Chapter 79 Chapter 79 Dream

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"It's so late...what's the matter?"

The door slowly opened, and Gu Mengran stood blocking the door with a towel, wiping his hair as if nothing had happened, with no intention of letting anyone in.

Liang Zhao was stunned for a moment by the strange and polite tone. His dark eyes gradually drooped, staring at the nothingness on the ground, and asked softly: "Are you still angry with me? I'm sorry, I——"

"anger?"

Before he could organize his words to explain, Gu Mengran interrupted him and chuckled, "Did we have a quarrel today? Did we have a bad time? Why should I be angry with you for no reason?"

"Meng Ran, I shouldn't have asked that question that night."

Liang Zhaoming was obviously panicking. He took a half step forward to get closer, but unexpectedly Gu Mengran suddenly stepped back and distanced himself from him. He casually put the towel he used to dry his hair on his shoulders, looked at him and smiled, "That night? I've figured it out. You're right. Dreams and reality can't be confused. I can't treat you as the same person."

A sharp steel needle suddenly pierced into Liang Zhao's heart. His breath was choked and he stood stiffly in place.

He had never been so conflicted before. He could distinguish between dreams and reality, so he knew clearly that the person in Gu Mengran's heart was not him. But they parted unhappily that night, and their relationship seemed to have returned to the past overnight, strange and distant.

If he had never gotten close, he would have been content just watching from afar. However, with the light of dreams, he had touched the unreachable warmth and was unwilling to retreat back into the dark and humid sewer alone.

Why should he distinguish so clearly? He should be thankful that the person who appeared in his dream was not someone else. He did not have the confidence to win against Liang Zhaoyi in his dream, but he could... he could be a poor imitator and learn to be the person Gu Mengran wanted.

Without further hesitation, Liang Zhao suddenly raised his eyes to meet Gu Mengran's gaze, and spoke quickly and urgently: "No, I'm wrong, you are the right one, Mengran. I can see those dreams, I can be him, and one day I will remember everything, right?"

After he finished speaking, Liang Zhao slowly raised the hand that was hanging by his side and gently placed it on Gu Mengran's cheek.

The body temperature was very high, and the palms were very hot. The sudden touch made Gu Mengran dazed. He looked intently into Liang Zhao's eyes, with a hint of suspicion in his eyes, "Why do you suddenly think so?"

"I've figured it out. I shouldn't have been so stubborn."

Liang Zhao's voice was unusually hoarse, and the hand covering his face was trembling slightly.

The state is not right. It doesn't seem like I have figured it out. It seems like I am afraid of being left out...

Compromise.

An inexplicable feeling welled up in his heart. Gu Mengran pursed his lips and chuckled, then held Liang Zhao's hand. "Really? You figured it out for no reason? I don't believe it. Did you dream about something again?"

Liang Zhao's Adam's apple rolled up and down, and he uttered a soft "hmm".

"Hmm, what do you mean?" Gu Mengran used a little force to pull Liang Zhao into the house, closed the door, and kept asking him, "What did you dream about? Tell me."

Finally he got in, but it was because he dreamed of more.

Liang Zhao suppressed the bitterness in his throat, forced a bitter smile, and whispered, "A little bit of detail in our relationship."

Liang Zhao was like a soulless puppet due to the stolen special treatment. He followed Gu Mengran into the room and sat on the edge of the bed as instructed by Gu Mengran, not daring to move.

But Gu Mengran did not let him go. He supported his shoulder with one hand, stood in front of him and looked down at him, with a faint smile on his face. "Since you dreamed, you should know how we sleep in our dreams, right?"

Liang Zhaoming was obviously stunned, and nodded stiffly, "I know."

He had seen the boat and the narrow cabin in his dreams, and he had also seen Gu Mengran and "him" sleeping together.

As expected, after hearing this, Gu Mengran nodded with satisfaction, and then he leaned over and whispered to Liang Zhao, "Have you taken a shower?"

There was a buzzing sound in Liang Zhao's ears, and his mind went blank in an instant.

Before he could recover from the shock, Gu Mengran took a half step back and distanced himself from her. He smiled meaningfully and said, "I'll go blow dry my hair first. Wait for me in bed?"

His tone rose slightly, as if asking a question, but Gu Mengran turned and left after he finished speaking, without giving him a chance to speak.

Hurrying into the bathroom, Gu Mengran found a hair dryer from the cupboard, quickly connected it to the power supply and turned on the switch. Then, amid the buzzing sound of the wind, he decisively raised his hand to cover his mouth, and laughed like a mute firecracker.

Wait for me in bed...

How explosive and greasy! How could he say such a thing?

But he couldn't laugh anymore. Liang Zhao was not good at lying, and his body language and expression told him that something was wrong.

From his last life to this life, Gu Mengran had mustered up his courage twice, but was rejected by Liang Zhao both times. It was impossible for him not to be angry, and he was more or less holding back his anger, so he decided to leave him alone.

The result... was too much, and Liang Zhao compromised.

Not wanting to distance herself from him, she pretended to be recovering her memory.

Are you competing with yourself or being your own substitute?

For such a sincere person, I don’t know what kind of struggles he went through before making this decision. Gu Mengran found it funny and heartbreaking.

Just accept it, it's better than compromising.

Coming out of the bathroom, as expected, Liang Zhao was still sitting on the edge of the bed with his eyes lowered.

Gu Mengran walked forward slowly, put his arms around his neck, hugged the slightly bewildered Liang Zhao, stroked his wet hair with his palm, and said softly: "Go after me, Liang Zhao, there is still a lot of time, we can take it slowly."

"Why? Do you regret it?"

I don’t know what the man was thinking while sitting outside. When he opened his mouth, his voice was hoarser than a radio that had been out of service for a long time.

