Fear gripped Zhen Tian's mind, and her eyes filled with tears, which soon streamed down her cheeks.
She huddled in the corner, crying in fear.
"Zhizhi, Zhizhi," she kept repeating, hoping someone would come and tell her that this was her dream, that she was Zhen Tian, and that she had a loving family and close friends. She wasn't the rejected child from this remote orphanage.
No matter how she called out, no one in the world answered her.
She followed the other children, eating, reading, and sleeping together, doing the prescribed things at the prescribed times.
Zhen Tian spent her days in this orphanage, and she came to realize that this was reality, while the stories about her family and Zhizhi were just dreams.
In the dead of night, she often hides under the covers and cries, crying for what she has lost, crying for her small self.
"Go to sleep," she told herself. "You're not the sweet girl who's always being pampered by Zhizhi anymore. No one will lull you to sleep now."
Tears streamed down her face.
It took a long time before I finally drifted off to sleep.
"Ring ring... Ring ring..."
Zhen Tian turned over uncomfortably; she had just fallen asleep.
"Ring ring... Ring ring..."
Half a day had passed, and normally Zhen Tian would have already tidied up and left the room long ago.
"Did she oversleep? I'll go check on her," said Mr. Zhen to his wife when he saw that Tian Tian hadn't come out yet.
"Go ahead, you'll be late." Lu Ti brought breakfast to the table.
Dad knocked on the door: "Sweetie, it's time to get up, you'll be late for school."
He opened Zhen Tian's door: "Why are you sleeping in today? Yu Zhi will be here soon."
Zhen Tian was awakened by a familiar voice. Her eyelids trembled slightly as she slowly opened them, and the pink color that greeted her eyes stunned her for a long time.
"Get up, you little sleepyhead." Seeing that she was awake, Dad Zhen smiled and patted her blanket.
"Dad..." Zhen Tian called out doubtfully.
"Dad's here. Mom's made breakfast, including your favorite tuna mayonnaise rice balls. Come on, eat now!"
Mr. Zhen smiled at his daughter before leaving the room.
"What happened?"
"Slept in late..."
The couple's voices disappeared as the door closed.
Zhen Tian sat on the bed in a daze, her hands gripping the blanket tightly: "Is this a dream?"
She pinched herself again, but still felt nothing.
Her thoughts were in turmoil, but she instinctively washed up, ate, and then went to school with Zhizhi.
On the way, she was unusually silent, watching the things rushing past the car window. She couldn't believe it was real, afraid of being too disappointed.
"Are you still feeling unwell?"
Ji Yuzhi's question brought her back to her senses, and she shook her head and continued to stare blankly.
"What's wrong with her?" Ji Yu asked Zhen's father, who was driving.
"I got up late today, so I guess I'm not fully awake yet. I've been groggy all morning," Dad Zhen said with a smile, not paying any attention.
Ji Yuzhi nodded, pulled Zhen Tian close, and let her lean against him: "Take a nap."
Zhen Tian did not resist and obediently leaned against them, but she dared not sleep, afraid that they would disappear again when she opened her eyes.
When Zhen Tian sat in the classroom and started class, she recalled those memories that had long been buried.
When she first appeared at the Zhen family, she seemed just as flustered as she is now.
No, it might not be as chaotic as it is now.
After all, accepting loss is far more difficult than accepting gain. Back then, under the care and love of her parents, she accepted the fact that life in the orphanage was a dream within a few days. Being young, she wouldn't have thought about it like she does now.
But she doesn't think that way anymore.
The fourth period in the morning is physical education class.
A light drizzle began to fall outside.
"You can have free time in the gym during PE class." The PE teacher led the students to the gym and then went to the cafeteria for lunch.
"The gymnasium is so boring. If we were on the playground, I could take you guys out to eat spicy hot pot." Ye Qingyan tossed her school uniform jacket in her hand: "Hey, let's go eat spicy hot pot outside of school for lunch today. I know a really good one."
“Okay.” Yuan Yuan nodded.
"Where's Sweetie? Do you want some?"
When Zhen Tian's name was called, she was standing still, seemingly lost in thought, while Ye Qingyan and Yuan Yuan had already walked quite a distance ahead.
"What's wrong with you? You've been acting like you've lost your soul this morning!" Ye Qingyan walked back and patted Zhen Tian on the back.
"Um?"
"Hmm what?" Ye Qingyan clicked her tongue. "Do you want hot pot for lunch?"
"It's fine, you guys decide." Zhen Tian licked her lips. "I want to go out for a bit, don't wait for me."
After saying that, Zhen Tian quickly walked out.
"Where are you going, Tian Tian... Hey..." Ye Qingyan and Yuan Yuan called after her, but Zhen Tian walked away without turning her head.
She's finding it hard to face Ye Qingyan right now; she needs to at least figure out what's really going on.
Is this world real, and everything before was just a dream? Or did she actually catch the latest trend and travel into a comic book?
The light rain outside gradually intensified, but she paid no attention to it.
She wanted to personally verify whether the places that appeared in the comic book but which she had never been to actually existed.
After Zhen Tian made up her mind, she ran faster and faster. There was a fence at the back gate of the school that could be jumped over; it was built by students who skipped class.
She climbed up, dodging the iron spikes beside her. Since it was her first time climbing a wall, it took her a little effort to get out.
By the time she jumped, her clothes were already soaked.
Zhen Tian hailed a taxi on the roadside.
The scenes in the comic book are all places that the main characters have been to, and the one that appears most often is Ye Qingyan's house.
A villa on a very high hillside.
She remembered that place clearly because that house was eventually fought over by those people using all sorts of means.
Zhen Tian sat in the car, lost in thought. She didn't know whether she should pray that the house really existed or pray that the place didn't exist.
She sat in the car for a full hour before arriving.
At that moment, she was unaware that Ye Qingyan and Yuan Yuan at school were nearly driven mad by their search for her.
"What's going on? Still not answering the phone?" Yuan Yuan stood next to Ye Qingyan, with Yang Feiguang and Shao Junli surrounding them.
"He's not answering!" Ye Qingyan exclaimed anxiously, "He said he was going out for a bit, but it's been over an hour, why isn't he back yet?"
"Could it be that she didn't bring her phone?" Shao Junli suddenly thought.
"Yes, let's go back and take a look."
The group rushed back to the classroom. Ye Qingyan opened Zhen Tian's backpack and found her phone inside, showing more than a dozen missed calls.
"Where am I supposed to find my phone if I didn't bring it?" Ye Qingyan panicked even more this time.
"Whether she said anything today, you, as her deskmate, should know best."
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