You're my wife, don't doubt it!

"So," Xiao Yao asked, looking at the ceiling above him, "how long have we been asleep?"

“Today seems to be the 17th, October 17th,” Yu Luying replied, lying on her bed. “We’ve slept for…19 days.”

“19 days,” Xiao Yao said thoughtfully, “is two-thirds of a month.”

"Yes, what's wrong?" Yu Luying asked, puzzled.

"What day of the week is the 17th?" Xiao Yao asked Yu Luying.

"Sunday?" Yu Luying hesitated and said, "I'll find out once my phone is fully charged."

“On Sunday, you have to go to Mass,” Xiao Yao smiled.

"The premise is that the doctor will allow us to be discharged," Yu Luying said. "They said they would arrange a comprehensive physical examination during the day."

“Re-examination my foot! We know perfectly well that there’s nothing wrong with our bodies,” Xiao Yao said. “Talk to Brother Bo and have your uncle take care of it so that the three of us can be released as soon as possible.”

“Hmm, oh, ah,” Yu Luying said, “Okay.”

Xiao Yao didn't speak again; he held his breath.

The ward was quiet, with only the faint ticking of the second hand.

"Don't you have anything to explain to me?" After waiting for about a minute, Xiao Yao spoke calmly.

"No," Yu Luying blurted out. "What's there to explain to you?"

“For example,” Xiao Yao said, his tone slightly impatient as he saw her still feigning ignorance, “for example, where did you go after you left the slaughterhouse, and for example, what exactly is going on between you and Zhang Zhengkai?”

"Slaughterhouse? What are you talking about? Have you been sleeping too long and your brain isn't clear?" Yu Luying said in surprise, "Zhang Zhengkai? What could Zhang Zhengkai and I possibly have? I've never met him alone—and it's impossible for me to meet him alone, right?"

"Are you still pretending to be stupid?"

Why would I pretend to be stupid?

"you!"

Then, Yu Luying began to recount the long dream she had over the past 19 days.

It was a completely different dream from Xiao Yao's; it was an independent dream.

Chapter 397 Shen Jie has become a clingy cat?

2023-12-02

Yu Luying described a fantastical dream with sound and shadow, a dream completely different from Xiao Yao's dream and entirely independent of it.

Xiao Yao became increasingly puzzled as he listened. His first reaction was that Yu Luying was making up nonsense, but was it possible for her to create such a profound, substantial, and logical dream in such a short time?

Thinking about it carefully, it's entirely possible for a young woman with a love of literature to have such a draft in mind.

Regardless, Xiao Yao felt anxious.

If Yu Luying wasn't lying, then he would have to go find Shen Jie to verify it as soon as possible.

If Shen Jie's dreams are different from my own, then it means that these past 19 days have really just been a meaningless dream.

For example, if you play an online game, painstakingly build your empire, and achieve great success in your server, only to find out in the end that it's just a single-player game, and all the teammates and brothers you thought you had are AI and NPCs, you would definitely feel utterly dejected.

Xiao Yao wanted to go downstairs to find Shen Jie again, but Yu Luying was already asleep.

He took out his phone to contact Yu Bo, who was surprisingly still awake.

“What time is it?” Yu Bo said. “I should be preparing for the first Mass this morning. You just escaped from inside, so get some rest.”

"Inside? Did you send Zhang Zhengkai into our dream?" Xiao Yao asked Yu Bo, "Did Shi Hui escape?"

Yu Bo gave an affirmative answer.

Xiao Yao finally relaxed a little and went to sleep.

Yu Bo did not contribute anything to their discharge activities. On Sunday, October 17, the three underwent comprehensive physical examinations and were forced to stay in the hospital for observation for two more days before they were finally allowed to be discharged on Wednesday, October 20.

Director Lin conveyed the principal's message, telling them not to rush to school and to rest for two more days. So the three little ones spent the rest of the week at Xiao Yao's grandmother's house.

Xiao Yao and Shen Jie exchanged information and confirmed that Shen Jie was at least in the same dream as him.

At the beginning of the dream, Shen Jie, like Xiao Yao, lived a peaceful and happy world without the other.

She has a harmonious family, good exam results, good interpersonal relationships, and a fiancé who loves her and whom she doesn't dislike.

Everything was going well until one day, a silly boy with a cat suddenly barged into her life.

"And you fell in love with me at first sight too?" Xiao Yao asked expectantly, "Your heart was pounding and your mind was racing?"

Shen Jie glanced at him, nodded, and said softly, "Mm."

"Tell the truth!" Xiao Yao demanded seriously.

“No, not at all,” Shen Jie recalled earnestly, “but for some reason I felt that you were very familiar, and that cat was also very familiar, just like the one I raised myself.”

Xiao Yao shrugged: "Normal."

The story continues with Shen Jie being kidnapped and imprisoned in a shabby underground room.

For reasons that are not yet fully understood, butcher Zhang Zhengkai tore her soul apart in her sleep, shattering it into countless fragments.

But the two most important pieces are the girl in the knitted sweater and blue skirt, and the six-year-old girl who loves to eat lollipops.

The girl in the blue skirt was unaware of what the butcher had done to her. After escaping from prison, she found her way to the room covered with photos and ran into Xiao Yao, who had just come from the KTV.

Liu Xiao Ling Tong only retained his memories and mindset from before the age of six. He was released and subsequently integrated into life in the "city".

