Seizing Dreams

On the first day of New Year, Fu Liqun sent Cen Shan to the high-speed railway station. Yu Hao and Zhou Sheng slept for the entire day. Zhou Sheng’s hair was a mess, and he wore his pajamas and slippers as he did some postgraduate examination questions at the dining table. When Fu Liqun came back, he let out a breath and lay on the sofa, looking at Zhou Sheng’s thick examination book that was just like a heavenly scripture to him.

Meanwhile, Yu Hao was writing and drawing on his manuscripts with a pen. He asked Fu Liqun, “Ready to go abroad?”

“You know?” Fu Liqun was shocked, “Is the soundproofing of this house that bad?”

“Nuo.” Zhou Sheng didn’t even look up as he said, “See? I was right ba? Go wash the dishes.”

Yu Hao felt helpless. He said, “Later. I admit defeat.”

Fu Liqun said, “I’ll go talk to her father on the fifth, bless me ba. I’m still a bit confused, but I think I can do it.”

Zhou Sheng, “What do you plan to do next?”

Fu Liqun, “When I went home a few days ago, I discussed it with my family. My Dad had prepared a sum of money to buy a house for me in Ying City. Now I want to use it to further my studies abroad, but of course, after your affairs settle down over here first.”

Yu Hao, “Where?”

Fu Liqun, “Cologne Institute of Physical Education. I want to study as a postgrad there.”

“Sure.” Zhou Sheng said, “But are you sure furthering your studies is more reliable than buying a house?”

Yu Hao, “……”

Fu Liqun, “……”

Fu Liqun knew that Zhou Sheng was making fun of him, of course, and he said, “I’ll need to get a visa first, then go and study the language for a year. By then, I’ll look for a job as a cycling instructor or something, work part-time. Your sis-in-law said that it’s pretty easy to find part-time work there for sports.”

“Your father’s paying for your tuition and living expenses so there’s no problem ah.” Zhou Sheng said.

Fu Liqun cracked his fingers and said, “I’ll try my best to rely on myself ba. It wasn’t easy for my parents to work their whole lives. Sigh.”

“It’s fine as long as you have a plan.” Zhou Sheng said.

“I’ll have to repay you slowly.” Fu Liqun said.

Zhou Sheng finally looked up from his questions and glanced at Fu Liqun. “There’s no need to rush.”

The two of them then ended the conversation regarding Fu Liqun’s future that simply. Yu Hao got up to wash the dishes. He knew that Fu Liqun had not yet recovered completely from the blow he suffered, but in his dream, the sandstorm might be on the verge of disappearing. In times to come, the sun would rise for him.

Yu Hao began cleaning up the huge pile of dishes from last night. Zhou Sheng said to Yu Hao, “I’ll go over after finishing these last three questions.”

Yu Hao, “Revise first ba, I’ll wash these.”

Then the doorbell rang. Fu Liqun went to open the door. Ou Qihang and Chen Yekai had arrived ahead of time. Yu Hao wasn’t prepared at all and got a fright.

“His mother went to Sanya to play with her friends.” Chen Yekai said.

Ou Qihang took off his shoes at the door. “There’s nothing to do at home anyway, so we came over to see you guys.” Then he arranged his shoes neatly. Zhou Sheng glanced at them casually and said, “Fuck, the two of you even changed to wearing Yin Yang shoes?!”

Ou Qihang said, “Just bought it in passing while we were walking around. Yu Hao, what are you doing?”

Yu Hao, “Guests should take a seat in the living room.”

“It’s okay, I like washing dishes.” Ou Qihang said, “I’m the one who washes all the dishes at home…”

Zhou Sheng saw Ou Qihang enter the kitchen and immediately threw his book away, then went in hurriedly to look after his family’s cabbage, lest it got dug out by another family’s pig.

“Then I’ll go brew some coffee.” Yu Hao didn’t know if he should laugh or cry.

Fu Liqun took out some snacks and nian gaos. Zhou Sheng changed his clothes. He came out with a cigarette in his mouth, then shook his cigarette carton and gave Ou Qihang a stick. All of them sat at the dining table. Ou Qihang said, “I have a lot of things I want to ask. For the past few days, I’ve always felt a bit confused.”

Zhou Sheng thought about it for a bit and said, “Today?”

Chen Yekai said, “Up to you.”

