Love Apartment: Yifei is my junior aunt

Chapter 526 The end of one beautiful dream is the beginning of another.

"A good man?"

Zhang Wei's imagined father couldn't help but laugh out loud: "I never thought we'd lose in this area, just because you suddenly want to be a good man?"

He stared intently at Xiao Xian in the suit, his heart filled with confusion and questions: "I can understand Mario wanting to return to reality, because he will never be lonely or alone."

"If it were Xiao Ze You Mufeng who chose to help, I wouldn't be surprised, because she and Zi Qiao have a deep bond and connection."

"But why did you choose to help them?"

Zhang Wei's imaginary father couldn't understand this at all. He possessed Zhang Wei's memories and naturally knew that Xiao Xian in a suit was the most special kind among all the imaginary companions.

Even if the other imaginary companions have nothing in reality, at least they have love.

Whether it's the feelings of the fantasy partner for the real person, or the feelings of the real person for the fantasy partner, the emotions between them are difficult to explain using the three categories of kinship, friendship, and love; they can only be collectively referred to as love.

However, there was absolutely no love between these two Zeng Xiaoxians.

He always felt that, compared to the other fantasy companions, Xiao Xiancai in a suit was the one who most longed to stay in the dream world.

Yes, that's how it should be.

Even if it's just a dream, Xiaoxian in the suit can at least feel the only reality in the dream.

If he were to leave this beautiful dream, he would be living a life of illusion, without family, without friends, and without even love.

When this dream ends, he will have nothing left.

So... why is that?

Just because he suddenly wanted to be a good man?

How is that possible!

Xiao Xian in the suit shrugged. He paused, then decided to let the unlucky guy in front of him die knowing why.

"My decision to help wasn't entirely because I suddenly wanted to be a good man."

"Mainly, some idiot stopped his friends in front of me and told them they should respect my ideas... even though he probably already guessed what I was going to do next."

Zeng Xiaoxian looked embarrassed: "Hey, for the sake of how much respect I've given you, could you please stop calling me an idiot all the time?!"

Xiao Xian in the suit ignored him and continued to say, "Although I never consider myself a stupid, do-gooder, even if I were to be a smart villain, I would still have my limits."

"He respects my thoughts and freedom—even if this behavior seems really stupid to me, now that I know it, I will of course take his thoughts into account."

"Otherwise, if he respects me so much, but I don't consider him at all, wouldn't I seem really bad in comparison?"

Xiao Xian, dressed in a suit, pursed his lips and said with utmost determination, "No matter what, I absolutely will not allow myself to be worse than this idiot, absolutely not!"

"I'm going to prove to this good-for-nothing idiot host that I'm better than him in every way."

"He can't beat me as a bad guy, and he's no match for me as a good man either!"

Zeng Xiaoxian was speechless upon hearing this.

He didn't know if he had some of the traits of being a pushover. In reality, Yifei always wanted to be superior to him, and even in the dream world, his imaginary companions seemed to enjoy completely crushing him.

What sins did I commit to attract such a pair of brilliant minds?

Zeng Xiaoxian was speechless, but Zhang Wei's imaginary parents were even more speechless.

The two never expected that the reason for their defeat would be like this, simply because one Zeng Xiaoxian wanted to beat the other Zeng Xiaoxian?

So it turns out they were just one part of Zeng Xiaoxian's game?

While Xiao Xian in the suit and Zhang Wei were explaining to their imaginary parents, the real Wan Yu and You You, having finished dealing with their own affairs, also rushed over following the commotion.

The two were quite surprised when they saw Yifei and Guangu.

"Feifei?"

"Guan Gu?"

Yifei beckoned them to come to her side.

Youyou and Wanyu jogged over to Yifei's side, and before they could even catch their breath, they started bombarding her with questions.

"Feifei, weren't you attacked by the murderer? Why are you back?"

"Where did Guan Gu come from? Why does he look so withdrawn?"

"What's going on? Who are these two people whose faces I can't see?"

"..."

Faced with their barrage of questions without pause, Yifei was getting a real headache: "Why don't you stop asking and let me explain slowly?"

Youyou and Wanyu exchanged a glance and nodded in unison, "Okay."

……

On the other side, Xiao Xian in a suit made his final attempt to persuade Zhang Wei's imaginary parents: "Alright, I've told you both what you wanted to know."

"Now we leave Xiao Nanfeng here, and then... and then what happened again?"

Xiao Xian, dressed in a suit, paused, then looked up slightly at the others, clearly asking how to deal with Zhang Wei's imaginary parents.

