fairy tale
"Guess what my name is?" the ghost said mysteriously, floating excitedly half a meter high.
Yu Xi's lips curled up as she looked him over with interest, as if he were a fool, and said, "Do you think I would need to ask you if I knew?"
"I didn't know you before, how could I possibly know your name?"
As soon as she finished speaking, the ghost floated down, lowered its eyes, and looked at her with some disappointment.
"We've met before."
“No, I first met you in the cemetery,” Yu Xi said firmly, then realized she was actually getting serious about a ghost.
The ghost whispered to itself, "You really don't remember who I am. It's so heartbreaking."
Yu Xi didn't hear what he was muttering, and with some confusion, she lazily asked, "What did you say?"
She yawned, and then heard the ghost say, word by word, "Chen Miao, my name is Chen Miao."
"My sister can also call me Chen Sanshui; my friends all like to call me that."
"Chen Miao." Yu Xi repeated his name, her eyelids trembling from the long journey. "Chen Miao is a good name, it contains the character for water..."
Before she could finish speaking, the drowsiness and exhaustion became unbearable, and she fell asleep as soon as she leaned her head against the pillow.
There was no air conditioning in the cruise ship's cabin, and the temperature wasn't high at night. Chen Miao was worried that she would catch a cold if she slept like that. So he whispered in her ear, but not wanting to disturb her rest, he kept his voice very low.
"Sister, get up. Don't sleep on the sofa, you'll catch a cold."
"Cover yourself with a blanket before you sleep."
"Zeze will worry about you if you don't go home."
Yu Xi grabbed the magazine beside her and threw it at him, "Go away, don't bother me. I'm so sleepy."
"I've already explained this to them beforehand..."
She fell into a deep sleep before she could finish speaking.
Only the living room chandelier was lit, and the faint scent of aromatherapy wafted in. Perhaps it was because of its calming effect, but the rolling waves on the river and the whistles of the cruise ships could not wake Yu Xi.
In her dream, she arrived at the rented house she had previously shared with Meng Chou. Yu Xi stood in front of the rusty, half-closed iron door, and the piano music coming from inside made her tremble uncontrollably.
The familiar melody reached her ears, and without hesitation, she eagerly pushed open the door. The small bed and desk in the room were gone, and the empty room now contained only a piano and a person playing it.
The man had his back to her, his figure sharp and handsome, dressed in a neat white suit. An indescribable aura of purity emanated from him, and the incandescent light shining on him added to his mystery.
It's like going on stage to perform.
Yu Xi's heart tightened at just one glance; the figure from behind looked remarkably similar to Meng Chou. It wasn't until the pianist started playing that Yu Xi caught up with the rhythm and hummed the song softly.
"I wish I could become the angel you love in a fairy tale, spreading my arms to become wings to protect you. You must believe, believe that we will be like in a fairy tale, where happiness and joy are the ending..."
Yu Xi's nose stung, and tears streamed down her face. She choked out, "It's all a lie, a complete lie. What a terrible fairy tale, where's the happy ending?"
Meng Chou had hummed this song to her many times. When she had a heart attack, she would have difficulty breathing intermittently, feeling like she was suffocating and on the verge of death, accompanied by angina. It felt like every inch of her flesh was being torn apart, and the pain swept through her entire body.
At times like this, Yu Xi would grit her teeth, her forehead beaded with cold sweat from the pain, and she even considered ending it all.
The psychological pressure, coupled with the daily reliance on medication to sustain her life, led Yu Xi to have this terrifying thought.
Fortunately, Meng Chou stayed by her side the whole time. Before they officially became a couple, Yu Xi asked him directly, "Even if you knew I had a heart condition, would you still like me?"
Meng Chou's expression was firm, without the slightest hesitation, "Of course I will."
"I love you, completely and utterly you."
These words kept replaying in Yu Xi's mind. Whenever her illness flared up, Meng Chou would immediately get her medicine and water.
In the small rented room, there is always a cup of cooled boiled water and an empty cup. The kettle is almost always powered on, with the light always on to keep the water warm.
The couple lived frugally and couldn't bear to buy a water dispenser, but Meng Chou always did a great job with these small details. He would carefully prepare Yu Xi's medicine for each day, mark it, and remind her to take her medicine at the right time. No matter how busy or tired he was, he would never forget this, nor could he forget it.
Often, when Yu Xi was in so much pain that she was losing consciousness, Meng Chou would gently pull her into his arms and stroke her back, as if comforting a fragile infant still in swaddling clothes.
He hummed the song "Fairy Tale" to her, and he really wanted to become a guardian angel just like in the lyrics, protecting her from the torment of illness.
Later, he actually fulfilled this wish.
"Maybe you won't understand, but ever since you said you loved me, the stars in my sky have all lit up..."
The pianist was still singing with complete absorption, over and over again. The melody flying from his fingertips and his voice, just like Meng Chou's, left Yu Xi standing there in a daze.
Tears blurred my vision, and the figure behind me became increasingly blurry, as if a heavy blur filter had been applied.
