Chapter 49
These past two days, Lian Xia had been shut in her room, studying intensely.
She didn't want to waste two more years the way she had in the dream, only to end up retaking exams. She couldn't afford to squander her time.
To keep her mischievous younger cousin out, she quietly added a lock to her bedroom door. The offended little boy responded by dragging a stool right outside and playing games at full volume.
Lian Xia just kept memorizing her textbooks and let it slide.
The old house had terrible soundproofing. The kid even called over two friends his age, and they were going at it outside her door.
"This is a Xuanchen Tech game—it's supposed to be even more intense with the AR magic mirror!"
"With a PS4 you should be happy, we can't afford the mirror!"
"Did you guys hear? Xuanchen's horror game was so scary, someone died playing it in the middle of the night..."
"Yeah yeah, and after that several games got banned—you can't even play them anymore—"
Crash!
The door flew open, and Lian Xia stood behind it, her face stern.
"You lot, go play somewhere else."
"Auntie, who are you!"
"This is Lian Dong's house—you're overstepping!"
"Yeah!"
At this, her little cousin stood with arms crossed, looking thoroughly punchable. Lian Xia grabbed his ear and hauled him toward the door. Her aunt rushed over to intervene.
"What are you doing?"
"He's interrupting my studying."
"Oh please, then just don't study!"
Lian Xia: ...
She let go. The three boys bolted. Seeing her stony expression, her aunt softened her tone: "Look, you've upset your brother. Why not just skip the studying? Wouldn't getting married sooner be better?"
"Let's talk about Chen Xi again. He's from Shanghai, and he's making good money now! Wouldn't being his girlfriend beat going to school?"
"I have a boyfriend."
"You can still be friends even if you have a boyfriend."
Hiss...
Lian Xia realized her moral bar was set too high.
"No. Don't interfere with my studying, or move out."
Her face was ice. Ignoring her aunt's shifting complexion, she slammed the door shut.
Even without saying it, she knew exactly what the woman was scheming.
Recently the government had started renting village warehouses for extra income. To pocket an additional 500 yuan a month in rent, her aunt had moved her entire family into her late brother-in-law's house. Now she wanted to push out the orphaned niece too.
For that, she'd resort to every trick—dragging in every eligible boy for a blind date, just to marry her off and clear the way.
Within days, rumors about Lian Xia were flying around the village.
Some said she'd made money in Shanghai through improper means. Some said she'd snagged a rich sugar daddy. Others claimed she was using education as a cover to climb the social ladder...
Same gossip, same accusations, even the same sanctimonious tone—as if the dream had looped back.
Except this time, she didn't take it to heart. She didn't impulsively go shave her head like in the dream. She simply shut the door on the noise and focused entirely on her studies.
Thinking of that, she gave a soft laugh.
"Fool."
She wasn't sure if she meant others or herself.
Chapter 50
Gu Xichen asked Yun Lu to hypnotize him again—to reach the girl in his dream and attempt some form of real-world communication.
Yun Lu refused without hesitation.
"I don't recommend you try again."
When a patient has extremely strong willpower, repeated forced hypnosis can cause damage to the brain itself.
"Last time I succeeded only after thirteen attempts. That proves your brain is instinctively fighting off this kind of external mental intrusion."
Rejected outright, Gu Xichen spiraled into anxiety once more.
He relapsed into nightly insomnia, relying on sleep aids. Though his body was healing day by day, his spirit was wilting. Seeing him so despondent, Yun Lu finally relented and agreed to help one more time.
Even if the memories were distant, as long as the setting could be faithfully recreated, some fragments could be recovered.
If Gu Xichen could prove that a collective dream event had genuinely occurred, it would mean that "spirit" wasn't mere metaphysics, and couldn't be dismissed as pure idealism. It could give rise to an entirely new school of thought in the field of psychology.
She told herself it was all for the sake of a new research project.
Time passed drop by drop. The person on the hospital bed seemed to have fallen asleep.
"Gu Xichen?"
