Chapter 101 Chapter 101: Memories Of The Past
Chapter 101: Memories Of The Past
After chatting with Brother Long in her sweet younger sister persona for a while, Chi Xiaocheng hung up the phone and returned to her own room.
She still had two things to do.
First, deal with the poisoned apple in her system space. When Ye Liang woke up and was able to eat again, she felt she could find an opportunity to give him the apple.
Second, give the figurine she had acquired from the gacha draw to Su Tao.
Chi Xiaocheng locked her room door and retrieved the figurine from her system space.
It was a dual-character figurine, crafted with exquisite detail and incredibly lifelike.
Su Tao, with her gray hair, wore a dark fairy-tale style black gown and elegant high heels, appearing to be in a duet dance with Chi Xiaocheng. Her body leaned slightly forward, her right arm wrapped around the slender waist of the white figure, and her left index finger gently touched Chi Xiaocheng's chin, tilting it up slightly. A bewitching smile played on her lips, and her gaze, intensely predatory, fixed on the person in her embrace.
Chi Xiaocheng, in stark contrast, wore a long white princess gown, posed as if about to fall but caught, her feet barely touching the ground. Her eyes were a little moist, and her expression was anxious and fearful, like a delicate little white rabbit.
Even with its base, the figurine was less than 20 centimeters tall, as if the height difference between the two characters was scaled down proportionally at a 1:10 ratio. Chi Xiaocheng, 1.53 meters tall, had a figurine height of 15.3 centimeters. Su Tao, 1.66 meters tall, had a figurine height of 16.6 centimeters.
Like an angel embracing a demon, or a big bad wolf with a little white rabbit, it was a stark contrast to their real-life dynamic. In the figurine's depiction, Su Tao was the dark one, while Chi Xiaocheng was timid and adorable, vulnerable and waiting to be plucked.
Chi Xiaocheng cupped the figurine in both hands, raising it high, then bent down to look beneath the characters' skirts.
Su Tao's character had a cartoon orange pattern.
Chi Xiaocheng's character had a cartoon peach pattern.
The fine details and textures were incredibly intricate.
"This is practically a work of art!"
"The system's description said that staring at it for too long could induce a trance. Just its lifelike quality and the striking color combination of the outfits are stunning enough."
"What kind of dream would a lucid dream be?"
Chi Xiaocheng pondered for a moment, deciding to try it herself before giving it to Su Tao. Just like with the muscle-softening powder and sleeping black tea from the last time in the dark room, Chi Xiaocheng had tested them out first, confirming she could better control the situation before using them on Su Tao.
Changing into her pajamas, Chi Xiaocheng prepared her sleeping position in advance, then placed the figurine on the bedside table. She simply lay there, watching it quietly.
Her previously cluttered thoughts seemed to gradually dissipate. Chi Xiaocheng even felt her thinking slowing down.
In her vision, the two figures in the figurine seemed to come alive.
Su Tao, in the black gown, cradled Chi Xiaocheng's chin with her fingertips. Chi Xiaocheng initially expected a forceful kiss, but instead, the girl revealed a terrifying smile. A red moon seemed to emerge around them. The girl bit into Chi Xiaocheng's carotid artery, her throat greedily bobbing. And the previously delicate and fearful Chi Xiaocheng's expression transformed in that instant into one of pathological enjoyment and affection.
This horrific scene almost scared Chi Xiaocheng out of her wits. She swallowed, shaking her head. "A little unsettling. I hope I won't have a dream like that tonight, right?"
Though, if something like that really happened, perhaps it wouldn't be so bad?
After the trance, drowsiness began to set in. Chi Xiaocheng didn't resist; she primarily wanted to experience what a lucid dream was like. So she closed her eyes, hugging a new, large brown bear plushie she had bought.
Hmm?
You ask about the previous panda plushie?
It seems that due to changes in temperature, the panda plushie had expanded and contracted, ripping its fabric in several spots, its limbs' threads snapped, and its internal cotton spilling out. The manufacturer's quality was too poor; it had broken. Chi Xiaocheng had no choice but to get a new one.
Her consciousness gradually blurred, her thoughts stagnated. Chi Xiaocheng didn't even have time to turn off the lights before falling into a deep sleep.
Time seemed to pass for a long while, yet also felt like only an instant. Chi Xiaocheng opened her eyes again, feeling herself in an exceptionally familiar place.
Across the street from the Fordington Grand Hotel.
This place was more than familiar; she would never forget it in this lifetime. It was where her love story with her girlfriend had begun to end in her previous life.
"Did I go back in time?"
Chi Xiaocheng jolted, turning abruptly to find a blurry figure standing beside her. Its face was indistinct, its form unclear, like the shadowy culprits from Detective Conan, or the indistinct figures in ghost movies. This person held a beautiful bouquet of 52 white roses. Even though their face was blurry, Chi Xiaocheng knew that this person's expression was one of anticipation, joy, and happiness.
Chi Xiaocheng looked at her own hands.
"Transparent..."
Her eyes flickered. "I didn't go back in time. My past self is already dead; I almost forgot this was a lucid dream."
Now, she was less a person and more a blurry, indistinct soul. And the person beside her, holding the pure white roses, was her past self!
"To dream of something like this... do I still harbor lingering feelings for my past life?"
Chi Xiaocheng had expected the dream to be the ambiguous scene she had hallucinated with the figurine earlier. She had even mentally prepared for the sheets to be thoroughly damp when she woke up.
However, she couldn't possibly have any lingering feelings for her past self. Her memory clearly recalled the events that would unfold next.
It was her two-year anniversary with her girlfriend, and filled with anticipation, she had bought roses and a gift to give her. But after waiting through the 90-second red light, she saw her girlfriend walk out of the hotel with a middle-aged man.
It turned out her girlfriend had betrayed her long ago. Her past self's heart was wrung with agony upon realizing the betrayal, and she broke up with her girlfriend.
Then.
"Hiss..."
Chi Xiaocheng clutched her head, wincing, somewhat unwilling to remember. She only remembered staying dejected at home for three months before going out. She encountered a thug in a coffee shop, and after fighting desperately to subdue him, she was hospitalized. Upon discharge, a large truck sent her to this female-oriented novel world. After crossing over, she made it her goal to use Su Tao's protagonist's aura for self-preservation, and also took pleasure in teasing Su Tao, gradually reaching her current situation.
The past of her previous life had long been cast aside. Yet this dream had taken her back!
"What's the point of watching what already happened again?"
Chi Xiaocheng spoke, addressing her former self. However, as she expected, her past self could not hear her voice. She reached out to touch the roses. Her hand simply passed through them.
Instantly, she understood what role she played in this dream: a spectator. She couldn't influence the dream's progression, nor was she truly a part of it, instead feeling like an observer peering into an unforgettable memory from her past.
The red light on the pedestrian crossing counted down second by second. The twilight deepened, feeling unusually heavy. The blurry figure holding the white roses grew more expectant, while Chi Xiaocheng's own heart gradually sank.
The red light turned off, the yellow light blinked, the green light shone.
The world, at that moment, seemed to freeze along with the flow of traffic. Her past self, holding the roses, was the first to step forward.
Chi Xiaocheng sighed, following closely behind. As they walked, the surrounding figures seemed to gradually dwindle and fade. The crosswalk transformed into a bridge, and the surrounding traffic surged like torrents of blood.
When they reached the opposite bank, the bustling street was cleared. In Chi Xiaocheng's eyes, a man wearing a gold chain was embracing her former girlfriend as they slowly walked out of the hotel.
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