Chapter 80
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Now it’s the last semester of senior year, a super special period.
After Fan Yuan’s body underwent the final check and confirmed that there were no major issues, they decided to return to school for classes.
In the morning, Gu Yang only asked for two classes off with Zhuo Wan. Time was pressing now, and they couldn’t afford to waste a moment.
The two rushed to the police station, bid farewell to the wild animals, and brought back the three kittens, returning the chubby orange cat as well.
Gu Yang looked at the big white cat standing next to the chubby orange cat and couldn’t help but squat down and gently pat its head.
“You’ve worked hard.”
A glimmer of tears flashed in the big white cat’s eyes, but it quickly suppressed them. It shook its head in a human-like manner and spoke with a desolate tone:
“Your Highness, I’m fine. It’s not hard. Please don’t worry.”
The army of wild animals gathered in the police station yard was eventually taken away by professionals and would be returned to their hometowns and released back into the wild later.
After dealing with the matter of the wild animal army, Fan Yuan had someone handle some photos and videos taken by passersby.
Fortunately, the photos and videos of Gu Yang riding the tiger with Fan Yuan were blurry. The surrounding pedestrians were frightened by several large wild animals, and only those who were far away had the mind to take out their phones and snap pictures.
Although this incident caused some panic in the small area, since no one was injured by the wild animals, with the humane cooperation of the police station, the incident was successfully contained.
As for how Gu Yang was able to ride the tiger unscathed, Fan Yuan managed to deceive others by saying that someone in Gu Yang’s family had worked as a caretaker and had some professional knowledge in this area.
Although this incident seemed unbelievable, considering that there were still some naturally gifted lion speakers and other experts in the world, it could still be explained.
The students in Senior Class One would never imagine what their class leader and the clingy Gu Yang had accomplished that night. They only knew from the viral search on the internet that a criminal gang involved in wildlife theft had been arrested and would soon face the punishment they deserved.
Gu Yang and Fan Yuan arrived at the classroom together just before the third class.
Since Gu Yang hadn’t slept all night, with Fan Yuan’s silent consent, he laid on the desk and fell asleep. The sound of his breathing while asleep was much heavier than usual, indicating that he was extremely tired.
While sleeping, Gu Yang held Fan Yuan’s left hand tightly. The scene from last night when Fan Yuan was hit by a tranquilizer needle had greatly affected Gu Yang. He became even more attached to Fan Yuan than before.
He pressed Fan Yuan’s palm against his cheek, and even in his sleep, he unconsciously kissed Fan Yuan’s palm from time to time.
This morning, when Fan Yuan woke up, Gu Yang noticed that Fan Yuan’s affection for him had increased by another three points, now reaching a high score of 58.
This was something Gu Yang would never have dared to imagine before, but now that he saw it, he had a sense that everything had its own fate.
Five days had passed since the end of the third matchstick dream in “The Little Match Girl,” they had finally passed the ordeal in an ordinary and uneventful manner.
After five days, it was time for the first mock exam. After the exam, Gu Yang would ignite the fourth matchstick.
This time, Gu Yang and Fan Yuan were assigned to the same examination room. As soon as they arrived at the examination room, they heard several classmates discussing something about their homeroom teacher, Zhuo Wan.
They heard that Zhuo Wan’s grandfather had passed away suddenly during the night. Even the examination room where Zhuo Wan was supposed to invigilate today had urgently found other teachers to replace her.
Gu Yang couldn’t help but picture Zhuo Wan’s usually lively appearance in his mind and sighed.
Zhuo Wan was still young, and the loss of a loved one would cause her great pain.
In the last semester before the college entrance examination, there were countless large and small exams, such as the upcoming mock exams, followed by joint exams, weekly exams, and daily quizzes. It never seemed to stop.
The current Gu Yang was no longer the same as the one who first arrived in the novel “Fan Yuan.” Under Fan Yuan’s devilish teaching, Gu Yang felt quite confident about the mock exams.
After a busy and hectic mock exam, Gu Yang and Fan Yuan went home together.
On their way home, they received a call from the police station, informing them that the wild animals had already begun preparations to be sent back to their hometown.