Zhou Sheng pondered for a long time, then said, “Okay, today then.” After he spoke, he flicked his thumb, and the Golden Crow Wheel spun as it flew across the dining table. Ou Qihang raised his hands and clapped his hands together to catch it with a baffled expression. He looked at the Golden Crow Wheel, then at Zhou Sheng, before looking at Chen Yekai again.

Chen Yekai raised his hand. Ou Qihang handed the Golden Crow Wheel to him. Chen Yekai handed it to Fu Liqun, and Fu Liqun rubbed the Golden Crow Wheel with his thumb, then handed it to Yu Hao. Yu Hao could sense that this was the real Golden Crow Wheel. He passed it back to Zhou Sheng, and Zhou Sheng put it in front of him.

Everyone waited for Zhou Sheng to speak. After a long silence, Zhou Sheng was still thinking, so Ou Qihang broke the silence first and said, “Isn’t this Jinsha’s sunbird? There are also some people who call it a sun wheel.”

“Yes.” Zhou Sheng said, “It’s very difficult for me to explain it to ordinary people, but you should be okay…it can allow our thoughts — and even the thoughts of those sitting here right now — converge.”

Ou Qihang said, “And interfere as well, I understand.”

“What did you understand, you understood it just like that?” Zhou Sheng didn’t know if he should laugh or cry.

Ou Qihang said, “I already knew about this once. In order to keep this secret, you guys sealed off this portion of my memories. No wonder I always feel as if there’s something important I could never recall…”

Chen Yekai nodded. “You’re very right.”

Zhou Sheng said, “But it was of no use, wasn’t it?”

Yu Hao observed Ou Qihang’s expression. He didn’t think Ou Qihang and Huang Ting were colluding, but there was always a ‘what if’ for everything. He had to be prudent and check it.

Ou Qihang said, “That matter perplexed me for a rather long time. After enrolling in my college in Beijing, Ting Ge asked me out quite a few times, and I talked about the specific ins and outs…” Then he looked at Chen Yekai.

“Yes.” Chen Yekai said, “I told them as well.”

Fu Liqun could roughly guess from this recounting. When they came back that day, Zhou Sheng had told Fu Liqun the whole story in its entirety.

“Did he get you to undergo hypnotism?” Fu Liqun asked.

“Not just hypnotism.” Ou Qihang said, “We tried almost everything.”

“Why were you so persistent?” Yu Hao had no idea what to do with Ou Qihang.

“Usually, when a portion of your memory disappears so inexplicably,” Ou Qihang said, “and it even had to do with your life and death, wouldn’t you be even a little curious about it?”

Yu Hao said, “Looks like you high IQ people are all like that. All of you are so insistent on understanding everything so thoroughly.”

Chen Yekai was like that as well. When a single doubt emerged, he keenly grasped it and refused to let go. They didn’t seem to have any doubts at all if it was an auditory or visual hallucination, or if it was just a figment of their imagination. They only believed in the logic behind it all.

“You make it sound like you’re not the same way.” Zhou Sheng fiddled with the Golden Crow Wheel in his hands and smiled, “How did you guess General’s identity?”

Yu Hao realised that he was right. At the beginning, he had thought about it over and over countless times before coming up with his conclusion.

“Talk about the specifics.” Chen Yekai said.

Ou Qihang took the Golden Crow Wheel again and looked at it in disbelief. He said, “After that, I went to an institution to undergo hypnotic therapy. That was my last time trying to recall my memories through hypnotism; after that, I finally remembered everything that had happened.”

Zhou Sheng said, “You remembered everything?”

Ou Qihang said, “That’s just my inference. I still don’t remember anything now, but I’m very certain that during that hypnosis, I talked about everything you guys made me forget and had left behind a record in that institution. However, they didn’t tell me what had happened. Huang Ting even deceived me, asking me to just give up and let it go. He didn’t plan on following up on this for now.”

“After this last hypnotic therapy ended, Huang Ting hardly talked about it anymore,” Ou Qihang took another sip of his coffee and said seriously, “So I think he got what he wanted.”

Yu Hao thought, then it really is troublesome now…

Zhou Sheng uttered an “un“. Ou Qihang said, “Return that memory to me ba, why didn’t you trust me back then? What did I do then?”

“You didn’t do anything.” Zhou Sheng said indifferently, “You’re a very good person, I’m just too vigilant.”

Ou Qihang said, “But that’s reasonable. After all, no one would want this kind of secret to spread, especially under circumstances when we weren’t that close to begin with.”

