TFS | Chapter 58

The clock hanging on the wall ticked on and on.

A young nurse pushed open the ward door and, as if following procedure, drew back the curtains. Bright sunlight flooded into the room, soft and warm, not at all harsh.

Xu Linruan rubbed her aching temples and forced her eyes open. What met her gaze was a stretch of pure white ceiling and the pale glow of the fluorescent lights.

She stared blankly for a moment. Her memories had turned chaotic all at once, and the scene before her felt indescribably unfamiliar.

“Huh? Miss Xu, you’re awake?”

The young nurse walked over with an obviously delighted smile. “I’ll go notify your family and friends right away. You’ve finally come to.”

Xu Linruan turned her head to look at her. “Family and friends?” It had probably been a very long time since she’d spoken, because her voice sounded weak and soft.

Seeing how dazed she looked, the nurse couldn’t help smiling as she explained, “Yes, Miss Xu. Don’t you remember? Three months ago, you were in a car accident. You were rescued in time, but because you injured your head, even after your body recovered, your brain remained in a coma. Today is the first day you’ve truly woken up.”

Xu Linruan paused for several seconds. Only after gathering her strength for a long time did she prop herself up with one hand and sit up on the bed. Her face was a little pale, and her expression was shocked. “Are you saying I’ve been unconscious for three months?”

She looked out the window. The weather outside was very nice, not at all like October weather. Then she turned slightly and saw a bouquet of dewy lilies in the vase on the table. It was obviously freshly delivered by someone. The fragrance filled the room, clean and pleasant.

The nurse noticed that something seemed off about her. She thought that when a patient who had been unconscious for too long woke up, this kind of memory gap could happen.

So she explained patiently, “Yes, Miss Xu. Do you feel like something is wrong? Should I call a doctor for you?”

Xu Linruan came back to herself. She looked at the nurse and said, “No need. I want to ask, do you know where my boyfriend is?”

From the time she had gone missing to the time she fell into a coma, three months had passed. Yet her memories were still stuck on that afternoon, on the sight of that tearful fool gripping her sleeve tightly, crying and begging her to take him home…

The nurse’s eyes widened in surprise. “Boyfriend? Miss Xu, are you mistaken? You don’t have a boyfriend. These past three months, it’s been your other friends coming to take care of you.”

No boyfriend?

Xu Linruan froze.

She looked at the nurse’s astonished face in front of her. The expression didn’t seem fake.

So she threw back the blanket and walked to the window. Below was a commercial street that was both unfamiliar and familiar, with cars and pedestrians streaming past nonstop. There were also honking horns, a little noisy, but very real. This was the city where she had lived since childhood.

Xu Linruan rubbed her swollen head. Her memories and the world from the story were tangled together in disorder, and for a moment she couldn’t tell what was real and what was a dream. She couldn’t quite make sense of it.

By normal logic, had she returned to the world she had originally lived in?

Or had everything she experienced after entering the story just been a dream?

The nurse was still chattering beside her, nonstop. Xu Linruan didn’t really take any of it in. She took out her phone and searched for the novel she used to read, scrolling to the ending. It was still the same novel, and the plot hadn’t changed.

Sunlight outside passed through the gauze curtains and fell across her body. Xu Linruan raised a hand. The pale blue veins on the back of it were clearly visible. It seemed like she had simply had a dream, and now that she had woken up, everything was back on track.

She turned around, and someone suddenly pushed open the door.

The newcomer had an expression of delight on his face. “Xu Linruan, you finally woke up.”

Her overexcited friend rushed over and gave her a big hug, laughing and crying at the same time as he held her. “You have no idea how worried we’ve been about you these past three months. We really thought you might never wake up again. Thank goodness you’ve finally come around.”

Xu Linruan froze for a moment, then remembered. The person in front of her was her childhood best friend, and besides him, several other familiar friends had also come.

It gave her a feeling of having been separated from the world for years. Fortunately, her friends didn’t notice anything strange. Xu Linruan listened as they talked about what had happened over the past few months, including some family matters, though she was a little distracted…

After three days of observation in the hospital and confirming that her body had fully recovered, Xu Linruan was discharged.

