, and Cheng Xiaoshi asks Lu Guang if it was really okay for him to be saying those words. Lu Guang reassures him that as long as the node didn't change, it would be fine. When Chen Xiao finally arrives home, he's assaulted by his mother, who angrily chases him around the dinner table while yelling about his useless passion of basketball. Still irritated, she makes him sit down and eat his dinner. He quickly begins to eat, but Lu Guang reminds him about his last message. Chen Xiao begins his conversation by mentioning Liu Meng working in the city during their next year, and asks when he can work there as well. He is immediately cut off by his mother, saying that he is just like his father and should just leave home already if he wants to so much. She then starts quietly crying at the dinner table, and Cheng Xiaoshi is worried, unsure of his next move. Lu Guang directs him to deliver the words now. The speech, like all the others, are blanked out. Towards the end of it, both Chen Xiao and his mother are laughing, having made up and gotten past their little quarrel. She brings some noodles to the table, and reminds Chen Xiao that it's his father's birthday, May 12. All of a sudden, Cheng Xiaoshi stops. He asks her to repeat the year, and she complies, telling him that it's 2008. The time-jumper finally realizes what this means, and why the node wouldn't be changed.

A flashback of a younger Qiao Ling waking up and walking to the old Photo Studio door appears. She rubs her eyes, wondering who it could be at that time in the morning. The door opens, and a young, tearful Cheng Xiaoshi walks in. He tells her about a "big earthquake last night", and that many people died in the devastation. Bursting into tears, he asks Qiao Ling if his parents might've died. She brings him into a hug, comforting him while he cries.

Chen Xiao's mother shakes him, concerned as to why he had suddenly stopped moving. Cheng Xiaoshi begins to talk to Lu Guang out loud, worrying her. Lu Guang jumps out of his seat and commands the time-jumper to leave the photo immediately, but he doesn't listen and instead starts running out the door with his bicycle at hand.