Sharing Dreams with My Bestie's Cousin

Light, pale stains appeared on the carpet beneath the bookshelf, and as the shelf wobbled, several books fell down, gradually piling into a small mountain.

Wen Zhi could hardly hold the book in her hands, but Shang Hexing insisted that she keep a steady grip, reminding her again and again, "Remember the story this book tells."

When he said he would test her, he meant it.

Wen Zhi was going crazy, both embarrassed and frightened, gripping the book tightly, her moist apricot eyes slightly wide as she stammered, "...I, I, I can’t see the, words on the book clearly."

He nibbled at her earlobe, "The words in the book are shaking?"

"Shang, Hexing!" Wen Zhi, in her mortification, hit him with the book.

He easily caught the book and then stuffed it back into her hands, "Hold it steady, keep reading."

The font in the book was nothing compared to the water-ink screen; if she calmed down, she could see clearly and even read ten lines at a glance. But precisely in this situation, with everything shaking, Wen Zhi couldn’t make out a single word, and had to endure Shang Hexing’s ’coercion’.

Time dragged on.

Until the sunlight filtering through the latticed windows turned to moonlight, casting a long, silvery line upon the carpet that stretched towards the bookshelf.

And as the clouds obscured the moon, the moonlight reversed direction, extending to the white wall behind the desk.

Upon close inspection, two shadows were reflected on that white wall.

A slender waist arched backward, thick, curly hair swaying into an afterimage.

...

The next day.

It was nearing ten in the morning, and Wen Zhi hadn’t left her bedroom yet, the nanny, Aunt Lin, had come up several times and saw that the door was closed tight, so she didn’t disturb her.

Not until Chen Jinhai signaled Aunt Lin, "Knock on the door, and if necessary, go in to check, here is the key."

Aunt Lin, having been transferred here only the day before yesterday, was unclear about the situation, hence hesitated, "This..." It didn’t seem right.

Chen Jinhai, "Mr. Shang instructed."

Upon hearing it was Mr. Shang’s orders, Aunt Lin no longer hesitated, took the key from Chen Jinhai’s hand, turned, and went upstairs to knock on Wen Zhi’s door.

"Miss Wen? Are you up?"

From inside, Wen Zhi’s voice didn’t sound unusual, "I’m up, watching a drama series, don’t worry about me, I’ll come down for lunch."

The sound of a TV drama playing echoed from the room, the volume a bit louder than before the knock.

Aunt Lin responded and then turned to go downstairs.

Chen Jinhai was pacing near the staircase, looking up when he heard the descending footsteps, he only saw Aunt Lin’s figure by herself, Chen Jinhai guessed, "Miss Wen doesn’t want to come downstairs?"

Aunt Lin chuckled, "Miss Wen said she’s following a drama series and will come down for lunch." 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Chen Jinhai, "Following a drama series?"

Aunt Lin nodded and then headed to the kitchen. She said something under her breath that Chen Jinhai caught, roughly, "Miss Wen must be watching ’Phoenix Cry’, my daughter loves it too, always following the updates."

Chen Jinhai raised his hand to his chin, muttering to himself, "Is Miss Wen really in her room watching a drama series?"

Regardless of whether it was true or not, since Miss Wen had spoken, there shouldn’t be any trouble.

Chen Jinhai immediately picked up his phone and dialed Mr. Shang.

After a few rings, the other end picked up, and Chen Jinhai immediately relayed what Aunt Lin had said to Mr. Shang, then added, "Miss Wen indeed answered, but she just won’t come downstairs."

The line was silent for a few seconds.

"Tell Aunt Lin to go up and ask every half hour. Also," Shang Hexing’s tone paused slightly, "I’ll be home for lunch."

"Yes, Mr. Shang."

Meanwhile.

On one of the white walls in Wen Zhi’s room, a period drama was being projected. She started from the first episode and had played through to the third, without watching a single one, because her mind wasn’t on the drama at all.

Turning up the volume was just a ruse; she didn’t want to leave her room, nor did she want anyone to come in and disturb her.

Now when she closed her eyes, all she could think of was the dream from last night.

It was absurd.

It seemed that whenever Hexing appeared in her dreams, they would end up messing around, and it got more and more excessive each time.

In reality, back in Harbor City, they had only been together once, and he had been considerate of her physical condition, taking care of both her body and mind.

But the Hexing in her dreams was completely different, he was wild, almost as if he had amassed a vast fortune and wanted to squander it all in one night.

After waking from the dream, Wen Zhi took a long time to calm down.

Then, the prolonged melancholy began, as she was staying at Qionglou, living in Shang Hexing’s house, and thinking about him at night in her dreams...

It was hell.

She really had no face to see him.

So she didn’t leave her room all morning, locking herself in to ’reflect’, and warning herself not to have such dreams again.

But still—

Wen Zhi suddenly lifted her wrist, her gaze fixed doubtfully on the Buddha Beads wrapped around it, then frowned again in confusion, "I clearly wasn’t wearing the Buddha Beads before going to sleep last night..."

Why did the Buddha Beads appear on her wrist when she woke up?

Could she really have remembered it wrong?

Wen Zhi had asked herself this question several times, but the more she thought about it, the more confused she became, until she couldn’t be certain anymore.

But one thing was for sure!

Wen Zhi realized that whenever she wore the Buddha Beads to sleep, she’d certainly dream of Hexing!

Without them, she wouldn’t have these dreams.

During those days in Harbor City and after returning, she hadn’t dreamed about Hexing at all. But ever since Gu Rang had packed up and sent over her luggage, she started dreaming about him the very first night she got the Buddha Beads...

The more she thought about it, the more she felt there was a problem, and that she seemed to have overlooked something very important.

She immediately took another set of Buddha Beads, comparing the two sets closely.

The ghost face pattern was rare, especially the two sets she held, which were extremely rare, and the patterns were definitely irreplicable. She recognized the set she was wearing, and after a close examination of the other set with the ghost face pattern, there seemed to be no issue; it was exactly the same as when she had given them to Chong Wanyin.

"What exactly is the problem?" Wen Zhi’s confusion grew the more she thought about it.

It couldn’t be possible that Hexing also had a set of Buddha Beads exactly like hers, could it?

Replicating them might be doable, but entering dreams was definitely impossible.

Her pair of Buddha Beads was unique; it wasn’t possible to enter dreams with merely a similar set, it had to be the particular pair worn by the two people involved.

Hey, what on earth is going on...

As the morning passed, Wen Zhi pondered this question in her room until Aunt Lin knocked on the door again, "Miss Wen, it’s time for lunch."

Wen Zhi put away the two sets of Buddha Beads, "I’m coming."

Having skipped breakfast, she was hungry. Without dallying, she got ready and went straight downstairs.

The aroma of the dishes was already wafting in, making Wen Zhi even hungrier. She quickened her pace toward the dining table, but before she could get close, she suddenly stopped.

She saw Hexing, sitting in front of the dining table.

Had he just returned?

Or had he not gone out today?

As she hesitated, Hexing looked over with a detached expression, "You didn’t have breakfast, and you’re not in a hurry for lunch. Is it because you’re not hungry?"

"Of course not," Wen Zhi shook her head as she snapped back to reality.

Then, with a nervous heart, she walked over and sat down opposite him.

Aunt Lin brought out a dish and, seeing Wen Zhi sitting down, said with a smile, "Miss Wen, today’s dishes are all made to suit your tastes."