Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Over the following days, as the snow and wind continued to increase, Chen Xu could tell that Luo Xiyun was becoming more and more restless. Every day at midnight, she would be awakened by nightmares.
He had never seen her so vulnerable and helpless. At this time, he could do nothing but give her more physical and mental comfort.
He grabbed her hand, looked into her eyes, and said, “No matter what happens, I will always be there for you.”
Luo Xiyun placed his hand on her face, feeling the coldness of his palm and its slightly rough touch. She slowly closed her eyes, and the anxiety between her eyebrows gradually soothed.
Looking at her calm and peaceful expression, a cord within Chen Xu’s heart reverberated.
These days, there was a lingering thought in his mind. When this dream ended and when he woke up, what would happen to this dream world? What would happen to the Luo Xiyun who lived in this dream?
He wanted to question the virtual dream control that sent him into this dream world, but no matter how he summoned for it, he received no response at all.
In his recognition, there were some things that were unreal in this dream world, and it wasn’t too hard to accept those facts.
However, Luo Xiyun felt just like a living person to him. Her temperature, her breath, her murmurs, her screaming, her tears, her shivering, her spasms…all seemed so real.
When the dream ended, would she vanish along with the dream world?
Nonetheless, even if this dream world could be preserved, after his departure, the entire world would be left with her alone. For her, perhaps that would feel more terrible than death.
His mind was a little jumbled up.
“If I die one day and only you are left…”
“I’ll live well,” Luo Xiyun said with a very faint voice without opening her eyes.
“That’s so sad. I thought you would die for me.”
“Don’t think too highly of yourself. I never live for somebody else.”
After she finished speaking, she didn’t hear him talk even after waiting for some time. She opened her eyes and saw him staring at the bonfire. She asked softly, “Your self-esteem got hurt again, huh?”
“Yeah. Deeply.”
Chen Xu smiled and said, “Go to sleep. We still have work tomorrow.”
……
The next morning, the two got up to work and spent the whole morning filling up the empty barrels they brought over yesterday. This was physical work, draining the two of them to the brink of collapsing.
Hence, they rested here for another night to recover their stamina. It was only on the third morning after they had left and embarked on their way home.
They returned via the same route. The path shoveled out when they came was still there, and it made their journey a lot easier. In only five hours’ time, they were back at the villa.
Chen Xu was relieved. Fortunately, no accidents had happened along the way. As for the gasoline they brought back this time, if they used it thriftily, lasting for two months wouldn’t be a problem.
To celebrate the successful completion of this mission, the two took out the only tomatoes left and stir-fried them.
Back then, the downpour came too quickly. When they moved, they had brought with them very little fresh vegetables. For preservation purposes, they had to freeze them. These tomatoes were the last in the stock.
Snow grains were all over the sky outside the house.
Inside the house, it was as warm as spring. The two were sitting by the dining table and feasting on the steaming food. At least within this small space, there was happiness belonging to them both.
Yet, Chen Xu was aware that when this dream entered countdown, such happiness wouldn’t last for long.
…
On the fifteenth day before the dream ended, in their sleep, the glass window of the room suddenly burst open. Freezing winds began howling along with snow particles. The room temperature, which was originally over ten degrees, instantly plummeted to lower than minus ten degrees.
The two that had awakened wrapped themselves in a quilt and hurriedly escaped the room.
Outside, they discovered that all the glass windows in the villa were shattered. None had survived. Their cozy little world could now no longer hold off the freezing cold.
At last, they could only seek shelter in the cloakroom next to the master bedroom. The two wrapped themselves in a quilt, listening to the whistling winds outside the house and embracing each other for warmth.
Chen Xu had already anticipated that this day would come and thus wasn’t affected. It was only that he was very worried about Luo Xiyun.
To his surprise, Luo Xiyun, who was lying in his arms, wasn’t panicking or speechless.
Slowly, he closed his eyes, shutting off thoughts about the dream and the extreme cold of over minus ten degrees beyond the door.
The goose down quilt isolated them from the outside world and created a tiny little world for them.
Within absolute darkness, the two listened to each other’s heartbeat, felt each other’s breath, and tucked into each other’s warmth.
They were relishing in this brief moment of warmth and serenity.
…
After dawn, the two put on thick winter clothes and sealed all the windows with wooden boards, except the floor-to-ceiling window on the balcony in the living room because they couldn’t find such a large piece of wood.
Fortunately, there were no windows in the basement, so it was spared. The generators situated over there weren’t affected.
As long as the generators could still work, they won’t be in too big of a predicament. At the very least, they wouldn’t have to worry about being frozen to death.
It took them two days to clean up everything. In spite of that, their lives were still greatly affected. Notably, they had to put on thick clothing every time they went out to the living room.
Moreover, Chen Xu could evidently feel the weather getting colder and colder by day, and the heater’s heating effect gradually diminishing.
After all, this was the southern region. Temperatures during winter would rarely go below zero. Although some thermal insulation materials were used to build this villa, the builders would not have taken into account temperatures of over minus ten degrees.
Luo Xiyun had also become quieter.
Entering the tenth day on the countdown, Chen Xu had already put it aside and forgone everything. He didn’t want to think about anything else, but rather enjoy the time with her indulgently.
Then came the fifth day on the countdown.
In the morning, Luo Xiyun was routinely woken up in Chen Xu’s arms, got up gently, and covered the quilt back on him. After cleaning herself, she put on her thick winter jacket and opened a slit at the door as she usually did.
She immediately noticed something different. Opening the door was very easy, and the cold winds usually sipping through the slit of the door didn’t happen.
Her heart thumped. She opened the door a little wider and was finally affirmed of one thing.
The wind had stopped.
She gushed out the door and stood by the balcony. She covered her mouth and burst into tears.
It was still the same silver-clad world outside the balcony. However, the snow that had persisted for more than half a month had stopped. At the edge of the world, a golden sun was there at present, giving away its light and heat.