Chapter 126: Relationships Are Just That Kind of Thing

In a classroom less than two hundred meters away from the girl who waited with bated breath, Ji Ning was reading a novel—specifically, a romance novel. The title contained eye-watering keywords like "domineering" and "chasing the wife," borrowed from the girl sitting in front of him.

In the drudgery of high school life, as long as it wasn't a textbook, even a work as long and obscure as *The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire* would eventually find a reader.

The girl in front, Hao Qing, had bought this book just yesterday. According to her, the story was so moving it brought tears to the eyes of anyone who heard it—at once soul-stirring and heart-wrenching. The consequence of her staying up all night under the covers to finish it was that she had to copy homework today with dark circles under her eyes.

Anqing No. 7 High School had always been different from other key municipal schools; it practiced a humanistic approach to management. Of course, it was also possible that this was simply because the homeroom teacher for Class 6, Grade 2, was a laid-back literature teacher. This Mr. Wei was rumored to be a "rich second generation." When discussing the dowry at his father-in-law's house, he had waved his hand and told the man to point anywhere on a map of Anqing. The father-in-law, oblivious, pointed randomly, and thus Mr. Wei suddenly owned a property with four rooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, and three balconies. As a result, his marriage was blessed by both sets of parents.

Though Mr. Wei was a rich kid here to experience life, he was undeniably a good teacher.

Ji Ning had kept the book hidden under his desk since morning reading. He didn't reach the finale—where the heroine reunites with the hero, taking their four children along—until the fourth period, which had been changed from music to study hall.

"Four kids in one birth? After that, she probably needs to read *Postpartum Care for Sows* during her recovery month."

While mocking the book to himself, Ji Ning felt his eyes well up and poked the girl in front of him. "Lend me some tissues."

Hao Qing turned around, saw his state, and handed him the tissues on her desk with deep empathy. "How is it? Great book, right? I cried for a long time last night, too."

"Indeed, it's too heart-wrenching." Ji Ning wiped his reddened eyes and returned the book. "Are there any more? Anything like this?"

Hao Qing nodded. "I've got a few more. I'll bring them for you tomorrow."

"Good brother, I'll let you copy my homework next time."

"Go to hell! I'm a proper young lady; who’s your 'good brother'?"

The bell rang, and the students began packing up to head home. As the person on duty today, Ji Ning had to stay behind to clean, so he went off to find a broom while still ruminating on the loves and hates within the novel.

The student on duty yesterday had hidden the broom well. Ji Ning had to move two trash cans to find it. He whistled while sweeping half-heartedly, and after confirming there was no obvious debris left on the floor, he clapped his hands and hid the broom right back where he found it.

He hoped the student on duty tomorrow would find it as quickly as he did.

Ji Ning slung his backpack over his shoulder and walked toward the school parking lot. Only a few lonely bicycles remained. He found his own with little effort and pedaled briskly out of the school gates.

He glanced at the food stalls outside, but the uncle who sold fried potatoes wasn't there today. He shrugged and decided to go to the convenience store to pick up a few bags of instant noodles for a midnight snack.

Just then, he noticed a girl standing under a tree across the street. Even though the sky was growing dark and she was a bit far away, he instinctively felt she was a beauty.

As Ji Ning watched her, she looked toward him. He instinctively averted his gaze, thinking she must be a student, but surely not from No. 7 High School. If there were such a beautiful girl at No. 7, how could he have only noticed her today?

Lost in thought, Ji Ning grabbed two bags of noodles, paid, and headed toward his bike. As he mounted it, he cast a final glance in her direction.

*Hmm, she’s walking this way. Probably here to buy some noodles too. Sigh, she’s likely waiting for a long-distance boyfriend. Wonder what kind of jerk saved the world in his past life to deserve such a beautiful girlfriend in this one.*

Ji Ning stepped on the pedal, but before the wind could even stir his hair, he heard someone calling his name.

"Ji Ning."

People are far more sensitive to their own names than any other word; even if it's a mishearing, they will instinctively look toward the source of the sound.

