The guidance of dreams and the vows of friendship
Exhausted, Lin Wanxing clutched Chen Yu's notebook and Jiang Chen's letter in her study. Sometime later, she slumped onto her desk and drifted into a deep sleep. The extreme emotional drain caused her to fall into a bizarre and fantastical dream.
In her dream, she stood alone in an endless darkness, the ground beneath her feet cold and hard. Nothing surrounded her except the echo of her heavy breathing. A profound loneliness and fear, as if abandoned by the entire world, gripped her tightly.
Evening Star.
A gentle and familiar voice, like moonlight piercing through thick fog, softly rang out.
She turned around abruptly and saw Shen Yu standing not far away. He was wearing the light gray sweater they wore on their last trip to Qinan Mountain together. His face was clear, and his eyes were still as gentle and tolerant as she remembered, with a faint smile. He was surrounded by a soft halo that dispelled some of the darkness.
“Shen Yu…” she choked, wanting to run over, but her steps felt as heavy as lead. “I’m sorry… I…”
Shen Yu smiled and shook his head at her, stopping her from finishing her sentence. There was no blame in his eyes, only a knowing and serene understanding.
"Don't apologize, Wanxing." His voice seemed to resonate directly in her heart. "Seeing you stuck in the same place makes me the saddest."
He raised his hand, not pointing to anything specific, but simply pointing towards the deeper, more distant darkness, a gentle gesture that carried an undeniable guiding force.
“Look, the road ahead is long, and the starlight… isn’t just mine.” His voice grew increasingly ethereal, and his figure began to appear somewhat transparent, but his smile grew warmer and more encouraging. “Don’t be afraid, keep moving forward. Go find… your new star. It’s there… where you’re meant to be.”
His words were like a warm current, washing away the frozen river of her heart. There were no constraints, no shackles, only the purest and most selfless blessings.
"Live well for me, and for yourself. Be happy."
As the last few words fell, his figure, like shattered specks of light, slowly dissipated into the darkness, leaving no trace of gloom, only a clear, blessed tranquility.
"Sinking!"
Lin Wanxing exclaimed in surprise and suddenly woke up from her desk.
Outside the window, dawn was breaking, and the morning light filtered through the gaps in the curtains, casting hazy beams of light into the dusty air. Tears still clung to her face, but her heart no longer ached with the suffocating pain she had felt before falling asleep. Instead, it was filled with a strange, bittersweet peace and a surge of new life. The words she had uttered in her dream were clearly imprinted in her mind—not constraint, but release; not blame, but blessing.
The dream was so real; Shen Yu's words and gaze were clearly imprinted in her mind. It wasn't a hallucination; it was her deepest understanding of Shen Yu's wishes, and her own cry for liberation.
She looked down at the dark blue notebook on the table and Jiang Chen's letter filled with pain and struggle.
Shen Yu hopes she will be happy and move forward.
An unprecedented courage and determination, like a new sprout breaking through the soil, pushed aside the huge stone weighing on my heart.
She couldn't give up like this. She couldn't let Jiang Chen disappear into the crowd with such despair. She had to find him, even if he didn't want to come back to her, at least... at least she had to say sorry to him in person, make sure he was safe and sound, and let him know that he wasn't some "replacement" or "outsider," that he was the one and only Jiang Chen.
Once the idea became clear, it became incredibly firm.
She immediately picked up her phone and dialed Su Xiao's number without hesitation.
"Wanxing? So early, what's wrong?" Su Xiao's voice was hoarse from just waking up, but it was full of concern.
"Xiaoxiao," Lin Wanxing's voice trembled slightly with excitement, but it was exceptionally clear, "I'm going to find Jiang Chen!"
Su Xiao on the other end of the phone was clearly taken aback for a moment, but then came a firm and unambiguous reply: "Okay, wait for me! I'll be right there!"
