In the dream, it was a hospital bustling with people.
Nurses moved back and forth, delivering medicine and removing IV needles for patients in each ward.
The place was filled with noise—patients, family members caring for them, relatives and friends visiting—everyone wore different expressions, some joyful, some sorrowful.
I curled up alone in a ward that reeked of disinfectant, lying on a bed in the corner, silently watching people come and go.
Not a single one of them was there for me.
There was no one by my bedside, no family or friends visiting—just me alone.
Amid the noisy atmosphere, I felt like the only one left behind by the world.
Then the scene shifted.
I found myself once again among the massive horde of walkers I had seen before, except this time I was standing inside that deformed wire fence.
On both sides were ferocious, grotesque walkers baring their teeth and claws.
They were frantically trying to squeeze in.
The flesh on their faces and bodies was torn apart by the gaps in the wire under the immense pressure from behind, chunks of it falling into the enclosure.
Behind me stood the massive, sturdy city tower of headquarters.
Suo Tian stood on top of it, quietly watching me struggle in panic, dodging the rotting flesh falling in from both sides.
I cried and begged him to open the gate, but he ignored me—just stood there, unmoving.
Then, at last, the wire fence behind me could no longer withstand the crushing force of the countless horde.
It collapsed with a crash, and the rotten, foul-smelling mass of walkers surged in like a tidal wave…
…
With a startled cry, I woke up from the dream.
The moment I realized it was just a dream, I let out a deep breath of relief—but in the next second, the scenes from the dream vividly resurfaced in my mind, and an overwhelming sadness took hold of me.
My whole body was soaked in sweat.
Sitting on the bed, I dazedly recalled it for a long while.
As my mind gradually cleared, the scenes of the dream became less and less vivid compared to that first moment of waking.
Still groggy, I got out of bed, found a clean set of clothes, and went into the bathroom to take a shower.
After changing, as I passed by the mirror, I glanced at it—and suddenly froze in place.
For a moment, looking at myself in the mirror, I felt like I didn’t quite recognize the person staring back at me.
There was a strange sense of unfamiliarity.
My hair had grown long, falling down my back—almost reaching my waist, something I had always wanted.
The slender figure I used to chase had also more or less been achieved; the little bits of fat that used to bother me were gone.
My chin looked sharply defined, almost as if I’d had surgery—it made me think that when celebrities suddenly slim down and look much better, maybe it really isn’t plastic surgery after all.
How long had it been since I looked at myself this closely?
I raised a hand to touch my face, and the person in the mirror did the same.
I stared for a long time, half-expecting that the reflection would suddenly curl its lips into a mocking smile at me.
Just as my thoughts began to drift into something strange and surreal, a knock on the door suddenly pulled me back to reality.
Han Xue’s voice came from outside: “Chen Yang? Are you awake? Come out and eat.”
I patted my face, opened the bathroom door, and replied, “Okay, let me dry my hair and I’ll come down.”
…
When I went downstairs to eat, the first thing I saw was Bruno sitting among the group.
He waved at me in greeting, sitting beside Lili, the smile on his face impossible to hide.
I glanced at the others curiously—had I missed something good?
The meal was fairly lively.
Chen Pu behaved himself this time.
After finishing early, he didn’t insist on going out.
Instead, he helped look after the restless Xiao Hu and Tingyun for a while.
Once Uncle Gazi finished eating and took over, Chen Pu turned and went upstairs to his room.
Xu Shu’s expression looked noticeably better.
Perhaps noticing that I didn’t look well, after the meal Lili and Taozi sat down beside me and asked with concern, “Are you in a bad mood, or did you argue with Suo Tian? You look so out of it.”
I waved my hand and sighed, resting my head against the sofa.
After thinking for a moment, I said to them, “It’s not about Suo Tian… I had a dream. Actually… it was two dreams.”
“A dream?” Lili and Taozi exchanged a glance. “Tell us.”
After piecing together what I could remember and telling them about the scenes from the dreams, the two of them couldn’t help but sigh in astonishment.
Taozi looked at me sympathetically. “No wonder you look so out of it. If I had a dream like that, I’d definitely cry my eyes out.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “Are you even a man?”
Taozi smacked me on the head. “Guess I’m not! What are you gonna do about it?”
Lili glanced at the two of us helplessly, then looked at me and said, “Do you think it’s because you’ve been under too much psychological pressure lately? One thing after another keeps happening, and Suo Tian is always away, so you end up having these messy dreams.”
“Probably.”
Taozi looked at me for a moment, then suggested, “How about we go out for a walk and get some fresh air? Staying cooped up inside all day—even if you’re fine, you’ll end up feeling sick from it.”