The incident with the army of animals had finally come to an end.
The driver from the Fan family was driving attentively in front. Although the fact that Gu Yang rode a tiger had been suppressed by Fan Yuan and didn’t attract widespread attention, there were still some eyewitnesses who eagerly shared the story with their friends and family. Among them, the driver was the one who knew the most about the incident.
After all, the driver had witnessed Gu Yang riding a tiger with Fan Yuan and a group of large wild animals passing by their car in the most direct and clear position.
As a result, the driver’s attitude towards Gu Yang became somewhat inexplicably respectful. In his perception, Gu Yang had become a kind of mystical figure.
No wonder their young master was infatuated with Gu Yang.
The experienced driver sighed in his heart.
In the evening, Gu Yang once again used the excuse of going to the bathroom and secretly hid in the bathroom.
He sat on the toilet, holding the fourth matchstick in his hand, and started to daydream, wondering if this matchstick would take him to an even more thrilling dream world.
For a moment, Gu Yang’s thoughts became hard to control.
He fantasized about various magical worlds and suddenly thought of Zhuo Wan, who had lost her grandfather. Because of Zhuo Wan, he thought of his own family.
He didn’t know how his family was doing right now…
Lost in his thoughts, Gu Yang unconsciously lit a matchstick.
The flame flickered and reflected in Gu Yang’s pupils. It wasn’t until the matchstick went out that Gu Yang snapped out of his daze and stood up abruptly.
He had been thinking all sorts of random things in his head just now. He didn’t know what kind of world this matchstick would take him and Fan Yuan to. Gu Yang felt a bit anxious and climbed back into bed, snuggling into Fan Yuan’s embrace, and closed his eyes.
Fan Yuan patted Gu Yang’s back, pulled up the covers, and tucked Gu Yang in.
Based on the time intervals between the previous dream worlds, Fan Yuan had already guessed that tonight Gu Yang would embark on a new dream world. So when Gu Yang stayed in the bathroom for a long time, Fan Yuan didn’t go to find him and deliberately gave him some space. However, Gu Yang was completely unaware of this.
Gu Yang quickly fell asleep in Fan Yuan’s arms, and the dream world brought by the fourth matchstick officially began.
When he opened his eyes again, Gu Yang saw the pristine window frame, an empty vase on the windowsill, and the glaring sunlight outside the window.
This scene was familiar to Gu Yang, so familiar to the point where he couldn’t forget it even if he wanted to.
Gu Yang took a deep breath and covered his eyes with his hand, sighing heavily.
Why did this dream world bring them here, to this time that he least wanted to remember, to everything he didn’t want Fan Yuan to see?
He sat up on the bed just as the door to the hospital room was pushed open, and he saw his parents whom he hadn’t seen for a long time.
His parents didn’t look too well. His father seemed to be holding up better, but his mother was on the verge of collapse.
Sure enough, as soon as his mother sat by the bed, she began to cry, eventually leaning over the bed and sobbing loudly.
Gu Yang’s father opened the window, and the white curtains fluttered in the breeze, carrying the scent of grass into the hospital room.
This was the last summer Gu Yang had experienced before transmigrating into the book, and it was also the last summer of his previous life.
Gu Yang reached out and placed his hand on his mother’s shoulder, gently patting it.
“Mom, don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”
Unfortunately, at this moment, Mother Gu couldn’t take in any comfort. She only came to Gu Yang’s bedside every day, crying and breaking down, unable to control herself.
It wasn’t until Father Gu took Mother Gu away that the hospital room became quiet again.
As his parents left, Gu Yang slumped back onto the bed, feeling exhausted.
No matter how many times he had experienced this, he still didn’t know how to comfort his mother, how to deceive her with his broken body, assuring her that he would be fine.
At this point, Gu Yang was already at his wits’ end. The pain in his body had escalated from occurring only at night to frequent and continuous throughout the day.
The painkillers were becoming less and less effective, and his once jet-black hair had become thin and sparse due to chemotherapy, covered daily with an ugly hat.
In another half month, tubes would be inserted into his body, and by then, he wouldn’t even be able to feed himself.
