The sun had been hiding behind the clouds for several days, but it finally came out today.
A golden moon illuminated the azure sky, as if it were welcoming something.
A flock of pigeons flew past the window, making a series of low, rhythmic cooing sounds in the air.
The sunlight was blocked by shadows, then released again, becoming even more dazzling. Lu Shizhen frowned, seemingly quite dissatisfied with this intermittent light and shadow.
The smell of disinfectant was strong yet calming, and it settled into Lu Shizhen's nostrils as usual.
She paused for a moment, then slowly opened her eyes, letting the sunlight fall into them.
Before Lu Shizhen could even see what was happening in front of her, a familiar and joyful voice rang in her ears: "Shizhen, you're finally awake!"
The young nurse, with her hair neatly styled, gazed at Lu Shizhen as she opened her eyes with a smile.
Lu Shizhen was momentarily stunned, but her mouth reacted faster than her blank mind.
She parted her dry lips and asked, "Was I unconscious for a long time again this time?"
"Yes," the nurse nodded. "You were unconscious for five days after you came off the operating table. I was terrified."
Although she's called a junior nurse, she's actually been working at the hospital for quite some years and is very familiar with Lu Shizhen, a regular at the hospital.
There was no sense of distance between patient and doctor. Her voice was cheerful, and she clasped her hands together and shook them: "Thank goodness, thank goodness, you're awake now, so everything's alright. I'll go call the doctor to check you again, just wait a moment."
“Okay.” Lu Shizhen nodded, watching the nurse open the door and leave.
However, compared to the joy she felt when she learned she had escaped death in the past, Lu Shizhen's eyes were filled with more confusion this time.
Looking at the single hospital room that had almost become her home, at the computer and graphics tablet in the small living room, at all these familiar scenes, she felt a strange sense of alienation, as if she were in another world.
Lu Shizhen had a feeling that she had been away from here for a very long time.
It wasn't just five days, it felt more like five years.
The monitoring equipment beeped rhythmically, and her memory rewound to the five blank days. The last image Lu Shizhen could recall was the operating room light that flickered in her sight, and the last question the anesthesiologist asked her after administering the anesthetic.
She asked her where she wanted to go after the surgery.
But where can she go in this state?
Lu Shizhen silently lowered her head and looked at her legs covered by the blanket.
Yes, where could she go looking like that?
She can't go anywhere.
The nurse was very quick; she practically dragged the doctor to Lu Shizhen's ward.
The doctor gave Lu Shizhen a brief examination, and the results were good. Lu Shizhen's surgery was very successful, just as they had predicted. As long as she woke up, there would be no problem.
Lu Shizhen listened attentively to the doctor's almost identical instructions, which she received after each surgery.
Lu Shizhen's family arrived late, just as the doctor finished the examination and gave her instructions and was about to leave.
"Zhenzhen, you're awake." Mr. Lu asked casually.
"Yes, I'm sorry for making Mom and Dad worry." Lu Shizhen nodded, her voice filled with apology.
She doesn't know when it started, but being sick seems to have become a source of guilt for her.
But these are not things she wanted.
"There's nothing to apologize for. It's good that you've woken up." Mrs. Lu smiled, her expression somewhat forced, repeating the same few words over and over again, "Now that you're awake, take good care of yourself, take your medicine on time, and listen to the doctor."
"Yes, I've got it." Lu Shizhen nodded.
The long-term illness had created an invisible, unfamiliar barrier between them. The atmosphere in the ward was even worse than when the nurse had been there; there was not much conversation, and it quickly grew cold.
Just as the atmosphere in the ward was getting increasingly tense, a little girl jumped out of the door like a rabbit: "Sister!"
Lu Shizhen was quite surprised to see who came in.
This is her younger sister, Lu Xi, whose name means "hope."
Lu Shizhen: "Xixi, you're here too."
