Chapter 121: In the Dream

(Introducing a new book "The Principles of Being Human" (by the author of "Record of the Three Kingdoms’ Genius Possession") Marco. Pineapple’s new book, book number 1738381)

During the time Li Yan was away, Zhang Yurong still had Aunt Liu clean his bedroom from time to time. She herself would occasionally come in to have a look, but there was essentially nothing to see. The layout was exactly the same as the bedroom she stayed in next door. The biggest difference originally was the person living there, but with him gone, entering was like stepping into an empty room.

But overall, she had come in a few times over the past two weeks and was still clear about the condition inside. However, upon entering now, under the bright light, she doubted if she had walked into the wrong place or even if she was experiencing an illusion!

Because the walls of the room were completely covered with her photographs!

All these photos were made into large posters, filling all the blank walls. Some of the photos she had seen before, while others were completely new to her. Seeing such clear large poster photos surrounding her made her feel as if the room was crowded with people, and those people were all her own shadows...

"What’s going on here?" Yurong saw Li Yan fumbling to sit by the bed and hurried over to ask.

"What?"

Seeing him still feigning ignorance, Yurong couldn’t help but hit his shoulder, "Don’t play dumb! Why are there so many photos of me in this room? Don’t tell me you know nothing about it!"

"Oh..." Li Yan showed an expression of sudden realization, "So that’s what you’re talking about. What’s so strange about it? You’re my wife. Isn’t it normal for me to put photos of my wife up in my room?"

Yurong was taken aback. He had a point. They were married but hadn’t taken wedding photos at the time, thinking they’d do it later, but had kept delaying. So there were no wedding photos in any of the rooms. If a stranger came, they really wouldn’t be able to tell their relationship.

"But... where did these photos come from? And when did you put them up? I came here just a few days ago and there was nothing then!"

Li Yan smiled mysteriously, snapping his fingers and said leisurely, "Actually, you’re in my dream right now. The real you has already fallen asleep. I’ve pulled you into my dream. Remember the movie ’Inception’? Since this is my dream world, of course, I can create whatever dreamscape I want. Everything you see is a dream I’ve created."

"Crazy..." Zhang Yurong was speechless. She was very certain this was reality, not a dreamscape. "Quickly tell me, what exactly is going on? Didn’t you just come back with us? Did you pretend your eyes were uncomfortable? But you didn’t have time to put up so many photos that fast!"

"It really is my dream, otherwise I’d give you a surprise. Close your eyes!" Li Yan softly said.

Zhang Yurong arched her brows but still closed her eyes.

Soon, she faintly heard a little noise, and then Li Yan said, "Alright."

Upon opening her eyes, Li Yan was no longer visible, but he hadn’t disappeared; instead, there was now a large bouquet of roses between the two of them, obscuring her view!

"For you. Now do you believe it? If it weren’t my dream, how could I just make something appear when I want it? I’m not a magician," Li Yan said with a smile, handing the flowers forward a bit.

As she held the roses, breathed in their fragrance, and looked at the dewy red blooms, Zhang Yurong found herself momentarily questioning reality. Could this really be a dream? That would be too strange, right?

"Hehe, what are you thinking about? Are you looking for a top to test it? In a dream, it should spin endlessly..." Li Yan continued to laugh.

Yurong looked at him for a while, shook her head, and said, "No need..."

She held the flowers in one hand, then bent slightly to take Li Yan’s hand.

"Are you asking me to dance?" Li Yan stood up cooperatively.

At this moment, Yurong kissed his hand back like a ceremonial gesture. Just as Li Yan found it both amusing and speechless, she suddenly bit onto his palm with her teeth!

"Ow... what are you doing?" fearing to hurt her teeth, Li Yan didn’t dare to pull hard, only pretending to withdraw his hand.

"Does it hurt?" Yurong quietly asked.

Li Yan replied irately, "What do you think? I’ve got bite marks now, right? Is there any bleeding?"

He suddenly remembered a story, about a young Zhang Wuji biting onto Yin Li’s hand to escape in Butterfly Valley. As a result, Yin Li remembered the young Zhang Wuji for a lifetime. That deep impression was such that she didn’t believe it was the grown-up Zhang Wuji she later met. And then Zhao Min, after hearing Yin Li recount this tale to Xie Xun alongside Zhang Yurong, took Zhang Wuji’s hand and gave it a hard bite, not only making it bleed but also using medicine to etch the wound deeper, wanting Zhang Wuji to remember her forever... 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

This tale from "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber" softened his heart. Perhaps Yurong felt that her impression wasn’t strong enough and wanted to express it this way?

