Chapter 109 - 108: I Had a Very Long Dream

Chapter 109: Chapter 108: I Had a Very Long Dream

Wang Ming paused, dazed and drunk. Then, he tilted his head back and chugged the remaining half of the bottle.

SOB SOB SOB... ’This son of a bitch. If you don’t know how to comfort someone, just shut up.’

"What else? What else did Shen Ying say?"

Jiang Xia pulled him away from the area where he had just thrown up and sighed softly. ’This poor fool’s romance is over before it even began.’ With his personality, it would probably take him a long time to get over it.

’But as the saying goes, "unlucky in love, lucky in business." This would be the perfect time for him to work overtime and crank out a few more drafts. It would be a real shame not to take advantage of this.’

"She told me not to be impulsive, to fill out my college applications properly, and that there are plenty of other great girls in college. But I... I only like her."

Perhaps because he had just thrown up a stomachful of alcohol, Wang Ming’s speech suddenly became clearer, and he started talking more.

"She told me to forget her, but now she’s all I can think about. Old Jiang, I can’t forget her, I really can’t! She walked into my heart, then cut off the path with a single strike. WAAAAH..."

Jiang Xia said softly, "Everyone who’s had their heart broken feels this way. You feel like your life is missing something without them, like the sky is falling. But the truth is, nobody else cares. The earth will keep spinning, the sun will rise and set tomorrow just like always. The only one who’s sad, from beginning to end, is you."

"Old Jiang, you’ve never had your heart broken. You don’t understand how I feel right now. My heart hurts so much. It’s a spasming kind of pain."

"Yeah, I’ve never had my heart broken..." Jiang Xia looked up at the bright moon, subconsciously reaching for a cigarette he didn’t have.

He took a slow breath, his tone suddenly sounding as if it had aged a decade. "But I... I’ve been divorced," he said softly. "She was wonderful. I loved her very much, but I wasn’t good enough for her. So I hardened my heart and forced her to fight with me, trying to anger her into leaving. No one understands what it’s like to personally drive away the one you love more than I do. So what you’re going through? It’s just a rejection. It wasn’t even a relationship, just a one-sided crush. What does that count for?"

Wang Ming whipped his head around to look at Jiang Xia, his eyes suddenly clear and filled with disbelief and confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"I had a long, very real dream," he said softly, a dazed look on his face.

"Tch. And here I thought you were about to tell me something serious. It was just a dream. I actually thought you’d really been married." Wang Ming reverted to his half-drunk, half-sober state, only now, Jiang Xia no longer stopped him no matter how much he drank.

"I lived for more than ten years in that dream. I married a wonderful girl. Even now, I can clearly remember every happy day we spent together, and also the pain of forcing fights with her over the most trivial things. After I pushed and pushed, she finally agreed to a divorce."

Wang Ming froze, subconsciously ignoring the part about it being a dream. He asked blankly, "So you’re in love with the girl from your dream *and* your girlfriend?"

"The girl in the dream was Yanwan."

"FUCK!!!"

Wang Ming was instantly dumbfounded. ’Damn it, what a bastard!’

’I was hoping for some shared misery with my good bro, but instead I just got his romance shoved in my face.’

Jiang Xia just smiled faintly, unbothered. "That’s why I’m so grateful now. Grateful that I can return to where it all began and cherish every day with her. I’m going to treat her well, spoil her rotten, and finally..."

"...never get a divorce again. I love her."

Hearing this, Wang Ming felt a complex mix of emotions and for a moment, didn’t know what to say. He was envious of the relationship between Jiang Xia and Lin Yanwan. It didn’t seem like just young love, but more like that of a couple who had been married for a long time.

"You will be. You’ll be together for a long, long time," he said.

"Want to know what happened to you?" Jiang Xia asked with a smile.

"You dreamed about me, too?" Wang Ming’s expression was strange.

Jiang Xia said seriously, "Yeah. In the dream, you died. You were driving drunk and went straight into the Yangtze River. I was the one who went to identify the body."

"...Damn it. I’d rather you hadn’t dreamed about me." Wang Ming was suddenly speechless.

"Don’t you want to hear why?"

"Why?"

"You were in a relationship with a beautiful girl for almost six years. In the end, she left you for a sugar daddy because of money. Back then, just like now, you were drinking your sorrows away all by yourself. That’s what led to the accident."

"Was that beautiful girl..."

"It wasn’t Shen Ying," Jiang Xia interrupted.

Wang Ming let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding, yet he also felt a pang of sadness. Even in a dream, he hadn’t managed to get together with Shen Ying.

’Is it that we’re just not fated to be together in this life?’ At this thought, he started feeling heartbroken all over again.

"Old Wang, listen to me for a second."

Jiang Xia patted his shoulder and said, "Shen Ying was right. I know you thought about applying to the same university as her, for her, but she won’t be moved by your presumptuous decision. Bro, you’re still too naive in how you see things. You have to understand, being separated for a little while doesn’t mean anything. The future is long. Who can possibly see how it will all turn out?"

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

"Let go of these feelings, work hard, realize your potential, and then you’ll be ready to embrace a love of your own."

Jiang Xia pointed to his own heart, then to Wang Ming’s. He said solemnly, "Both you and I need to change the lives we lived in that dream."

The more Wang Ming listened, the more something felt off. Finally, he slapped his thigh with the bottle in a moment of sudden realization. "After all that, aren’t you just trying to get me to forget her so I’ll work my ass off making money for you?"

"The two aren’t mutually exclusive," Jiang Xia said with a small smile.

"Hmm... But I have to admit, you’ve got a point. The me in the dream actually ended up with a gold digger, and even died in a drunk driving accident over her. That’s really fucked up."

He took out his phone, planning to delete Shen Ying’s phone number and QQ, but Jiang Xia saw what he was doing and quickly stopped him.

"What do you think you’re doing? You and she are in the same company. You’re going to be seeing each other all the time. You think deleting her contact info means you’ll never have to interact with her again? Go ahead and delete her from QQ, but let’s see you kick her out of the company group chat. Only a kid would sulk like this. It’s childish!"

"Then what am I supposed to do? Out of sight, out of mind. If I don’t see her, I won’t think about her. If I don’t think about her, I won’t get upset. And if I’m not upset, I can focus on work."

"Sounds to me like your workload is too light. I’ll have to add some more to your plate. When you’re busy, you won’t have time to think about your crush. Starting tomorrow, your vacation is cancelled."

"...Fine. Arrange it however you want." Wang Ming’s mouth twitched. He really wanted to curse this son-of-a-bitch capitalist for exploiting his workers. ’One day,’ he thought, ’he’ll be hanging from a lamppost.’

"Come on, I’ll take you home. Go back, take a good shower, change your clothes, and get some sleep. I’ll go to work with you tomorrow."

"Let’s go."

Wang Ming took a deep breath, tilted his head back, and drained the rest of the alcohol in the bottle.

"What are you drinking for?"

"I paid for it. It’d be a waste not to drink it."