"Yes, I was so worried about you." Lu Xi hugged Lu Shizhen as soon as she came up. "How are you? Is there anything that hurts? If I had to lie in bed for so many days, my body would have become stiff."
Upon hearing the second half of Lu Xi's sentence, Lu's mother quickly pulled her aside and gently scolded, "Xi Xi, what nonsense are you talking about? You have a competition next week, can't you say something auspicious?"
Upon hearing this, Lu Xi pouted and secretly stuck out her tongue in Lu Shizhen's direction.
It is said that fires reveal what people care about most.
Actually, no, you don't need that. A single sentence that encompasses both daughters will suffice.
Lu Shizhen seemed oblivious to this, and looking at her younger sister who was hugging her, she asked, "Xixi has a competition next week?"
"Yes," Lu Xi nodded. "By the way, sister, would you like to see my entry? I asked my teacher to record a segment for me, and she said I have a good chance of winning first prize!"
“Okay,” Lu Shizhen readily agreed.
This is an unwritten agreement between the sisters.
Whenever there's a competition or dance rehearsal, Lu Xi would show Lu Shizhen her dance videos. She likes to share her things, especially with her sister.
Melodious classical music emanated from the phone, and the girl's slender hand reached out.
Lu Xi has long arms and legs, and is also very talented. Her pure white dance dress undulates with her movements, just like a white swan gracefully floating on the water.
Mr. and Mrs. Lu watched from the sidelines, their eyes filled with pride and satisfaction.
They are very proud and satisfied to have such a promising daughter.
Lu Shizhen sat in the center, admiring Lu Xi's ballet performance, smiling as always.
But for some reason, while acknowledging her, he suddenly felt that there was someone more like a swan than Lu Xi.
Fog rose from the ground, thickly spreading throughout Lu Shizhen's world.
Who is that person?
Lu Shizhen couldn't find the answer at all and subconsciously frowned.
Then Lu Xi's voice rang in her ear: "What's wrong, sister? Did I dance wrong?"
The little girl cared a lot about her older sister's opinion and evaluation, and asked a question before the video even ended.
Lu Shizhen was taken aback for a moment.
Then she looked at the video that was still playing in front of her and said softly, "There seems to be something wrong with the last short section of your cello playing. Did you play it wrong?"
Lu Xi's face immediately showed surprise: "Sister, you could tell that from that!"
She didn't seem to care that her video was interrupted, and confessed to Lu Shizhen, "Yes, this piece was recorded for me by a classmate who plays the cello. She made a mistake on the last part. You're so amazing, sister!"
"No..."
Lu Shizhen smiled faintly, but before she could finish speaking, her mother's anxious voice rang out: "Xixi, what's wrong? If you made a mistake, why did you still use it?"
Then Mr. Lu asked nervously, "Yes, Xixi, what if this affects your competition?"
"Oh, it's alright." Lu Xi waved her hand dismissively. "Don't worry, Chengcheng will send me the standard accompaniment tomorrow. It won't affect next week's competition."
"That's good." Mrs. Lu immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Mr. Lu glanced down at his watch and said seriously, "Alright, it's getting late. Xixi, you still have to go to rehearsal today. Teacher Liu just called me and said your competition outfit is ready. You need to try it on today, and any parts that don't fit need to be altered. Time is very tight."
Upon hearing this, Lu Xi's excited expression immediately vanished.
She gave a soft "oh" and waved sadly to Lu Shizhen: "Then I'm leaving, sister. Take care of yourself. I'll come see you again in a few days."
"Okay, good luck in the game."
Lu Shizhen nodded and sat upright on the hospital bed, watching the family of three leave.
Then they were separated by a closed door.
Sunlight streamed through her eyes, but beneath her half-closed gaze lay a scene of obscurity.
It wasn't that she felt dejected; Lu Shizhen was already used to that. What she wasn't used to was the unexpected point that had just been raised.
Why could she immediately tell that the cello tune was off?
