Chapter 13

◎Overly Realistic Dreams◎

After taking a shower, Shi Ziqian walked out of the bathroom wearing only trousers. His hair was damp and still dripping slightly, so he casually dried it with a towel.

Very light footsteps came from the doorway, lingering repeatedly. After a while, the person suddenly approached, knocked on the door with very little force, and stopped as soon as they touched it.

Shi Ziqian glanced in that direction, still drying his hair.

After a moment of silence, the person outside the door suddenly seemed to have made up their mind again and started banging on the door.

Shi Ziqian slowly rummaged through the closet, pulled out a short-sleeved shirt, put it on, and then opened the door after a long while.

At the doorway, Shi Qiyue stood with a frown on her face. She had just taken a shower and was wearing an adorable Pikachu onesie; if it weren't for her icy expression, she would have looked like a little squirrel.

"Why did it take so long to open the door?" Shi Qiyue asked.

Shi Ziqian asked calmly, "What is it?"

He half-blocked the doorway, his hand resting on the doorknob, not in a welcoming gesture.

Shi Qiyue's short hair was half-tied up. She had secretly dyed her hair sometime during the day. Normally, it wasn't noticeable when her hair was down, but now that it was half-tied up, the bright orange color was particularly eye-catching.

Even though it was she who knocked on the door, when Shi Ziqian asked her about it, Shi Qiyue hesitated and didn't say anything for a long time.

Shi Ziqian's gaze moved from her hair to her face. After a few seconds, not hearing anything further, he simply prepared to close the door again.

Shi Qiyue panicked and quickly braced herself against the door, tilting her head back, "Can you take me out tomorrow?"

"Why?"

"I'm going out with my friends tomorrow, but Dad won't let me go... Could you go and tell him that you're the one taking me out?"

Shi Ziqian listened quietly to her finish speaking, then replied calmly, "No."

Shi Qiyue choked for a moment, and after a long pause, asked, "Why not?"

Shi Ziqian's fingers, which were resting on the doorknob, twitched slightly, and his tone softened: "I have an appointment tomorrow."

Shi Qiyue scoffed as if she had heard something funny: "Your excuse is terrible. Don't tell me you have friends who want to go out with you."

Shi Ziqian wasn't angry. He smiled slightly and calmly said, "In short, it won't work."

"I won't bother you! Once you take me out of the house, I don't want you to bother me anymore!"

"Can't."

Shi Qiyue stubbornly pushed the door open, glaring at him. Seeing that his expression remained unyielding, her eyes gradually reddened: "You're all a bunch of lunatics! You clearly don't want to stay at home either, so why won't you let me go out?"

Shi Ziqian: "It doesn't seem like I'm the one preventing you from going out."

Shi Qiyue rubbed her eyes and kicked the door hard: "You won't let me out, huh? Fine, I'll call my brother tonight and have him come pick me up."

Shi Ziqian nodded: "Please go ahead."

"I hate you all!" Shi Qiyue kicked the door hard again, turned around and left, while Pikachu's ear slapped against the wall with a loud crack.

Shi Ziqian glanced at her retreating figure as she ran upstairs and closed the door.

Back in her room, Shi Qiyue collapsed onto the bed, tears streaming down her face.

She held her phone, the screen hovering over the "Mom" section for a long time without moving. Finally, she switched to the contact named "Shi Qile," typed a few words, deleted them, and repeated this several times before finally sending a message:

What are you doing?

It took them a long time to reply, and they only sent two words: "Internet cafe."

Through her tear-blurred eyes, Shi Qiyue edited and rewrote the message again, the typing progress bar showing for a long time, before finally sending another message:

Do you remember what day tomorrow is?

This time they replied quickly, but it was still only two words.

Don't bother me.

...

She threw her phone on the bed, buried her face in the pillow, and started sobbing again.

The strand of highlighted hair was stuck to her face with tears, and the original bright orange color was now dulled by the wetness.

After seeing Shi Qiyue off, Shi Ziqian sat on the bed, drying his hair, staring blankly at the wall for a while. After a while, he glanced at his phone, tossed it aside, got up, pushed open the balcony door, and went outside.

The summer night was quiet and cool, with a gentle breeze rustling the small trees in the yard. Unidentified flowers were in full bloom, their delicate fragrance filling the entire balcony.

He gripped the railing, his body gradually relaxing, his gaze drifting aimlessly into the distance.

Downstairs in the garden, Shi Yao and Shi Qiao were playing. Shi Yao had recently gotten a new toy excavator, and he was driving it around the garden, digging everywhere. In no time, he had destroyed a large patch of flowers. Shi Qiao was following behind, picking up the flower branches that he had dug up, and wobbling as he carried a large handful of them.

Zhu Qing used to cherish these flowers and tend to them herself, but after having these twins, she stopped caring so much and left everything to the gardener. Now, she came out waving a round fan, not caring at all about the mess on the ground. After watching them play for a while, she called out, "Babies, it's time to bring the car back. It's almost bedtime."

Shi Yao pouted: "I don't want to. I don't want all these flowers dug up. They're not pretty, and I don't like them."

Zhu Qing coaxed him gently, "That would be exhausting, my darling. It's already dark. Let's continue digging tomorrow."

"No way! I want it today!" Shi Yao said firmly.

Shi Qiao stood behind him, holding a large bouquet of flowers and smiling at her: "Mom, look, I have so many flowers! I want to pick lots and lots more for you!"

Zhu Qing smiled and said, "Thank you, Qiao Qiao. You're so good to your mother, unlike Yao Yao, that naughty boy who's always causing trouble."

Shi Yuesheng also came out at some point and stood quietly beside her, watching the children play.

