Her aunt and Ximei flanked the two well-matched young people, beaming from ear to ear.
"See, I told you they had fate!"
"Yes! Look how happy Xiao Chen is! They've got their eyes on each other!"
The two middle-aged women tag-teamed, urging the young pair to exchange contact info. Lian Xia finally understood what was happening.
This was a disguised matchmaking session!
She refused without hesitation: "Sorry, I already have someone I like."
Her aunt's operatic enthusiasm deflated instantly. She elbowed the embarrassed Ximei, and the two women tugged and shuffled their way out.
Chen Xi, all long limbs, folded himself onto the small stool across from her, looking wronged: "Weren't you single before?"
"Or are you looking down on my job and making up a person?"
"He's better-looking than you."
"I didn't think girls from the countryside could be so materialistic..."
"He's more educated than you. Speaks four languages."
"Wouldn't it be better to struggle together? Does he have to have a house and a car?"
"He has a great personality. Even if he had nothing, I'd support him."
Chen Xi: ...
"Fine."
After this deep communication (mutual misunderstanding), Chen Xi still refused to believe this person existed. He was convinced she was just looking down on him for being poor, and stormed out with a slam of the door.
At dinner, her aunt probed sideways about her impression of Chen Xi.
"I don't like him, and I don't want to see him again."
"No wonder." Her aunt clucked her tongue: "No wonder he went straight back and told Ximei that you've got someone on the outside."
????
How did that happen?
It went from "someone I like" straight to "someone on the outside"?
Her aunt was practically glowing with envy: "Well, you're a college student, naturally your standards are high!"
"And if you meet someone with good conditions out there, be sure to keep an eye out for Lian Qiu, too..."
In a village like this, gossip grew legs. As long as she stayed, it was hard to escape the cycle. So Lian Xia let it go in one ear and out the other.
She hadn't forgotten her promise to meet that person again.
Time was running out. In a few months, she would appear before him once more.
As a better version of herself.
Chapter 48
Xie Yun pulled some strings and obtained the security footage from the past several days.
After a rough count, some fifty or sixty young women had come to visit "Chairman Gu" that week.
"Your romantic luck is pretty impressive."
Gu Xichen had nothing to say.
"I swear to heaven, my products have celebrity endorsements, but I've never personally wined and dined anyone."
"Then there's no helping it—with this many people, who knows which one she is..."
Xie Yun stroked his chin, then suddenly had a flash of insight: "Wait, didn't you say the dream took place somewhere really rundown?"
"Yes."
Practically unfinished—bare walls, nothing inside.
The range narrowed immediately. Xie Yun, ever the clear-headed advisor, offered another clue: "That day, there were lots of influencers and businesswomen coming to see you, but only one ordinary girl."
He still remembered her—delicate features, thin frame, and that simple outfit. She'd stood out among all the glamorous visitors.
She was also the one who'd brought that worn test-prep book.
With the scope reduced, the two quickly zeroed in on the target. Xie Yun pointed at the petite figure.
"Looks like her, right?"
"It does!"
But tracking someone via surveillance footage was impractical—she was bundled up and kept a lower profile than the paparazzi.
"That girl's mask is a fortress."
Gu Xichen declared: "Even with a mask on, I'd recognize her!"
Xie Yun scoffed: "She already came to see you once—"
"That was right after I woke from the dream—how could I have connected it to reality?"
"Right, what about the book?" If she'd had the same experience as him, she must have left a message inside.
Ignoring his unhealed chest wound, he struggled out of bed and dove into the cabinet. Xie Yun could only hold him back and search the entire ward on his behalf.
Then a second pass. Then a third.
The book had vanished into thin air—not a trace to be found.
Before Gu Xichen could reach for his crutch, Xie Yun pressed a hand to his shoulder: "Don't panic. I'll go ask the cleaning staff for you."
Unsurprisingly, the book was gone.
It had been nearly a month. The duty cleaners had rotated several times since then.
Not just Xie Yun—the cleaning auntie on duty at the time had been spooked too, mumbling: "It was so old and dirty, I thought it was trash..."
Gu Xichen spiraled into extreme anxiety. He abandoned his crutch and kept searching the room, the whites of his eyes turning pink.
The high of just now had crashed into utter desolation.
Xie Yun thought someone should really be playing a somber erhu in the background for the tragic Mr. Gu. With that unshakable mask of misery on his face, if someone filmed it and posted it online, he might actually achieve financial freedom...
Yun Lu happened to arrive at that moment. She pulled Xie Yun outside and scolded him: "He's gone crazy, and you're joining him?"
Xie Yun: ...
What did he do to deserve this?
"If I don't do this, I'll have to sit and watch him waste away—or worse, attempt suicide again."
Xie Yun adjusted his thin glasses, looking perfectly composed: "If it were you—business bankrupt, then a major car crash, then liver cancer—would you still want to live?"
"Probably would've hanged myself a hundred times by now."
Yun Lu wasn't about to be brushed off so easily: "You can't just let him chase after these illusory things."
"Actually, I suspect this could be a precursor to mental illness. He shows zero concern for his own health, and instead wants to dive into dreams—that's definitely not a good sign..."
"Then why do people pray to Buddha? It's all about finding emotional sustenance."
Xie Yun shook his head: "We can approach this from a different angle. Use the girl from his dreams to encourage him until he finds his next anchor."
"After that, he can truly heal."