Extra Chapter: Audio Drama 1

to the ward was pushed open from outside. A tall girl walked in. Shu Tinglan felt familiar and suddenly remembered that it was Li Yu whom she had met on the island.Chen Zhimin on the sickbed lowered...(Author's Note: This is an extra story originally written for the audiobook. I’m posting it because I promised the readers who voted on it back then. But if you’re not interested, please don’t read.)

On the 15th day of the seventh lunar month, Zhuo Yu'an accompanied Shu Tinglan back to Qining to sweep the tomb for her mother.

At the cemetery, Zhuo Yu’an was in charge of clearing the weeds beside the grave, the two children were responsible for placing flowers and fruits, while Shu Tinglan sat quietly in front of the tombstone, accompanying her mother.

Looking at the gentle smile on her mother's tombstone, her grief was no longer as intense as it once was; only a dull ache in her heart occasionally when she thought of her.

This pain is an irreparable regret. As time passes, her life gets better and better, and the children grow up more and more sensible, but her regret deepens.

She often thought, if her mother were still alive, how happy she would be to see her happiness now

When she was leaving the tomb, she told Zhu Yu'an: "If back then, both me and Mom were a bit smarter, if we had discovered Dad's affair sooner and found out about Wen Jian and her daughter earlier, would everything have been different"

Every year when she comes to sweep the grave, she always asks about Zhuo Yu'an.

Zuo Yu'an would comfort her two years ago, saying, “Mom will see your happiness now.”

Or, "Tinglan, life is like a gear with jagged teeth. It has its own trajectory of operation. If one gear disengages, no one can predict what will happen. So, this might just be the best arrangement."

But obviously, those reassurances were useless. So this time, his science-minded thinking took over. As he walked downhill with her shoulder in his grasp, he said, "I'll build you a model when I get home."

"Huh" Tinglan was confused.

"Games similar to The Sims"

Input your interpersonal relationships, personalities, social interactions, and life trajectories from back then. You control everything. Try different choices and see if it leads to a different life.

"Are you serious" Tinglan actually believed he had the ability to build the most realistic scenarios.

"Seriously, I hope you have fewer regrets in your life. But time starts from when you enter high school."

Why

"Because that's when I came into existence, whatever choice you make, you have to take me into account."

"That's not true, because I didn't know you back then. How could I have considered you If I had considered you, the outcome would definitely have been different."

Zuo Yu'an grasped her, his voice a little shaky: "How could you not recognize me Didn't you say you had a crush on me in high school Even if it was just for a fleeting moment."

Tinglan was speechless. The two of them walked hand in hand downhill. The two little kids walked ahead, probably playing, and got faster and faster as they went. When they reached a slightly flatter area, they ran like wild horses.

After all, they were on a mountain. Listen Lan watched with fear and shouted: "You mustn't run, slow down!"

Then urged Zhu Yu'an to quickly bring them over, not to trip.

"Be careful." Zhu Yu'an let go of her hand and strode forward to chase after the children.

Ting Lan quickened her pace behind, but who knew, in a moment of carelessness, her foot slipped, and she stepped into empty air on the stone steps. With inertia, she fell forward directly, hitting the edge of the stone steps in front of her head with no deviation.

As the world spun, she saw Zhuo Yunan racing toward her. Her mind had only one thought: it's over, another concussion, another scolding.

Unconscious.

For how long she slept, she awoke with a slight haze in her head and closed her eyes to rest. Suddenly, a long-lost familiar voice rang in her ears: "Lanlan, wake up! It's the first day of school today, don't be late."

It's Mommy's voice!

She suddenly opened her eyes and saw her mother standing by her bedside, looking at her, still as young as she remembered.

"What are you doing, being silly Get up quickly." The blanket covering her body was flung open by her mother, bringing a chill. She thought she was dreaming.

After her mother's passing, she rarely dreamt of her.

Some say that dreaming of deceased loved ones is because they miss you and come to visit you in your dreams.

If you don't dream about them, one possibility is that your loved ones don't want to bother you. Another possibility is that they want you to move forward and not be distracted by them.

She always felt that her mother was so cruel, rarely coming to see her in her dreams. But now, seeing such a real mother, tears welled up in her eyes and she threw herself into the arms of her mother who stood beside her, crying heartbroken: "Mom, I miss you so much."

It turns out that in dreams, one can so vividly feel the temperature and smell Mom's scent so clearly—the scent she had before being hospitalized.

She cried very sadly, but her mother looked at her with a puzzled expression, pulling away her hand that was hugging her waist: "Are you anxious about going back to school Or are you nervous because you have to perform on stage today"

Shu Tinglan stared blankly as her mother turned from the closet, pulling out a white dress. "There's no time left, hurry up and change into that dress. Today's highlight performance at your high school freshman orientation is you."

Mother, while speaking, pulled her up from the bed and stood her in front of the dressing mirror.

Shu Tinglan looked at herself in the mirror, and it was unmistakably her from her first year of high school.

this

The dream was too real, so real that there was a tiny ballpoint pen on the hem of the skirt, with ink just like in my memory.

At this moment, there was a knock at the door again. "Are you ready Breakfast is done."

That was her father's voice.

She rushed over, yanked the door open, and sure enough, she saw her father smiling gently at both of them.

Even in his dreams, Shu Tinglan saw him, and he was still filled with hatred. Hate mixed with intense pain in his heart.

"What's wrong with Lanlan" Dad asked her with concern.

Mom came out of her room and walked straight past her: "Ignore her, she's having a meltdown first thing in the morning."

Is it a dream

She ran back to her mother and said, "Mom, hit me. Hit me hard."

Her mother then used her chopsticks to smack the back of her hand hard: "Eat quickly, don't be late on your first day of school."

A sharp pain shot through her back, it wasn't a dream. She was back in her first year of high school Back to the year when her mother was still alive.

Her tears wouldn't stop, falling uncontrollably. She rushed forward, ignoring her mother's struggles, and hugged her tightly.

"Mom finally softened: 'This child, did he have a nightmare last night' "

She nodded. "Yes, I had a very frightening and terrifying nightmare."

Dreaming of her father jumping off a building and dying in front of her, dreaming of Wen Jian's mother and daughter having a big fight at the spirit hall, dreaming of her mother getting sick, hospitalized, and passing away.

"Alright, alright, dreams are always the opposite. Don't cry, you're a first-year high school student crying is embarrassing. Go wash your face, change your clothes and have dinner. Dad will take you to school today."

Shu Tinglan obediently went to change her clothes, ate breakfast with her father and went downstairs, but she always kept a distance of two steps away.

As soon as she got on the car, she sat down at the back seat.

He casually placed his backpack on the passenger seat, and kept a cold expression fixed on the entrance to the building in front of him.

If I remember correctly, it was Dad who took her and Wen Jian to school on the first day of school that year..Jin Haoyu's excited voice came: "Young Master Gu, you're back from your honeymoon, right Come to Baoli quickly, we're waiting to celebrate your wedding."He was clearly drunk. There was a lot of noise...