The Dream Marriage
Don't trust your eyes!
This world is not as it appears!
[Mia]
Whenever she thought of him, she drew a "9."
1
Every time Mia passed by Room 9, she always had the illusion that Shane was still lying there. Especially on rainy nights, the entire corridor seemed permeated with that distinctive tobacco scent of his.
Sometimes she couldn't resist walking over and gently pushing open the door, only to find disappointment waiting.
Shane had been admitted a few months ago, and it was because of Mia, really.
It was a rainy night. Mia was going to visit a friend who lived in the suburbs, so she took Bus No. 9, driven by Shane.
If not for what happened along the way, she might never have noticed this utterly ordinary man who would disappear into any crowd.
Two hooligans were making trouble on the bus, spewing filth and getting handsy with the female passengers. Mia, being closest to them, suffered the worst of it.
No one stepped forward—they feared both the troublemakers and the trouble itself. But Shane stopped the bus and sternly told them, "Please get off."
The price of those words was a brutal beating. Shane was left bloodied on the spot. He was eventually rushed to the hospital by ambulance with a severe concussion and stayed for half a month...
2
Mia happened to be a nurse at that very hospital. She felt responsible for Shane's injury, so she devoted extra attention to him.
But the first thing Shane said when he woke up was, "This has nothing to do with you." Then he turned his face away and ignored her.
What first drew Mia to him was this very sense of righteousness and responsibility. In today's world, men like that were as rare as water in the desert.
So Mia spent more and more time in Room 9. When people came looking for her, the answer was always the same: Mia? She's in Room 9.
As it happened, Shane's name contained the character for "nine," he drove the No. 9 bus, and he was staying in Bed 9 of Room 9.
From then on, Mia fell in love with that number. Even when grocery shopping, she'd pick items with prices ending in 9.
One day, when Mia noticed that her notebook was covered in "9"s of all sizes, she realized with a start—she had fallen for that dark, silent man!
3
Long after Shane was discharged, Mia still felt like he was lying in that room. Every time she passed Room 9, her footsteps would instinctively grow lighter, and her cheeks would flush pink. When no one was around, she'd press her cheek against the freshly changed sheets, lingering over his scent.
She guessed that Shane didn't have a wife or family; otherwise, why had no one come to visit him during his hospitalization?
A good man was like a shooting star—if you didn't grab hold of it quickly, all you'd have was endless regret. So she decided to take the initiative.
Mia figured that as long as she tried, even failure would leave no regrets.
In that moment, her heart felt like a sail filled with wind—at once thrilling and terrifying.
Every morning, she woke an hour early, jogged several blocks to catch Shane's bus, then rode it halfway around the city to get to the hospital, all just to see him and say a single "hi."
But every time, Shane looked at her as if he didn't know her, his face set like iron, before turning to show her only the cold back of his head.
After two weeks of staring at nothing but his head, Mia's confidence slowly crumbled. She began doubting her own appeal and, even more, whether her original judgment had been right. She decided that even if Shane wasn't married, he must already have someone in his heart, because he'd never once looked at any woman directly.
She was not a special case.
4
Something that happened later confirmed her suspicion.
One evening, at the busiest night market in the city, Mia unexpectedly ran into Shane. He was crouching before a crowded stall, rummaging through trinkets that only women would like. Finally, he selected a peach-colored celluloid hair clip and carefully tucked it into his jacket.
At that moment, his expression was so bashful, like a girl experiencing her first love.
But Shane was no girl—he was a bearded man in his thirties. Had anyone ever seen a man wearing a hair clip? Clearly, he was buying it for someone else...
Mia's heart felt as if it had been pierced by an awl.
After that, she ran into Shane two more times.
Once, at an intersection, he was carrying a brightly colored ragdoll, skipping happily across the crosswalk. Another time, on a pedestrian street, he walked out of a women's clothing boutique laden with shopping bags.
Mia decided it was time to bow out.
She didn't want to be the other woman, and she had no confidence she could displace the woman in Shane's heart.
