Shi Xinxin woke up, the entire room was extremely quiet, only her own breathing could be heard. Gone was the liveliness of the large villa. Even though she was alone in the room, she could still feel the vibrant energy of the whole house.
Now, she had returned to her small rented apartment. Although it was a familiar place, it lacked much of that vitality. She opened her eyes, and it was rare for her to feel so clear-headed the moment she woke up.
Everything that happened yesterday was still vivid in her mind, not like a tragic movie she had watched. The woman's voice echoed in her ears repeatedly, impossible to forget. The quietness of the house seemed to cooperate, allowing her to recall everything that had transpired the day before in its entirety.
As she thought about it, tears began to flow again, her pajamas already soaked. Shi Xinxin was furious, seeing herself in such a state, so unresilient.
It seemed her mind had stopped obeying her, only able to direct her body to do what it wanted. She changed out of her pajamas. Her body was exhausted from the long journey yesterday, and she had no desire to unpack the suitcase she had brought back.
Even though it was lunchtime, she didn't feel hungry. "Mind, do whatever you want. Just remember that woman's words for a lifetime. I, at least, need to eat."
For some reason, after experiencing what happened yesterday, Shi Xinxin felt as if her mind and body had become estranged. Her mind kept bringing back memories of yesterday, stubbornly.
Even on the way back yesterday, for a few seconds, she had thought that perhaps, as the housekeeper had said, it was just a misunderstanding. After all, Sheng Chenjin had shown no reaction when the woman was speaking, merely closing his eyes and sleeping.
Perhaps she had really just fallen asleep, and maybe the woman would come to apologize when she woke up. Fortunately, her body had not followed these thoughts of her mind and had continued to move forward. Otherwise, Shi Xinxin would surely regret her subsequent actions.
And when she woke up in her rented apartment, finding her mind still so stubbornly unwilling to forget, she decided to abandon it and directly command her body. She forced herself to change out of her wet pajamas and forced herself to wipe away her tears.
Ignoring the thoughts in her mind, she compelled herself to get up, forced herself to go to the kitchen to search for food. Although the housekeeper had cleaned her room, there were no provisions stocked.
Shi Xinxin sighed and picked up her phone, preparing to order takeout. It was then that she saw the message from Tang Tang and her four missed calls.
"Are you feeling better? Did you go home? Did your boss torment you?" For a while, Shi Xinxin had been telling Tang Tang that because she hadn't fully recovered, her boss was still very worried about her.
So, he had kept her at the villa, and her good friend would send her messages of concern from time to time. Looking at the time, these calls must have come yesterday when Shi Xinxin was walking on the road, and she hadn't heard them because of the loud rain.
"See? Mind, you were still thinking Sheng Chenjin would call. There's absolutely no message from him! He doesn't want to keep you at all. It's not your phone that's the problem, but Sheng Chenjin doesn't want to explain anything to you."
Seizing the opportunity, Shi Xinxin severely reprimanded her mind again. But in reality, she could feel a pang of pain from her heart. It was already noon; Sheng Chenjin might have spent the night outside last night.
But it was already twelve o'clock. According to Sheng Chenjin's biological clock, he would have woken up long ago. In this state, Sheng Chenjin still hadn't contacted her, proving that everything was just as it had been yesterday.
Sheng Chenjin had done it deliberately. All of this was merely Shi Xinxin's own fantasy, just her ignorant daydream.
The thought of how ridiculous she had been before made Shi Xinxin wish even more intensely that she could quickly return to her original life. She picked up her phone and called Tang Tang, explaining on the phone that.
She had accidentally fallen asleep early last night and therefore missed the call. Now, she was completely recovered, and her boss had approved her return home to complete her remaining work.
Tang Tang didn't detect anything unusual. She had wanted to chat for a while longer, but Shi Xinxin made an excuse about having work and hung up the phone early.
Shi Xinxin was afraid of her good friend's concern. She feared that if Tang Tang asked a few more questions, she would truly be unable to stop herself from crying. She wasn't someone who could keep her troubles to herself, and the blow from such an event was not small for her.
It would take some time for her to completely drown these feelings within herself. After hanging up the phone, she ordered takeout for herself. Shi Xinxin changed her clothes and went downstairs to the community's supermarket to buy a lot of food.
When she was in a bad mood, she liked to hide at home and eat and drink to her heart's content. It was the weekend now, and she didn't have to worry about work. She would recuperate at home for two days.
She believed that despite his arrogance, Sheng Chenjin was a man of his word and wouldn't come looking for her again because of something like that. What she needed now was rest.
After buying snacks, Shi Xinxin went to the living room and opened the sofa bed. She took out a quilt, piled snacks all over the coffee table, and as soon as the takeout arrived, she brought it back and locked the door.
Then, she turned on the TV and began to binge-eat on the sofa. She would eat until she was full, then sleep, and after waking up, she would continue eating. She had selected a series of movies to play in order on the television.
It felt like she would never finish watching them. She didn't have to worry about commercials interrupting. The curtains were never opened, and Shi Xinxin could only rely on the faint light to gauge whether it was day or night.
After waking up for what felt like the umpteenth time, she rubbed her eyes and looked at the messy coffee table in front of her, scattered with snacks. Her appearance was disheveled, and a pile of takeout boxes lay scattered near the door.
Her once clean home had quickly become so messy because of her. She sat stunned for a while, then got up, pulled back the quilt, and went to the bathroom. She stood in front of the mirror.
Looking at the reflection of a person in the mirror, as disheveled as a tramp, she felt a pang of self-pity. What was happening to her? Was this a punishment for herself? Or indulgence?
"Why are you like this after knowing Sheng Chenjin doesn't like you? We agreed when you were at the villa that it was just a daydream on the day of the dance. It seems you never intended to wake up."
From the beginning, her self-control hadn't been that good. She had long since blurred the lines between dreams and reality. So, when she kept making excuses that she only wanted to have these two days of dreams, she had actually already fallen deeply into them, unable to extricate herself.