Chapter 1
◎In dreams, one is unaware of being a guest◎
When Zhan Xinyue woke up, it was pitch black all around, with only a faint light flickering in the distance.
She felt herself lying on a very hard table, her head felt heavy, and the nerves on the top of her head throbbed with pain. After a while, she managed to prop her chin up and look ahead.
Having been in the dark for so long, she couldn't see anything clearly at first, only vaguely sensing that there was a screen in front of her. After a while, she realized it was a projector, currently showing a very old foreign film, with English narration flowing quietly.
What is this place?
After gazing intently for a long time, she finally made out her surroundings. She was in a classroom, the lights were off, and the projector light cast shadows of people with their backs to her, all of them looking very young.
As the new moon turned her head, the light and shadow subtly illuminated the profile of the person beside her.
A boy sat next to her, quietly watching the screen in front of him. Beneath his high, straight nose, a clear and smooth jawline formed a beautiful curve; even though he was half-hidden in the darkness, it was not difficult to see that he had an extremely stunning face.
Zhan Xinyue stared blankly at him, a strange sense of familiarity rising in her heart.
The boy seemed to sense something and looked down at her.
Their eyes met.
He had handsome features, dark eyelashes, and deep-set eyes. In the interplay of light and shadow, his eyes reflected the light from the screen, clear as if still water, instantly captivating her heart.
My heartbeat seemed to skip a beat for a brief moment.
Everyone's attention was focused on the brightly lit screen in front of them; in the dim light, only the gazes of the two people secretly met.
He remained silent, neither speaking nor looking away. The two gazed at each other in silence, as if time had stood still.
That was Shi Ziqian.
Zhan Xinyue chuckled softly and looked away. She had actually dreamt of him.
Despite not having seen him for many years, she could still recognize him. But that wasn't surprising; after all, among all the men she had known over the years, he was the only one with such outstanding looks and bone structure.
She relaxed a little and leaned back on her arms. The classroom was quiet, with only the English dialogue from the screen in front of her flowing silently in this small space.
In my dream, I was unaware that I was a guest, indulging in fleeting pleasure.
She hadn't had such a dream for many years, but for some reason, she dreamt of her student days again today. Back then, her English teacher would occasionally show movies during evening classes; although it wasn't frequent, it was enough to keep everyone entertained for a while. They say dreams reflect a person's deepest desires, and it seems that even after leaving school for so many years, that time remains quietly etched in her memory, never fading away.
Today's dream felt incredibly real. Zhan Xinyue quietly observed the familiar figures in the classroom. Everyone was watching intently, with occasional whispers among themselves. Everything was so vivid, so serene, so... memorable.
She leaned forward for a moment, then turned her head and looked down at the boy beside her again. The boy next to her sat upright, his back straight as a bamboo shoot, tall and slender, with the unique thinness of a young man. At this moment, his gaze was back on the front, his eyes slightly distant, as if their gazes had just met but were nothing more than an illusion.
Shi Ziqian was her deskmate in high school.
In high school, Shi Ziqian was aloof and, coupled with his privileged family background, few in his class dared to approach him. Although she had briefly sat next to him as his deskmate for over a semester, they weren't exactly close, and after graduation, they never crossed paths again. More than a decade after they parted ways in high school, she never expected that she could still recall Shi Ziqian's youthful appearance so vividly in her dreams.
She found it strange, but didn't have the mind to think about it.
Her head still ached, and she craved the momentary peace in this dream, hoping it would last longer, much longer.
However, things rarely go as planned.
"Bang bang bang—"
A series of loud knocks sounded, each one louder than the last. Then, with a creaking sound, a blinding white light suddenly shone, making her instinctively raise her hand to shield her eyes.
This peaceful dream has come to an end.
She covered her eyes, quietly waiting to wake up from her dream.
Not far away, a middle-aged man's voice boomed like thunder. His voice was loud and clear, full of energy.
"What are you doing now? The curtains are drawn so tightly, and the lights aren't on. Do you think your class is empty?" After a pause, the voice suddenly rose, "I told you not to watch movies during evening self-study, why are you still showing them?"
A young woman's voice followed, stammering, "I was thinking of practicing their listening skills... I was showing them English movies..."
"Stop making excuses. Is this what the exam is all about? It's supposed to be listening practice, but it's really just a way to relax! The whole high school has been studying hard, and your class is getting special treatment. Why is someone bringing their chair all the way to the front? This is a classroom, not a market! Why aren't you all on the platform looking at the teacher? Go back to your seats! And turn off the projector right now!"
The female teacher dared not argue any further: "Okay... Director Wang."
The movie sound effects abruptly stopped, and the projector screen emitted a slow, mechanical whirring sound, followed by the clatter of chairs being dragged and muttered complaints: "Has Old Fang gone mad? Why does he have to worry about this..."
The hand that had been covering the eyes of the crescent moon slowly lowered.
Before her stood a group of figures reluctantly pulling out chairs, all wearing familiar blue and white school uniforms, their figures still youthful, their faces bearing the same dejected expression. She hadn't seen many of them for years; their faces had long been blurred in her memory, but now they were clear again.
