Perhaps it was shift change—several white coats entered the ward. In the crowd, she caught a brief glimpse of the lead doctor, and something about him looked very familiar.
Thin glasses, a pen tucked in his breast pocket...
Could it be from the dream?
Strange.
Less than half an hour later, the doctor came out. Fair-skinned, tall and lean, he strode past her—until she impulsively called out to him.
"Excuse me, are you surnamed Xie?"
"Hmm?"
The doctor turned and scrutinized her: "And you are?"
"I—I'm a student that Mr. Gu sponsored."
She'd finally found their only point of intersection. Mustering her courage, she held out the worn test-prep book: "I heard he was sick, and I wanted to visit him."
However, Xie Yun was not the gentle white angel from her dream. He was anything but mild-tempered. Seeing her plainly dressed, he rejected her flatly: "He's already gone bankrupt."
"No, I'm not asking for money—"
People were passing back and forth in the corridor, staring curiously. Lian Xia flushed crimson. She had to borrow a pen from the reception desk and write her contact information and address on the inside cover of the book.
"Wherever we are, we will meet again."
—June 2019, Lian Xia
She scribbled it quickly, closed the book, and held it out to him: "Then—could you please give this to him? He'll understand once he sees it."
Xie Yun frowned, but pinched the book between two fingers and took it.
Then he went in.
Then he came out.
"I'm sorry."
Tears burst from her eyes in an instant. She hadn't imagined that the next time they met, the gulf in their social standing and circumstances would be so vast—she didn't even have the right to see him.
Lian Xia hated herself for being so powerless, yet still refusing to let go. But she stepped forward and grabbed his sleeve: "Then—could you please pass on one more message for me?"
"You again..."
Xie Yun had been about to brush her off harshly, but softened when he saw her tears.
"What else do you want to tell him?"
"...Please remind him to get his liver checked."
Chapter 43
After a liver ultrasound, Gu Xichen held the freshly printed scan and studied it, his brow slowly knitting.
Xie Yun leaned over to look as well, patting him on the shoulder: "When luck is good, nothing can stop it."
"Getting cancer is good luck?"
"Early detection makes it simple—cut it out and you're cured." He pointed a slender finger at the affected area: "Look at this new nodule on the liver. What a cute little thing..."
"You're calling a tumor a cute little thing?"
Gu Xichen thought he was already optimistic, but this oncologist's attitude was even more cavalier: "Well, it was caught early. The cancer cells near the lesion haven't spread yet. Just pick a time and get it removed."
???
Get it removed how?
You remove it, or I remove it?
Remove the tumor, or remove me?
It was just early-stage surgery. Beyond the operation itself, he'd need a whole series of immunotherapy, targeted therapy, and other comprehensive treatments. There was still plenty of suffering ahead.
The surgery was scheduled quickly—he was back on the operating table within a week.
The anesthesia took effect fast, but he ended up having a very long dream.
In the dream, the woman's tear-filled eyes appeared before him once more.
"Xichen, remember to live well."
"I will come find you."
"I will continue loving you."
When he woke, he stared blankly at the ceiling.
It was early morning, the light dim, gauzy curtains gently swaying. For a moment, he couldn't tell if it had been real or a dream.
Before the car crash, he'd fallen into severe alcoholism and insomnia—his longest stretch had been five days and five nights without sleep. But after this dream, it was as though some vitality had been restored. His mindset felt much more relaxed.
He was resting with his eyes closed when Xie Yun came in.
"How are you feeling?"
"...Alright."
"It's just a minor issue—no need to look so grim." Xie Yun checked the IV drip and adjusted the flow rate, his bright eyes observing Gu Xichen through his lenses: "You're so young, everything is still ahead of you."
Gu Xichen, being force-fed chicken soup: ...
His attending physician seemed very concerned about his mental health, frequently popping in to prod and probe.
"By the way, a girl came by earlier saying she was a recipient of your charitable sponsorship. She brought a book—did you see it?"
"I don't have any sponsorship programs right now."
Xie Yun seemed surprised by his coldness: "You think she was here for money?"
"Yeah."
After a silence, Xie Yun said: "She looked quite pitiful though. And she was the one who told you to get your health checked..."
Gu Xichen clearly didn't want to hear it. The book lay on his nightstand, untouched, never opened again.
His life's work—Xuanchen Tech—was about to enter bankruptcy liquidation. His energy couldn't afford to divert elsewhere. Lately he'd been contacting investors and technical partners, hoping to start over from scratch.
