Chapter 18: The Lingering Nightmare

The cake shop itself wasn’t far from the hospital.
By the time Captain Lu and Beiye arrived, Jiang Wenting had already carried Yi Lan back.

Beiye rushed in and pinched Yi Lan’s cheek: “How could you sneak out without saying anything?
Do you know you made Jiang Jiang cry from worry?”

With so many people standing around, Jiang Wenting was a little embarrassed and retorted: “Cry from worry?
No, I didn’t cry!”

Beiye looked at her with clear, bright puppy eyes: “Didn’t cry?
Then who was teary-eyed, grabbing an old lady in the hospital, saying, ‘Um, have you seen someone in a hospital gown?’
Aren’t everyone in the hospital wearing hospital gowns, babe?”

Officer Xiao Liu nearby couldn’t help but laugh: “Looks like Teacher Jiang was really flustered.”

Jiang Wenting blushed.
The incident with the old lady had apparently spread throughout the hospital.
She had been so flustered and irrational at the time, stopping an elderly couple in the hallway and asking incoherent questions.
The kind old lady, after Jiang Wenting left, walked around the entire hospital with an IV drip, helping to look for Yi Lan.

Their playful banter reached Yi Lan’s ears, and her heart was unexpectedly squeezed.
She glanced at Jiang Wenting out of the corner of her eye.
The other party was smiling gently amidst everyone’s teasing, showing no other emotion besides a slight embarrassment on her face.

But she could imagine how anxious and helpless she must have been at the time, like every time she was injured on the battlefield before, when the other party rushed in, disregarding all obstacles, protecting her, holding her, and crying.
Yet, it was this very woman, who poured out her heart and soul to love her, who ultimately betrayed her.

Why exactly?
She couldn’t understand her, couldn’t understand her before, and still couldn’t understand her now…

“Oh!” Xiao Liu suddenly exclaimed, drawing everyone’s attention.

Captain Lu turned his head and glared at him: “What’s wrong?
Why are you so startled?”

Xiao Liu gave an awkward laugh: “Captain Lu, I suddenly remembered, I forgot to send Teacher Jiang’s commendation letter!”

Captain Lu was speechless: “Didn’t I tell you to follow up on it?
Say it here!”

Xiao Liu didn’t realize he had been inefficient, instead, he was somewhat proud: “Hey, perfect!
We can add the patient buying the cake today, it’ll be even more interesting!”

He started brainstorming as he spoke.
Everyone present was dumbfounded by his silliness, especially Captain Lu, who truly felt embarrassed.
Yet, the young man, as he thought, eagerly asked: “Captain Lu, when are we going back?”

Captain Lu: …

The professionalism of the police was almost being ruined by this guy.
He quickly gave a few simple instructions, then dragged the young man away from the scene.

The ward quieted down.
Jiang Wenting took a hot towel to wipe the sweat from Yi Lan’s face.
Xiao Ru was seething with anger, but remembering Beiye’s morning warning, she tried her best to suppress the bitterness in her heart, standing at the very edge with her baseball cap on.

Beiye, however, loved a good show.
She leaned onto the bedside table, grabbed the cake, and began to unwrap it: “What’s in here?
Let me see!”

Before Jiang Wenting could say anything, Yi Lan suddenly tensed, turning her head to look at the cake.

Beiye deliberately held the cake, not letting go, and even let out a loud “Wow!”: “Water chestnut boba!
I love it!”

The next second, a cold voice suddenly came from her side: “It’s not for you.”

She turned her head, looking at the person in front of her with confusion: “It’s not for me?
But you ate mine yesterday!”

Yi Lan pursed her lips, not speaking.

Beiye continued: “Besides, the money for the cake was probably accidentally transferred to you when I was doing a transfer test, right?
Several hundred yuan, I didn’t say I was giving it to you!”

“I…” Yi Lan was a little flustered.
After several seconds, she stammered, “Today is her birthday.
I will find a way to return the money for the cake later.”

Beiye was relentless: “How will you return it?”

Seeing this, Jiang Wenting took the cake bag from her hand and pushed her behind her: “Beiye, don’t bully her!”

Beiye hung on Jiang Wenting’s back like a sloth, poking her head out from the side, tilting it to look at her: “Oh, feeling protective, are we?”

Jiang Wenting: …

The kind Beiye ultimately didn’t open the cake inside the gift bag.
Yi Lan’s suspended heart relaxed slightly.
She took the gift bag and, mimicking how Beiye shared the cake yesterday, meticulously plucked the water chestnut bobas off the cake one by one, placed them on an empty plate, and gave it to Jiang Wenting.

Her actions were a little clumsy, and water chestnut bobas weren’t some precious gift, yet Jiang Wenting’s eyes welled up the moment the other party handed her the plate.

“Thank you, Yi Lan,” she tried to keep her voice from sounding too strained, “Thank you for your gift, I like it very much!”

Yi Lan didn’t speak, her expression sullen.
Beiye, meanwhile, stared at the plate of separated bobas: “Is there really none for me?”

Xiao Ru finally couldn’t hold back a “Hmph!”: “A rotten cake, and everyone in the world has to fuss over it with her.
Don’t the police have work to do!”

Yi Lan’s fingertips, holding the cake knife, paused.
Her raven-like eyelashes lowered, obscuring the emotions in her eyes.
Then, she raised her hand and slowly cut off a corner of the cake, placed it on a plate, and handed the plate to Beiye.