Zhu Qing looked at him and complained with a smile, "Where do these two little ones get so much energy in a day? Aren't they afraid of mosquitoes?"

Shi Yuesheng said, "Let them play. This age is the time to nurture their natural instincts."

"Now you know your nature?" Zhu Qing said reproachfully, "Didn't you just say I spoiled the child?"

Shi Yuesheng said something in a low voice, and Zhu Qing laughed non-stop, tilting her head slightly and leaning on his shoulder.

The family of four is enjoying a happy time together; it's a heartwarming scene.

From the room upstairs, a discordant, faint sobbing sound drifted out.

Amidst the laughter and sobs, Shi Ziqian stood quietly, a mocking smirk playing on his lips. He instinctively reached into his trouser pocket, as if to retrieve something, but then paused, as if remembering something. After a moment, he slowly withdrew his hand.

He turned around and slammed the balcony door shut.

The world finally fell silent for a brief moment, but as I continued drying my hair, the faint crying from upstairs seeped in again like endless dripping water, indistinct and persistent.

Shi Ziqian frowned, then suddenly pulled open the drawer in front of his desk, revealing a drawer full of neatly arranged cartoon packaging bags.

They're all popping candy.

He reached for a packet, tore it open, and the tiny sugar granules fell into his mouth, crackling and popping on his tongue before dissolving into a spreading sweetness. The inexplicable irritation in his heart finally subsided.

Summer weather is always unpredictable; one day the sky may be clear and blue, but at night a sudden downpour can begin. A fierce storm raged through the night, with gale-force winds whipping raindrops against the windows. Downstairs, broken tree branches crashed to the ground with a loud thud, startling sleeping people awake.

That night, the new moon shone for a long time before I finally drifted off to sleep, half-asleep.

She had a dream.

The dream was incredibly real. In it, she was walking along a long corridor covered with white tiles. There were many benches along the walls, and many people with indistinct faces were sitting there.

The corridor stretched endlessly, and she was so disoriented that she had no idea where she was. She could only keep walking forward.

Suddenly, a tall man appeared in front of them. He leaned against the wall, his head slightly tilted back, seemingly lost in thought.

Unlike the other people in the corridor, this time she could clearly see the man's face.

Curious, she approached. The man wore gold-rimmed glasses, had a high-bridged nose, a refined jawline, and an air of aloof elegance. He wore a well-tailored black overcoat of expensive fabric. However, for some unknown reason, large, dark stains appeared on his coat, which was now wrinkled. He was as disheveled as his clothes, his eyes vacant, as if drained of all life. He slowly slid down the wall and squatted on the ground.

Zhan Xinyue quickly recognized him; it was Shi Ziqian as an adult. He hadn't changed much since high school, except that his features had become much more defined, and he had lost his boyish thinness, becoming tall and aloof.

In my memory, when had Shi Ziqian ever lost his composure like this?

She looked at him, puzzled, then turned her gaze to the other side.

There were two elderly people in front of her. One was lying on the ground, bent over with her head touching the ground, while the other was standing beside her, supporting her. It was unclear what they were doing.

My gaze slid to the wall behind them, where a brightly colored light sign hung with three large characters.

"Rescue efforts are underway."

She suddenly realized something, looked at the old man again, and her pupils dilated sharply.

The two old men were actually Pang Yun and Zhan Wei.

They had always been in good health and didn't look like they were in their sixties at all, but now they suddenly looked several years older, so much so that she didn't recognize them at first glance.

Pang Yun lifted her body from the ground, knelt upright, and then bowed again, her head hitting the ground. She was actually kowtowing repeatedly towards the tightly closed door in front of her.

She prostrated herself devoutly, her head hitting the ground with a heavy thud.

Beside her, Zhan Wei, who was always cheerful, was now in tears. This was the first time Zhan Xinyue had ever seen her father cry. His gray hair made him look like he was on his deathbed, and his tall figure, which she remembered, was now hunched over. He tried to help Pang Yun up, but Pang Yun stubbornly pushed his hand away and then resolutely kowtowed her head to the ground again and again.

Like Zhan Wei, she looked much older than her age, with bloodstains seeping from her forehead. Zhan Wei looked at her with heartache, tears streaming down his face, and finally knelt down, placing his hands on her body to ease the pain of her fall.

"Dad...Mom!"

A tear slid down her cheek, and Zhan Xinyue understood everything. She staggered toward them, trying to help Pang Yun up, but her hand passed right through her.

Zhan Xinyue looked helplessly at her hands, while Pang Yun's murmurs reached her ears.

"God, please bless Yueyue."

"Bodhisattva, Yueyue will be alright, right? She's still so young... Bodhisattva, I beg you, I'm willing to exchange my lifespan for her..."

Pang Yun's eyes were red, but she stubbornly refused to shed a single tear. She simply murmured something, mechanically repeating the same actions over and over again. It's unknown how long she kowtowed like this; her aged body swayed precariously, yet she persisted in her prayers.

Zhan Xinyue knelt beside her, sobbing uncontrollably. She kept trying to pull them up, shouting, "Mom and Dad, I'm here!" She kept shouting until her voice was hoarse, and finally collapsed to the ground in despair. Then she prostrated herself before Pang Yun, kowtowing repeatedly like her, crying and repeating, "Mom and Dad, I'm sorry, it's all my fault..."

Both her parents were atheists, but on this day, for their only daughter, Pang Yun prayed to all the gods and Buddhas of the East and West, hoping that her monthly period would be safe.

The lights in the emergency room stayed on for a full six hours, and Pang Yun knelt outside the emergency room door for six hours as well.

Unfortunately, it seems no one could hear her prayers, and God did not favor her beloved daughter...