Back Then, I Adored You

She hadn’t expected him to be so accurate in his guess. With great effort, she acknowledged him, after which he sent her a joke.

After that, she had logged into the game every night whenever she’d had a nightmare. Coincidentally, he would always be there and would chat with her whenever she was online. Most scars could be healed as time went by, but Xu Wennuan knew that Zero’s friendship was the reason she was able to heal so quickly from her trauma.

One day, she realized she no longer had those nightmares and could sleep through the night until she woke up naturally. When she’d logged into the game during the day, she would always see the jokes that he had sent her at three in the morning. He had figured out that she had always been startled awake at odd times after three. Once he’d realized this was her pattern, he then would always send a message exactly at 3:00 a.m.

As time went on, it became a secret pact between the two of them, even up until now. And now that Xu Wennuan thought about it, she came to the sudden realization that Zero had already kept her company for more than 400 late nights when she had had those dreams.

Back when Wu Hao had been wooing her, he had accompanied her to school for a consecutive 60 days, which had amazed her, but now with Zero, she had been even more amazed, as if she had experienced a miracle. At that realization, Xu Wennuan’s entire body was enveloped by an indescribable sense of warmth that caused her heart to race but with an exceptionally soft beat.

And now, deep into the night, even though a nightmare had just woken her up, she did not feel sad or hurt. Her entire being was filled with happiness and warmth for the first time since Wu Hao’s unfaithfulness. She had thought that she would never again in her lifetime experience such a wonderful feeling. To think that someone whom she had never met before had actually saved her.

Now that she was the only one at home, she wasn’t lonely. At that instant, she even perceived the quiet and desolate night as exceptionally beautiful and alive.

Xu Wennuan held onto her cup and pensively stared out the window for a long time before she broke her thoughts. The room was lit in a way that the window acted as a mirror, through which she clearly saw the heartfelt smile that hung on her face. She saw her eyes widen unwittingly in disbelief. After considerable time, she raised her hands and touched her face. The instant her fingers came into contact with the upturned corners of her lips, a warm sensation filled her eyes.

I am genuinely happy… After my 10-year romance dissolved into tragedy, it’s taken three years for me to be genuinely happy. But right now, I am actually happy from the bottom of my heart.

I’d always thought that true happiness would never exist in my life again, even though I truly want to live happily.

Ultimately, happiness is derived from others.

Now, I can finally walk away from the tragedy of Wu Hao, the trauma of Lu Bancheng, and my struggles with having aborted my child.

Xu Wennuan suddenly felt like crying, moved by the warmth that Zero had given to her. She assumed that Zero would be asleep by now, but she still sent him a message: “Thank you.”

……

Since the night she’d had that nightmare, Xu Wennuan’s mood had improved day by day.