Chapter 113: Absurd

That night.

Pei Du had that dream again.

The content of the dream was still her.

This time, for unknown reasons, Pei Du wanted even more to hear her voice clearly and see her appearance, but the person behind the water mist seemed to be playing hide-and-seek with him; no matter how many times he reached out, he could only touch a meaningless mass of air.

Pei Du felt a bit angry, but more so a sense of grievance, feeling wronged that she ignored him.

"Who exactly are you?"

He asked again, and just as countless times before, she did not answer him, as if she hadn't heard his question at all, only occasionally calling his name, Pei Du, Pei Du...

Again, the same.

Pei Du frowned, accustomed to it, no longer tossing and turning, quietly waiting for the dream to end.

Just then——

"Pei Du, if you can't raise a daughter, don't; there are plenty who will."

A female voice rang right beside his ear, extraordinarily clear, so clear that in his otherwise hazy dream it stood out as especially lucid and ethereal.

More importantly, the voice from behind the water mist sounded almost simultaneously.

The two characters 'Pei' and 'Du'—overlapped, merged, became one.

"..."

Pei Du suddenly opened his eyes.

Sparse weak morning light slipped through the loosely drawn curtains, casting into the man's deep-pupiled eyes, a dim clarity.

The dream still lingered vividly in his mind, and he heard it clearly.

This was the first time he had concretely heard 'her' voice.

But how could it be her?

Pei Du didn't turn on the lamp, sat up, sat quietly for a moment, then took his phone from the bedside, found the top chat with his daughter, and pulled out a video from the chat history.

It was the one she sent when she went out to school sometime.

Upon opening it, a gentle, lively girl's voice came through as expected: 'Muyin, did you forget to put on sunscreen? Baby, don't put on your shoes first; today we have PE, the sun is strong, let's put on some sunscreen...'

Pei Du listened to those words almost word for word.

More precisely, he was listening to the voice of the person speaking those words.

The phone's light illuminated the man's upright features; the shadow split at the bridge of his nose revealed contemplation—perhaps for the first time in a dream like mist he had grasped something real, and his brain's memory cells strained to retain the voice from the final seconds of the dream.

Thus, after hearing that, Pei Du concluded—the voice in the dream just now and the voice in the video were the same person.

It was her, Shu Shu.

But since it's a dream, the nature of dreams is full of uncertainty and uniqueness; things encountered or heard in reality can unintentionally become part of a dream.

He dreamed of Shu Shu's voice; perhaps it was just a coincidence.

Pei Du leaned against the headboard, his long lashes sparsely lowered, casting a faint shadow beneath them; the dark gray pajama collar revealed a smooth, cold-white neck.

He felt it absurd.

How could an eighteen-year-old girl possibly be the 'her' in his dream?

In that moment of self-reflection, the man's distinctively jointed fingertips unconsciously opened the video and played it again.

"... Baby, don't put on your shoes..."

As he detached from the dream, Pei Du's thoughts returned, back to his everyday mindset; he closed the phone and waited quietly, then sent a message to his daughter:

"Muyin, the project is in its final stage; I should arrive in An Shi the day after tomorrow."

An Shi, San Zhong.

Today was a day with decent weather.

After the second period, the whole school had a large break for students to run exercises; to prevent slacking, teachers arranged for student council members to take turns monitoring, and any time they saw a class's students loafing or dodging the run, they would record the names and later deduct points from that class.

Generally, those who can join the student council are students recommended and selected by teachers for excelling both morally and academically.

Shi Jin of Class 1 was conspicuously on the list.

Wearing the uniform, with his collar revealing a white shirt, the male student stood straight at the edge of the track, an armband for duty on one arm.

He looked as if he hadn't rested well, his lips overly pale.

During the run, each class formed lines of boys then girls; Shu Lingchen wanted to stay near his mother and sister, so he deliberately ran at the back of the line, jogging slowly, and happened to pass Shi Jin.

Seeing someone standing beside him, he glanced over instinctively; the next second, before he could look away, Shi Jin, who had been standing, closed his eyes and collapsed straight onto Shu Lingchen, fainting.

"Hey hey hey!"

This startled Shu Lingchen; a cry came from the crowd, and the boy, bristling like a startled cat, reflexively raised his hands and shouted loudly: 'Grandpa Clear Soup, help me prove it! I didn't touch him! I didn't touch him! He fell on his own!'

"Although I may have a little money now, there are cameras here; I warn you not to try to extort me with a false accusation, or else I'll sue you for slander!"

Shu Lingchen dared not move, glanced at Shi Jin on his back; he had his eyes shut, showing no reaction.

"Damn, he really fainted."

Teachers and classmates gathered around; Shu Shu and Pei Muyin happened to step forward.

Shu Shu took a look, frowned, and said: 'It's probably low blood sugar.'

Some Class 1 students hurriedly helped Shi Jin up from Shu Lingchen's back; one wanted to carry him on his back to the infirmary.

Although Shi Jin looked thin, carrying him was no easy task.

Several people were flustered, seeing that Shi Jin was about to fall to the ground.

"I'm fed up; a class can't find someone capable, I'll do it!"

Shu Lingchen couldn't stand it, strode over, grabbed Shi Jin's arm, hoisted him onto his back, and hurried toward the infirmary.

…

By the time they reached the infirmary.

The school doctor was still eating a meat bun in his mouth; upon seeing a student come over, he quickly put it down and gestured to place the person on the sickbed.

The school doctor examined him, confirmed that Shi Jin indeed had low blood sugar, and immediately stuffed a piece of malt sugar into his mouth.

Not long after, Shi Jin regained consciousness.

"Where is this?"

Shu Lingchen said: "This is the Western Heaven; hurry up and get up, the Buddha is about to distribute scriptures; if you're late and miss out, your master will stew you to eat over the New Year."

"..." The doctor who was hanging an IV for Shi Jin, hearing this, couldn't help but laugh, and told Shi Jin: "Classmate, you fainted from low blood sugar; it was this classmate who brought you to the infirmary."

Shi Jin slowly turned his head, looked at Shu Lingchen, paused slightly, and spoke weakly: "... Thank you."

"Oh, I'll take it." Shu Lingchen, not being pretentious, bluntly said, then curiously asked: "But you're a big guy, perfectly fine—how did you get low blood sugar?"

The doctor beside him, with a somewhat solemn expression, inquired: "Classmate, you're severely malnourished; you probably haven't been eating properly lately."