Lu Yan had the night shift, and to maintain her energy for handling various emergency cases during the night, she needed to rest well beforehand. After lunch, she went to her bedroom for a nap.

After getting into bed, she realized her phone wasn’t with her. After a moment’s thought, she figured she must have left it in the dining room. She didn’t want to get it, partly worried about potential incoming calls and partly concerned about getting distracted by browsing. She focused on falling asleep instead and quickly drifted off.

As soon as she fell asleep, she began to dream.

Lately, for some unknown reason, she kept dreaming about past events. Unfortunately, the dreams were never complete, just fragmented pieces.

She found herself back at the entrance of No. 7 Middle School’s library on a warm, sunny day. She was eighteen, sitting next to Deng Man.

Deng Man was eating snacks while she chatted with Tang Jie.

Suddenly, something was said that seemed to affect Deng Man, who lifted her head and glanced forward.

She had dreamed of this scene countless times before, and at this moment, she would always turn to look at Deng Man.

It happened in just a second—Deng Man lowered her head again, but because she had been watching intently, she still caught the complex, indecipherable emotions in the other girl’s eyes.

With sudden strength, she stood up and looked in the direction Deng Man had gazed. Just like in her memory, there were several buildings clustered together.

What exactly was Deng Man looking at?

No, it wasn’t the gymnasium, though she had once thought so.

That left only the music hall and the Third Teaching Building.

The scene before her was hazy like it was covered in the yellow sand, making it impossible to discern the truth.

Though in a dream, her heartfelt increasingly empty, as if the fragment of truth she had finally grasped was about to slip away again.

Shocked and anxious, she turned back to shake Deng Man.

But Deng Man seemed lost in thought, completely unresponsive to her desperate shaking.

The anxiety building in her chest, she received what felt like an epiphany. A flash of insight crossed her mind, and after a few seconds’ hesitation, she slowly closed her eyes. Yes, closing her eyes—besides sight, she still had her hearing. What couldn’t be seen could be captured by listening.

She listened with her eyes closed, letting the gentle breeze caress her face.

Gradually, the previously indistinct sounds became clearer.

Music was coming from those unclear buildings.

No, not instruments—it was the choir singing.

She remembered now. For a period, the school choir would practice in the music hall every noon.

The lead singer’s voice was particularly high and resonant; she recognized it immediately: it was Ding Jing.

Earlier, Deng Man’s glance had contained several emotions: anticipation, adoration, but more prominently, confusion and hatred.

The hatred was so intense that it materialized in her gaze, shooting like a sharp arrow straight from Deng Man’s eyes.

She took a deep breath and suddenly opened her eyes, staring at Deng Man in astonishment.

How could such opposing emotions exist in one person’s gaze?

Who else was in the choir besides Ding Jing at that time?

She stood there in a daze, thinking for a long time. Sometimes in some years, she had gone to check the choir’s roster at school, but for some reason, she couldn’t find the list for that particular year.

The singing gradually grew fainter until it finally fell silent.

Everything returned to the beginning.

When she turned back to look for Deng Man, there was only emptiness beside her, and this time, even Tang Jie had vanished. After looking around for a while, she suddenly felt a huge void in her heart. The overwhelming emptiness left her at a loss, and she began crying like a child.

Even in the dream, her brain could sense its owner’s grief. To prevent the negative reactions from spreading endlessly within her, the self-defense mechanism was activated. After a few seconds, the gray images in Lu Yan’s mind gradually dispersed, replaced by golden memories.

She sobbed for a while, slowly stopping, her grief-stricken face becoming peaceful again.

The space was very empty, like a classroom. Someone stood before her, very handsome, with sweat glistening on his forehead. His face was injured, with cuts on his nose bridge and the corner of his mouth, the crimson color striking straight to the heart. Outside the large windows, a sunset red as fire hung still above the buildings, its light streaming through clearly illuminating the scene before her.

