Chapter 42: Dreams Within Dreams, Reality and Illusion Intertwined

  Apart from those involved, no one knows what twists and turns they went through that night, nor do they know how much sorrow is hidden beneath their calm faces.

  Happiness is written on one's face, but what others see is just a pretence of goodness.

  Lin Xue Xiao, this gentle woman, will probably meet someone who loves her dearly and live happily ever after, either soon or much later.

  At least, Shen Beizhen thought so.

  The holiday life of the graduates has started with a bang, Shen Beiqiu shouldered his luggage and went to various places to write about life, in order to escape the sad or lost memories. Su Yixin traveled to Yin City and helped Su Yu investigate the local situation at the same time.

  No one was pressing down on the top, this world, ultimately fell into the hands of Su Yisu and others. However, the campus began to eerily empty out, it turned out that the lively and vibrant atmosphere supported by the third-year students seemed to have disappeared overnight.

  The head teacher solemnly told them on the podium: "From today on, you are all third-year high school students. You should take responsibility for yourselves and stop indulging in play."

  Su Yi suddenly felt down, the second year of high school had already passed, and the third year had arrived. But why did it still feel like just yesterday that Su Yi Xing was walking in front of her on the first day of sophomore year, yelling at her to hurry up?

  Years flow like water, months and years cut like a knife.

  "Sister Su!" After school, Jiang Zuo and Lin Wan were calling her from outside the window with a smile that was not quite a smile. Su Yisou suddenly became spirited, rushed out, and said: "Zuo, Wan, we will be together forever."

  Jiang Zuo couldn't help but shiver and said: "Why is there a feeling that the end of the world is coming?"

  Lin Xiao raised an eyebrow, indicating that he was unsurprised, and said: "As for Su Yisou, you should have long been accustomed to her suddenly popping out with inexplicable sentimentalism."

  "Alright."

  Su Yisu didn't respond with her usual vigor, instead she listlessly replied and dragged her heavy footsteps towards the stairs.

  Jiang Zuo and Lin Wan exchanged a skeptical glance, turning their heads to look at her.

  "What's wrong with her?" Jiang Zuo asked.

  Lin Lin shook her head, "Who knows."

  Jian Su saw Yi Su walking further and further away, without any intention of waiting for them. The two hurriedly chased after her.

  "Hey, what's wrong with you? Lost your girlfriend again?"

  Jiang Zuo was speaking when suddenly another person flashed out from around the corner, "Yi Su!"

  Jiang Zuo was startled and let out an unconscious "ah", and when she saw that it was Jiang Fengchen, her expression became even worse. She glared at him and asked in a fierce tone: "Jiang Fengchen, can't you not scare people like this?"

  Lin Xiao's heart was also startled, and she stared at him with a dark face.

  Jiang Fengchen suddenly became unnatural and said with a face full of apology: "Sorry..."

  Three people went back and forth, saying a few words, but Su Yisu stood aside, still not speaking, as if she had become stupid. Jiang Fengchen looked at her with some concern and called out again, "Yisu?"

  No.

  "What's wrong with her?" Jiang Fengchen had no choice but to ask Jiang Zhan and Jiang Xi.

  The two of them shook their heads in perfect sync.

  At this time, Su Yisu finally spoke up, "It's already senior year, what should we do?"

  The three of them looked at her in stunned silence.

  "Let's have a cold dish!" Jiang Zhe Lin pulled her over and walked away, "As for this matter, let's discuss it slowly after we've eaten. Even if the sky falls down, we still need to eat first, right, Lin Wan?"

  "Yes." Lin Wan had no choice but to nod in agreement and follow him.

  "Hey," Jiang Fengchen saw the three of them turn to leave and hastily called out to stop them, "You're taking Yisu away again."

  Jiang Zuo's eyes stared at him fiercely, "Otherwise, what do you want?"

  Jiang Fengchen didn't respond to Jiang Zhanlin's words, but instead looked at Yisu and said softly: "Yisu..."

  Su Yisu stared at Jiang Fengchen in a daze, her mind wandering who-knew-where. Lin Wan looked at her like that and smiled knowingly, saying to Jiang Zhen, "Let's not disturb the young couple anymore, lest they say we're shameless old men getting in the way like a lamp post."

  Jiang Yaohan pouted and said with a sullen face, "I've already dumped Chen Jierui."

  Lin Xiao sighed meaningfully: "The gap between people can't be compared, whoever is serious will lose."

  "Hmm..." Jiang Xiao nodded in agreement, "Indeed, there aren't many people like me in this world." With that, he pulled Lin Wan along and left without even saying goodbye.

  Still faintly came Lin Wan's teasing voice: "Really good at sticking gold on one's own face."

  Su Yisu was speechless for a moment, looking at the corner of the building below and then at Jiang Fengchen who was leaning against the railing, before finally opening his mouth to say: "I'm hungry, let's go eat."

  Perhaps, between love and friendship, it is impossible to have both at the same time. Favoring one means inevitably neglecting the other.

  Night, all sounds are silent. The wind also stopped chasing.

  In a daze, Su Yisu suddenly heard Jiang Fengchen whispering in her ear, "Sorry, Yisu, I don't love you anymore."

  Su Yi suddenly turned her head, but saw Jiang Fengchen standing behind her, smiling warmly at the sweet woman beside him. The woman smiled sweetly at him and then looked at Su Yi with a provocative gaze.