"No bleeding, no bite marks, does it hurt?" Yurong checked and continued asking.

Li Yan softly said, "It doesn’t hurt. It’s you biting me; even if it’s harder, I wouldn’t feel pain."

He extended his hand, wanting to pull her into his arms, but unfortunately, Zhang Yurong didn’t cooperate and embrace him.

"What are you doing?" Li Yan felt something was off about her silence.

"Ah..." Yurong exclaimed softly.

"What’s wrong?" Li Yan hurriedly opened his eyes and, seeing through the still slightly pained vision, noticed that she extracted her fingers from his, then looked at him in exasperation.

"You said it didn’t hurt! But why does biting myself hurt?"

Li Yan was speechless. Of course biting yourself hurts! "Because I thought you were biting me like Zhao Min bit Zhang Wuji, so to not worry you, I said it didn’t hurt..."

"..."

Zhang Yurong pushed him back onto the bed and then sat beside him, saying, both crying and laughing, "What Zhao Min, what Zhang Wuji, are you muddled? I bit you to confirm if I’m dreaming!"

"Confirming a dream?" Li Yan felt like banging his head against the wall...

"You told me this was your dream! Where could I find a top to spin? Besides, the top in the movie was one person’s totem for distinguishing dream from reality, not something everyone could use. I thought a bite would be faster; they say you can’t feel pain in dreams."

"So you bit me?" Understanding the sequence of events, Li Yan found it funny and then said, "It’s true, I don’t feel pain. Did biting yourself hurt a lot? Maybe that’s normal because it’s my dream, and you think you’re not dreaming..."

"Enough! Do you think I’m a child?" Zhang Yurong interrupted him and then seriously asked, "Answer me honestly, when did you put up these photos? When did you hide the bouquet on the bed? Why did you do this? And lie about us being in a dream—what are your intentions?"

Li Yan closed his eyes, fell back onto the bed, and smiled, "Since you’ve seen through it, can’t you guess?"

"I can’t guess!"

"In a little while, it’ll be someone’s birthday. It’s the first birthday since I’ve been with her. But I didn’t know if she wanted me to celebrate it with her or if she’d accept my gift, so I came back at noon to set this up when she wasn’t home. I tidied things up, and placed a bouquet here. If she wanted me to be back to celebrate with her, I’d bring her here and give her the flowers in surprise. If she didn’t want to see me, she could come over herself if I called—no surprise, but still a shock..."

Listening to him, Yurong found herself filled with mixed emotions. Previously, she had been feeling down, thinking he didn’t even remember her birthday and hadn’t prepared anything for her. She didn’t realize that he remembered and had already started! Looking at these photos, they weren’t taken over the last half month; he must have had this idea before Yu Xiao Di’s birthday. And him leaving this noon was all to come back and set up this surprise, even his acting just now was intentional!

"Luckily, I planned it in advance. Otherwise, my eyes being inconvenient now, I wouldn’t have been able to put them up properly. It’s almost time, only a few hours difference, does this count as a birthday present?"

Yurong felt a bit teary, sniffed back any urge to cry, and calmly said, "I guess it’s okay! At least someone didn’t forget. But compared to this gift, tonight’s action... is a bit better. By the way, when were these photos taken by someone? How come I didn’t know? If I didn’t know, does it count as secretly taken?"

Li Yan didn’t care, "Some are old, your previous photos I got from Xueyin. Some were taken by me; you’ve seen them. Most are of you busy in the office; if you call it secretly taken, I admit. But I didn’t break into your bedroom, nor are there any revealing ones."

"So they were ’stolen’ and ’tricked’!" Though appreciating his thoughtfulness, Yurong pouted to knock him down a peg, lest his arrogance rise too high. "Don’t you think that this lacks sincerity? Besides, these are posted in your room, not mine. Is this a gift for me or something you prepared for yourself?"

(to be continued, to find out what happens next, please log into www.qidian.com, more Chapters available, support the author, support legitimate reading!)