Less than half an hour later, Su Xiao rushed to Lin Wanxing's apartment. She still had her signature short, neat hair, dressed casually for easy movement, and her sharp eyes radiated energy. As soon as she entered, she hugged Lin Wanxing tightly: "Don't be afraid, I'm here. What happened? Why did you suddenly want to go find him? Where did he go?"
Lin Wanxing briefly explained the letter Jiang Chen left behind and the reasons why she decided to find him.
"That idiot!" Su Xiao was both angry and heartbroken after hearing this. "Why are you leaving! Can't you talk things out face to face? Find him! We have to find him! We'll start by digging every inch of this city!"
Just as the two were about to start planning and searching for a solution, Lin Wanxing's phone rang. It was a local number that looked somewhat familiar. She answered it with some confusion.
"Hello, Teacher Lin. This is Lu Ziang." A calm male voice came from the other end of the phone. "I'm sorry to bother you. I've tried to contact Jiang Chen several times recently, but his phone has been switched off. This is unusual for him. I'd like to ask if you've seen him recently, or if you know if he's encountered any special circumstances?"
Lin Wanxing's heart sank. Even Lu Ziang couldn't be contacted... She took a deep breath and tried to keep her voice steady: "Dr. Lu, Jiang Chen... he's left. I'm trying to find him."
There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone, then Lu Ziang's voice came through again, his tone still steady, but his pace slightly faster: "Left? What exactly happened? Where are you now? If it's convenient, I can come over to find out more details and perhaps offer some assistance."
Lin Wanxing looked at Su Xiao, who frowned but ultimately nodded. More people meant more strength, especially since Lu Ziang and Jiang Chen were friends.
Lin Wanxing told Lu Ziang the apartment address.
A dozen minutes later, Lu Ziang arrived. He was dressed in casual clothes, his expression as calm as ever, but a hint of seriousness could be seen between his brows.
When he entered, he saw Su Xiao with her short hair and was slightly shocked, but his expression quickly returned to normal. He nodded slightly to Su Xiao, who coldly turned her head to the side. He didn't care and turned his gaze directly to Lin Wanxing.
Lin Wanxing told him the situation in more detail, including why Jiang Chen appeared by her side and why he left without saying goodbye, as well as the letter she found, which expressed her determination to find him no matter what.
“I understand.” After listening, Lu Zi’ang pondered for a moment, “The most urgent task is to determine his whereabouts and safety. I will go with you to find him.”
For the next week, the three of them searched almost every possible place in the city where Jiang Chen might be staying. They went to the places he had previously rented, asking potential landlords and neighbors; they went to the bookstores, libraries, and cafes he had mentioned; they contacted the organizers of the programming competitions he had participated in; they even went to job markets and some tech companies he might apply to... all to no avail. Jiang Chen was like a drop of water merging into the ocean, leaving no useful clues.
A sense of despair began to spread. Lin Wanxing's bruises under her eyes grew darker, Su Xiao was exhausted, and even Lu Ziang's calm exterior revealed a hint of fatigue.
Finally, clinging to a sliver of hope, they went to the Academic Affairs Office of Nanjing University, hoping to find Jiang Chen's academic records or family information. The result of the academic affairs office's search became the final straw that broke Lin Wanxing's back—
"I'm sorry, Professor Lin, we've searched the entire system, but we haven't found a student named Jiang Chen among all the current students and graduates of all colleges in recent years."
"No...this person?" Lin Wanxing murmured, her face turning deathly pale. She swayed and was quickly supported by Su Xiao beside her.
"Wanxing, don't be like this..." Su Xiao felt heartbroken seeing her so distraught. "We'll think of another way, there must be another way..."
Her voice was urgent, yet it also betrayed a sense of helplessness in the face of reality. In this vast sea of people, without even a real name or identity to be confirmed, searching was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Lu Ziang stood to the side, a grave expression appearing beneath his calm mask. He was accustomed to dealing with logical, data-driven problems, but this situation clearly exceeded his usual problem-solving abilities. He watched Lin Wanxing, almost overwhelmed by despair, his brow furrowed as he quickly considered other possibilities, but every path seemed to lead to a dead end.