No response to her probe. The young man lay still, his expression peaceful, but his eyes darted rapidly behind thin lids.
The hypnosis was successful. Faded memories brightened once more in his mind.
Back then, his father was still just his father. Father and son, going into battle together—they'd served as charity representatives, personally handing book after book to the children. It was cold that day, the sky was high. When he went to distribute the books, he noticed several children had runny noses dragging below, and suddenly felt a pang of regret.
Maybe what the children needed more was a thick padded coat.
"Thank you, Teacher Gu."
The children who'd received their books lined up before him, bowing in thanks. Their earnest gratitude was touching.
The last girl was thin and withered, her cheeks painted red like a monkey's bottom, but she flashed him a grin with eight bright teeth: "Thank you, Uncle."
He gave her a perfunctory smile.
After all, being called "uncle" at age twenty was a little hard to swallow.
After the distribution, the representatives took group photos with the students. His father stood behind him, one warm, dry hand on his shoulder. As many people praised the son's promise, just as many praised the father's parenting.
The memory of that day was indeed beautiful—if only he hadn't done what came next...
When he woke from the dream, Gu Xichen stared into space for a long time.
He hadn't dwelled on these memories for years, especially after the family's catastrophe. But the girl in the dream gradually overlapped with the girl in the photo, and in a flash of insight, he remembered so much more.
Before leaving, Yun Lu stressed repeatedly that he must not undergo more hypnosis—not from her or from any other psychologist. Forced memory extraction was absolutely off-limits. Which meant this was his only lead for now.
"Wait—the charity kids!"
Both donor and recipient groups had taken group photos at the event. His family might still have some records. Perhaps he could find her traces there.
However, when he discussed discharge plans with Xie Yun, he was flatly refused.
"You still need targeted therapy. There's no way I'm letting you leave right now."
"How long?"
"At least three months."
Gu Xichen: ...
Three months—by then the baby would've been born. What if the girl ran away?
Xie Yun waved his hand, decreeing it non-negotiable.
"It's settled. After three months, you can go wherever you want—sky's the limit or six feet under, your call."
"Now, Mr. Gu, get back in bed."
Chapter 51
Time passed. Six months flew by.
Lian Xia had successfully crossed into her new program and enrolled.
Before leaving home, she entrusted her two-story house and over 500 square meters of land to the township officials—even if they used it as a community warehouse or anything else, it didn't matter, as long as nobody lived in it.
For this, her aunt rolled on the ground outside the door for three days. Ximei and her cousin took turns trying to talk her out of it, but she hardened her heart and left.
Living in certain environments for too long, what's right becomes wrong, and what's wrong becomes right.
Thankfully, she'd gotten out.
Though she wasn't exactly the life of the party in her new surroundings, everything was clearly getting better.
One evening at dusk, her roommates gathered around to binge-watch a show, whispering among themselves.
"Can you guys smell something weird?"
"There's definitely a smell... so strange..."
"Yeah, it's both fragrant and gross."
Lian Xia quietly took down the dreamcatcher from above her bed and stuffed it on the top shelf of her bookcase. The whispers from across the room gradually subsided.
In class the next day, a few male classmates huddled in the front row playing a game.
It seemed to be a newly released title that had gone viral overnight—preorders were backlogged until next year, and it was only available through digital channels.
The girls didn't play, but the game's merchandise was eye-catching enough that they started shipping the in-game couples too.
Lian Xia walked into the classroom and noticed people kept glancing back at her, murmuring in low voices: "Hey, I think that NPC model looks a bit like Lian Xia, what do you think?"
"No way, not at all!"
She kept her head down and pretended she'd heard nothing.
"Did you guys hear? Xuanchen Tech's founder is coming to our school in a couple of days."
"Badass!"
"Here to peddle their unsold books again?"
"What? He's an entrepreneur, not a writer."
"Honestly, these days entrepreneurs write better fiction than actual writers..."
Behind everyone's back, she discreetly opened Weibo on her phone and stalked his profile.