It was their first time being so close. She felt a little embarrassed but didn’t want him to notice her nervousness. She slowly dug out cotton balls and Band-Aids from her schoolbag, then turned back, rising on her tiptoes to tend to his wounds.

The alcohol must have stung the broken skin, but he just looked down at her, allowing her to do as she pleased.

Her heart was racing as she first treated his temple, then his nose bridge. When she was about to clean the corner of his mouth, unexpectedly, a warm breath brushed her lips as he kissed her.

Her heart stopped for a second before beginning to race violently. His breath smelled nice, like lime soda, and was very hot. His movements weren’t much more experienced than hers, but with each kiss, her body grew softer, until eventually, she felt like she was sinking into a pile of cotton, becoming completely pliant.

Then suddenly she felt lighter as he lifted her onto the desk behind him, kissing her more deeply.

Her spine tingled, her mind growing hazier, but her heart felt like she’d drunk a large cup of honey water, sweet and satisfied. She must have liked him for a long time already, not only not rejecting this intimacy but quickly becoming immersed in it. So this was how wonderful mutual love felt, making one helplessly sink into it. And she seemed naturally unacquainted with the concept of hesitation; as they kissed, she wrapped her arms around his neck, responding to him as he kissed her.

Who knows how long it lasted, but her body gradually began to heat up, no longer satisfied with just kissing, wanting more and more. She tightened her arms around his neck, pressing hard against his body, wishing she could meld completely with him.

“Jiang Chengyi…”

She murmured, kissing the corner of his mouth, his face, drunkenly reaching for his collar, unbuttoning his clothes.

As she undid the buttons, something suddenly felt wrong. In the dream, he had been wearing a t-shirt, but the clothes under her hands had buttons. His waist and shoulders were also somewhat different from before.

Even so, she didn’t want to stop, clinging to him and continuing to suck and bite like a wild cat.

But unconsciously, the sense of reality around her grew stronger. The light was bright, she could smell the grassy scent of shower gel on him, and the sound of the bed creaking under pressure became increasingly clear. Everything was too concrete and real, making it impossible for her to stay immersed in the dream.

Finally, she opened her eyes, the light stinging them as it entered.

She blinked hard, trying to identify the person before her.

It was indeed Jiang Chengyi, but his face was uninjured, without the light wounds from the fight. He wasn’t wearing that white t-shirt but rather a dress shirt. And they weren’t in Class 3 of No. 7 Middle School—they were in her bed.

Her arms were still around his shoulders, his collar already unbuttoned, with conspicuous red marks that looked like kiss marks on his neck. His eyes were as hazy as the night sky, but his expression remained composed.

Lu Yan’s scalp tingled as she hurriedly pushed him away, scrambling to sit up. Her mind was in chaos, unable to calm down. What was going on? Wasn’t she just taking a nap? How did Jiang Chengyi appear in her room?

Jiang Chengyi slowly stood up, his voice hoarse but tone calm: “There have been some new developments in the case. I was worried you might be one of the killer’s targets, so I called you. When you didn’t answer, I feared something had happened and came to check on you in your room.”

Lu Yan’s mind was completely frozen, temporarily unable to process: “Killer? Target?”

No, no, no, right now she was only concerned about how she had suddenly started clinging to him and kissing him.

The worst part was, that she clearly remembered that when she was wrapped around Jiang Chengyi earlier, though he wasn’t actively participating, he didn’t seem to reject her either.

By the time she got in the car, she had managed to calm down somewhat. Her face no longer randomly flushed with suspicious redness, and she could casually fasten her seatbelt, but catching a glimpse of the kiss marks on his neck still made her so embarrassed she wanted to bite her nails.

In those few minutes, Jiang Chengyi had showered and changed clothes, looking fresh and energetic. Dropping her off at the First Affiliated Hospital entrance, he said to her: “I’ll be nearby. Call me anytime if anything happens tonight.”

She responded with an “oh,” pretending to be composed as she got out of the car.