In this world's last days
For a long while, Jiang Yunying remained silent, just looking up and down at the familiar face.
Seeing this, Song Tiaotiao asked in confusion, "Miss, do you have anything to say to me?"
Hearing this, Jiang Yunying's eyes flickered frequently, and her gaze followed Song Tiaotiao closely, as if she was waiting eagerly. "Miss Song, it may be offensive to say this, but this matter is extremely important to me, so I have to ask. I want to ask you, is there anyone in your family with the surname Jiang? The one with the Yang at the end, the Jiang with the female character."
Song Tiaotiao's eyes trembled as she looked at Jiang Yunying, whose expression was stern. Her heart suddenly beat like a drum. "Why do you say that, young lady? We have only just met for the first time today. If you make such an inference, is it because of my appearance?"
Jiang Yunying was eager to get an answer, nodding her head rapidly and responding anxiously, "That's right, the girl looks very much like an old friend of mine, and her last name is Jiang."
Hearing this, Song Tiaotiao suppressed her pounding heart and said in a trembling voice, "Miss, I do have a relative with the surname Jiang. But I haven't seen that relative for many years."
Jiang Yunying's eyes flickered as she stared at Song Tiaotiao in front of her. With a persistent heart, she continued to ask, "Excuse me, young lady, does her name contain the character 'Liu'?"
In a moment, Song Tiaotiao's chaotic heartbeat struck her eardrums like thunder from the sky.
But after a while, the heartbeat gradually returned to a humming sound, like millions of calls from longing, and also her anxious desire to get an answer.
Song Tiaotiao put her hands on Jiang Yunying's shoulders and said urgently, "Yes, her name is Jiang Liu. She has a small red mole under the left corner of her eye. When she smiles, the tail of her eye turns up, and there is a small dimple on her right cheek..."
Hearing this, Jiang Yunying's eyes became slightly hot and she nodded repeatedly.
Seeing this, Song Tiaotiao bit her lower lip and smiled slightly.
Now, she was clearly smiling with joy, but Song Tiaotiao's tearful eyes almost shed two lines of tears because of this smile.
In an emotionally unstable state, in order to avoid speaking incoherently, Song Tiaotiao took a deep breath and continued to ask what was on her mind, "Miss, when and where was the last time you met her?"
When Jiang Yunying saw her like this, a look of pity flashed in her eyes. After a moment, she carefully reached out her fingertips to Song Tiaotiao's shoulders and gently embraced Song Tiaotiao in her arms.
Jiang Yunying lowered her gaze to Song Tiaotiao's bright eyes, gently stroked her back, and said slowly, "The last time I met Master was in Moxi Village a year and a half ago."
A year and a half ago?
Thinking of this, Song Tiaotiao's pupils trembled slightly.
Now, a year and a half ago, it was the day when my mother passed away in the modern world, and she also disappeared in this book world...
Thinking of this, Song Tiaotiao's moist almond eyes trembled slightly.
As a tear rolled down from the corner of her eye, the sour red blush in her eyes spread to the corners of her eyes and eyebrows.
The words that came out of her mouth were also stained with sobs. "That girl, when she left, did she say anything to you? I beg you to tell me everything you remember."
Jiang Yunying lowered her eyes and looked down, seeing that Song Tiaotiao's eyes were red, and her heart felt extremely sad.
She gently stroked Song Tiaotiao's cheek with her slender fingers, smoothed her tear-stained hair, and said softly, "That day, Master told me her name for the first time. She said her name was Jiang Liu. She had never told me her real name before. She came to my hometown and hid her identity to avoid someone called the System. This separation is also for that reason. After that, she needs to leave this place and go to a very far place. It may take a long time for us to meet again in the future. She told me not to stay in my hometown for her and stay complacent, but to travel more and find a world where I can shine."
Hearing the familiar and sincere words, Song Tiaotiao felt a warm feeling in her heart, but at the same time, she felt bitter because she might not be able to hear them again.
The scene brought back memories for Song Tiaotiao, who couldn't help but recall the time when her freshman year was about to start and she was needed to go to the neighboring city to study.