Although from Xiaoxian's perspective, he could completely understand the behavior of the two people, this was not a place where he could dictate the whole story.

Just because he could understand Zhang Wei's imagined parents didn't mean Yi Fei and the others could. He was too lazy to say anything more to everyone in the apartment on behalf of these two.

At this moment, Yifei, who had almost finished explaining the whole thing to Wanyu and Youyou, also looked at the others hesitantly. They looked at each other and for a moment didn't know what to do.

To be honest, it's actually very difficult to determine the nature of this matter.

While Zhang Wei's imagination of his parents' actions was indeed a bit extreme, to say that they harbored the intention to kill everyone in the apartment and became murderers is clearly nonsense.

They didn't understand Zhang Wei's imagined parents, but everyone understood Zhang Wei and believed in him.

Even Zeng Xiaoxian's wicked fantasy partner can be considered a not-so-good person, so everyone believes that Zhang Wei's imagined parents can't be that bad.

Besides, everyone knows that dying in the dream world only results in being thrown into the dream. If even assassination in the dream world is considered murder, then wouldn't everyone become Class A war criminals just for playing a game?

That's just what they say; if we really treat this as a trivial matter, people aren't really willing to accept it.

After all, the two of them not only hindered everyone's plan to awaken Nanfeng, but no one would want to be stabbed in the back for no reason.

Although the pain in shallow dreams has been greatly reduced, being hit by a sword for no reason is still quite painful.

Besides, we finally caught these two murderers. If we just do nothing and pretend nothing happened, it would be too shameful for them.

But what can we do?

Give them a taste of their own medicine and kick Zhang Wei's imaginary parents out of his dream.

So what should Zhang Wei do, who is immersed in his dream?

The residents of the apartment were suddenly caught in a dilemma.

Letting these two go is not an option; I can't swallow this anger.

They killed the two men, but they didn't want Zhang Wei's dream to end in such a way.

After a moment of absolute silence, Xiao Xian in the suit finally spoke to Zhang Wei's imagined parents, asking, "Can I ask... what are you two really thinking?"

Upon hearing Zhang Wei's fantasies, his parents were momentarily stunned.

Everyone turned their attention to the two who had barely spoken a few words from beginning to end.

Since they can't make a decision right now, they might as well listen to the "murderer's" criminal history.

After a while, Zhang Wei's imagined mother weakly said, "What else could we be thinking?"

"We know that everything we are experiencing now is just a dream, and we know that this beautiful dream will end sooner or later. We also know that what we are doing is wrong."

"But...we can't bear to part with them, we really can't bear to."

She paused, her voice trembling slightly as she explained.

"The two of us have been by Zhang Wei's side for a long time. We watched him grow taller and grow up."

"We encourage him to study hard and read diligently, but we also feel sorry for him eating instant noodles every day and carefully calculating his living expenses for the month."

"We are happy that he got into his dream school and is studying the major he loves, but we are also sad that he can't be with the girl he likes..."

Zhang Wei's imagined mother, oblivious to everyone else, recounted Zhang Wei's growth over the years, one thing at a time.

Although no one could see her face or expression clearly, her tone and manner of speaking made it seem as if she were a mother talking about her beloved son.

"...We have been with him for more than 20 years, and we have loved him for more than 20 years."

"In his heart, we are his parents."

"In our minds, he is our son."

"We do these things not only because we hope Zhang Wei can make up for his childhood lack of parental love through this dream, but also because, because, because..."

Zhang Wei's mother finally couldn't continue speaking, and she leaned against Zhang Wei's father's chest, sobbing uncontrollably.

Everyone in the apartment was deeply moved upon hearing this. They exchanged glances, each with a complex expression.

Zhang Wei's father gently patted her back to comfort his wife.

He continued, picking up where his wife left off: "Perhaps the dream world is just a game for you, an adventure, a place you're destined not to stay in."

"But for us, this world allows us to truly embrace our children and truly... accompany them as they grow up."

"We know that kicking everyone out of the dream is a very selfish thing to do, but we can only be selfish."

"Because...we are also immersed in a beautiful dream."

As Zhang Wei's father finished his narration, the only sounds around him, besides Zhang Wei's mother's sobs, were a series of sighs.

They exchanged glances, and in that instant, they seemed to have reached a consensus.

Yifei stepped forward and, without allowing the two to refuse, carried away the unconscious Xiao Nanfeng.