Despair, like a thick, icy tide, overwhelmed Lin Wanxing's senses, almost suffocating her. Leaning against Su Xiao, her gaze swept blankly over the familiar school buildings, the laughing students, and the golden ginkgo trees; everything became blurry and unreal.
All her strength, along with her last glimmer of hope, seemed to have been completely drained by the words "No such person found."
Just as her vision blurred and she was about to collapse—
"...Don't be afraid, keep moving forward." His words, like a final blessing, are clearly imprinted in my mind. "Go find...your new star. It's there...where you're meant to be..."
A clear and warm voice seemed to pierce through the barrier of time and space, suddenly resounding in her heart, which was almost frozen by despair.
It was a dream! It was the words Shen Yu had spoken to her in his dream that night!
The dream that she had temporarily suppressed and almost forgotten during her days of running around resurfaced in her mind with undeniable power and clarity, like a rebound after being squeezed to the limit, amidst her extreme helplessness and confusion.
Shen Yu's gentle and relieved gaze, his gesture pointing to the unknown darkness in the distance, and that crucial, somewhat vague guidance at the time, now resounding—"He is...where you should go..."
The place to go...
A place name, accompanied by this clear guidance, like a bolt of lightning suddenly flashing across the darkness, carried a fateful power, instantly cleaving through her chaotic and desperate thoughts—
Qinnan Mountain!
Yes, Qi Nan Mountain! That's where Jiang Chen once decided to end everything, and also where he was saved by Shen Yu's notes and gained a new beginning—the source of their intertwined destinies! Shen Yu knew all this, so in his dream, he personally pointed out this direction for her!
An indescribable surge of hope, a mixture of shock, realization, and renewed strength, suddenly erupted, dispelling some of the bone-chilling cold. She didn't know why this guidance had appeared so suddenly, but she was absolutely certain that this was the answer!
She suddenly straightened up, her previously unfocused eyes instantly focusing, shining brightly. She gripped Su Xiao's arm tightly, her voice trembling violently with excitement, yet unusually firm: "Qinan Mountain! It's Qinan Mountain! I remember... Shen Yu... Shen Yu told me in my dream... He's where I'm meant to be... It's Qinan Mountain! He must be there!" Her words were incoherent, but the light in her eyes and that undeniable certainty were strongly conveyed.
Su Xiao was taken aback by Lin Wanxing's sudden change and this mysterious "dream guidance," but seeing the almost obsessive, rekindled light in Lin Wanxing's eyes, she didn't hesitate and immediately chose to believe. "Qinan Mountain? Okay! Whether it's a dream or what, as long as there's a glimmer of hope, we'll go! Let's go now!"
Lu Zi'ang, who had been silent all along, instinctively felt a hint of doubt when he heard about "the guidance of dreams." However, when he saw Lin Wanxing's incredibly strong conviction as she struggled out of the abyss of despair, and faced with the reality that there were indeed no other clues at the moment, his efficient thinking quickly made a judgment.
“The Qinan Mountain area is vast, and the exact location remains unknown, making the search extremely difficult.” His voice remained calm, but his pace quickened, conveying a sense of decisiveness. “My car is an off-road vehicle, better suited for mountain roads, and its range and storage space are more capable of handling unpredictable situations. I’ll go with you. This is currently the most efficient solution.”
His proposal was direct and pragmatic, instantly resolving the issues of transportation and collaboration. In times like these, more resources mean more security.
Su Xiao glanced at Lu Ziang but didn't object. Faced with finding Jiang Chen, their overriding goal, personal embarrassment and resentment had to be temporarily set aside. She nodded and said decisively, "Okay! Let's not delay, let's set off immediately!"
A glimmer of hope, almost divinely ordained, rekindled the path ahead. Though still blurry and filled with the unknown, it was enough for Lin Wanxing. She gazed at the faint outline of the mountains on the southern horizon and clenched her fists tightly.
Shen Yu, thank you. Jiang Chen, wait for me.
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