An Uneasy Awakening

The next morning.

The snow had ceased, leaving a thick, soft blanket across the ground.

Having taken leave the previous night, Lin Ziyan leisurely waited until nearly eight before finally stirring from bed.

What struck her as unusual was Ye Xingmian’s absence; she hadn’t knocked to wake her as she usually did.

‘Is she still asleep? How rare.’

Slowly, she finished her morning routine and tidied her clothes.

Then, she stepped onto the dark, dust-laden staircase.

This area hadn’t been cleaned in ages; even the lighting relied solely on the faint slivers of light filtering up from downstairs.

The absence of a handrail made her wary of a potential fall.

Lin Ziyan continued until she reached the attic door, which she promptly pushed open.

The ancient wooden door groaned open, a sound that grated on her teeth.

She frowned. The air was heavy with the scent of moldy, old furniture, an unpleasant aroma that permeated the entire room.

As far as she could recall, this was her first time stepping into this cramped attic.

Its layout differed vastly from her own room. Shadows on both sides concealed stacks of old wooden furniture, leaving only a narrow path down the center.

The natural light was poor, with a single incandescent bulb hanging from the ceiling.

This morning, the small window by the bed offered the only source of illumination.

Since snow had fallen last night and the day was now clear, the room appeared quite bright.

Yet, even with the brightness, she could easily imagine how dim it must usually be.

However, beyond the cluttered zone of old furniture, the majority of the attic was surprisingly clean.

Many of the white floor tiles were chipped and cracked, but they had been meticulously polished until they gleamed.

This sight made Lin Ziyan pause, a sudden realization washing over her.

‘Had Ye Xingmian truly been sleeping in a place like this all this time?’

‘This is… far too rudimentary…’

‘Living in such conditions, how could anyone possibly feel cheerful?’

A strange heaviness settled in her heart as Lin Ziyan slowly approached the young girl’s window.

She recalled this bed, a secondhand piece her parents had acquired from an unknown source over a decade ago. It had seemed unstable even then.

‘Could it really still be intact after all this time?’

Standing by the bed, Lin Ziyan quietly observed the girl still deep in slumber.

Her cheeks were flushed, her brow furrowed, and her breathing was erratic, as if she were trapped in a nightmare.

Unwilling to linger, a sense of gloom weighing on her, Lin Ziyan gently patted the sleeping girl.

The girl startled awake instantly, as if jolted by a fright.

Her body trembled violently before her eyes fluttered open, revealing pupils wide with terror and apprehension.

Upon seeing Lin Ziyan before her, she gradually relaxed, realizing it had all been a dream.

“Ziyan…? Why are you here…?”

This was her small attic, and the person standing there was Lin Ziyan, her nominal younger sister.

She paused for a moment, vaguely understanding why Ziyan had come to find her.

“Ah… I’m sorry… I accidentally overslept. I’ll get up and make you breakfast right away.”

She started to sit up on her own accord, but then a sudden realization struck her.

‘Right, I’m a girl now. Lin Ziyan can’t know about this.’

She looked at Lin Ziyan, pulling the blanket up to cover her upper body, a difficult expression on her face.

“Um… I need to get up. Could you… step out for a moment?”

Lin Ziyan remained still.

She, of course, understood why Ye Xingmian wished for her to leave.

However, her reason for staying wasn’t that at all; it was something else entirely…

She pointed a finger towards the teddy bear resting by the pillow.

“Is that the one I gave you?”

The girl quickly hugged the teddy bear to her chest, lowering her head as if protecting a precious treasure.

“Mm…”

Lin Ziyan’s expression instantly became nuanced.

“I never would have guessed you liked it so much.”

The girl simply shook her head gently, offering no words.

Yet, Lin Ziyan could sense the defensiveness in her posture.

‘Was she guarding against me trying to snatch the teddy bear away?’

Lin Ziyan found it somewhat amusing.

She had countless such items scattered throughout her own room, often feeling like she had no space for them.

It was unexpected that something she had casually given away would be treasured so dearly.

Without dwelling on it further, she simply observed the girl’s feverish, flushed cheeks.

“Your fever hasn’t broken yet, has it?” she then added.

Only then did the girl seem to realize she was still feverish.

However, having been sick for so long, she barely felt it anymore.

“Mm…”

She mumbled a response, and upon hearing it, Lin Ziyan departed.

“I think there are some cold and fever medicines at home. I’ll go look for them. You should get up quickly.”

“Okay…”

Watching Lin Ziyan’s retreating back as she descended the stairs, Ye Xingmian felt a peculiar sensation.

As far as she could recall, this was the first time her ‘younger sister’ had ever woken her.

It felt rather novel, yet honestly, the experience wasn’t particularly pleasant.

After all, she harbored no affection for this sister.

In all her memories of Lin Ziyan, the girl’s gaze had always been filled with disgust and prejudice, a look that deeply unsettled her.

Rubbing her slightly feverish head, she felt significantly better after her sleep.

Though still weary, she was certainly not as uncomfortable as she had been yesterday.

Come to think of it, she had a dream just now, a rare occurrence, and it had been a nightmare.

The dream’s details eluded her, yet she remembered a profound sadness engulfing her dream-self.

That utterly despairing sensation was truly awful, enough to drive a person mad.

Fortunately, it was merely a dream, and she was now awake.

Even if her life was humble and lowly, it still seemed considerably better than the existence of her dream-self.

Humans are always adept at compromise; after experiencing hell, one tends to view their ordinary, difficult life as nothing particularly significant.

She zoned out for a while, still clutching the small bear.

Suddenly, she buried her face into the bear’s embrace, inhaling deeply the warm, cottony scent.

A strange, muffled ‘woo-woo’ sound escaped her lips.

‘Mmm, so comfortable…’

Her heart felt utterly softened, making her reluctant to let go.

Then, recalling Lin Ziyan’s earlier question, the girl was struck by an uneasy premonition.

‘She already gave it to me, so she wouldn’t take the teddy bear back, would she?’

‘That absolutely won’t do.’

However, she had nowhere suitable to hide it.

Apart from her sleeping area, the sections filled with old furniture hadn’t been cleaned, and would only dirty the bear.

‘I’m already so dirty; I can’t let the little bear get dirty too.’

After much thought, the girl, who had finally managed to get out of bed, endured the grating ‘creak-creak’ of her mattress.

She began rummaging through a pile of her belongings in a corner of the room.

Soon, she unearthed an old schoolbag.

She remembered her mother buying and mailing it to her when she first started primary school.

She had always cherished it, yet even with the utmost care, it couldn’t withstand the ravages of time.

The front zipper was broken, but fortunately, the back remained intact.

Carefully, she tucked the little bear inside.

Then, she hid it beneath the clean bed.

Only then did she exhale, a breath of relief, and head downstairs.