Chapter 21: “Nightmare”

Chapter 21: "Nightmare"

Unaware that she had once again revealed something about herself in front of someone, Fu Yining ended her enjoyable game and got ready for bed.

She had to force herself to sleep early since she needed to go out tomorrow morning.

After turning off the light and closing her eyes, she reflected that this family’s routine was so disciplined. In the past, she wouldn’t have wanted to leave her beloved bed on non-workdays, wishing to lie in it all day.

Fu Yining didn’t know if her days in this alternate reality would come to an end, or when that might happen. She could only take things one step at a time and enjoy the present.

Soon, the sound of her breathing from the soft, large bed became slow and steady as she fell into a dream.

She had a nightmare about her dreaded high school days: classes, exams, and endless homework.

In the dream, she had forgotten to do her homework and was desperately scribbling away at her desk.

She felt like she had been writing for a long, long time, but the words on the page didn’t seem to multiply no matter how long she wrote.

The more she wrote, the more panicked and flustered she became. When she looked up and saw the teacher entering the classroom, her panic intensified.

"Classmate, can I borrow your test paper to copy?"

With the stern-faced teacher demanding they hand in their homework for inspection, Fu Yining’s first instinct was to ask the student behind her for help.

The guy behind her quickly passed her his paper to copy.

Fu Yining was extremely touched and immediately thanked him.

"Hmm." The male classmate nodded without looking up, responding modestly.

His voice sounded oddly familiar, and his figure seemed as if she had seen him somewhere before.

She widened her eyes to get a better look, but just as she did, the male classmate suddenly looked up, his sharp gaze like two bolts of lightning piercing through her.

"What are you looking at?"

“……!”

Gasping for breath, Fu Yining opened her eyes. The faint light of dawn seeped through the curtains into the room, and for a moment, she couldn’t quite figure out where she was.

In the dim room, Fu Yining opened her eyes wide and touched her chest, feeling her heart pounding wildly. She propped herself up with her arms and sat up in bed.

What kind of dream was that? It really scared her to death!

Checking her phone, she realized it was 5:30 in the morning. Turning on the light and leaning against the headboard, she slowly recalled the terrifying dream.

It really was a terrible dream. Just dreaming about still being in high school and facing the college entrance exams, with endless homework to do every day, was enough to instill fear.

What Fu Yining couldn’t understand the most was why the male classmate sitting behind her had a face that looked exactly like Yu Zhili’s.

Speechless, her mind raced.

Why was he in her dream?

After thinking for a long time, Fu Yining could only attribute the reason to her conversation with Yu Zhili last night, which left a deep impression on her.

As her heart rate slowed, she realized she wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep, so she got out of bed and began selecting an outfit suitable for going out today.

The walk-in closet was huge, occupying half of the entire room, so there were quite a few clothes, shoes, and accessories inside, though not as many as Fu Yining had imagined.

It is said that every so often, "Fu Yining" would bring the latest seasonal clothes into the house and then clear out all the previous ones, whether they had been worn or not.

Fu Yining felt a pang of heartache when she thought about the eventual fate of the clothes in front of her—ending up in the garbage.

The original owner was way too extravagant; just because she had money didn’t mean she could be so wasteful, right?

Letting out a long sigh, Fu Yining continued to pick through the wardrobe. There were too many options, making it hard to decide.

Perhaps because of the arrival of autumn, most of the clothes hanging in the wardrobe were very thick—none of them exposed arms or legs.

But Fu Yining had checked the weather in advance; it would still be around thirty degrees at the hottest part of the day. Wearing these would probably make her overheat, wouldn’t it?

Fu Yining thought of the skirt Song Qingyu had shown her the night before and couldn’t help but feel envious.

Maybe she should get one for herself too?

Fu Yining decided that she must go out to buy a few new clothes she liked either today or tomorrow when she had time.

As for the clothes in this wardrobe... she’d leave them for now and decide what to do with them later.

Over an hour later, the well-dressed Fu Yining pulled open the door. A young maid who had been cleaning dust outside was clearly startled by her.

"M-Madam, why are you up?"

The young maid, afraid that her noise had woken Fu Yining, nervously clutched her broom.

When Fu Yining calmly explained that she had slept early and thus woke up early, the young maid finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Although Madam’s temper had improved recently, Butler Wang had warned them not to let their guard down.

What if they accidentally upset Madam again?

Watching Fu Yining head downstairs, the young maid pouted and continued with her work.

"Madam, are you up? Would you like breakfast prepared?" As Fu Yining had gotten up early, Hu Ma was directing the young maids to keep working as she approached her.

Fu Yining shook her head, saying she didn’t plan to have breakfast at home today, so there was no need to prepare anything for her.

At that moment, Wang Yue appeared from somewhere and smiled as he informed Fu Yining, "Madam, I have already notified the driver to come pick you up. He’ll arrive shortly."

"Good."

Fu Yining planned to have the driver drop her off at the next intersection after they left. She had already mapped out a route to explore this unfamiliar city on her own.

To get used to this new environment sooner.

Soon after, Fu Yining smoothly got into the car sent to pick her up, and as Wang Yue waved her off with a smile, the car slowly drove away from Shanhai Bay.

"Madam, are you going to Jing Tang Li again?" the driver asked.

"Jing Tang Li Shopping District" was located in the central area of Lingchuan City, where Fu Yining resided. It was the most luxurious commercial street in the city.

This area combined leisure, dining, shopping, and entertainment all in one, with top-notch facilities and services.

More importantly, many enterprises of Fu Yining’s family were stationed here. Even without the identity of "Madam Yu of Qigui Group," she was still a VIP customer here.

After all, she was a wealthy heiress before she got married.

Fu Yining looked out the window at the scenery, then stared at her phone screen and said to the driver, "Stop at the next intersection. I’m getting off there."

"Alright."

The driver didn't know what Fu Yining was planning to do, but their job was to focus on driving and not ask unnecessary questions.

The car pulled up at the corner, and Fu Yining got out, telling the driver she'd call if she needed anything.

Once the driver had driven off, Fu Yining followed the directions on her phone and slowly made her way through the nearby neighborhood.

Lingchuan City reminded her of her hometown in the other world. Both were southern Chinese cities with similar eating habits.