Sharing Dreams with My Bestie's Cousin

Wen Zhi arrived in Licheng and, on her way out of the airport, received a phone call informing her that her grandmother was critically ill again.

The call was from Meng Fan.

On the phone, Meng Fan sobbed heavily, "Zhizhi, what do we do now? Uncle, my mom and dad, and Rong Huaishen, they’re all not here. Great-grandpa is also gone. It’s just me and Tajiguli here..."

"Stop crying for a moment, just wait for me," Wen Zhi looked around and found a quiet spot with fewer people, where the call could be heard more clearly.

She set her luggage aside and asked, "Meng Fan, are you listening?"

Meng Fan’s intermittent sobbing came through the phone: "I’m listening, Zhizhi."

Wen Zhi asked, "Have you made all the important calls except to me?"

Meng Fan hastily replied, "We’ve called everyone, Tajiguli called one by one, my mom and dad, and even uncle. The only one we can’t reach is grandpa; he’s probably... already on the plane by now."

Meng Fan hadn’t left Licheng for the past month.

Given the size of the Rong enterprise that Rong Huaishen controlled, it was not possible for him to stay in Licheng all the time, so he had to shuttle back and forth between Bai City and Licheng.

Now that the grandmother’s condition was visibly improving, Meng Fan was also planning to leave Licheng soon. She had already arranged it with Rong Huaishen and was just waiting for him to come pick her up.

But who could have anticipated—

The grandmother, whose condition had been improving, suddenly became critically ill again.

And this time, it was even more severe than before; the doctor said if she didn’t wake up, she might not survive the night.

Wen Zhi felt a heavy weight in her chest and first reassured Meng Fan, "Don’t panic, I’m at Licheng Airport right now. I’ll check to see if great-grandpa has boarded the flight; if he hasn’t, I’ll do everything I can to stop him from leaving."

After speaking, Wen Zhi hung up the phone and turned back.

She first went to the check-in counter, and after some inquiries and communications, the staff remained ambiguously unable to provide information.

Wen Zhi understood the reason; without being a VIP or having the help of someone from the airport, she would not have any special privilege to inquire.

With no other option, Wen Zhi decided to call Shang Hexing.

During the few seconds of waiting for the call to be answered, Wen Zhi spotted a familiar silhouette, immediately ended the still-unanswered call, and left her luggage behind as she sprinted toward the distance.

"Wait a moment!"

"Please wait a moment!"

Wen Zhi ran and shouted.

Her yelling attracted the attention of numerous passersby. Soon, airport workers approached to stop her from running so fast.

Partly because they were concerned she might collide with other passengers, and partly to inquire if she needed assistance.

Wen Zhi, anxious, pointed in one direction, "Please help me stop that elderly man, don’t let him board the plane. I have something very important to tell him, something really critical, a matter of life and death."

Knowing the attitude of these workers, she tried to make the situation sound as serious as possible.

But even so, this did not change the attitude of the workers; they asked Wen Zhi what was the matter, requesting a clear explanation. Before Wen Zhi could articulate her explanation, the old man’s figure had disappeared in the distance.

There was no more time.

Without further courtesies, Wen Zhi pushed aside the workers and continued running in the direction where the old man had gone.

Because of the old man’s special identity, airport staff had arranged a special passage, and by the time Wen Zhi caught up, the old man was nowhere to be seen.

During this time, Shang Hexing returned the call, and Wen Zhi immediately answered, "Shang Hexing, I’ve spotted great-grandpa at the airport..."

"Miss Wen, it’s me," Chen Jinhai’s voice came through the phone.

Wen Zhi stopped in her tracks, "Where is Shang Hexing?"

"Mr. Shang has been on the plane for half an hour already. He knew you would be calling, so he passed on his phone to me." Halfway through speaking, Chen Jinhai suddenly asked, "Miss Wen, you just said you saw the old master. Is it at Licheng Airport?"

Wen Zhi answered, "Yes, I just arrived at Licheng Airport not long ago."

Chen Jinhai immediately asked again, "Miss Wen, when did you set off?"

"It’s quite a coincidence, I happened to be free and wanted to visit grandma. I didn’t expect to receive Meng Fan’s call just as I got off the plane."

And then the current situation arose.

Who could have foreseen it?

Everything just happened to align. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

That included Chen Jinhai’s call as well.

"I heard from Meng Fan that great-grandpa was preparing to leave Licheng. But we can’t get in touch with him now; it seems he won’t let anyone persuade him to stay..."

With the urgency of the matter at hand, Wen Zhi quickly explained the current situation to Chen Jinhai, who naturally understood what to do. After hanging up, he immediately got in touch with someone inside Licheng Airport.

...

Tuesday had left Licheng with reluctance today.

Half a month ago, he was forced out of the Red Mansion, and regardless of his countless attempts to communicate with the old lady, he was ultimately turned away at the door.

The old lady never wanted to see him.

The one time he took it upon himself to enter the old lady’s room, he ended up startling her so much that her blood pressure spiked and she fainted.

