Illusion and Reality

Chu Xia remembered that when Gao Yan learned that he wanted to get Liang Shiyun back when he just returned to the country, he asked a question. He asked, Don’t you think Liang Shiyun has changed a lot in recent years?

Chu Xia certainly felt the changes in Liang Shiyun over the past few years, especially in her attitude towards the relationship between men and women, but

It’s how you like eating fish. You like the steamed ones, but don’t you also like the braised ones?

Chu Xia answered Gao Yan in this way.

He thought he was not a narrow-minded person, but at this moment, when he heard the man’s voice on the phone, he suddenly didn’t want to say anything.

It didn’t matter if it was playing around or if it was serious.

After so many years, his taste had not changed. But it was just him. Liang Shiyun’s taste might have changed long ago.

Chu Xia hung up without saying a word.

That night, he was lying in the apartment tossing and turning, and he drank some alcohol. When he woke up the next day, he unexpectedly had a fever.

He felt so heavy that he almost fell down. He took a thermometer and it measured 38.5. Fortunately, it was not serious. He ordered delivery and asked the delivery boy to help him buy cold medicine.

It might be from the exhaustion suddenly accumulating to a breaking point.

After taking the medicine, Chu Xia fell into a deep sleep. His body was hot and cold at times, just like the symptoms during the quarantine period of the pandemic. The dream he had was not about his time during the quarantine, but when he had a cold in college.

It was during winter vacation of his sophomore year. He stayed in school for some reason, and woke up one morning to find that he had a fever.

He coughed a few times, Liang Shiyun heard  it through the phone. She came to the school to see him that afternoon.

It was New Year’s Eve that day. Although he stayed at the school, there were a few classmates in the dormitory next door, and he had a good relationship with them.

But Liang Shiyun insisted on coming. That night, they cuddled together in the dormitory to celebrate the New Year.

Chu Xia slept in the afternoon, and the fever had subsided by night. He had to ask Liang Shiyun, “Since you’re here, what did you tell Professor Fang?”

Liang Shiyun didn’t answer, but took out a box from the bag instead. “I learned to make dumplings at home. Should I cook some for you to try?”

“I don’t have an induction stove.”

“Huh? Last time I remembered that your dormitory had one to cook hot pot…”

“It was borrowed from the dormitory next door… They all went home for the New Year, I’ll go see if a friend has one,” Chu Xia said. After grabbing a warmer piece of clothes, he got up and was about to go to the dormitory next door to borrow it.

Liang Shiyun stopped him. “Forget it, don’t go.”

Chu Xia thought she was afraid that her classmates would know her relationship with him, so he quickly said, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell them that you are here.”

Liang Shiyun shook her head, and pressed him down on his blanket. “Don’t go, you haven’t recovered from your cold yet.”

Dinner that day was carried over by Liang Shiyun from the cafeteria.

After dinner, Liang Shiyun still found a way to cook dumplings. She used the kettle in the dormitory.

The water capacity of the kettle was small, and the power would cut off automatically after the water was boiling. That day, there were more than a dozen dumplings, and Liang Shiyun insisted on using the kettle to cook it all for nearly half an hour before it was ready.

Back then, he had a cold and didn’t know what the dumplings tasted like at all. Yet, the way Liang Shiyun cooked the dumplings that day, under the dense steam, with red cheeks and nose, was really beautiful.

Why didn’t you cherish Liang Shiyun at that time?

Chu Xia opened his eyes in frustration.

The surrounding area was silent. The evening light came in through the window, making it difficult to tell what time of the night it was.

He didn’t know whether his fever was gone or not. He felt fatigue all over his body, as if there was no point in doing anything, and he didn’t want to do anything.

Until he saw Liang Shiyun pushing the door open.

How high is the fever this time? Chu Xia thought, but he couldn’t close his eyes. He just quietly stared at her until she looked at him. “Are you awake?”

Chu Xia: “…”

This illusion was so real.

“Are you better?” Liang Shiyun reached out to touch his forehead.

It was a slightly cool, smooth touch.

Chu Xia sat up suddenly. He grabbed her hand, and repeatedly tried to confirm. “Why are you…?”

His throat throbbed. He tried desperately to let his voice rush out of his throat, but it was dry and itchy as if it had been burned. He coughed before he could say a word.

Liang Shiyun looked at him helplessly. She helped him calm down, then she picked up the water from the side and handed it to him.

She saw how he drank it all at once, and she said to him, “I flew back to the country at noon today.”

“There were some problems left in the company, so I came back to deal with them,” Liang Shiyun explained. She saw that he still had doubts, so she added, “You called me before boarding the plane yesterday, remember? I was in a hurry to board so I hung up first. Then I called you back but couldn’t get through. I passed by your apartment to take a look, and saw that the door was open…”

Yesterday? Boarding? He remembered when he called, she didn’t seem to be at the airport. Chu Xia just woke up, so his mind was still a little dazed, so he refused to believe it.

However, just after refusing to believe it, he suddenly remembered that after getting drunk yesterday, he seemed to call Liang Shiyun again.

So what did he say?

Chu Xia tried hard to remember, but couldn’t remember anything. He grabbed the cell phone next to the bed and turned it on. It showed that at twelve o’clock last night, he did make a voice call to her, and the call lasted five minutes.

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