I waved my hand quickly to refuse. “You guys go ahead. I’m not going.”
That nap in the afternoon still had my head feeling heavy and foggy.
Taozi completely ignored my right to choose.
After asking Xu Shu and Han Xue, he directly grabbed me together with Lili and pulled me to my feet. “I’ll go out for a walk with you girls.”
Seeing that Xu Shu—who hadn’t smiled these past couple of days—also agreed to go out, I sighed and let Taozi drag me along.
Honestly, going out for a walk did feel much better than just sitting inside, chatting idly, and then going to sleep.
The greenery in the villa complex was well done.
Although it was left over from before and no longer maintained as neatly, walking through it still had its own charm.
We walked along the roads around the villas.
Toward the main gate or deeper inside, there were several small parks.
Since we were out to relax, we decided to head deeper into parts of the complex we hadn’t been to before.
At first, most of the houses along the way still had their lights on, but the farther we went, the fewer lit houses there were.
It was hard to tell whether people just hadn’t returned from work yet or if no one lived there at all.
After passing a row of houses, a small park came into view.
Its layout and size were similar to the one we had visited before.
People came out in small groups for walks, stretching their arms and legs in the open space.
Watching the two kids running around and playing wildly behind those people, I suddenly regretted not bringing Tingyun and Xiao Hu with us.
They had finally gone out for a trip with us before, only to encounter something so terrifying.
We should have brought them out to let them have some fun.
Ever since that incident where a conflict between children escalated into something serious, we had rarely let the two of them play outside alone anymore—unless someone was watching them.
Xu Shu seemed to be thinking the same thing.
She glanced at the two kids in the distance and said, “Let’s find a chance to see which families have children and try to build some connections. At least let Tingyun and Xiao Hu have other playmates. Staying at home all day, watching our moods—it’s stifling their natural instincts.”
Lili’s expression flickered with a trace of discomfort, probably thinking of Lu Jinchuan, who had suggested sending Xiao Hu and Tingyun to kindergarten before… and then of Xuanxuan, who had been taken away by her parents.
Noticing my glance, Lili forced a small smile and then responded to Xu Shu, “If you ask me, we might as well just send them to kindergarten. It might be a bit troublesome to pick them up and drop them off every day, but at least they’d get to experience life outside and play with other kids. That’s much better than having us around them all the time.”
…
There was still a small pond in the park, with a pavilion extending over the water.
We walked toward it, and as we stepped inside, we realized there was already a woman sitting there, probably in her fifties.
She was quietly knitting something.
Seeing her, the chatter among us immediately fell silent.
Just as we were considering whether to leave and find somewhere else without people, the auntie—who had been quietly focused on knitting—looked up at us.
Then she smiled warmly and waved her hand. “Girls, come sit. I’ll finish this in a bit and head off.”
At that point, even if we wanted to avoid her, it would’ve been awkward to do so, so we simply walked in.
After sitting down in the pavilion, Han Xue let out a deep breath, then looked curiously at the auntie sitting in the corner, leaning against a pillar.
“Auntie… why are you out here alone so late, knitting… what is that?”
Hearing this, the auntie looked at Han Xue and lifted what she was holding with a smile.
“Knitting a couple of little socks for my grandson. Looks like the weather’s about to turn cold.”
It really had gotten cooler.
The moment she mentioned it, I suddenly felt a chill seep through my clothes.
I quickly wrapped my coat tighter and said, “Auntie, are you out here by yourself?”
“Of course… I’m old now, don’t really like the bustle. My daughter-in-law is pregnant, so she can’t go out. Coming out alone for a while is peaceful.” The auntie smiled kindly.
She seemed like someone who had once been very well-mannered—her tone was gentle, neither too strong nor too soft, making people instinctively feel at ease.
By now, Taozi and Han Xue had already moved closer to her, watching her hands as she knitted as if performing a magic trick.
After a couple of impressed exclamations, Han Xue suddenly turned to look at me.
“Chen Yang, I’ll learn properly from Auntie today. When your baby is born, I’ll knit some little socks and gloves to give to them.”
I smiled lightly. “Hopefully you can learn. I’ll look forward to it on behalf of the baby.”
Hearing this, the auntie looked at me for a moment, then glanced at my belly and asked, “From the looks of it, you must not have been pregnant for very long, right?”
I paused, then quickly replied, “Mm, almost two months.”
“Still a long way to go…” she said.
Then, as if recalling something, she added, “When my daughter-in-law was two months along…”
But she suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
A strange, indescribable expression flickered across her face, though it was quickly replaced by her gentle smile.
— The end of the Chapter–
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