Lying on the bed, Gu Yang endured the successive waves of intense pain, tightly covering his mouth with his hand, not uttering a sound of agony.
“Of all times, it had to be now…”
In the moments of pain, Gu Yang speculated that the reason he ended up here might be related to his absent-mindedness and random thoughts while lighting the matchstick. He seemed to vaguely discover a way to control this matchstick.
The longing for his parents was gradually diluted in the hoarse cries of his mother and the persistent, unrelenting pain. Gu Yang at this moment felt nothing but pain, as if there was no part of his body that wasn’t hurting.
But what about Fan Yuan?
Where would Fan Yuan be in this world?
At this moment, Gu Yang made a decision. He didn’t intend to find Fan Yuan in this world anymore.
After all, it was just a dream world. Let him die quietly in this dream.
Eventually, Gu Yang’s consciousness became blurred due to the overwhelming pain, and he had to struggle to press the emergency button.
A group of medical staff rushed into the ward, providing Gu Yang with sedatives and painkillers, offering him the slightest relief.
Gu Yang’s emaciated right hand rested on the drip stand by the bed. With the pain finally easing for a moment, he opened his eyes and saw Fan Yuan standing behind the nurse, also dressed in a white coat.
Fan Yuan, who had grown into an adult, had broad shoulders, tall stature, and the same distant and cold expression as always.
Gu Yang’s eyes widened slightly, and he was about to pull the blanket over his head, but the quick-witted nurse intercepted him.
“You’re getting an injection, don’t move!”
“Forgot to introduce him to you. This is a new intern doctor at the hospital. It’s a quiet morning, so he’s accompanying me to walk around.”
Gu Yang turned his head to another direction without saying a word.
The nurse felt a bit awkward. She had a good impression of Gu Yang, but she didn’t know what had happened to him now. He suddenly became impolite.
Fan Yuan greeted the nurse and expressed his desire to stay and watch Gu Yang.
Thinking that Fan Yuan was curious about the condition of a patient with advanced gastric cancer, the nurse agreed.
Once the nurse left, Fan Yuan closed the door to the ward, and the sound of the door locking reached Gu Yang’s ears.
Fan Yuan walked up to the bedside with a commanding presence, watching Gu Yang who refused to look at him by turning his head.
Gu Yang at this moment was so pale and frail, his breathing weak and slow, as if he would permanently close his eyes in the next moment.
“Gu Yang.”
Gu Yang’s body trembled slightly, but he still didn’t turn around to look at Fan Yuan.
Fan Yuan simply sat down by the bed, covering Gu Yang’s hand with his own, skillfully warming the back of his hand where the injection was being given.
“Is this your former world?”
Gu Yang turned his head sharply, looking at Fan Yuan in shock.
“You… know?”
Fan Yuan bent down, looking at Gu Yang from a closer distance.
“I knew a long time ago.”
Gu Yang suddenly remembered the time when Fan Yuan’s affection for him suddenly changed from negative to zero. Could it be that at that time, Fan Yuan already knew that he wasn’t the original Gu Yang?
Fan Yuan pressed his forehead against Gu Yang’s, his deep black eyes staring into Gu Yang’s eyes, and his words were straightforward without any euphemism.
“I’ve learned about your condition. You won’t survive this summer.”
Gu Yang’s eyelashes trembled, brushing against Fan Yuan’s before parting.
Fan Yuan gently caressed Gu Yang’s cheek, his palm descending to rest on Gu Yang’s neck, feeling the weak pulse.
He gently kissed Gu Yang’s pallid cheek and whispered softly into his ear.
“Gu Yang, don’t be afraid.”
“I’ll accompany you through this last summer.”
“And then, I’ll wait for you in my world.”
Author’s note: The fourth matchstick will not be described in great detail in Gu Yang’s world, as it is not a happy experience. However, at least Gu Yang will have Fan Yuan by his side during his most painful moments. Looking back in the future, it won’t be just pain.
Today’s chapter is not long, and I apologize for that. I’ve been having throbbing pain on both sides of my temples today, but I didn’t want to take a break from updating. So, I wrote less. Please forgive me, my dear readers. Kisses
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