On the podium, English teacher Xu Ying was packing up her laptop. Near the classroom door, Wang Anguo stood with his arms crossed, his nearly square face contorted with anger, his brows furrowed tightly.
Because of his square face and his height and weight which are almost square, Wang Anguo, the head of the teaching department in high school, was jokingly called "Old Fang" by everyone.
She stared blankly for a while, then turned to look at her side. The boy next to her was unreadable, seemingly indifferent to what was happening in the classroom. He had lowered his eyes and was indifferently turning the pages of the book on his desk.
The two were very close, and she could see the small shadow cast on his eyelids by his long eyelashes when he lowered his eyes, as well as the faint mole on the bridge of his nose.
How could a dream be so realistic? What's going on?
Could it be that—
A sudden, sharp pain shot through her head. A flood of unbearable memories rushed into her mind.
Red, a sky full of red enveloped her. It was her blood. The endless blood in her memory blurred her vision; she could see nothing clearly, only feel pain all over her body, the warmth in her body slowly dissipating, and the urgent cries in her ears gradually fading away.
In the last part of her memory, she only remembered a pair of dark eyes anxiously watching her.
Scenes from before the car accident flashed through my mind. Had I really died?
How absurd it is that I could die for such an absurd reason. And even more absurd is that I now seem to be...
She looked down at her hands; they were slender and clean, and she wasn't wearing any rings.
She tentatively closed the textbook on the table in front of her. On the title page was her clear handwriting: Zhan Xinyue, Class 10, Grade 11.
Suddenly, my heart began to pound violently in my chest.
She...was reborn?
"Xu Shen...where is Xu Shen?!" she muttered, then suddenly stood up abruptly. The chair beneath her creaked loudly from her sudden movement.
However, the noise in the classroom had not subsided, and not many people noticed her abrupt action, but no one gave her any response.
Zhan Xinyue composed herself, leaned on the desk, and looked around the classroom.
She couldn't see that person.
Why is this happening? She sat down, lost in thought. Xu Shen was clearly in the same class as her in high school. If she really was reborn, why isn't Xu Shen here?
She pressed her temples, forcing herself to calm down, but her mind was in turmoil, and the pain in her temples intensified.
"Alright, everyone sit down. From now on, everyone should focus on self-study. I've noted your class down. I'll be coming back to check later, so don't catch anyone doing anything irrelevant again." Old Fang warned the classroom one last time before finally walking away with his hands behind his back.
Zhan Xinyue stared blankly at his back when she suddenly heard a very soft sound.
“Xu…Shen?” Shi Ziqian repeated in a low voice, as if talking to himself.
"Yes!" Zhan Xinyue heard clearly. As if grasping at a straw, she turned her head sharply to look at Shi Ziqian, "Where is Xu Shen?"
The boy in front of her, with his dark, black eyes, suddenly froze, and remained silent.
Zhan Xinyue asked again, "Where is Xu Shen?"
Shi Ziqian seemed to be thinking for a while before saying, "I've never heard of this name."
"Never heard of it? How could that be..." She stared at him, murmuring, "We're in the same class..."
Oh, right.
She suddenly remembered that it was still her second year of high school, and that person shouldn't have transferred to her class yet. All the events between her and that person were still in the background.
That person, Xu Shen, was her former lover. Her husband.
While she was lost in thought, a small piece of paper flew from her right, landed on her desk, rolled a few times, and finally stopped next to the back of her hand.
She looked at it for a few seconds, then picked up the crumpled thing and unfolded it little by little. Inside the note were a few large, neatly written characters, like those of a primary school student.
Shall we go to the mini-supermarket after class?
Her mind went blank for a while before she realized it was a note someone had passed to her. During high school, cell phones were strictly forbidden, so students would often pass notes during class.
She looked in the direction the paper ball had come from and saw Xie Wanzhi looking at her expectantly. At this age, Xie Wanzhi was thin and somewhat frail, with slightly long bangs, delicate eyebrows, and round eyes. She had the typical look of a girl next door, not particularly beautiful, but very approachable.
Seeing her look at her, Xie Wanzhi made a megaphone shape with her hand and mouthed, "Go—no—to—the—supermarket—"
Are we going to the supermarket or not?
There is a small supermarket near the school's back playground. Although it is far away, it is enough to attract these high school students, who have extremely limited entertainment options, to go back and forth between classes repeatedly during breaks.
She stared intently at Xie Wanzhi without responding. She slowly crumpled the note back into a ball and placed it under her palm with such force that she almost crushed it.
"Hey, are you going or not?" Seeing that she didn't respond, Xie Wanzhi mouthed the question again.
Xie Wanzhi was her closest friend during her school days. The two of them had walked hand in hand to and from Xiaochao during breaks countless times, and sat side by side on the bench by the playground countless times, exchanging their most secret girlish thoughts.
How ridiculous!
Under Xie Wanzhi's questioning gaze, she suddenly laughed, laughing so hard that tears almost welled up in her eyes.
Husband. Best friend.
She didn't laugh at anyone else, only at herself. How laughable that her thirty-odd years of life had turned into a joke.
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