Sharing Dreams with My Bestie's Cousin

Wen Zhi reached out to touch his face.

The moment her fingertips touched it, her face showed incredible astonishment, "Your face..."

She could feel his eyes, his nose, and his mouth, and this face, she seemed to have caressed countless times before.

"Wen Zhi." She called her name again.

Wen Zhi lifted her head and asked, "Who are you?"

The man didn’t answer her, nor did he offer any explanation, but the dream shifted again. Wen Zhi, who had been shivering on the rooftop, was now lying in the warmth of a bed, still being bullied by the man.

"The wind on the rooftop is so cold, you’ve been blown by it for so long, have you still not woken up?"

"Or are you pretending not to recognize me?"

"Wen Zhi, after so long, you finally agreed to see me in a dream, I don’t believe that over these months... you haven’t thought of me at all?"

"But I missed you..."

The man held her and said a lot of things.

Listening to him, Wen Zhi gradually realized that this man seemed to be able to control her dreams. His relentless oppression was meant to let her know who he was; even the wind on the rooftop was his way of making her awaken enough to see clearly who he was.

But who was he?

She asked the question aloud, "Who are you?"

Soon she heard the man’s answer, his lips close to her ear, "I am Shang Hexing, do you remember this time?"

Wen Zhi suddenly widened her eyes, "Shang Hexing? It’s you again!"

The man whispered lightly into her ear, "Do you remember now?"

Wen Zhi whimpered softly, "The last two times it was you who bullied me in my dreams!"

"It wasn’t bullying," his tone was so downcast, "I just missed you too much."

Wen Zhi’s ears turned red, and she kicked him, "You’re not allowed to touch me again, nor come into my dreams."

The atmosphere fell silent for a moment, and then Shang Hexing spoke in a hoarse voice, "If you don’t want me to come into your dreams, why did you put it on again?"

Wen Zhi was stunned, "Put on what?"

Before she could ask for clarification, a knock on the door woke Wen Zhi up.

"Miss Wen? Miss Wen?"

"Miss Wen, are you awake?"

...

Two minutes later, the freshly awakened Wen Zhi, with her messy hair, went to open the door. Aunt Xu frowned and brushed her hair away, straightening her clothes, "Mr. Nian has arrived."

Wen Zhi was momentarily startled, but then she immediately wanted to go down the stairs, fortunately Aunt Xu stopped her, "Miss Wen, you haven’t changed yet, you’re in your pajamas!"

Reminded by Aunt Xu, Wen Zhi became aware of it.

She hurriedly changed her clothes and went downstairs joyfully to the piano room.

The Croatian Rhapsody, Nian Xun’s favorite piece to play, Wen Zhi had not yet approached the piano room when she heard the passionate and lofty melody.

When the piece ended, Wen Zhi sat down beside Nian Xun, hugged one of his arms and said, "Nian Xun, you are really wonderful."

Her tone was childish, soft and mushy.

Nian Xun glanced at her sideways, his expression gentle, "What’s so wonderful about me?"

Wen Zhi grinned, "You said you’d come today, and you really did, you didn’t deceive me."

Nian Xun smiled, "Do you really want me to stay with you all the time?"

Wen Zhi nodded vigorously, "Yes."

"You want to, but you can’t." Nian Xun’s gentle look faded, his expression turning stern. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Wen Zhi was somewhat scared of this stern Nian Xun.

She released Nian Xun’s arm, moved aside, and said in a small voice, "Can you not be so harsh with me?"

Nian Xun frowned.

"Ferocious?"

He looked at Wen Zhi, who had been frightened by him, indeed seeming somewhat afraid of him.

Nian Xun admitted that he had always had a bad temper, but during the months he had brought Wen Zhi to Laihai City, he had never once lost his temper with her.

He laughed bitterly, and when he spoke, his voice was cold and distant, "You’re afraid I’ll be fierce toward you, so I won’t come anymore. That way, you’ll have more peace."

"No, no, don’t want peace—want it lively." Wen Zhi shook her head vigorously, "You have to come, you can’t not come to see me."

Nian Xun looked at her leisurely, "Why must I come?"

Wen Zhi’s beautiful almond-shaped eyes blinked as she looked at Nian Xun and said, "Because I like it when you come to see me, it makes me feel cared about."

Felt cared about...

A very subtle feeling sprouted in Nian Xun’s heart, but quickly, he resolutely suppressed this inexplicable oddness.

His expression darkened, and he took his hands off the piano, straightened his cufflinks, and stood up, "There are plenty of people who care about you. And every time I come to see you, it’s just out of some responsibility."

Wen Zhi, straining her neck to look up at Nian Xun, "Responsibility?"

"Yes, responsibility."

Nian Xun looked down at her, "Perhaps you should call me ’Uncle’... never mind!"

That was the title he detested the most.

Just a moment ago, it seemed he wasn’t as averse to it, as he wanted to dispel those inappropriate thoughts of Wen Zhi, yet didn’t quite want to.

Wen Zhi muttered to herself, "Uncle...?"

Nian Xun’s lips twitched slightly, and he immediately frowned, "Calling that recklessly can have serious consequences."

Wen Zhi: "..."

Having said that, Nian Xun then left the piano room, leaving Wen Zhi alone there.

"You were the one who said ’Uncle’; I thought it just meant ’Uncle’..." Wen Zhi sighed in exasperation.

Suddenly, the passion from last night’s dream emerged in her mind, her ears heated up, and she immediately sat up straight, covering her face with both hands, "I can’t think about it anymore, it was just a dream!"

Right, he said his name was Shang Hexing!

It seems there is such a person in reality?

Wen Zhi thought of something to ask and immediately got up to chase after him, "Nian Xun, I wanted to ask you..."

Before she could finish her question, Wen Zhi came out and saw someone holding a box in front of Nian Xun, speaking something. Nian Xun opened the box, looked satisfied, then closed it before turning to Wen Zhi, "What did you want to ask?"

Wen Zhi walked over, pointed at the box that person was holding, and asked, "What is that?"

Nian Xun ignored the question Wen Zhi had wanted to ask earlier, and answered her, "It’s a valuable item, meant to be given away."

Full of curiosity, Wen Zhi pointed again and asked, "Can I take a look?"

Nian Xun looked at her, "What do you think?"

Wen Zhi’s smiling lips drooped down.

Just then, Nian Xun called Aunt Xu, and instructed, "Take her to change into something more presentable; I am taking her out today."

Aunt Xu acknowledged, "Alright."

Wen Zhi had an incredulous look on her face.

She had been living here for so long and had never gone out, but today, out of the blue, she heard Nian Xun say he was taking her out!

"Really? Can I really go out with you today?" Wen Zhi was so excited she was nearly incoherent.

Nian Xun’s lips curled into a faint smile, "Since you’ll be learning business with me from now on, it’s also time for you to start seeing the world."

Wen Zhi’s face lit up with joy, "Seeing the world?"

Nian Xun nodded, "Yes, come see the world with me. There’s a big dinner today, and leaders from three cities will meet to discuss public-private partnerships."

Wen Zhi nodded vigorously, "I will perform well!"

"Performance is secondary, what’s important is..." Nian Xun looked at Wen Zhi with a meaningful expression, "Today, no matter who you meet, as long as I am there, you must listen to me and rely only on me, understood?"