After their heart-to-heart talk, Wang Heng and Han Yi Xuan were silent for a long while. As the sky grew darker, Wang Heng finally spoke, "Let's go, I'll walk you home."
Han Yi Xuan nodded, and they both stood up, walking side by side towards her home. Amidst the silence, Han Yi Xuan suddenly stopped.
Wang Heng, noticing she wasn't following, stopped and turned around. He saw her looking at him, seemingly with a lot to say.
After a few seconds of hesitation, Han Yi Xuan finally spoke, "I understand what you're saying, but dating doesn't have to be expensive. Like now, just walking and talking, isn't that enough?"
"I'm planning to work part-time this summer. I can't avoid the university fees, but at least I can earn my own living expenses."
"Can't you skip the part-time job?"
Wang Heng laughed, "And if I don't earn money, will you support me?"
Han Yi Xuan, with determination, replied, "I will support you!"
Wang Heng's smile froze.
After a moment, he sighed, "Why are you doing this? I really don't understand what's so good about me to deserve this..."
Wang Heng remembered his previous relationship with Han Yi Xuan, but he didn't recall her being this devoted right after high school.
"Are you wondering why I'm so persistent? It's hard to explain... You might even laugh at me." Han Yi Xuan spoke shyly.
Wang Heng was puzzled. What could be harder to say than a confession?
But then, he understood as Han Yi Xuan continued, "I've been having dreams these past few days. It started the night after our English exam. I dreamed that I confessed to you, we talked happily, and we started a relationship. Then, we spent the entire summer together without you working part-time. We didn't spend much; we would just ride the public bus together."
"Dates on a bus?" Wang Heng was astonished.
"Yes, we'd just get on a bus and ride it to the end of the line, then hop on another one. We'd sit in the back, watching the scenery and other people, chatting leisurely. When hungry, we'd get off for noodles; when thirsty, we'd buy water. We didn't worry about anything, just enjoyed our time... No, we thought about a lot of things, imagining our future, picturing our university life. We even planned to meet every two months in college, buying round-trip train tickets for face-to-face dates, and video chatting at other times. The happiness in that dream... you can't imagine how wonderful it was..." Han Yi Xuan spoke with certainty about the contents of her dream.
In his previous life, Wang Heng and Han Yi Xuan's early romance unfolded exactly as she described in her dream. This realization made him break into a cold sweat — could it be that Han Yi Xuan also had memories of their previous life together?
As Han Yi Xuan continued to speak about her dreams, which felt more like a series of episodes than mere dreams, Wang Heng felt a dryness in his throat. She talked about looking forward to confessing her feelings to him, a moment she had anticipated so eagerly.
Struggling to maintain a smile, Wang Heng said, "Such a nearly cost-free romance sounds really nice... If we were at the same university, I definitely wouldn't reject you. But for now, let me walk you home."
Realizing she couldn't change his mind, Han Yi Xuan's expression fell, and she declined his offer to walk her home, saying she could manage on her own.
Wang Heng, not in the mood to display chivalry, simply wished her to be careful on her way.
After parting ways with the disheartened Han Yi Xuan, Wang Heng didn't head home. Instead, he went to the largest bookstore in the town and began searching the psychology section. He found Freud's "The Interpretation of Dreams" but quickly realized it didn't contain what he was looking for. The other books about dreams seemed to be less scientific and more like motivational works, which he found unreliable.
Pondering over the improbability of Han Yi Xuan's dream, he considered checking the philosophy section or even delving into quantum mechanics for answers.
Feeling helpless, Wang Heng left the bookstore and headed to a nearby internet café. His old-fashioned phone lacked internet browsing capabilities, and the only computer at home was invariably occupied by his father. In a rush, he decided to spend some of his limited pocket money to use a basic computer at the internet café.
Although the internet had abundant information, it was mostly cluttered with irrelevant data. Wang Heng searched for a while but couldn't find any valuable references.
"Considering reincarnation is real, someone having dreams that cross timelines doesn't seem too far-fetched..." he sighed to himself, about to shut down the computer. Just then, a pop-up window appeared on the screen.
[Do you want to understand the meaning of life? Do you want to truly... live?]Below the text were two buttons, [Yes]and [No].
Stunned, Wang Heng thought it seemed like the start of an infinite flow story. Without hesitation, he clicked on [No].
The pop-up changed its message: [More cautious than I expected. I thought after experiencing reincarnation, you would feel emboldened, thinking you're the main character with a fearless spirit.]
Pondering, Wang Heng realized he might be facing something extraordinary, as the term 'reincarnation' was used accurately.
The pop-up changed again: [Let's stop joking around. A brief introduction: I am a time-space administrator from the multiverse, primarily responsible for maintaining the normal causality laws of different timelines and clearing out bugs that shouldn't exist. By the way, you don't need to type; just speak, and I can hear you. A whisper will suffice.]
Narrowing his eyes, Wang Heng read the message twice, then murmured, "Uh... hello?"
[Good, polite.]
[You must have adapted to life after reincarnation by now. Unfortunately, I have to tell you something you might not want to hear.]