After that, life went back to normal. The only difference was that she had become much more of a homebody. Xu Dad and Xu Mom thought she was being too much of a shut-in, and, most importantly, they were worried that she was already this old and still didn’t have a boyfriend. In a fit of urgency, they arranged a blind date for her.

…

Xu Linruan had never imagined that there would really come a day when her parents forced her into a blind date, and the boy sitting across from her actually looked quite young. The young man blushed the moment he saw her, and was so nervous he even held the menu upside down.

Xu Linruan sat in the seat across from him and thought that since she was already here, she might as well treat this as making a friend. As for dating, forget it.

The indoor air conditioning was just right, the temperature comfortable, and the restaurant environment was also excellent, with outdoor tables and chairs in the open air, providing a perfect dining atmosphere for couples who liked romance.

After she sat down, the other person didn’t say anything. Those clear eyes just stared at her without moving.

Xu Linruan picked up the menu and, instead, spoke first. “Your name is Lu Yan, right? What do you like to eat?”

Only then did the young man across from her come back to himself. His ears reddened a little in embarrassment. Xu Linruan’s fingers paused slightly, and she immediately thought of a certain easily blushing fool. But that fool had thicker skin. Even while blushing, he would still take advantage of her.

“Um… you order. Ladies first. I’m fine with anything. I’m not picky.” Lu Yan rarely interacted with girls. He was extremely socially anxious, and he had only agreed to this blind date because his parents had pressured him until he had no choice.

But after meeting her, it felt different. Even though it was only their first time seeing each other, he was already making plans in his head for how things would go from here.

Lu Yan’s ears turned red again. He clearly wasn’t the kind of person who judged people by their looks, was he?

Xu Linruan thought his reaction was a little troublesome. She didn’t have any intention of starting a relationship for now, so she planned to make things clear after dinner. It would be bad if this caused a misunderstanding.

Xu Linruan ordered two steaks according to the public’s preferences. The two of them chatted while they ate, and the atmosphere was fairly pleasant. After a round of questions, she learned that Lu Yan was three years younger than her.

When she put down her knife and fork, the boy across from her immediately did the same and gave her a flattering smile.

Xu Linruan paused, then calmly picked up the red wine on the table and took a sip. After setting the glass down, she said, “Actually, I think you’re still very young. There’s really no need to use blind dates as a way to look for a girlfriend.”

Lu Yan looked up nervously. “Are you not satisfied with me?”

Xu Linruan shook her head and smiled back. “You’ve misunderstood. It’s just that I don’t really have any intention of dating right now.”

“Why? Is it because I’m not good enough?” Lu Yan sat there stiffly like a rejected newlywed, looking at her with a hurt expression.

“No, actually… I already have a boyfriend.” Xu Linruan’s tone was gentle and calm, her gaze soft. “You’re very good. It’s just that I already like someone. My parents don’t know yet that I have a boyfriend, so they misunderstood and arranged this blind date. I’m sorry for causing you trouble.”

“…I wasn’t troubled.” Lu Yan looked somewhat disappointed, his eyes lowered. “It’s my own problem. I didn’t know you already had a boyfriend.”

Xu Linruan made things clear. The date ended. Lu Yan said that although they couldn’t continue developing things between them, they could still be friends, so he asked for her contact information.

When she got home, her parents, uncharacteristically gossipy, pressed her for updates on the blind date. Annoyed, Xu Linruan went straight upstairs to take a shower.

She rubbed her aching head. Over the past two days, so many things had come back to her that she had even begun to suspect that her experience of being transmigrated into the book had only been a big dream during her coma.

She saw a college scrapbook on the desk. It recorded her campus life during university, along with some newly added blessings wishing that she would wake up soon…

Xu Linruan flipped to the end and closed the cover. With a ding, a blue diamond ring slipped from between her fingers, rolled twice, and came to rest by her feet before stopping.

She picked it up. The blue diamond gleamed brilliantly under the light. She thought of her boyfriend, who cried easily and loved acting spoiled, and of the ring he had personally slipped onto her ring finger one day. If she disappeared, would that fool cry very badly?