She's never even come into contact with this before...
Too many problems arose in less than an hour.
Lu Shizhen had a feeling that she had forgotten something, so she picked up her phone from the side and started searching.
However, as soon as she unlocked her phone, a series of messages popped up on the screen one after another.
And this news all came from the same person—her best friend, the first friend she had mustered the courage to make online in all these years.
Lu Shizhen remembered telling her before her surgery that she had been waiting for the right time to send her a message to ask how she was doing.
At first, her tone was extremely calm, and she even made some jokes. But then, when she saw that the message box on the other end was completely silent, she panicked, slowly became anxious and scared, and even sent a lot of crying emojis.
Lu Shizhen could imagine how nervous this person had been these past few days, and then replied to her: 【She's alive again.】
After a brief pause, perhaps less than two seconds, Lu Shizhen's sentence was pushed to the top, followed by a long string of "woof woof" sounds: 【Oh my god, woof ...
The excessive use of the word "ooh" almost drowned out the serious text, and Lu Shizhen finally revealed a genuine smile as she looked at the words.
She stared at the long string of words, her smiling eyes narrowing slightly before settling on the word "pomegranate".
Pomegranate, sixteen, why sixteen, not sixty? Lu Shi should be sixty.
She had used this name for a long time, but this was the first time she had hesitated like this.
She wondered if her mind was a bit muddled after a good night's sleep, but she suddenly felt that her own name seemed to have a special meaning.
Lu Shizhen frowned and honestly expressed her confusion upon waking to her best friend: "[I feel so strange. I slept for five days, but I have this feeling that I experienced a lot of things but forgot them all, even though I definitely lay in bed and slept for five days.]"
"What, did you transmigrate into a book?" her best friend joked. Before Lu Shizhen could take it seriously, her friend added, "I think it's because you slept for five days, losing five days of time, that's why you feel something's wrong, right? Five days is almost a week, a quarter of a month, that's quite a long time."
[Here you go, these are the Black Moonlight fanfics and fan art you missed these past five days. I've prepared them all for you, and I guarantee you won't feel that way again after reading them.]
Before Lu Shizhen could finish reading the messages her best friend sent, she was immediately bombarded with one file after another.
She stared in astonishment at the series of flashy, blurry boxes displaying the progress of data transfers, unable to believe the speed was comparable to that of her friend, who was notorious for procrastination: "So fast? So complete?"
My friend scratched his head, a little embarrassed: "You know, how could I be that fast?"
[Do you know that if you don't reply to me soon, I'm going to print out all this and burn it for you qaq]
As if finally relieved, her best friend opened up and excitedly recounted her emotional journey over the past few days to Lu Shizhen. "This was all I managed to compile after begging around everywhere. You have no idea how many of these ladies wouldn't have looked for my previous save files if I hadn't told them I had a friend who was dying and been constantly pestering them. It's been so tough for me! You have to draw me a huge one!"
"..."
Lu Shizhen was touched, but also speechless. She had indeed overestimated her.
Her finger hovered over the screen, her mind filled with a lot of complaints.
But before she could even type, the blurry image at the bottom of the screen finished loading.
The dazzling lights illuminated the entire painting. In the center of the magnificent ballroom, a girl with a swaying skirt intertwined her fingers with another girl, their dark hair flowing and intertwining with their dance movements.
They gazed into each other's eyes, and the intimate and ambiguous atmosphere overflowed from the screen.
This is a classic scene from the book where Xu Shiyue and Shen Yanxing dance at a cocktail party.
They fell in love that very night.
The room was eerily quiet, with no one sending messages. The shadows reflected on the wall remained still and silent.
Lu Shizhen's eyes were fixed on the screen on her phone, but there was not a trace of excitement in her pupils.
This is a very strange thing.
Lu Shizhen realized that she felt jealous of the people in the picture.
Not long ago, she was still heartbroken and wept bitterly over this couple's bitter feud.
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