My Exclusive Dream World Adventures - Chapter 114

Chapter 114: 114 The Other Side

“Continue for 200 meters, your destination is on the right ahead…”

Chen Xu listened to the navigation instructions from his phone, parked the car on the roadside, and nudged Yang Jinxia beside him, “We’re here, wake up.”

“Hmm?”

She rubbed her eyes, raised her head, and asked somewhat groggily, “Are we there?” while she yawned lengthily, hand covering her mouth.

Seeing that she was indeed tired, Chen Xu said, “Let me walk you in.”

“Okay, thanks.”

“It’s nothing.”

Truth be told, Chen Xu felt that he owed her a favor. He had managed to spend half a year smoothly in his dream, thanks largely to her. Although the real-life her was unaware of the events in the dream, in the end, it was the same person.

So, he found it hard to harden his heart completely towards her.

Debts of gratitude are always the hardest to repay.

Yang Jinxia’s residential complex looked quite upscale, and security required him to register before allowing him in.

After parking the car, seeing that she still appeared sluggish, he simply decided to walk her upstairs.

While in the elevator, he couldn’t help but ask, “How much did you actually drink?”

“Not much, I just haven’t had good rest these past few days.” Yang Jinxia leaned against the wall of the elevator, looking quite unwell. When the elevator moved, she stumbled and grabbed Chen Xu’s arm to steady herself.

Chen Xu instinctively supported her hand, puzzled. Considering her condition, how could she have gotten so drunk? After hesitating, he asked, “Did something happen?”

Yang Jinxia leaned against the wall and whispered, “My grandmother, she passed out. The doctor said she might never wake up.”

Chen Xu remained silent. During their time in the dream, the only relative she ever mentioned was her grandmother, clearly indicating a special bond between them.

Faced with such a tragedy, he didn’t even know the right words to console her.

“My dad died before I was born. Not long after I was born, my mom remarried. It was my grandmother who raised me all by herself.”

The elevator continued upwards, its subtle humming a quiet backdrop to her echoing voice. Chen Xu looked at her calm yet pale face, and for the first time, truly felt that she was a living, breathing person, just like everyone else, with a vulnerable side.

He said softly, “It’ll get better.”

Yang Jinxia’s grip on his shoulder tightened slightly as she muttered, “I swore that I would make her live to a hundred.”

Chen Xu wanted to say more, but with a ding, the elevator arrived.

They walked out of the elevator.

Chen Xu walked her to her door, “I’ll bring your car back tomorrow morning.”

“I was hoping to sleep in since it’s a day off.”

Thinking it over, Chen Xu agreed, “Then you’ll have to wait until I finish work tomorrow evening.”

Yang Jinxia held out her hand, “Give me your phone.”

Chen Xu promptly took out his phone, unlocked it, and handed it to her.

She took the phone, and after a moment, returned it to him, “I’ve saved my number in it. I’ve added you on WeChat too. Let me know before you come.”

“Alright, I’m leaving now, go inside.”

…

Chen Xu drove along the highway, his mind repeatedly revisiting the moments he had experienced with her in the dream, comparing them to the woman he had just seen, hardly believing they were the same person.

“Which one is the real her?”

He couldn’t help but ponder this question.

Ding ding dong—

The phone in his pocket suddenly rang, pulling his thoughts back. His heart skipped a beat. Was it her?

He took out his phone to check—it was his mom.

He glanced at the rearview mirror, saw no cars to the right, signaled, and pulled over before answering, “Mom, why are you calling at this time?”

“Isn’t it usually around year-end that you work overtime? I didn’t want to disturb you. Are you off work now?” His mother’s voice came through the phone.

“I’m off work now.”

“When are you coming home this year?”

“In half a month, probably on the eve of the Chinese New Year.”

“Why so early this year?”

“It’s because I moved to a new department, and the new leader arranged it.” Chen Xu hadn’t told them he was resigning yet, fearing they would worry.

“When will you start work after the New Year?”

“The seventh day, just like last year.”

“That’s good. After the New Year, don’t rush off; your Second Aunt and Youngest Aunt have spotted a few girls from the same city as you. You can meet them then.”

Chen Xu sensed something was off and exclaimed in alarm, “Mom, are you arranging a blind date for me?”

“It’s not really a blind date, just a way for young people to get to know each other.”

Is there a difference?

He helplessly said, “Mom, I’m only twenty-five, there’s no need to rush.”

“Twenty-five is not young. At your age, I had already given birth to you.”

“Times have changed. Besides, in my current situation, which girl would fancy me?”

“…”

Silence fell on the other end of the line, and Mom’s voice came through somewhat despondently, “It’s our fault for holding you back.”

“Mom, don’t say that. I honestly don’t want to find a girlfriend so soon. I’m used to being free, I can’t stand being controlled.”

“That’s no way to talk. When you’re of age, you should marry and have children, you can’t just do whatever you want. Anyway, just meet them, and we’ll see if fate allows.”

“Okay, I’ll listen to you.” Chen Xu didn’t want to oppose her over such a small matter, so he agreed to it. At the time, he would treat it like meeting a client.

After his mom said this, he didn’t dare bring up a classmate’s wedding.

A few days ago, his university vice-class leader Liu Xiaoshang had called him, inviting him for a celebratory drink on the twenty-fourth day of the year.

Liu Xiaoshang was almost a fellow townsman, in the same city but different counties.

According to him, he had invited quite a few people, including several of Chen Xu’s university roommates who had decided to go. He figured since he had the time, it would be good to see old classmates, so he agreed.

If his mom knew his university classmate was getting married, she would have even more to say.

After hanging up the phone, he started the car once more.

When he arrived at the noodle shop, people were already waiting there, expressing their grievances as they saw him unlocking the door.

“Sorry, I had to work overtime today,” Chen Xu explained as he opened the roll-up door.

At this moment, someone asked, “Boss, what kind of work do you have that pays better than running this noodle shop? I think you might as well quit and open a proper noodle shop in a better location. I’d patronize it every day.”

“Yeah, yeah,” others quickly chimed in.

“You only open for late-night snacks with this noodle shop, how does that make sense? If not for us loyal customers, you would have closed down long ago.”

“If you ran a proper noodle shop, the business would definitely be ten times better than your day job.”

While tying on his apron, Chen Xu said, “Actually, running the noodle shop is just a hobby of mine.”

“I don’t believe a word of it,” the others sneered immediately.

Chen Xu turned on the stove and asked, “Who’s ordering first?”

“Me, I’ll have a bowl of beef brisket noodles.” “Seafood noodles,” the customers called out one by one.

“One at a time.”

Chen Xu waited for the water to boil while starting other preparations.

They were right about one thing, the nightly income from the noodle shop was getting higher and higher, much better than his job. Fortunately, he only had half a month left until he could resign.

He felt that people should finish what they start. No matter what, he had worked at the company since graduation, and he had grown somewhat attached.

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