Chapter 241 Memory Overlap
"starve……"
Zhu Jinzhao's heart skipped a beat, and she almost dropped the cake in her hands.
"There are so many ways to die in a dream, why did it have to be starving to death..." She forced a smile and asked stiffly.
Jiang Jingwen: "I don't know either, anyway, your older brother just wants to starve us to death."
"No..." Zhu Jinzhao shook her head repeatedly, "I don't want to starve to death, I don't want to starve to death..."
"You won't starve!" Ning Shi walked over with a plate of freshly cut cake, shoved it into Zhu Jinzhao's hands with an air of authority, and then took the bare cake tray from her other hand.
"Dreams are just a jumbled mess of nonsense. You can starve to death, or you can die from overeating. Just take it as a joke and don't take it to heart."
“That’s right,” Jiang Jingwen agreed. “Ning Shi was daydreaming yesterday and even hallucinated arguing with you. When a person’s mind isn’t clear, they’re prone to thinking all sorts of nonsense. Don’t take it too seriously.”
"...Arguing?" Zhu Jinzhao didn't listen to Jiang Jingwen's advice; she only heard the word "arguing."
Why did you hallucinate and argue with me?
Ning Shi frowned: "I don't know either. I was just spacing out when some strange images popped into my head. But I couldn't see your face clearly in the images. I only vaguely heard your voice, and then we started arguing without warning."
"In the heat of the argument, I almost got into a fight with you."
"...Ah?!" Zhu Jinzhao's eyes widened in panic, and his face turned even paler.
"What's wrong?" Shi Jing pushed past Jiang Jingwen and clung to Zhu Jinzhao's side.
"Was Chaochao frightened?" He reached out and patted Zhu Jinchao's head, asking patiently and gently.
"...No, no." Zhu Jinzhao's smile was awkward as he helplessly lied to Shi Jing.
Seeing that her expression was off, Shi Jing asked worriedly, "Really not?"
Zhu Jinzhao scooped a large spoonful of cream into her mouth, using the act of eating to hide her panic: "Really not! I'm not that timid."
“Exactly,” Jiang Jingwen agreed.
"Alright then." Shi Jing didn't think much of it, finished her cake, and turned to talk to Xiao Jiming.
Zhu Jinzhao buried her head, eating cream bite after bite. The panic in her heart was like a wildly growing vine, wrapping around and tightening its grip on her reason, suffocating her alone in a shameful corner.
How could she tell Shi Jing that Jiang Jingwen's dream was real? How could she refute her friend by saying that these inexplicable scenes actually happened?
During this time, she has been deliberately ignoring the original owner's memories, but that doesn't mean she has forgotten those painful memories.
Jiang Jingwen's dream was real. In the original novel, after realizing that Zhu Mingyue harbored murderous intentions towards her, the original owner immediately went to Jiang Jingwen, hoping she could help her leave the capital. Jiang Jingwen was her best friend, and upon hearing how serious the situation was, she quickly transferred all her money to the original owner and also arranged for someone to send her to a sufficiently remote place to hide her.
But Zhu Mingyue had anticipated their movements.
On the day the original owner was preparing to escape, Zhu Mingyue rushed into Zhu Xingye's office early in the morning, lying that she had seen the original owner packing a lot of luggage and planning to elope with another man. She tricked Zhu Xingye, who was in a meeting, into going to the airport. As expected, Zhu Xingye saw the original owner preparing to leave as soon as he arrived at the airport. He immediately flew into a rage and ordered his secretary to tie the original owner up and lock her in a dark room.
This ordeal lasted for four whole days, and the original owner almost starved to death inside.
Although Jiang Jingwen's dream was a bit exaggerated, it completely overlapped with the original owner's memory.
Zhu Jinzhao's memories are too vivid for her to simply treat this dream as a joke.
As for Ning Shi's hallucinations, they were probably just hallucinations. Because in the original novel, there were no two people named Shi Jing or Ning Shi at all.
They never appeared in the novel from beginning to end, and had no interaction with the original owner, so naturally there was no possibility of conflict.
"Hey, the movie I starred in just premiered online today, let's all check it out!" Ning Shi clasped her hands together, looking at the people in the living room with an expectant expression.
"Great!" Qin Ming was the first to chime in. "What role did you play in the movie? Did you have a lot of screen time?"
"My role is alright, not too much, not too little." Ning Shi finished the last bite of cake and threw the tray and fork into the trash can.
"This movie is about school bullying. I play a character who is like a white moonlight, the only person who is kind to the female lead."
"Ah..." Jiang Jingwen was a little surprised, "Characters like this usually don't last long. You won't be killed off early in the movie, will you?"
Ning Shi reached out and took her arm, then used her other hand to hold Zhu Jinzhao's hand: "No. My character comes from a very wealthy family. Those school bullies didn't dare to touch me at all. I survived all the way to the finale."
"Wow..." Zhu Jinzhao sighed softly, "That sounds really good! I want to watch it!"
In the home theater on the basement floor, the housekeeper had already prepared Ning Shi's movie.
The group found comfortable spots to settle in and, unusually, watched a movie together.
"ha……"
Song Lingyue didn't sleep well last night. Not long after the movie started, he covered his mouth and yawned several times in a row.
"Did you steal a cow last night?" Duan Qing glanced at him from the side.
"Ha..." He yawned again, and tears welled up uncontrollably.
"I had insomnia last night," he said, wiping away tears. "I finally managed to get into bed before midnight, but I was as energetic as if I had drunk eighty bottles of Red Bull. I tossed and turned until dawn and still couldn't fall asleep."
Duan Qing: "Then why don't you sneak off for a nap now? Half an hour to refresh yourself."
"Can I take a nap?" Song Lingyue glanced nervously at Ning Shi. "This is Ning Shi's first movie. If I secretly doze off and don't watch it carefully, she'll definitely kill me if she finds out."
Duan Qing lowered his voice: "Then why don't you just not let her know? She's sitting in front of you, so as long as she doesn't turn around, she won't notice you."
"Go get some sleep, I'll cover for you."
“…Okay then.” Song Lingyue was so sleepy that she couldn’t refuse Duan Qing’s kindness.
"Keep an eye on things for me." He adjusted his dozing position, closed his eyes, and within two seconds, his mind began to drift into a hazy dream.
"Zhu Jinzhao, you are a girl, and I don't want to say anything too harsh."
In his dream, he spoke coldly to Zhu Jinzhao.
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