What follows is a familiar plot point—Shen Jie in the blue dress and Xiao Yao are separated due to the trampling of the female giant, and then encounter the "Butcher" who is anxiously searching for her.

“What a coincidence!” Xiao Yao pointed out, “Maybe the Giantess was released by the butcher.”

“We can’t completely rule out that possibility,” Shen Jie agreed. “He knows he can’t beat you, so he has no choice but to separate us in this way.”

"Then," Xiao Yao asked Shen Jie, "he kidnapped you?"

“Actually,” Shen Jie hesitated slightly, “would you be angry if I said I went with him on my own?”

“It’s alright,” Xiao Yao said. “After all, the you from back then hadn’t regained your memories yet. To you, he was still what you call the past…”

Shen Jie extended a finger and placed it vertically near Xiao Yao's lips.

After Shen Jie in the blue dress was taken away by the butcher, by a twist of fate, Liu Xiao Ling Tong met him again—through the uncanny telepathic connection between the two fragments, the little princess once again brought Xiao Yao to the side of the blue dress.

“There are a few questions,” Xiao Yao pondered, head down: “First, the city is so big, how could it be such a coincidence that the kindergarten version of you bumped into me—was it really just a pure coincidence?”

"I don't know," Shen Jie shook her head. "I don't know. On the bright side, is it possible that there's some kind of spiritual connection between us?"

These words pleased Xiao Yao greatly, and he felt that such a possibility did indeed exist.

"Question two," Xiao Yao said, "why did he tear you in half?"

“I don’t know either—actually, it’s not two halves,” Shen Jie corrected him. “I can sense that the little girl and the girl in the blue dress you met are just two of my biggest fragments.”

In the deepest room of the slaughterhouse, the room where the "butcher" was, the little princess and the girl in the blue dress merged, forming a relatively—basically complete soul.

“What I’m worried about are those fragments,” Xiao Yao told Shen Jie. “Those fragments that may have been lost, what kind of harm and impact they might have on you.”

"I still don't know," the clueless girl replied, "but..."

"but what?"

"I feel fine now, nothing unusual," Shen Jie told Xiao Yao.

Despite Shen Jie's words, Xiao Yao was still uneasy and remained preoccupied with the matter.

Consequently, resentment towards Zhang Zhengkai arose.

In the past, Zhang Zhengkai was always harassing his wife, but I didn't hate him much. On the contrary, I felt a little sorry for him and thought I had wronged him. Now that he's at peace, I feel resentful.

For example, let's say you accidentally—let's say you accidentally hit my wife with your car. Even though she doesn't have any external injuries and the hospital examination only revealed a mild concussion—I'm still worried about whether there might be any undetectable internal injuries or aftereffects, and I feel uneasy because of this.

And all you've done so far is say "I'm sorry" to us, nothing more.

"So," Xiao Yao asked Shen Jie, "what exactly does it feel like to feel like you're with two or even more people at the same time?"

October 22nd, Friday, is also the Double Ninth Festival of this year.

Xiao Yao sat on the hard sofa in his room, while Shen Jie lay flat on her back with her head resting on Xiao Yao's knees and her legs raised high. She described to Xiao Yao what it was like to be "two people" or even more people at the same time.

The room was quiet, with only the soft sound of Yu Luying's pen tip gliding across the exercise book.

It was getting a bit cold, and Yu Luying and Shen Jie had both changed into nice autumn clothes, which Xiao Yao found pleasing to the eye.

Summer clothes are too thin and winter clothes are too bulky. Spring and autumn clothes are Xiao Yao's favorite. Unfortunately, Shanghai is a city with almost no spring or autumn. It is either scorching summer or harsh winter, and the transition period in between is usually only a short ten days or so.

The boy casually stroked Shen Jie's slightly thick white socks while listening to her speak with his eyes half-closed.

“It sounds like,” Xiao Yao commented, “that when you’re simultaneously a six-year-old girl and Shen Jie in the blue dress, it’s a bit like playing a game with two windows open and logging into two accounts at the same time.”

“It’s somewhat similar, but not exactly the same—completely different,” Shen Jie frowned and thought for a moment before telling Xiao Yao, “It’s more like two images superimposed on each other, yet you can operate them freely at the same time, and your brain responds simultaneously without slowing down due to distraction.”

"It's hard to imagine," Xiao Yao said, tilting his head and thinking for a moment.

“I find it hard to imagine even myself,” Shen Jie suddenly turned over and lay on her side, rubbing her little nose against Xiao Yao’s belly button—of course, through his clothes. Yu Luying looked displeased and gently rubbed her own lower abdomen: “It’s been almost a week since I woke up from the dream, and now when I think back to what I experienced at that time… what I saw and heard, those scenes, all the different feelings at that time, have all become blurry.”

“Well, that’s how it is.” Xiao Yao casually tried to find the strap that was sticking out on Shen Jie’s back, but couldn’t because the autumn clothes were too thick: “After all, in the end, it was just a dream.”

As he said this, he glanced at Yu Luying, seemingly unintentionally.

“Yes, it’s like in dreams. Sometimes we do strange things in a very serious way without feeling anything strange,” Shen Jie said. “Sometimes we encounter very strange things, but we think they’re perfectly normal, like they’re commonplace. But when we wake up and think about it, it’s all suspicious, and we can tell at a glance that something’s not right. When I feel like there are two or even many versions of myself in my dreams, it’s the same. At the time, it feels so natural. Controlling so many bodies at the same time is instinctive, natural, just like that…”