Zhou Sheng smiled and said, “We’re not that familiar with each other now either.”

Ou Qihang and everyone else laughed.

“Then,” Zhou Sheng said, “Let’s talk in the dream ba, it’ll be easier to make things clear in the dream. Gege, lend us your dream for a while.”

Fu Liqun answered, “No problem.” This was something Zhou Sheng and Fu Liqun had discussed beforehand, so he looked at everyone and asked, “Which little baby will sleep with me?”

Everyone, “……”

Chen Yekai, “I’ll sleep on the sofa.”

“Are you a gong?” Ou Qihang said.

Fu Liqun, “I’m a super gong.”

Ou Qihang said, “Okay, but I have a black belt in Taekwondo.”

“You think I’ll be afraid of you?!” Fu Liqun dragged Ou Qihang into the room.

Yu Hao thought this scene was really too weird, these people are about to sleep in his home…Zhou Sheng looked at the time. It was 4 PM. It was still overcast outside; he drew the curtains of the living room and bedrooms, one by one.

“Good night.” Zhou Sheng pressed his hand against Fu Liqun’s head, then pressed on Ou Qihang’s forehead. After that, he came out and pressed Chen Yekai’s forehead.

Yu Hao and Zhou Sheng lay down side by side in bed, held hands, and closed their eyes.

A bright light flashed; Fu Liqun, Chen Yekai, Zhou Sheng, and Yu Hao appeared in the safe haven of the desert world—— it was still their rented apartment. Yu Hao and Zhou Sheng’s position didn’t even change, they were still lying on their bed. Chen Yekai woke up on the sofa, got up, and walked to the dining table.

It was as if everyone had went to their positions to lay down, then get up again a few minutes later. If it wasn’t because they were missing Ou Qihang, Yu Hao almost couldn’t tell which was the dream and which was reality anymore.

Chen Yekai also said, “For a moment, I thought I hadn’t fallen asleep.”

Fu Liqun said, “Ou Qihang’s gone.”

“He’s in his own world.” Zhou Sheng drew the curtains and looked outside. Beyond the balcony, the sandstorm that had blotted out the sky had vanished. Instead, there was a shining starry river in the sky, as well as a beautiful ancient city in the distance that lay amidst the tranquil night. After leaving the pyramid scheme organisation, all the flying mosquito men had disappeared. That is to say, in Fu Liqun’s world now, it would no longer be as dangerous as it used to be.

“What on earth is this place?’ Yu Hao asked Fu Liqun.

“Loulan.” Fu Liqun answered, “When I was in junior high school, it was the movie I watched with your sis-in-law on our first date.”

Fu Liqun still remembered that day clearly; it was pitch dark in the cinema outside their school, and there were a lot of mosquitoes. Cen Shan had never seen that kind of movie before in her life. He only busied himself with smearing eucalyptus oil on Cen Shan then. When he touched her white skin and long legs, in that darkness, he suddenly felt love gushing towards him like a tide.

After that, Cen Shan grabbed his hand, and Fu Liqun had held her in his arms and kissed her. He had long forgotten the plot of the film, but his deepest impression of it was the exceptionally beautiful ancient city within the desert where dust storms surged through. Later on, he even called Cen Shan the ‘Beautiful Loulan Bride’.

“I thought those mosquitoes were your colleagues.” Yu Hao said.

“They do seem a bit alike…” Fu Liqun’s mouth twitched and he said helplessly, “They almost tormented me to death.”

Zhou Sheng sat at the dining table and said, “Call Ou Qihang over ba. Who’s in charge of summoning him?”

Chen Yekai said, “I haven’t tried it before…”

Zhou Sheng said, “Just like the day you crossed through the Golden Crow Wheel and entered Xiao Ou’s dreamscape.”

Chen Yekai tried to pull his hands apart, and the seal that Ou Qihang gave him appeared in his palm. He looked up at Zhou Sheng and asked, “Then?”

A golden flame burst out between Zhou Sheng’s fingers that was injected into the seal in Chen Yekai’s hand. The seal became bright in an instant. Yu Hao wondered if this was the scene that appeared when Zhou Sheng first summoned him into Shi Ni’s dream.

Immediately afterward, the seal disintegrated into light particles. A loud noise blared, Ou Qihang appeared out of thin air and bumped into the table, stumbled, and knocked the sofa over. He had practically ‘rolled’ over here!

Ou Qihang, “!!!”

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