Tuesday was terrified by this and, since then, did not dare to make decisions on his own to enter the room anymore.

After staying awake through the night, when the old lady awakened, she did something even more stubborn – she insisted that Tuesday had to move out of the Red Mansion. If he didn’t, she would refuse treatment.

Everyone knew full well the old lady’s temperament; when she said she would refuse treatment, she meant it. After discussions, the only solution seemed to be to take turns convincing the old master to move out of the Red Mansion and temporarily stay in a hotel in the city.

Initially, Tuesday was utterly unwilling.

But for the sake of the old lady’s health, he eventually moved out.

The stay at the hotel lasted yet another ten days.

The old patriarch grew weary of staying there and called the old lady numerous times, wanting to speak with her, but was always refused.

The old gentleman felt at his wit’s end.

He was so disheartened that he knew no amount of goodwill could change anything, so he resolved to make his way back to Bai City.

"Old sir, it’s time to board the plane,"

the person beside him reminded.

The old patriarch snapped back to reality.

He looked up at the sky and let out a long, heavy sigh, "I had intended to stay this time, alas..."

"Old sir, are you really planning to go back now?" the person beside him inquired.

"No point in going back," the old patriarch waved dismissively, "I shouldn’t have come in the first place; she never intended to forgive me."

The person beside him said no more.

The flight the old patriarch was on wasn’t boarding through a jet bridge, but on the tarmac.

Since it was a longer walk, they’d have to take a shuttle bus.

At this moment, travelers were passing by, with the flight attendants orderly directing them to board.

"Old sir, it’s time to board," the person beside him repeated in a softer voice, cautious not to upset the old man.

The old patriarch lowered his head, his face etched with distress: "It’s time to leave... then let’s go."

The boarding stairs were right in front, and the old patriarch walked in front, reaching the cabin door, when suddenly he heard a flight attendant pick up a walkie-talkie—

On the other end, someone said: "A young girl with short hair is running towards B-5428. Confirm the situation and make sure to stop her; she has not gone through security."

After listening, the flight attendant grew tense and immediately responded into the walkie-talkie: "Roger that. Didn’t she take the shuttle bus over here?"

Shortly, the voice from the walkie-talkie came again: "No, she broke through the barricade and ran over, you must stop her and verify the situation."

"Received."

Just as the attendant had confirmed the message, they saw a young girl running towards them across the tarmac.

"There she is, quick, stop her—she hasn’t been through security," the flight attendant quickly put away the walkie-talkie and went down with two ground staff to intercept.

At that moment, the old patriarch, just about to enter the cabin, suddenly turned back to look at the distant commotion.

At that glance, the old patriarch’s expression turned complex.

Why had this girl come?

And why was she running so desperately?

It seemed she was looking for him.

If she was here to make him relent, he wouldn’t give her the chance to see him. With that thought, the old patriarch hurriedly turned to enter.

But after a few steps, the old patriarch turned back again.

Deep down, he still wanted to know what this girl was up to. No matter what she said, he wanted to listen for a moment before dismissing her.

After all, nothing she said could change his attitude.

...

When Wen Zhi ran over here, she nearly put as much effort as when she used to sprint eight hundred meters back in her school days.

Having run all this way, she was stopped by the ground staff.

Wen Zhi explained that she was looking for someone, but they needed to verify her story, which was time-consuming; she then lied, claiming she was a passenger on this flight, but they required her to show her ticket information and asked if she had not gone through the security check.

Unsure of how Chen Jinhai had managed his communication, currently, no one was granting her any special privileges, and they were adamant in stopping her.

After failing to communicate, Wen Zhi tried to break through.

Seizing an opportunity, she slipped past them but ended up being tackled to the ground.

With that tackle, she fell hard, scraping both hands, and blood visibly oozed from her arms, forming a bright red, startling sight.

After being helped up, Wen Zhi still didn’t give up, but the ground staff held her firmly and warned, "Ma’am, if you don’t cooperate, we will have to call the police."

Wen Zhi suddenly stopped struggling.

She closed her eyes and sighed, and just as the ground staff beside her thought she had settled down, she abruptly broke free from their hold and ran towards the boarding stairs.

At that moment, the old patriarch still hadn’t gone inside.

He stood at the cabin door, looking down at Wen Zhi running clumsily toward him.

He had witnessed the entire struggle between Wen Zhi and the ground staff.

Though he didn’t care for this girl, seeing her run so desperately sparked an ominous premonition in his heart.

"Great-grandfather!"

Just as she called out great-grandfather, Wen Zhi was once again stopped at the bottom of the boarding stairs.

The old patriarch was unmoved: "I’ve said it, as long as I breathe, you two will never be together."

Wen Zhi shook her head, her body stained with blood from her scraped arms, speaking in a wretched state, "It’s grandma, grandma’s critically ill..."

The old patriarch’s body suddenly swayed, and he quickly stepped forward, "What did you say?"

Wen Zhi held back her tears from falling and replied word by word, "Grandma’s critically ill."