Yu Xi was afraid he would disappear in the next second, so she ran forward quickly, wanting to hug him, and shouted with all her might, "Meng Chou!"
The pianist turned around at the sound of the shout, and Yu Xi saw that unfamiliar face again—it was Chen Miao, that ghost.
"How could it be you?" A look of disbelief flashed in Yu Xi's eyes. The hope that had been burning in her heart instantly dimmed. Her voice was hoarse. "It was all a lie. I thought he was willing to come and see me again. I thought he would come to see me in my dreams. I thought he wouldn't abandon me."
"It was all just my assumptions, all my own arrogance!" she shouted hoarsely, venting all her anger at Meng Chou's unwillingness to come see her again.
“I’m not afraid of ghosts, I’m not afraid of anything.” Yu Xi said, squatting on the ground, burying her face in her hands, and bursting into tears. “I won’t be afraid of him, no matter what he becomes…”
"As long as it's him, that's enough. Why does God have to take away even this one and only bit of luck of mine?"
Chen Miao squatted down to meet her gaze.
This time, he finally grasped Yu Xi's wrist and sincerely apologized, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to borrow his voice to sing this song."
"He asked me to do this. He said he couldn't come into your dream, so he could only let me sing this song for you in his place. I hope you can..."
Before Chen Miao could finish speaking, Yu Xi interrupted him, gripping his forearm tightly and asking frantically, "Is the person you're talking about named Meng Chou? Is his name Meng Chou?"
Seeing the eager look on her face as she awaited an answer, Chen Miao nodded. "It's him."
Even though she already knew the answer, Yu Xi's tense nerves relaxed for a moment after hearing him say it, and she smiled slightly, "I knew he would come back to see me."
"Is there anything he wants to tell me?"
Chen Miao said, "He said he hoped this song could help you cheer up. You've already overcome the torment of illness, so these little storms are nothing to worry about, and everything will definitely have a good outcome."
He's sorry he can't be there for you.
Yu Xi listened and nodded repeatedly.
"Then..." She wanted to ask more about Meng Chou, but the walls of the rented house began to collapse, the ground cracked and caved in, and Chen Miao and the piano disappeared.
Unexpectedly, she did not fall into endless darkness, but instead fell into the light of hope.
When she woke up, Yu Xi was panting heavily, tears still clinging to the corners of her eyes. She got up in a panic and searched the entire cabin of the cruise ship, but she couldn't find Chen Miao anywhere.
You can't ask in your dreams, and you can't ask in reality either.
It was as if everything was fake, even the fact that I could see Chen Miao these past few days was fake.
There were no traces in the unfamiliar hotel room that could prove Chen Miao's existence. The sound of water splashing and churning could be heard from time to time at night, and then there was no more voice around.
In an instant, Yu Xi felt that having the talkative ghost Chen Miao around was sometimes quite nice; at least she wouldn't feel so lonely and empty after waking up from her dream.
"Are you still here?" Yu Xi called out tentatively, stepping towards the room. "Chen Miao?"
A long while passed, and there was silence and no response.
She poured herself a cup of hot water, and after sobering up, she felt a slight pain in her head.
Yu Xi gripped the water glass tightly, the warmth spreading from her palm to her heart, offering her some comfort in the chilly night.
Thinking that someone else could also prove Chen Miao's existence, Yu Xi quickly took out her phone, opened her chat with Dr. Liang, and, ignoring the 0:21 time reminder in the upper right corner of the screen, decisively asked: "[Dr. Liang, did I tell you a few days ago that I can see a ghost?]"
Dr. Liang, on the other end of the line, was exceptionally dedicated. Five minutes later, he replied: "[You said you were alright now?]"
Upon seeing this reply, Yu Xi became even more certain that Chen Miao did exist.
She could indeed see Chen Miao, so Meng Chou must also be watching her from another world, always thinking of her, and hadn't forgotten her after drinking the Meng Po soup.
Thinking of this, Yu Xi held her phone to her heart, and the suppressed emotions of so many days were relieved.
The sound of the piano from her dream kept echoing in her ears. She remembered that when she was in high school, she suffered heatstroke while working a part-time job and was taken to the hospital by Meng Yun. When she learned that he was the one who saved her, Yu Xi agreed to one of his requests: to go see one of his piano competitions.
He and Meng Chou both studied piano, but Meng Chou did it out of passion, while he did it so he could be with Meng Chou.
Yu Xi would go to the school's music room to quietly listen to Meng Chou play the piano, and he knew that he was learning the piano just so that he could spend more time with Yu Xi.
Perhaps in this way, she would look at him the way she looked at Meng Chou.
Yu Xi clearly remembers that the piano competition was not only attended by Meng Yun, but also by Meng Chou, who advanced to the next round.
But in order to accept Meng Yun's invitation, she only cheered for Meng Yun from the audience.
Even now, she can't forget that scene and the crazy things the boy did. It was because of this that she gained a different understanding of Meng Chou.
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