If he'd survived his near-death experience, then he might as well get back up and tear another hole in the sky.
...
...
Lian Xia bought a ticket to leave Shanghai the next day.
Before leaving, she slipped back to Gu Xichen's ward. She waited from morning to afternoon, from afternoon to evening, until the security guards finally left and the door stood open.
Standing at the doorway and looking inside, he wasn't paralyzed like in the dream—he was actually doing quite well. At this moment he was leaning on a crutch, reading by the window.
A few stray locks of hair fell across his forehead. The man's features were refined, his narrow eyes captivating beneath thin lids. He held the book with absorption, though he seemed a little distracted.
His posture was so effortless—not a trace of someone who'd weathered a life-altering catastrophe.
How wonderful. Aside from not recognizing her, he was a perfect Gu Xichen.
When he looked up and their eyes met, his gaze was thick with wariness and distance—with no reflection of her in it.
His expression was placid, even tinged with impatience.
Lian Xia's heart shattered.
Perhaps this was just a phantom dream she'd conjured in her loneliness.
The dream was over, and everything had ended.
Never mind. Never mind.
I, who have nothing, still have a memory of you—rich and vivid.
That's enough.
Chapter 44
Gu Xichen had been going to bed very early lately.
He used to suffer severe insomnia—closing his eyes brought images of hanging himself or jumping off buildings.
But despite his mental anxiety and physical pain, something miraculous had happened—he could fall asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. A gentle, irresistible force seemed to enfold him, immersing him like warm seawater. He lost himself in the dreams, even reluctant to wake.
To glean more information about the woman and their time together, he went to bed early every night. His body was recovering quickly.
But she never appeared again.
Was all of this—repeating over and over—really just reality's projection in a dream?
If this woman truly existed in reality...
The moment the thought surfaced, he caught himself smiling wryly—how could that be? This was a materialist world, after all.
The psychologist Yun Lu seemed to have taken his accompanying delusions as a case study. She visited his ward regularly now, even waiving her consultation fee.
"You're looking better lately."
"Thanks."
She opened her laptop, sat on the sofa across from him, and asked casually: "How have you been? Still dreaming?"
"No."
"Hm, that's a good thing. Why don't you look happy about it?"
Gu Xichen managed a slight upturn of his lips, but his expression remained downcast: "I don't want this dream to end so soon."
"Why not?"
"If this is a form of healing, I think it should continue..."
It was only in that dream that he could truly relax. Without the anticipation of entering it, he'd toss and turn all night, unable to sleep.
Seeing the deep powerlessness in his spirit, expression, and tone, Yun Lu shook her head: "You're letting illusions control you—it's a kind of spiritual opium."
"But you also said that dreams and reality can overlap, and everything might truly exist, didn't you?"
"That was just me comforting you. Don't take it seriously."
Gu Xichen: ...
He wished her comfort could be more thorough.
"Is there any way to amplify the details of my dreams?"
"What are you trying to do?" Yun Lu stopped her note-taking, her tone clinical: "Most people's dreams are fragmented. If someone could completely remember all the details of their dreams, their brain would have to be atypical—medically, it could even be considered pathological, like hyperthymesia."
"I want more information. Maybe somewhere in this world, there's someone having the same dream as me."
Clap, clap, clap.
The psychologist across from him was applauding: "You've got more imagination than I do."
Gu Xichen tried to persuade her: "Because the dream had too many details, and I've had it many times..."
"Simultaneous dreaming is very rare, but there have been documented cases of collective dream phenomena."
Yun Lu's lips curved into a faint smile: "Perhaps dreams are another parallel dimension, and under extremely rare circumstances, your paths overlapped."
"So, can my request be fulfilled?"
"Through hypnosis, it's possible to excavate deep dream layers—but what's the point?"
"She needs me."
"A person in a dream needs you?"
"Yes. Every dream was about her needing me desperately. If all of this is real, where is that girl?"
Yun Lu knitted her brow in thought. She didn't answer directly, but posed a more soul-searching question instead.
"Is it that she needs you, or that you need her?"
Gu Xichen was silent for a long time: "Both."
"We already promised each other in the dream to be lifelong companions. No matter wealth or poverty, we would never abandon each other."
"That's too idealistic..."
"Please help me, Dr. Yun."
Yun Lu sighed.
"Give me a few days. I'll draft a treatment plan."
Then she gathered all her notes, rose quietly, and left.
If she kept talking, she was afraid she'd end up diagnosing him with schizophrenia.