Her long, silky hair was tied back with a black ribbon, dancing in the wind as she walked. Indigo jeans hugged her shapely legs, and a black jacket gave her a striking, heroic air. A light-colored T-shirt couldn't hide her fair collarbone. The moment Ji Ning saw her face, his heart skipped a beat. The girl walking toward him struck his heart like a bullet.

It was as if a thousand deer were stampeding through his chest. Cupid, wandering the world, suddenly remembered he had one arrow left in his quiver and shot it toward the mortal realm, striking the boy who stood stunned in his tracks.

"Finally found you." Qin Mo breathed a sigh of relief and habitually reached out her hand.

In that moment of shock, Ji Ning flipped through the pages of his unremarkable eighteen years of life. If the girl before him hadn't been so dazzling, he might have genuinely wondered if he had known her before.

But that was ridiculous. Even if he were seventy and suffering from dementia, he would still be shameless enough to sneak a peek at a beauty of this caliber. If he had ever met her, how could he have no memory of it?

"Sorry, you've got the wrong person." Ji Ning didn't dare take her hand. He steadied his bike with one hand and clutched the noodles in his pocket with the other.

The girl's expression shifted, and she spoke with great difficulty: "Stop joking around. Katherine and the others are waiting for us."

"You know me?" Ji Ning was curious but wary. If he fell for a beauty trap of this level, he’d likely lose all the savings he’d accumulated in his life, and might spend the rest of his days selling himself to pay off debts while enduring the whims of a wealthy woman.

Upon realizing Ji Ning wasn't joking, Qin Mo's heart skipped a beat. Her cheerful mood plummeted. This jerk had sworn before they left that he didn't care about the dream and only thought of her, yet in the blink of an eye, he had forgotten everything.

Looking at that familiar, youthful face, she finally understood what the "admission fee" Adonis demanded was.

It was the memories of all the dreamers.

"You mean, this isn't the real world? It's a dream, and I've forgotten everything because of some guy named Adonis?" Ji Ning summarized what Qin Mo had just said while pushing his bike.

"Yes, yes." Qin Mo nodded eagerly, her eyes full of hope.

Ji Ning stopped and pinched his own cheek, then said helplessly, "But it still hurts. If it were a dream, it shouldn't hurt, right?"

"No, that's not it. Because the dream is so realistic, all sensations are the same as in the real world." Qin Mo caught the teasing tone in his voice and began to explain, growing anxious.

"Hmm, you mean this world is a dream, but it's just like reality? You feel the heat if you eat chili, and you can smell the food on the street?" Ji Ning continued pushing his bike.

"Yes." Qin Mo followed behind him, nodding, feeling like something was wrong but unable to articulate what.

Ji Ning was silent for a moment. "Then why should I go to that world that is alien to me? I live quite well here. You think this is a dream, but you admit it's no different from reality. So to me, this is my reality, and the world you described is the dream."

"But, but this is a dream! There are so many things waiting for you to do in that world." Qin Mo grabbed Ji Ning's hand. She was scared. If Ji Ning indulged in the dream, he would have to stay here until the day Adonis was dealt with by those supernatural organizations. The discrepancy in the flow of time meant this process could be extremely long—so long that he might die of old age here before ever waiting for the day to leave.

The First Law of the Spirit World: If a person is killed, they die.

If Ji Ning died in this world, he would be brain-dead in reality.

"Do you really, really not remember me?" Qin Mo looked into his eyes again.

After three seconds of eye contact, Ji Ning pulled his hand away, blushing as he turned his head to look forward. "Do all scammers use beauty traps like you at the drop of a hat these days?"

"What?" Qin Mo was stunned.

Ji Ning fished twenty yuan out of his pocket, looked at the bewildered Qin Mo, and gritted his teeth, adding another ten. "This is all the money I have. It's yours. My family isn't rich either, so no matter what you say, you won't get any money out of me."

Qin Mo was exasperated. "I'm not scamming you! Everything I said is true! No matter what you say, you are coming with me to leave the dream."