That day, Jiang Liu, who was bedridden, also spoke to her gently, "Our daughter, Tiao Tiao, is both talented and hardworking. Now, you finally have the opportunity to fulfill your wish and explore the world you long for. Mom is very happy for you and looks forward to it."
Song Tiaotiao hesitated for a moment before speaking out what was in her mind.
After hearing this, Jiang Liu chuckled and shook her head: "Tiaotiao, Mom will be fine. And if you give up the goal you have been pursuing for so long, Mom will be reluctant to let you go..."
But when she really left Jiang Liu, Jiang Liu did not get better as she said, but became more sleepy than before.
Perhaps, people will always regret the path they did not choose.
Every time late at night, Song Tiaotiao would comfort herself.
If she had dropped out of school and stayed with Jiang Liu, would Jiang Liu's condition have worsened so seriously?
But when Jiang Liu woke up from her sleep, he asked her in a gentle voice how she was doing at school recently.
But Song Tiaotiao always replied with a smile, everything is fine.
She was like a wound that would never heal, and only when Jiang Liu was awake would she be coated with pain-relieving ointment.
In the days that followed, the two cities were connected by a high-speed rail, and Song Tiaotiao traveled back and forth between the two.
But as time went on, Jiang Liu's condition became more serious, and the time she was awake each day became shorter and shorter.
Time, as if stolen from the clock in the ward, gradually decreases cautiously, mostly groping in the dark night without being known.
In the end, that moment of clarity seemed more like a fleeting dream.
Song Tiaotiao lived in fear like this until Jiang Liu woke up for the last time.
That night, Jiang Liu was unusually awake for a long time, so long that Song Tiaotiao thought it was a sign of Jiang Liu's recovery.
She saw that Jiang Liu no longer looked sleepy and lazy as before, and his words about planning for her future were clear and organized, as if he had thought about it for a long time.
Seeing this, a look of hope gradually emerged in Song Tiaotiao's tired eyes.
She stared at Jiang Liu without blinking, lifted herself up from the bed and walked backwards, intending to press the nursing bell to call for a doctor.
Unexpectedly, the pale-faced Jiang Liu shook his head and called her softly, "Tiaotiao, tonight is my last day in this world."
Hearing this, the smile in Song Tiaotiao's eyes disappeared in an instant, like the falling stars, leaving only the dark night sky, tragically showing the emptiness and confusion that could be seen at a glance.
Looking at Jiang Liu's eyes full of reluctance, tears welled up in Song Tiaotiao's eyes.
She stood there at a loss for a moment, but then she rushed back to the bed, took Jiang Liu's hand as if to keep him, and held it with her palms together.
Jiang Liu blinked his tired eyes and chuckled softly, "Tiaotiao, we talked a lot tonight, but I forgot to ask, have we not seen each other for a long time again?"
Hearing this, Song Tiaotiao's eyes welled up with tears, but she didn't want Jiang Liu to see it. She tilted her head back slightly and hid the tears in her eyes: "Mom, you haven't woken up for a month. I'm on summer vacation now..."
Jiang Liu's eyelashes trembled slightly as she stroked the top of Song Tiaotiao's hair and smoothed it out for her: "It turns out that so much time has passed again. My dreams are always so long, keeping you waiting..."
In order not to reveal her crying voice, Song Tiaotiao chose to respond silently.
Hearing her daughter's heavy nasal tone, Jiang Liu's gentle eyes flushed slightly. But looking at the faintly bright sky outside the window, she continued with difficulty: "Tiao Tiao, do you know? After a long time, I was so deep in my dreams that I couldn't even tell which world I was born into first. In my dreams, the people and things I experienced were real, and I, too, lived a real life there. Tiao Tiao, you often read novels, and I have read many of them with you. There is a category called time travel, which I remember you particularly like. Speaking of which, it may be difficult for you to accept. In my dreams, it is like traveling through time and space like in novels. Every time I fall into a dream, I appear in the same world and continue to experience the unfinished things before."