Men like Shane were like stones—stubborn and hard. But once they fell in love, they became iron, cast into shapes that could never be altered.
Still, Mia couldn't let go. She wanted to see this woman for herself. So one night, she quietly followed Shane.
5
She trailed Shane to a run-down apartment building. He lived on the fourth floor, down a narrow corridor. Along the corridor were windows fitted with burglar bars.
Through a cracked pane, Mia finally saw the woman.
She was beautiful—breathtakingly beautiful.
Mia recognized her. She was Coral, the famous movie star.
Coral was sitting on the sofa, quietly watching television. On her head was that peach-colored celluloid hair clip; in her arms, she held the brightly colored ragdoll...
Heavens, was she dreaming? Mia rubbed her eyes hard. How could Coral, the movie star, be in this cramped, musty bachelor's apartment?
She and Shane clearly inhabited completely different worlds...
Lost in thought, Mia didn't notice someone approaching from behind. By the time she reacted, a pair of ice-cold hands was already tightening around her neck...
It was Shane.
He glared at her, his face showing an expression she'd never seen before—something feral, something murderous.
"I'm sorry, but you know too much."
[Shane]
A Wedding for Two
1
Shane was probably the most dedicated driver at the bus company.
Every morning he pulled out at 5:30 sharp, arriving at Liberation Monument at 6:15, Jiuxian Bridge at 8:04, Chu Family Grave at 9:00... His No. 9 bus ran like clockwork, precise to the second.
In truth, Shane's earliest ambition was to be a white-collar worker—suit, glasses, striding importantly through grand office buildings.
But dreams are plump, reality is bony. For one thing, his parents hadn't given him a sharp mind. For another, his family was too poor to fund higher education. So after middle school, he became a driver, and over a decade passed in a flash.
Regular passengers all knew about Shane's peculiar habit. Whenever he reached the Chu Family Grave stop, he'd sound the horn once, loudly, then smile out the window...
This habit held regardless of season or weather.
At first, everyone assumed his home was nearby. But looking out, all they saw was mountains and trees, plus a dilapidated old bus shelter. It made no sense.
2
Only Shane himself knew the truth—he was on a date with Coral.
Three years ago, an advertisement featuring Coral was posted on that very bus shelter. Her honey-sweet smile had pierced straight into Shane's heart, leaving him sleepless and restless.
Shane felt that she was smiling just for him, so he adopted his own way of expressing gratitude—every time he drove past, he'd honk at the poster of her.
Days passed. Coral's face on the poster gradually faded, but in his heart, she remained as vivid as ever.
If you happened to pass by Chu Family Grave late at night and saw a man standing dazed beside the bus shelter, don't be surprised—it was Shane, who had given his entire heart to that cold metal sign.
This was the extent of his connection with Coral, or so Shane had always believed. Then one day, a miracle descended...
It was a drizzly night. Shane had come to the Chu Family Grave shelter once again. He held his umbrella over the poster of Coral on the bus shelter, leaving himself exposed to the rain, soaked like a drowned rat.
Suddenly, a car spun out of control and surged toward him. He instinctively sheltered the poster with his body and was knocked flying. When he scrambled to his feet, he saw the car halted by the roadside. Walking over, he found Coral inside!
He stared, barely able to believe his eyes.
When he reached out to touch her face, her eyelashes fluttered and she opened her eyes...
"Where is this? How did I get here? Oh—who am I..."
3
Coral had lost her memory.
She couldn't remember who she was, couldn't recall what had happened. She was like a wiped slate, a formatted computer...
She was like a dream the heavens had gifted Shane, allowing him to paint her in the colors of his own ideals.
Shane lied for the very first time in his life.
He fabricated an identity for Coral, telling her she was now a fugitive—she'd killed someone in a car accident and the police were searching for her nationwide.
"Stay here. Let me take care of you," he said.
Coral agreed. What choice did she have?
And so, the world lost a movie star and gained a gentle, dutiful little wife.