Chapter 45

Jiang Lan frowned: "You've gone too far with just asking. Tell me what you need me to do, and I'll see if I can help."

"Yes, I can help, I can help," the aunt said eagerly. "Could you lend me two hundred thousand?"

Jiang Lan and her father exchanged a glance: "Aunt, what happened? Why do you suddenly need to borrow so much money?"

Aunt Jiang Lan suddenly became emotional: "Isn't it because of your cousin's ex-wife? After she ran away, your cousin was heartbroken and said he wanted to go out and start a business to make some money and make her regret it."

His brothers said that the restaurant business was easy to run, and there happened to be a big brand restaurant that was recruiting franchisees. They had brothers and acquaintances in the upper management, so they offered him a 20% discount on the franchise fee, helped him choose a location, and even helped him purchase restaurant equipment and utensils.

Your uncle and I saw that he was serious about doing things, so we gave him our savings.

I never expected the economic climate to be so bad. After three months of operation, business was terrible; I lost money every day I opened, so I had no choice but to close it down. I've sold the shop and still owe hundreds of thousands of yuan. Now, creditors are coming to my door every day demanding payment.

Towards the end, the aunt choked up a little.

Jiang Lan felt bad looking at her aunt's gray hair, but given her family's situation, if her cousin didn't recognize his own limitations and continued to be so ambitious but incompetent, it would be a bottomless pit that no one could help.

They were swindled out of hundreds of thousands of yuan by such a simple scam as opening a franchise store. I wonder if they realized they'd been set up afterward.

Jiang Lan ignored the frequent winks her father gave her: "Aunt, let alone hundreds of thousands, I can't even come up with ten thousand."

Auntie got anxious: "How could that be? You must have received tens of thousands of yuan in wedding gifts today, right? Your salary is so high, and your cousin even said your car is very valuable. How could you not have the money?"

Jiang Lan looked helpless: "Auntie, that car was bought secondhand. It's just for looks, it's not actually worth much."

My salary is only 20,000 yuan a month, and I have to pay both my mortgage and car loan every month.

In the past few months, I've spent all my savings on my wife's dowry, house renovations, and wedding banquets on both sides of the family. My savings and my parents' savings are all gone.

"I need to use the small amount of money I just received to pay off other bills, so I don't have any more money to lend you."

Aunt Jiang Lan's eyes darted around: "Then the dowry you gave to your wife's family should be in your wife's hands, right? Tell her to take it out and give it to your aunt to tide her over. When your cousin makes money in his business, he can return it to you."

"It's not in her hands, it's in her brother's hands. Her father said that her brother has a lot of capital for business, and he will give it back to her when he makes money in the future."

Aunt Jiang Lan looked pained upon hearing this: "How could you and your wife be so stupid? Your father-in-law just coaxed the money away with a few words. Who knows when her brother will make money? He'll keep saying he's losing money his whole life, and he'll be clinging to your wife's dowry forever!"

Jiang Lan leaned back, keeping a distance from her aunt who was so excited she was practically spitting out words, and then turned to raise an eyebrow at her father, whose expression was complicated.

"There's nothing we can do about it. It's a pity you told me too late, Auntie. The money has already been given. Sigh."

Aunt Jiang Lan slapped her thigh in regret, but then she came up with another idea: "Xiao Lan, your house is quite valuable, isn't it? You can mortgage it to the bank and get a loan to lend to me."

Just as Jiang's mother came over and stood behind her aunt, she heard her sister-in-law's explosive statement that she should mortgage her son's house to get a loan to lend to her.

Blood rushed to his head, and he pointed at his sister-in-law, cursing, "Why don't you mortgage your own house?! Have you no shame, trying to take advantage of your nephew's house! You've given birth to a spendthrift son who doesn't learn anything good. It wouldn't be surprising if your whole family had to beg for food in the future! Get out!"

The aunt was startled and backed away while trying to argue, "How could I mortgage the house? We still need to live in our house!"

Jiang's mother was so angry at these shameless remarks that she jumped up and down, grabbed a broom from the wall, and swung it at her sister-in-law.