She handed Xiao Nanfeng over to Youyou and Wanyu to take care of, then waved her hand at Zhang Wei's imaginary parents, giving them the order to leave: "You are not welcome here. You'd better take Zhang Wei and leave now."

The two were stunned for a moment upon hearing this: "You're just letting us leave like this?"

"Otherwise what? Do you expect me to send you all out of the dream world with a single bullet each?"

Yifei rolled her eyes at the two of them: "In the end, there is no right or wrong in this matter, it's just that our purposes are different."

"Your act of pretending to be a murderer is indeed a bit selfish, but this selfishness has nothing to do with us, because we will not give up what we are going to do because of your feelings."

"Your selfishness lies in the fact that you have not considered Zhang Wei at all whether he would want you to continue his dream in this way."

She waved again, urging impatiently, "Let's hurry up and go, we're about to wake up Nanfeng."

"Since you've already made a mistake, just go with the flow and cherish this last beautiful moment of your dreams."

Zhang Wei's parents seemed somewhat moved by his fantasy; they opened and closed their mouths repeatedly, but in the end, they left without saying a word.

Yifei and the others watched their departing figures, and finally smiled with relief.

Xiaoxian asked, "Do you think... Xiaohei could improve the Dream Device to the point that we can have imaginary partners even without having sweet dreams?"

Guan Gu pointed to himself, Mario, and the two Zeng Xiaoxians: "As it stands, it's possible to have both the original body and the fantasy partner appearing at the same time."

Xiao Xian, dressed in a suit, chuckled and teased, "What, have you finally succumbed to my resourcefulness, so much so that you can't bear to leave me even in your dreams?"

"Stop being so narcissistic," Xiaoxian pouted. "I was just thinking that if fantasy companions could reliably appear in the dream world, wouldn't Zhang Wei finally have a home?"

He glanced at Xiao Xian, who was wearing a suit and looked smug, but still didn't say the second half of his sentence, "And isn't this your ultimate goal?"

Xiao Xian may not be as clever as his imaginary partner, but as the real Xiao Xian, he knows him in a suit all too well.

He does indeed enjoy completely crushing others, but that's definitely not the most important reason he chose to help.

His imagined companions may not be so evil, and they may indeed have feelings and goodwill towards everyone, but that still cannot change his utilitarian logical thinking.

His first principle in doing things is never whether he wants to do it or not, but whether there are any benefits to doing it.

The reason why Xiaoxian in a suit chose to help them catch the murderer was not simply out of emotion, but because it was in everyone's best interest.

Or rather, doing so is more in Zeng Xiaoxian's interest.

In the face of Zeng Xiaoxian's interests, neither Zeng Xiaoxian's own interests nor those of Xiaoxian in a suit matter.

Similarly, for his own sake, for Xiao Ze and Mu Feng, for Mario, and for the common good of all the fantasy companions, he has been intentionally or unintentionally demonstrating to everyone in the apartment, through various means, the importance of the Dream World to the fantasy companions.

Just as Zhang Wei's imaginary parents speculated, compared to the other imaginary companions, Xiao Xiancai in a suit should be the one who most longs to stay in the dream world.

His greedy and utilitarian nature meant that Xiao Xian in a suit was not satisfied with merely prolonging the existence of this dream; he craved far more than any of his fantasy companions.

He hoped that all his fantasy companions could appear stably in the dream world, so that for them, the end of a beautiful dream would no longer mean the disappearance of everything.

Rather, it is the beginning of the next beautiful dream.

Xiao Xian, dressed in a suit, smiled slightly as he squinted, feeling the warmth spreading through his body.

He knew that he might not need to go through so many roundabout ways. Perhaps if he just made this request, everyone would agree to go to Xiao Hei to research a way to make his fantasy companions appear stably in the dream world.

But he doesn't like words like "maybe," "perhaps," or "suppose."

Moreover, as the opposite of Zeng Xiaoxian, he is someone who doesn't value friendship and bonds.

Or rather, he believed more in himself than in the power of friendship and bonds.

However, after experiencing these things in the dream world, he suddenly felt that some of his outdated ideas could be changed.

"Thanks."

He whispered to Zeng Xiaoxian, and then for the first time, he raised his fist at Zeng Xiaoxian.

"You're welcome."

Two identical fists gently touched together in the light.

Here it comes!

This chapter is really coming to an end. The two Zeng Xiaoxians have continued their beautiful dream of being fantasy partners. From now on, Zhang Wei will no longer be alone, whether in reality or in dreams. Next is Xiao Nanfeng's part.

(End of this chapter)