Hearing this, Song Tiaotiao saw that Jiang Liu seemed to be lost in reminiscence. She raised her tearful eyes and asked softly, "But I still don't understand. Why did Mom say that tonight is your last time in this world?"
Jiang Liu lowered his eyes to look into Song Tiaotiao's, forcing a smile. "Tiaotiao, if I were to tell you this on a normal day, you might laugh, but it's just so helpless of me... In my dream, I obtained a system. However, I didn't complete the task it assigned me. Therefore, like every host it has bound to before, I will be wiped out from the real world."
Hearing this, Song Tiaotiao frowned and shook her head repeatedly. She eagerly gazed into Jiang Liu's eyes, eager to verify the truth, and spoke incoherently, "No, this is ridiculous. How could it be? Dreams are always the opposite of reality. Mom, don't take it seriously. I'll call a doctor right away, okay? Mom, this has to be fake, it has to be..."
Seeing this, Jiang Liu's eyes were filled with reluctance. She gently put her arm around Song Tiao Tiao's shoulders and half-huggled her in her arms: "Tiao Tiao...we will meet again. Mom will be waiting for you in that world..."
The sadness and reluctance in those words sounded to Song Tiaotiao as if it was a formal farewell to make up for the countless times he had left without saying goodbye before.
Thinking of this, Song Tiaotiao shook her head nervously, tears welling up uncontrollably in her eyes.
Jiang Liu frowned slightly, gently wiped the tear marks at the corners of Song Tiaotiao's eyes, and wanted to say some more comforting words.
But when she caught a glimpse of the rising light outside the window, she had to make another choice and speak faster.
But the overwhelming exhaustion had slowed her speech to a weak cadence: "Tiaotiao, don't be sad... You must take good care of yourself and become the adult you like. Mommy hopes you will always be happy..."
After she finished speaking, Jiang Liu's pale hands no longer allowed her to linger and quietly slipped from Song Tiaotiao's shoulders.
All the strength in his body disappeared silently like peeling off silk threads from a cocoon, and the light in his eyes dimmed between his breaths.
Looking at the scene that changed drastically in an instant, Song Tiaotiao felt a deep chill on her back.
She shook her head in disbelief, her eyes fixed on Jiang Liu who had fallen asleep again.
She placed Jiang Liu's weak body back on the bed, and finally she was unwilling to be in such helplessness any longer, so she reached out to the nursing bell with a trembling hand.
But at the same time, the electrocardiogram curve beside the bed, which symbolized the lifeline, returned to a deadly flat state.
Song Tiaotiao's eyelashes trembled and she stood there in a daze, with a buzzing sound in her ears that she would never forget.
"Miss Song? Miss Song..."
"Tiaotiao...? What's wrong with you?"
The continuous calls woke Song Tiaotiao up from her dream and brought her back to her senses.
She blinked her sore almond-shaped eyes, staring blankly at the two people in front of her. After a while, when her thoughts had calmed down, her eyes flickered: "I'm fine, I just recalled some unforgettable things, and I couldn't help but be a little absent-minded."
Gu Chengjue looked at Song Tiaotiao's red almond eyes, with worry in his eyes.
He wanted to ask something else, but when he saw Song Tiaotiao smiling at him, he knew what she wanted.
He thought for a moment, and walked closer to Song Tiaotiao in his heart, quietly staying by her side.
Seeing that Song Tiaotiao's eyelashes were still stained with tears, Jiang Yunying lowered her head and whispered softly, "I'm sorry, Miss Song, it seems that my words have caused you sadness..."
When Jiang Yunying recalled the scene where tears started falling from Song Tiaotiao's eyes as if they were free right after he finished speaking, he felt an unbearable burning sense of self-blame in his heart.
Hearing this, Song Tiaotiao shook her head gently: "How could that be? Miss Jiang said so many words that are so precious to me. I don't know how I should thank you enough."
Seeing this, Jiang Yunying's eyes flickered. After thinking for a moment, he asked tentatively, "Then Miss Song, could you allow me to stay by your side often so that we can meet?"
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