I ran to the back garden before gradually stopping, panting heavily. I collapsed into the flower bushes. The blooming peonies calmed my heart somewhat. After days of shock and fear, I hadn’t slept well for a long time. Exhausted, I tipped my head and fell into a deep sleep.
In my dream, I returned to a time long ago when the peonies were in bloom, and she laughed among the mountain flowers. This sleep brought many dreams, reliving the past fifteen years and uncovering hidden memories.
Rubbing my eyes, I felt heat on my face, as if I had accidentally overslept and the sun had set.
“Awake?” A cold voice, hinting at joy, interrupted me.
“Mm,” I replied, pressing my hands to my cheeks to cool down. The warm sunset made my face redden like a tomato.
A light laugh broke my thoughts, and I glared at him, that despicable fellow, gloating.
“Fan… brother?” I looked at him, uncertain yet recognizing him. Despite the decade that had passed, the familiar coldness between his brows remained. Wasn’t he the protagonist in my dream?
His beautiful lips curved: “Zero still remembers me. How good.” Then, without asking, his honey-colored lips pressed down.
For a moment, my mind felt fuzzy, unable to distinguish my reality. Like Zhuangzi dreaming of being a butterfly, I couldn’t tell if I was dreaming or if this was real. If it were real, how could it be so beautiful?
If it were a dream, it felt too real; even the touch was tangible.
“Dazed?” Han Ruo Fan pinched my face. “So bold as a child, how did you become timid when you grew up?” His hand, slightly rough, made my heart itch.
Blushing, I wondered if he was really my brother Fan, the one I had been betrothed to since childhood. I scrambled up and asked, “Where’s Ying Luo?” My hands searched my storage bell for the jade pendant.
“Here it is,” Han Ruo Fan said, taking a golden Ying Luo arm bracelet from his arm. I realized this was the Ying Luo necklace I had given him years ago, transformed into an arm bracelet. Seeing how carefully he had kept it made me inexplicably happy.