  Su Yisu was stunned, and hastily stumbled over to try to catch up with Jiang Fengchen, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't keep up. He and the woman's figures grew farther and farther away, more and more indistinct, until they finally disappeared into the fog.

  "Chen!" Su Yisuo cried out in anguish, rushing around frantically, hoping he would turn back and look at her, but the only response was endless silence.

  "River... wind... morning..." Scorching tears kept falling, heart felt like being pricked by a needle, yet clearly there was no feeling at all. Is this what people mean by "pain to the extreme is numbness"?

  "Sui Su, haha, how does it feel to be betrayed?"

  Suddenly, a piercing female voice rang out beside her ear again. Su Yisuo abruptly lifted her head to look around, but there was nothing, only endless fog.

  "Who!" Su Yisuo rushed into the fog like a madman, waving his hands wildly in the air, but all he could see in front of him was the thick fog.

  "I'm sorry..." Jiang Fengchen's voice echoed again, "Jiang Fengchen!" Su Yisuo screamed, waking up with a start, her heart racing and cold sweat dripping. She looked around the dark dormitory, her roommates' gentle breathing sounds still coming through softly, occasionally someone turned over and fell back asleep. Su Yisuo finally let out a heavy sigh, constantly patting her chest to comfort herself: it was just a dream, just a dream.

  The moonlight outside is faintly sprinkled in, and the whole night is quiet and peaceful.

  The next day, Su Yisou spent a lackluster morning, even in Yang Laoshi's Chinese class, she was frequently distracted and when asked questions, she would repeatedly ask "what" in a daze. Finally, Yang Laoshi couldn't help but say: "Su Yisou, didn't you sleep well last night?"

  Su Yisu just kept her head down and remained silent. What could she say? Early love was the most taboo thing of all.

  Teacher Yang could only gesture for her to sit down, turned around and walked back to the podium, loudly saying: "Classmates, the final exam is coming soon, I hope everyone takes it seriously. Don't think that Chinese doesn't need to be studied, I'll randomly give you a question and none of you can do it, believe it or not?"

  "Believe it!" The classmates in the class replied in unison. Since they had such a teacher, they really felt that they knew nothing about language!

  Finally muddled through to the end of school, Su Yisu lay on her desk with her eyes closed, waiting for Jiang Zuo and Lin Wan to come find her to go eat. Over the years, the three had formed this tacit understanding.

  It was unknown how long it had been when Lin Wan's voice finally floated up gently from outside the window.

  Su Yisuo slowly raised her head, narrowing her eyes as she looked at her, and found that there was only one of them. She couldn't help but ask: "Where's Zhe?"

  Lin Xiao couldn't help but ask her back, looking at her dark eye circles, and was suddenly startled. "Su, what's wrong with you? How can your insomnia be so severe?"

  "Never mind," Su Yisu waved her hand weakly. "It was just a nightmare. Love and all that, it's all nonsense!"

  "Jiang Fengchen has annoyed you again?"

  Su Yisu just shook her head and walked out after packing up her things. "Where's Zhang?"

  "Cheated by Chen Jierui, who looks like me? A lone and helpless person, wherever I go is a light bulb."

  Su Yisuo couldn't help but tease her, "How come I remember that someone once said they weren't interested in love?"

  Lin Wanbai shot her a glance, "Can't I even have a moment of sentiment?"

  No way!

  "Cut." Lin Wan coldly snorted.

  After the two finished eating and returned, Su Yisuo's spirit was a bit better, at least not as listless as in class. The two jumped and chatted, laughing and hurrying back to their dormitory, when suddenly a strange shout came from behind, "Su Yisuo!"

  Two people returned with suspicion, and a strange face suddenly appeared in front of them.

  Upon closer inspection, she felt as if she had seen him somewhere before. Su Yisuo couldn't help but ask with a hint of doubt: "Are you..."

  The man smiled faintly, "You don't recognize me? That's right, important people often forget things, how can someone from a chance encounter be remembered?"

  Su Yisu stared at him in silence, her mind racing quickly, filtering through familiar yet unfamiliar faces one by one, until a flash of inspiration struck and she thought of someone.

  "Are you the boy who sat behind me during last semester's final exams?"

  "Isn't that right!" The boy slapped his thigh excitedly and said, "I forgot to introduce myself last time. Nice to meet you, my name is An Yijin. One two three's one, promotion's Jin."

  "Ah, hello," Su Yisu could only nod, "Last semester's final exam, why didn't I see you come?"

  An Yi Jin rubbed his head and said, "My home is not in Jiang City. There was something at home, so I went back. Only now do I have time to come back, pack my bags and go home."

  "Huh, you're not reading anymore?"

  An Yi Jin shook his head, "I wasn't meant to be a scholar, if it weren't for my sister..." He seemed to realize something halfway through and hastily stopped, changing the subject to: "The road ahead will be bumpy, you need to mentally prepare yourself."

  "What?!" Su Yi looked at him with a puzzled expression, completely unable to understand what he was saying. An Yijun didn't plan on explaining further and bid farewell: "I'll be off then, see you later!"

  "Goodbye." Su Yisuo could only suppress the doubts in her mind.

  Lin Xiao looked at his back with suspicion, feeling that he had a somewhat evil aura about him. She thought to herself: What kind of person is this? As she thought, she couldn't help but say to Su Yi Suo: "I feel like this person doesn't have good intentions."