“Oh, there really is some for me?
Thank you, thank you!” Beiye was overwhelmed with gratitude.

Yi Lan didn’t give the other party much eye contact in response and continued to cut the cake with the knife.
She gave a piece to Jiang Wenting, then cut another piece, glancing at Xiao Ru, who had just verbally jabbed at her, and finally handed that piece of cake to Jiang Wenting as well.

Then, she didn’t share any more.
Her body was very tired, completely out of strength.
She put the cake away on the bedside table and lay down against the pillow.

Beiye and Jiang Wenting exchanged glances.
Jiang Wenting asked: “Yi Lan, aren’t you eating?”

She didn’t answer.
Her tired phoenix eyes slowly closed.
Beiye handed the cake in Jiang Wenting’s hand to Xiao Ru: “Xiao Ru, this is from Yi Lan for you.”

Xiao Ru: “I don’t want it!”

Beiye signaled her with her eyes.
The other party stiffened for a few seconds, then said: “We already had skewers, I can’t eat anymore!”

Beiye shoved the cake into her hand: “Then eat it later!”

Xiao Ru pouted, looking extremely unwilling.

After closing her eyes, Yi Lan quickly drifted into a hazy state.
In a blur, she dreamt of the second autumn after they met.
The bright sun cast a golden glow over the withered grass of Biluo Peak.
She brought a very large cake to share with Jiang Wenting.

“A-Ting, happy birthday!”

Jiang Wenting’s peach blossom eyes curved with laughter, and the mole at the corner of her eye became even more enchanting.
She watched her, just steadily watching, and after a long moment, a clear voice said: “Thank you, Jiejie, A-Ting likes it very much!”

After speaking, she scooped a spoonful of cream and toppings from the tip of the cake.
The water chestnut bobas burst in the other party’s mouth, bringing a fresh, clean sweetness.
She exclaimed in surprise, “This is delicious, Jiejie, this is really delicious!
Jiejie, you try some!”

She responded with an “Okay,” and just as she was about to use her spoon to scoop a small boba from the side, the other party snatched that piece away first, stuffing her mouth full, and then leaned her head in, pressing her lips against Yi Lan’s, mumbling indistinctly: “Too much trouble, Jiejie, this is fine.”

The sweet fragrance of cream mixed with the juice of the water chestnut bobas swirled and exchanged on their tongues.
They lingered intimately under the golden sun.
The surrounding scenery suddenly quieted, as if the world held only the two of them.

A-Ting’s soft fingertips gently stroked the back of her neck, then slid down her spine little by little, untying her innermost layer of clothing, wrapping around to the front, and tightening her fingers.

“Mmm~”

She couldn’t quite bear it.
Broken sounds spilled from her throat, nowhere to hide on the open grassland.
Her breathing grew rapid…

“A-Ting, A-Ting…” She pleaded with a flushed face, her voice trembling, like a supplication.

Unbeknownst to them, the cake in their mouths had already melted.
A-Ting seemed unsatisfied, treating Yi Lan’s entire body as cake, licking her from top to bottom, bite by bite.

“Jiejie…” She kept calling that address, looking at her with soft, enchanting eyes, “Does Jiejie like A-Ting?
Like her very, very much, even if A-Ting did something that made Jiejie sad and upset?”

Before she could react, the scene suddenly shifted.
The person lying on her had eyes weeping blood.
The cake crumbs in her mouth were stained with fresh blood, and viscous liquid dripped from the corners of her mouth, flowing onto her face…

“A-Ting!”

She woke with a jolt, startled, sitting upright from her dream.

“Yi Lan, what’s wrong, Yi Lan?
Did you have a nightmare?”

The familiar voice flashed again.
She looked up, for a long, long time, until she could vaguely make out the shadow of the person in front of her: slender, thin, without blood.
White cream from the cake remained at the corner of her mouth, and her gentle eyes were filled with worry.

At this moment, Yi Lan could no longer hold back.
She lunged forward, hugging the person tightly, so tightly that she almost embedded her into her own body.

Jiang Wenting was a little breathless and disoriented, but she instinctively patted the other’s back to soothe her: “It’s okay, it’s okay, I’m here, don’t be afraid!”

Two soft spots pressed together, warm breath on her neck.
She felt the other person’s heartbeat, one beat after another, and finally regained her composure.
After a few seconds, she relaxed her arms and slowly pushed away the person in her embrace.

The hair at her temples was already drenched with sweat.
Jiang Wenting settled her onto the pillow and took a wet wipe to clean her: “Did you dream of something just now?
Don’t worry, dreams are often the opposite of reality.
Besides, when people are extremely tired, they often dream of bad things.
You’ll be fine when you wake up.”

–When you’re extremely tired, you often dream of bad things.
You’ll be fine when you wake up.
Will it really be fine when I wake up?

Yi Lan’s gaze began to turn blank.
How she wished this was all a dream!
When she woke up, her soldiers would still be alive, and she and A-Ting would be running and playing freely on the grasslands of Biluo Peak.
How she wished everything was just a dream.

But they were not dreams after all.
She and A-Ting were separated by the corpses of seventy thousand fallen souls.
They would never have the chance to love each other again…

“Jiang Jiang, Jiang Jiang!”

Yi Lan’s thoughts were disrupted by the sudden voice bursting in from outside the door.

Beiye, holding a milk tea in one hand and a phone in the other, squeezed through the door crack and ran towards Jiang Wenting: “Quick, quick, look at Weibo!
Jinglan reposted it!”