When Chen Xu woke up, it was almost dark. His headache had eased, but his mouth was very dry. He stood up to drink some water. As soon as he sat up, he saw a cup on the bedside cabinet with a note underneath.

He pulled out the note and read it in the light coming in from the window. "This is the sour plum water that grandma prepared for you. She said it can help you get rid of hangovers. Remember to drink it when you wake up."

A smile appeared on his face. He put the note in his pocket and picked up the cup. It was still warm. He drank it all in one gulp and immediately felt much better.

After putting the cup away, he stood up, opened the door and walked out.

There were no lights on outside, and no one was there. After going down the stairs, there was no one in the living room on the first floor, only a small night light was on.

This house was built by my two uncles a few years ago. It was newly decorated and no worse than the houses in the city. But my grandmother was used to being frugal and often didn't want to turn on the lights.

He heard voices talking in the kitchen, so he walked over and saw that everyone was in the kitchen. Yang Jinxia and Grandma were sitting at a low table, picking vegetables, and Third Aunt was standing in front of the stove, cooking.

"You're awake." Yang Jinxia saw him and asked, "Does your head still hurt?"

"Much better. Thank you for the sour plum juice." Chen Xu said, calling out "Third Aunt."

Auntie Three laughed and said, "You are such a cunning boy. You quietly found such a beautiful girlfriend. You even hid her from your mother and brought her back secretly to show your grandmother."

When Chen Xu heard this, he knew it was all over. She must have called her mother. In the evening, her mother would definitely call and ask about it. He didn't know how to explain it.

Drinking really caused trouble. If he wasn't drunk, how could he be so rash as to bring Yang Jinxia to her grandmother's house.

Yang Jinxia explained, "Third Aunt, you misunderstood. In fact, we are not that kind of relationship yet."

"Really?" Third Aunt looked at the two of them with an ambiguous look, smiled and said nothing more.

Chen Xu could only think positively. With her explanation, he at least had a reason to refuse from his mother.

After a while, the meal was ready and served on the dining table in the living room.

Chen Xu turned on the light, turned off the night light, and began to put the dishes in place.

After everyone was seated, the third aunt took out a glass bottle from under the TV cabinet and asked Yang Jinxia, ​​"Would you like to drink some rice wine? This is brewed by Chen Xu's grandmother, specially for women in confinement. I secretly kept two bottles."

Yang Jinxia said, "I can't drink anything with a strong alcohol content."

"It's very low in alcohol. I'll pour some and you can try it." Third Aunt took out a small cup and poured her half a cup.

Yang Jinxia picked it up and tasted it. She found it soft and tasty. She liked it right away and said, "It's sweet and delicious."

Chen Xu reminded her, "Don't drink too much. Although the alcohol content of this wine is not high, it has a strong aftereffect."

Auntie San asked him, "Do you want some?"

"No need." Chen Xu shook his head. He drank too much today and now he felt like vomiting when he smelled the alcohol.

The four of them ate and chatted, and the atmosphere was very warm. Grandma seemed particularly happy and frequently served food to Chen Xu, asking him to eat more.

Before he finished his meal, Chen Xu's mother called. He put down his chopsticks, took the phone and walked outside before answering the call.

On the phone, his mother kept asking about Yang Jinxia, ​​and he spent a lot of time and effort to deal with her. By the way, he also persuaded his mother to cancel the blind date after the New Year.

After hanging up the phone, he felt that he was really smart.

When I go home next year, I will make up an excuse and say that they have broken up, and the matter will be over.

When he returned to the house, they had already finished eating, and the food was left for him. He sat down and continued to eat, finishing the remaining food. Then, he took the dishes back to the kitchen.

When he came out after washing the dishes, he heard Yang Jinxia's sweet laughter and asked, "What are you talking about? You look so happy?"

Grandma smiled and said, "I'm looking at your childhood photos."

Chen Xu felt a little annoyed when he saw Yang Jinxia holding an old-fashioned photo album. The album contained photos of him before he was seven years old, which contained a lot of his dark history.

He said helplessly, "What's so good about this?"

"It looks good." Yang Jinxia's voice was a little sweeter than usual.

He asked, "How much did you drink?"

"Not much."

Well, it seems that he is drunk.

"Okay, I'll take you upstairs to rest." Chen Xu took the photo album from her hand and saw that the page he opened was the one of him when he was three years old, wearing open-crotch pants.

He closed the photo album, put it on the table, and pulled her up.

After she stood up, she was a little unsteady and looked a little dizzy. She said, "Grandma, Third Aunt, good night."

"Well, you should go to bed early too." Grandma smiled with relief.

Auntie San warned, "Chen Xu, take good care of him, okay?"

Chen Xu pretended not to hear and helped her up the stairs. After walking a few steps, her strength became weaker and weaker, and her entire weight was on him. It was not easy to exert force, so he simply carried her horizontally.

After going upstairs, he carried her to the room where they slept in the afternoon, put her on the bed, and said, "The conditions here are rather simple, you will just rest for one night."

Having said that, he was about to leave.

"Don't go." Yang Jinxia held him back, her voice soft and a little coquettish, "It's dark here."

He said, "Then I'll turn on the light."

This is a rural area, and there are no street lights outside. At night, if you don't turn on the lights, it's pitch black everywhere. It's also very quiet, and you can only hear the faint sound of chirping.

"No, I want you to talk to me." She took his hand and put it against her face.

Chen Xu only felt the touch was soft, smooth and hot, and said softly, "You are drunk." He stretched out his other hand and turned on the night light on the bedside. The faint white light added a hazy atmosphere to the room.

Her soft hair fell naturally on the pillow, revealing her smooth forehead. Her eyes seemed to be covered with a layer of ripples, and under the dim light, they flashed a light that he had never seen before.

His heart suddenly tightened.

"Go to sleep."

He whispered after a while, rubbing his thumb gently over her face.

"I'm scared." She closed her eyes and whispered.

Chen Xu said softly, "It's okay. I'm here."

She murmured, "Promise me that you will always stay with me."

Chen Xu really wanted to say "OK", but the word seemed to weigh a thousand pounds and he couldn't say it.

In silence, she said as if in a dream, "I was once trapped in a cave. It was dark, cold and quiet there. I thought I was dead, but later, my grandma woke me up. Then I realized that I was still alive."

"After that, I couldn't stay in a dark place. If it was too quiet and there was no one around, I would think I was dead. My grandmother was very worried that I would never wake up after falling asleep, so she would wake me up every day. After she fell ill, she hired someone to wake me up."

Her tone was very calm, as if she was talking about someone else. Chen Xu listened, and felt as if a stone was pressing down on his heart, very heavy. He finally understood what happened when she had an attack in the dream.

In the room, she continued to murmur, "Until three months ago, I had a dream about a man. After I woke up, I never needed anyone to wake me up again. I knew that it must be because of that man in the dream that I had a reason to live."

"When I first met you, I had a feeling that you were him."

When Chen Xu heard this, his heart tightened and he bent down and hugged her tightly.

At some point, she had opened her eyes again, and placed her right hand on his chest, feeling the strong heartbeat. She said quietly, "I know we are not from the same world. I don't know when we will be separated. I just hope that there will always be a place for me here..."

Chen Xu covered her mouth and said, "Stop talking."

(End of this chapter)