Chapter 28: Why Her and Jiang Xue?
Xiao Luohan hadn’t expected that even before showing Jiang Xue the contents of the notebook, just a short nap in the afternoon would bring her into Jiang Xue’s dream.
…No, it should be like “Hypothesis Two,” they entered the dream synchronously. Initially, she was practicing Tai Chi Sword in the courtyard of her own dream, and now she had been brought into Jiang Xue’s dream.
However, Jiang Xue didn’t seem to realize this.
Unlike her own awareness, Jiang Xue was truly dreaming, even pulling her along to rehearse and replace another girl.
In any case, since the dream had already formed, she would first observe the situation.
Xiao Luohan obediently followed Jiang Xue and agreed to her request, standing aside with the telescopic sword, waiting.
Jiang Xue just kept clapping for her, while the other girl started playing a sword dance video for her to watch.
Xiao Luohan had often watched dances and performances since she was young. When her elder sister practiced sword and spear dances, she would memorize the movements and even recreate them in her drawings afterward, which her elder sister would always happily take away.
She quietly and attentively watched the group dance video once. Seeing that Jiang Xue had turned the girl who kept making mistakes into a pigeon and set it free by the window, she directly took the girl’s original position.
“Let’s do a run-through!” the girl playing the video said.
Xiao Luohan joined the other girls for a practice run.
She moved freely in the dream. The large movements that would leave her breathless in the waking world were performed with ease here.
Compared to a solo dance, the group dance movements weren’t difficult. She just needed to coordinate with the others. Even if they made mistakes, they would make them together, focusing on the overall harmony.
Compared to the dances and performances she had seen before, the dance Jiang Xue and the others had chosen was, in Xiao Luohan’s opinion, several times slower.
The practice went smoothly. Just as Jiang Xue had said, she learned it after watching it once. During the actual dance, she focused her attention and didn’t make any mistakes.
When the group dance segment ended, she saw that Jiang Xue’s palms were red from clapping.
“I told you she could do it!!” Jiang Xue was excited. “See? Isn’t she amazing? Let’s have her join!”
Before the girl playing the video could respond, she suddenly disappeared.
Xiao Luohan froze, instinctively looking towards where Jiang Xue had been standing. Sure enough, Jiang Xue was also gone.
Just as she was feeling surprised, her consciousness sank, and when she opened her eyes again, all she saw were the bed curtains above her.
It seemed that Jiang Xue’s dream had ended.
Jiang Xue’s mind snapped back to reality when the politics teacher knocked on her desk. However, having just woken up, she couldn’t quite distinguish between reality and dream, thinking that her dream had simply shifted from the rehearsal room to the classroom.
“The classroom is too warm, I understand why you all doze off.” The politics teacher gestured towards the air conditioner with her workbook. “Stand up for a bit. Sit down when you feel more awake.”
Jiang Xue rarely got punished for sleeping in class. Even though she knew the politics teacher was kind and wouldn’t hold it against her, that she was only doing this to wake her up, and that it was okay to sit down immediately, she still nodded obediently, deciding to stand for ten minutes before sitting—she was in the last row anyway, so standing wouldn’t disturb anyone.
As her mind gradually cleared, she listened to the lecture while recalling the short dream she had just had.
Her resentment towards “rehearsals taking up her lunch break” had actually driven her to drag the Third Princess into her dream to replace someone!
Fortunately, it was just a dream. She had hoped the Third Princess could learn the dance after watching it once, and the Third Princess had fulfilled her wish instantly. Otherwise, it would have been like “throwing someone into the deep end,” and just like Dan Yuanyuan in the dream had said, she would have dragged a “poor soul” into it!
Jiang Xue’s relief lasted only until she opened her diary after class.
【”Hypothesis 3″ seems to be confirmed. We had a two-way interaction in the rehearsal dream.】
Reading this sentence, Jiang Xue’s now fully awake mind short-circuited.
So, that dream just now was an interactive dream? She had actually dragged the Third Princess into rehearsal?!
She had been so blunt with the Third Princess in the dream, but the Third Princess had not only agreed to her request but also danced the entire group dance segment along with the music!
Coming to her senses, Jiang Xue immediately apologized: 【I’m sorry! The rehearsal was making me anxious, and even my dreams were about finding someone to replace the “slacker”…】
If it weren’t for Dan Yuanyuan being too lazy to teach someone from scratch, she and Xie Xitong really would have replaced the girl. It was wasting everyone’s lunch break!
【It’s alright. It was my first time dancing with so many girls my age. Thank you for the dream.】
The brushstrokes didn’t seem to mind, and they were flowing freely. It seemed the Third Princess was truly happy.
Jiang Xue’s heart ached for her again. She now knew that the Third Princess had been frail since childhood. Even if there were opportunities for girls to dance together in ancient times, the Third Princess would probably only be a spectator.
【Were you tired in the dream?】 she asked.
【No, all the movements were very easy.】
【Then… if we have this kind of interactive dream again, I’ll take you to experience other things!】 Jiang Xue quickly promised.
She had been too sleepy and careless this time. The next time she saw the Third Princess in a dream, she would definitely greet her properly!
However, they had just been discussing how to achieve two-way interaction in their dreams a few days ago. How had they succeeded so quickly?
If she had to find a reason, it could only be that the Third Princess had suddenly opened her heart to her.