Gu Mengran rested his chin on the top of his head and chuckled, "Why do you say that? You are like a young wife that I took back by force, with grievance written all over your face."

Liang Zhao suddenly moved, "I didn't--"

"Don't talk yet." Gu Mengran interrupted him rudely and patted his back gently. "You are not someone else, and you have never been anyone's substitute. It doesn't matter if you can't remember. Are you willing to start over with me? A brand new Liang Zhao, do you have the confidence to make me like you?"

Confidence... naturally I don't have any.

But Gu Mengran's words seemed to give artificial respiration to the drowning Liang Zhao.

"Can I?" Liang Zhao raised his hands and hugged Gu Mengran back, his arms tightening as if he was afraid that he would run away.

The force was so strong that Gu Mengran's bones were almost crushed by him. He quickly pried his hands apart and gave up the hug. Instead, he held Liang Zhao's face and looked into his eyes and said word by word: "Didn't I tell you to chase me? Of course, I'm not that easy to chase, so you'd better behave yourself."

"Then tonight," Liang Zhao seemed to be drunk, his body leaning forward involuntarily, his forehead touching Gu Mengran's forehead, rubbing gently, "Can I still sleep here?"

Gu Mengran laughed out loud, "Of course not, you are just a pursuer, correct your attitude, okay?"

As he said this, Gu Mengran was about to retreat and keep some distance, but Liang Zhao was one step faster than him. He put one hand on his shoulders and the other on the back of his head, forcing him to look into his eyes with his forehead.

The dark pupils seemed like an unfathomable mystery. Gu Mengran saw himself clearly in his eyes, along with a little bit of uncontrollable desire.

Inexplicably, his heart skipped a beat. Gu Mengran looked away awkwardly and muttered softly, "What the hell, go back to sleep--"

"He kissed you."

The sound escaped from his thin lips, and a touch of warmth covered Gu Mengran's lips.

Just like that night, Liang Zhao gently stroked Gu Mengran's lips with his thumb, but this time, he did it openly.

"Did you see that?"

Amid the chaotic heartbeat, Gu Mengran heard his own hoarse voice.

Liang Zhao frowned slightly, and said "hmm" unwillingly, "I can see it very clearly."

The fingertips pressed harder and harder, as if they were going to rub his lips open.

"It's so sour." Gu Mengran pushed away the messy hand, raised his chin, and said almost close to Liang Zhao's lips: "But you are wrong, he didn't kiss me, I kissed him."

The tail sound was swallowed up, and finally the distance was less than one centimeter. I don't know who moved forward a little, and the pursuer who had just started pursuing kissed the one he had been thinking about day and night and dreaming about.

…

The alarm clock rang at six o'clock on time. Gu Mengran, who rarely stayed in bed, washed and changed clothes in one go. He walked out of the room at ten past six and went to the kitchen early.

He gets up early just to cook, but he never expected that someone would get up earlier than him.

With steam rising from the pot, the old man stood in front of the table and quickly cut the whole kimchi radish into two halves, then into strips, and finally into even-sized diced radish with a "do do do".

Is the pickled radish pickled some time ago ready to eat? Gu Mengran picked one off the cutting board and before he could throw it into his mouth, the old man slapped him hard on the back of his hand.

“Pah—”

A crisp sound echoed in the quiet kitchen, and diced radish fell to the ground. Gu Mengran had no time to care about it. He looked at the fingerprints on the back of his hand that became clearer and clearer, and looked at his grandfather in disbelief.

"Grandpa, what are you doing? Are you angry? Why are you so cruel?"

"Cruel? If I were cruel, I would have used a knife." The old man said without even raising his head.

Gu Mengran sensed something bad was going on, rubbed his hands, took two steps back, and asked cautiously, "What's wrong, Grandpa? Who messed you up? I'll help you—"

"Who else could it be?" The old man snorted coldly and said unhappily, "You're pulling and tugging at the door in the middle of the night, hugging and cuddling each other, you have no shame."

Gu Mengran was stunned and immediately retorted: "Who was pulling and hugging? We just talked for a while at the door, and we went in not long after."

"How dare you say that." The old man slapped his knife, turned around and glared at Gu Mengran, "How long has it been? Are you two going to sleep together if you're sure you're in a relationship?"

What a shocking statement! Gu Mengran couldn't even open his mouth to refute it.

Without giving him a chance to refute, the old man angrily said, "Although you are both men, but, but falling in love is a process, it has to be gradual, steady and solid. What's the point of sleeping together right away? Aren't you just P-friends?"

"Cough, cough, cough—"

Gu Mengran was choked by his own saliva. He patted his chest and coughed several times. He looked at his grandfather with tears in his eyes, "First of all, we didn't sleep together. He left last night. He left from the balcony and returned to his room very early! Secondly, where did you learn these words, Grandpa?"

Hearing that he was gone, the old man's expression visibly relaxed, but he had no intention of explaining to Gu Mengran. He took some kitchen paper from the counter and wiped his hands, then put his hands in his trouser pockets. Not long after, a small silver box appeared in his hands.

Before Gu Mengran could see what it was, the old man raised his hand and a small silver box flew towards him. Gu Mengran caught it with both hands and just glanced at it casually, and his jaw almost dropped.

Ultra-thin and breathable...

If there was a crack in the ground, Gu Mengran would definitely drill into it without hesitation.

The old man stood aside with a calm expression, "I don't care about you, you still need to pay attention."

Gu Mengran's ears were red as blood, and his head was almost touching the ground, but he couldn't help but ask, "Where did you get this thing?"

"Of course you have to stock up on everything when you run a supermarket. Don't worry, there's more in the living room cabinet. Go get it when you're done."