Xiao Ming also came over and stood behind Jiang Lan's aunt to block her. The aunt, who hadn't stepped back, got a solid hit from the broom and ran away with a howl, covering her head.

Jiang's mother, panting and clutching her aching back, threw down the broom and glared fiercely at Jiang's father: "I'll settle the score with you when we get back!"

Jiang's father was driving, cautiously glancing at his wife in the passenger seat, whose expression was displeased. Luckily, his in-laws were in the back seat, otherwise his wife would have already unleashed a torrent of abuse on him.

Xiaoming and Jiang Lan didn't go home; they went directly to the Civil Affairs Bureau, where they had arranged to get their marriage certificate that afternoon.

Holding her newly issued marriage certificate, Jiang Lan couldn't help but post it on her WeChat Moments. Xiao Ming thought he should also inform his acquaintances and friends, so he also posted it on his Moments. Then, the notification sounds from their phones kept going off in the car.

When they got home, their parents actually sat down together to play mahjong.

When Jiang's mother saw the two return, she didn't even look up and said to them, "You're back. There are desserts in the fridge; take them out if you're hungry. *Thump!* Three strips..."

Seeing that they were having so much fun that they didn't have time to pay attention to him and Jiang Lan, Xiao Ming said, "I'm a little tired, I'm going upstairs to sleep."

"I'll take a nap too." Jiang Lan saw Xiao Ming go upstairs and followed him eagerly.

"This stickiness is unbearable to look at," Jiang's mother complained about her son.

"It's good that the young couple is getting along well; we're relieved," Zhou's mother said with a smile.

After Xiaoming removed his makeup and took a shower, he lay in bed replying to messages. A little while later, Jiang Lan also lay down on his bed.

Jiang Lan lay on her side, propping her head up with her hand, watching Xiao Ming. After replying to his message, Xiao Ming put down his phone and asked, "What are you looking at?"

After hesitating for a moment, Jiang Lan decided to ask the question that had been weighing on his mind for days: "Wife, do you usually dream when you sleep?"

Xiao Ming lowered his head and thought for a moment: "Everyone dreams when they sleep, right? It's just a matter of whether you remember your dreams when you wake up. I remember them when I sleep lightly, but I forget them when I sleep deeply. Why are you asking this?"

"Don't you think your dreams are... well, how should I put it, your dreams are a bit special, you know?" Jiang Lan asked with a hint of caution.

“I know. My dreams are a bit like separate spaces; my subconscious can manipulate them, and sometimes they can affect the real world.”

Jiang Lan was once again taken aback by Xiao Ming's blunt question: "You're just telling me this, it's okay? Aren't you afraid I'll use it for something?"

"It's okay. This uniqueness isn't something I possess alone. Since it has been able to exist for so long, there must be a reason for its existence."

My grandma told me not to tell anyone about my dream, because it's bad for them and bad for myself. Do you know what that means?

"Will it arouse the covetousness of others, causing them to become greedy and harm you?"

"No, being bad to others means that if anyone knows about my uniqueness and has any wicked thoughts, that person will die or be injured. But being bad to me means that I will take someone's life without my knowledge."

Jiang Lan suddenly realized why the Dream Cube had always existed, yet remained shrouded in mystery before the world—it was because the cube would actively hide and protect the dream maker.

It seems the dream weaver may not even know that the three mercenaries died.

"This defense mechanism is passive; can you manipulate it to launch an active attack?"

"If you harbor ill intentions towards me, that's fine."

It took Jiang Lan a while to process all this information before she realized she'd missed something: "Your grandmother knows about your grandfather's special treatment, and she also knows about your special treatment?"

"Everyone knows that she always protected my grandfather, and later she taught me and protected me as well."

Dream Makers and Guardians?! Jiang Lan perked up immediately: "Then does that mean I should take over your grandma's job?"

"Well, if we don't get divorced in the future, then you will be the successor."

Jiang Lan rushed over and covered Xiao Ming's mouth: "Pah, pah, pah! Children say the darndest things! We're going to grow old together, why would we get a divorce!"

(end)