But their chat logs from the past few days had been calm, nothing but casual chatter about daily life and reports of her safety.
Xiao Luohan had promised to show her her past experiences over the weekend, and she had been waiting patiently, but she still hadn’t received the notebook!
Jiang Xue couldn’t figure it out and was too embarrassed to directly ask the Third Princess if she had finished writing. After some thought, she continued her previous message: 【If you find that I’m very… dreamlike in the next dream, please remind me, otherwise, you’ll just be following my random thoughts!】
Today, she had impulsively dragged the Third Princess to rehearsal in her dream. Next time, she might suddenly decide to take the Third Princess to the clock tower outside the school to feed pigeons.
That’s how dreams were, bizarre and illogical. Their development couldn’t be predicted with conventional logic.
【Okay, but even following your random thoughts is quite interesting.】
The Third Princess’s reply warmed Jiang Xue’s heart. She couldn’t help but open the notepad app on her phone and actually start planning “where to take the Third Princess in the next dream.”
Even though her older sister was worried that frequent exposure to the good things in her world would make the Third Princess more aware of the darkness of her own reality, she still decided to use the Third Princess’s true feelings as a reference.
Moreover, the interaction in the dream had quietly upgraded again, which meant that the “connection” between them was deepening. The “miracle” her older sister had hoped for might actually come true one day!
Jiang Xue continued with her classes, while Xiao Luohan opened the notebook containing her past experiences, her gaze lingering on the small, carefully written line.
—【If possible, I want to go to your world.】
The “connection” between them seemed even more wondrous than Jiang Xue’s hypotheses.
Their transtemporal communication had been going on for almost half a month. Before she wrote down her wish to go to the other world, every dream had been one-sided. Now, because of her selfish desire, it had become a two-way interaction.
She pondered for a long time, but couldn’t find an answer. Just then, Shizhu came in with food, and she quickly asked her to bring the brand-new politics textbook from the bookshelf.
When Jiang Xue sent her the textbooks, she had told her that if she needed spiritual strength, she could find it in the books.
She patiently flipped through the pages, her attention finally landing on the chapter about “idealism.”
“Consciousness is the origin of the world, consciousness determines matter.”
“Objective things, even the entire world, depend on the subjective spirit of people.”
After carefully studying these words and rereading the classifications and definitions of “idealism” several times, Xiao Luohan vaguely understood something.
Their thoughts… or rather, their desires and obsessions, would materialize and influence their dreams.
But for some reason, her own consciousness seemed to occupy a larger domain in this materialization.
When she wanted to get closer to Jiang Xue, to that world, the invisible shackles in the dream would loosen a bit.
At first, she was an observer, then it “upgraded” to one-sided interaction.
And now, it had become a two-way interaction.
—From beginning to end, the biggest change had been in her.
Jiang Xue, on the other hand, stood firmly on the other side. As long as she had a “need,” Jiang Xue seemed to always extend a hand towards her.
But why her and Jiang Xue?
Besides the diary as a transtemporal medium, was there another “connection” between them?
Jiang Xue didn’t know that Xiao Luohan had thought so much. After another class, she received Xiao Luohan’s safety report and immediately called out to Xie Xitong, who was getting water, to talk about the interactive dream.
It was PE next, with free activities. Xie Xitong listened to the details with interest while operating the water dispenser.
“A reinforcement, huh? I hadn’t thought of that before.” She pondered, then said half-jokingly, half-seriously, “But the Third Princess probably won’t make it in time, unless she comes over tonight and recovers overnight. If you really want to replace someone, I’ll be responsible for persuading the reinforcement, and you go persuade Yuanyuan.”
“Who’s your reinforcement?” Jiang Xue gave her a suspicious look. “And the preliminary audition is coming up soon. Otherwise, why do you think Yuanyuan is so reluctant to replace anyone!”
The preliminary audition was next Wednesday, they really didn’t have time to work with a newcomer!
“Someone like the Third Princess, who can learn a dance after watching it once, and not only cooperate with other dancers but also guide everyone when necessary…” Xie Xitong deliberately kept her in suspense. “Don’t you have someone like that at home?”
Jiang Xue froze, and after thinking for a moment, realized that her older sister actually did have time off before the preliminary audition!
Her older sister usually saved up her annual leave and took a whole week off to relax when it was about to expire.
But she hadn’t mentioned this to her friend. How did Xie Xitong know?
“…Then good luck with that,” she said without much hope. “I wouldn’t dare ask my sister to give up her vacation and join our shenanigans.”
That being said, while Xie Xitong went to play badminton, Jiang Xue couldn’t help but tell Xiao Luohan about the development: 【A-Xi and I have decided to replace someone. That dream gave her the inspiration to “find a reinforcement,” but the person she wants to ask is my older sister.】
【To be honest, I’d really like to perform on stage with my older sister. It’s our last chance in high school, and it’s quite meaningful to me.】
【Even if we switch parts, her doing the solo and me joining the group dance, that would be fine too.】
Xiao Luohan didn’t reply.
【But my sister might not agree,】 Jiang Xue continued writing. 【She rarely takes long vacations, and according to her usual practice, she doesn’t get involved in anything extra during her vacations.】
【If that is your wish, I will help.】
Xiao Luohan’s words surprised her. 【I also want to see my sister dance the sword again, on this meaningful stage.】
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