Chapter 306: Chapter 306

She thought: if this is a dream, then I don’t want to wake up. But it was too late—she was already awake.

She had already dreamt an entire lifetime’s worth of dreams. She had had enough. She no longer wanted to dream.

Beautiful dreams inevitably led to disappointments in real life, while nightmares bred fear and pessimism. It was better not to dream at all.

She opened her eyes and saw Lu Yi standing before her, watching her calmly. There was a hint of fatigue in his eyes; he did not smile, but the air around him was warm and pleasant.

“You’re here.” Yan Huan sat up. Her voice was hoarse, and her nose throbbed.

“Why are you crying?” Lu Yi wiped her tears away with his fingers. “What did you see in your dreams?”

Yan Huan bit her lip. She wanted to smile reassuringly, but she could not bring herself to do it. Left alone, she was an iron lady, strong and impervious, but the moment someone tried to comfort her, her façade crumbled away.

She reached out and circled her arms around Lu Yi’s neck as she buried her face into his shoulder.

“I miss my mom.”

Lu Yi had not expected that; he found himself momentarily at a loss for words, but he quickly recollected himself. He gently patted Yan Huan on the shoulder.

“You’re 22 now. Twenty-two years ago, your mother brought you into the world, and we’ll always remember her for that. I’m sure she doesn’t want you to be sad and miserable. She wants you to be happy.”

“I know.” Yan Huan sniffled as her tears spread across the fabric of Lu Yi’s impeccably clean shirt. She had failed to be happy in her previous life; she had not been a good person, and she had made many mistakes. No one had loved her. She had let both her mother and Lu Yi down—she could have saved him when he had been in need of blood, but she had refused to do so.

Lu Yi did not say anything. He merely wrapped his arms around her and comforted her with his presence. After a while, he gently pulled away from her and dried the tears on her face with his sleeve. “All right, that’s enough crying. It’s your birthday today, everyone’s here to help you celebrate. We’ll have a wonderful birthday party so your mother will know that we’re all doing well. We’re happy, we’ll continue to be happy, and we won’t ever forget her.”

Yan Huan blinked. Her eyes, cleansed by her tears, shone brighter than usual.

It suddenly dawned on her that it was her birthday—her 22nd birthday. How could it have slipped her mind? She knew that she had forgotten something lately, and it had turned out to be her own birthday!

“Go clean up. It’s cake time.” Lu Yi wiped her face with his sleeve again. His heart ached for the young woman: she had struggled for so long, and without anyone to support her. It could not have been easy.

But he knew that Yan Huan was tough. He did not give her sympathy, because she did not need it.

Instead, he gave her what she really wanted: his help when she needed it. He had vowed to help her climb to the top of showbiz, and his oath was eternally binding. He would protect her until his dying day.

Yan Huan went to the bathroom. She touched her face: it was a youthful face, free of wrinkles. She was 22 years old, a flower that had just started to bloom. These were the best years of her life.

In her previous life, she had not aged well. She had looked ten years older when she was in her twenties. Back then, time had not been kind to her: it had left wrinkles on her face and a jaded, cynical look in her eyes.

She turned on the faucet and splashed a handful of cold water on her face.

“Yan Huan, we won’t look back. This is our second chance at life. We’ll choose a different path this time. We won’t make the same mistakes again.”

“We have to let Mom know that we’re okay. We have to show her that we’ll live happily ever after.”

When she emerged into the living room, she saw that everyone had come to help her celebrate her birthday: Yi Ling, Luo Lin, Lu Yi, Lei Qingyi, and even Little Bean.

“Time to cut the cake.”

Yi Ling placed the plastic knife before Yan Huan. “Come on, cut the cake, quick. I can’t wait to eat it! We’ve been so poor for so long we’ve never had proper cakes, or even ice-cream. Oh, how I miss the taste of butter!”

It was not a huge party by any means, but Yan Huan could not have been happier. All the people who mattered to her were there.

She cut the cake, and handed out large slices of the cake to everyone. Even Little Bean had a share. It was the first time the cat had gotten to eat cake, and she ate so greedily she ended up with cream all over her furry face.

Both Yi Ling and Lei Qingyi had a sweet tooth; between the two of them, they devoured most of the cake.

Everyone had a good time at the party. But Lu Yi and Lei Qingyi had to return to Sea City that very night, as they had to report to work the next day. Fortunately for them, Yan Huan’s current lodgings were closer to Sea City than the previous place up in the mountains; they would be able to arrive at Sea City before dawn.

The two men took Little Bean with them when they left. Yan Huan felt guilty about it; she knew she had been a negligent owner. She had raised Little Bean, but Lu Yi was the one actively taking care of the cat now.

Yan Huan was still groggy and sleepy when she awoke the next morning. She had gone to bed late the previous night, and she did not feel rested. She wanted to go back to sleep, but Yi Ling insisted that she get up.

There was a box on the table.

It was a present from Lu Yi. She had not opened it yet.

She lifted the box from the table and hugged it to her chest. What was inside? What could it be? Her heart fluttered in excitement.

She unwrapped the box carefully, in case whatever lay inside was fragile—like crystal jewelry, for instance. She entertained the thought for a second, and then just as quickly cast it aside. She knew Lu Yi was not the romantic type.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

She lifted the top of the box, and saw that Lu Yi had bought a lady’s watch for her. She was relieved and happy that she had guessed correctly: Lu Yi would never buy frivolous, showy items like necklaces and earrings.

Yan Huan lifted the watch out of the box and strapped it around her wrist. It was a beautiful watch, but she would not be able to wear it while filming.

She was afraid she would lose the watch, so she carefully placed it in the drawer. A moment later, she changed her mind and took it out again: even the drawer was unsafe, and she did not want to risk forgetting about it and leaving it behind when it was time to go home.

She hid the watch in the innermost section of her suitcase instead.

Satisfied that the watch was now safe, she hurried to the studio to get a head start on her makeup. It was going to be a long day: everyone was working double-time now to wrap up the shoot as quickly as possible. If everything went according to schedule, she would be able to go home in two weeks.

When she arrived at the studio, Yan Huan cheerfully greeted everyone on the set. She did not try to be cool and aloof, as she had been in her previous life. She was still in her early twenties, and her career had only just begun; she had to be nice to the people around her if she wanted them to be nice to her, too. As the saying went: “What goes around, comes around.”

She had learned her lesson the hard way in her previous life.

Once was enough. She was not so stupid as to make the same mistakes again.

“Action!”

Qinghua sat in the car with a puzzled look on her face.

“Uncle, is this our car?” She felt the interior of the car—it was real enough, but she found it difficult to believe that Uncle had earned so much money just by trading on the “socks market.” They had so much money now she no longer had to collect bottles; they could now afford proper rooms and beds to sleep on, new clothes, and now, even a car to drive around in. They did not have to continue their journey home on foot anymore.