Ji Ning didn't reply. He jogged a few steps and hopped onto his bike. "Everything I said is true too. That's all the money I have. Thanks for the chat, but I'm going home. Go take another lucky person to the 'real world'; I quite like it here."

Qin Mo reached out, but hesitated because Ji Ning had already started pedaling; if she grabbed him, he might fall.

Watching his figure fade into the distance, Qin Mo suddenly realized that leaving the dream was not as simple as she had imagined.

The evening breeze ruffled Ji Ning's hair. His heart was still pounding, and two voices in his head were arguing fiercely.

*That girl took the initiative to grab my hand!*

*But maybe it's a new type of scam? Targeting naive students—anime fans are the easiest to deceive.*

*But she took the initiative to grab my hand!*

*Think about it—going to another world? It's just like those cults preaching about the Pure Land. Maybe if you hadn't left, she would have called people to drag you away and offered you, an eighteen-year-old virgin, as a sacrifice to some ugly cult leader.*

*But she took the initiative to grab my hand!*

...

By the time he got home, Ji Ning had calmed down. After dinner and playing with his younger brother's toys for a while, he retreated to his study.

Tomorrow was Saturday, so there was no rush to finish his homework. He could sneak some time on his phone.

The phone was an old one his mother had replaced years ago. He had found it while rummaging through boxes out of boredom when he was home alone. As long as he stood by the window, he could leech off the neighbor's Wi-Fi. Although the signal was only two bars and the phone was so slow he could only read novels, he had to sneak into the living room at two in the morning to charge it, hoping his mother hadn't taken the charger into her bedroom.

The old phone was still hidden under his homework. Although his mother rarely came in, being cautious was a trait Ji Ning took pride in.

He continued reading the novel from the day before, and the bizarre, fantastical worlds soon made him forget everything that had happened today.

*Thump.*

Ji Ning looked up, stared at the window for a moment, thinking perhaps a bat had lost its way, then lowered his head to continue reading.

*Thump.*

This time he heard it clearly. Someone was throwing small pebbles at his window.

Qin Mo weighed a small stone in her hand, guessing it wouldn't be enough to break the glass. She aimed at the lit window upstairs, and a second later, Ji Ning opened it and saw her.

This was Ji Ning's home before they moved to the new complex. Qin Mo had followed him here once before, but at that time, the place had been a breeding ground for moss and mushrooms—desolate and dilapidated. If Ji Ning hadn't walked a certain path with her after school, helping her remember the way, she might have had to stake out the school again tomorrow.

Ji Ning found it hard to believe. How did she find his house? Were scammers now scouting locations like thieves?

Qin Mo smiled and waved at him, signaling for him to come down.

Ji Ning thought that if he went down now and his mother caught him meeting a pretty girl, he would have to listen to a two-hour lecture on the dangers of puppy love. So he decided to stay put.

He tore a piece of scratch paper, wrote a line, and threw it down: "How did you find this place?"

"If I said you brought me here before, would you believe me?" Qin Mo's voice sounded clear in the quiet night.

Ji Ning was certain that if he let her say one more word, his mother would definitely open the window to see who was talking behind their house.

He threw another small paper ball down.

"If you keep talking so loudly, my mom is going to find out."

Qin Mo opened the note, read it, nodded, and continued to beckon him down.

Ji Ning shook his head. Qin Mo didn't get angry. She cupped her hands around her mouth like a megaphone, took a deep breath, and looked at him.

Ji Ning waved his hands frantically and hurriedly tore off another strip of paper.

"I'll come down in a bit, but I have to wait until my mom is asleep."

Qin Mo held up the note, read it, and nodded.

Watching the girl below who seemed determined not to leave until she saw him, Ji Ning felt a mix of fear and excitement.

*Is the curtain finally rising on a mundane, ordinary school life turning into a teen comedy?*

*But this girl's background is incredibly bizarre—even for a 'drop-in' character, she's the rarest kind.*