Everything… had come to an end.
“What will you choose?”
Liang Sheng gazed at the hazy glow of the setting sun.
She should have realized it long ago, shouldn’t she?
“I choose…”
Beep beep beep—
“That’s wonderful! She’s alive! She’s alive!”
“Quick! Quick…”
“Wonderful…”
In the haze, the warm sunlight transformed into the harsh yellow glare of the operating room lights.
Liang Sheng blinked hard, turning her head slightly. She saw doctors and nurses wearing green masks, their expressions hidden. Though she couldn’t make out their faces, the sweat beading on their foreheads revealed their anxiety.
Where am I?
Shouldn’t I… have made my choice?
Liang Sheng moved her lips, struggling to utter a single word. “This…”
She wanted to ask where she was.
But the anesthetic descended, injecting into her veins.
Liang Sheng lost consciousness once more.
—
Smack!
A sharp slap landed across Liang Sheng’s face. Her head snapped to the side, her long hair falling over her features. She pressed her lips together but made no sound.
She was back.
It had all been just a dream.
A hallucination in her dying moments.
She touched the scar on her wrist.
“How can you be so selfish! You only think about yourself! If you die, what am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to live without you?!”
Liang Sheng’s head throbbed faintly.
“Can you shut up?” She lifted her head, her gaze icy as she stared at the woman before her—her mother.
“Get out!” Liang Sheng pointed at the door. “This is a hospital. If you want to yell at me, do it at home!”
Yes, she was back. Back in that hellish place.
How much better it would have been to die in that dream, right before the end.
Yes, she was Liang Sheng—the Liang Sheng from the dream within the dream.
The only differences were that she was only twenty-five now, and her appearance matched the Liang Sheng from the dream.
“You’re such an unfilial daughter!” Her mother threw a tantrum, plopping down on an empty bed nearby. She jabbed a finger at Liang Sheng’s nose and continued ranting. “I was just trying to stop you from turning into a freak! And you pull this suicide stunt? What are you trying to say? You’re forcing me to give in, aren’t you?!”
Liang Sheng said nothing, only furrowing her brow tightly.
So noisy.
“I’m telling you, even if you threaten suicide, it won’t work! If you really turn into one of those disgusting lesbians, you might as well die, and I won’t care! You’d be better off dead than doing something that sick!”
“Then why did you have 120 save me?” Liang Sheng interrupted, lifting her head to fix her mother with a look she’d never shown before.
For a moment, her mother was speechless.
“I thought you still had a chance, that you might still listen to reason…”
“I’m not listening, so please leave. Stop wasting words here.” Liang Sheng turned her head away, unwilling to argue further.
Her mother grew furious. She stood up. “Look at me! Turn your head around!”
Liang Sheng remained silent.
“I’m talking to you!” With that, she reached out to forcibly turn Liang Sheng’s head.
Liang Sheng had only just woken up. She hadn’t even processed that it had all been a dream when she was thrust into a screaming match with her mother.
So annoying. Truly infuriating! Couldn’t she have a moment of peace?
Her head was wrenched around, forcing Liang Sheng to meet her mother’s eyes.
The instant their gazes locked, tears of fear, unease, and rage finally spilled from Liang Sheng’s eyes. How much better it would have been to die in that dream.
Thud!
Her mother was shoved to the floor.
Liang Sheng didn’t know where the strength came from.
She struggled to sit up, yanking the IV needle from her vein with vicious force. Tiny beads of blood sprayed across the back of her hand.
Ignoring it all, Liang Sheng staggered to her feet and bolted for the door.
Where was she? Where exactly was she now?
What about Gu Yuqi? Hana? Lu Ziqing? Where were those sunlit girls? Where had they gone?
She hadn’t gone two steps before her legs buckled, and she collapsed to the floor.
“Urgh…”
“Ah…”
“Ahh…”
“Aaah… waaah! Waaah… Why! Why! Why did you have to wake me up? Whyyy! Why did you save me? Whyyy! Let me die, please? I beg you, stop caring about whether I live or die, okay? Waaah…”
Liang Sheng’s heartbroken wails echoed through the ward.
The old lady in the next bed and her daughter stood frozen in shock. It was her granddaughter who finally reacted, rushing out to call the nurses.
Liang Sheng’s mother, whether stunned herself or secretly pleased to see her daughter lose it, stayed rooted to the spot. She just watched as Liang Sheng lay on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably.
The young nurse froze for an instant when she pushed open the door, then quickly called for more help. Only with several people did they manage to hoist Liang Sheng up awkwardly and get her back into bed.
“Why bother with her? Let her keep throwing her tantrum. Don’t give her any sympathy—see how long she can carry on.” Her mother sneered from the sidelines.
“Auntie, please say less!” The young girl from the next bed spoke up, unable to bear it any longer. “The things you’ve been saying are so heartbreaking. It’s no wonder my sister can’t take it.”
“No, miss, tell me— is it wrong for a parent to scold their child? Does it warrant this kind of hysterics?” Ridiculously, Liang Sheng’s mother still hadn’t realized her own fault.
The young girl sighed and shook her head. She didn’t want to say more; she knew it would be pointless.
“This generation just can’t handle pressure. Back in our day…”
“They’re just lazy from not working enough! That’s why their minds get twisted. Otherwise, why would anyone full and idle turn gay? Girls kissing girls—isn’t that just disgusting?”
“Auntie, please leave!” The young nurse couldn’t listen anymore. She pointed to the door, her expression displeased. “The patient’s emotions are very unstable right now. If we’d come in a bit later, she might have torn open the wound on her wrist.”
“I only said a couple things to her, and look at the attitude she gave me… I’ve raised her all these years—can’t I even say a few words?”
“Get out!!” Liang Sheng erupted again. Her voice was shrill enough to shatter the ward’s windows.
“Get out! Get the hell out!!” Tears streamed from Liang Sheng’s eyes like a string of broken pearls.
Her mother opened her mouth, as if to say more.
Crash!
Liang Sheng grabbed the vase from the windowsill and hurled it at her mother’s feet.
A deathly silence fell over the ward.
Liang Sheng herself was stunned. She hadn’t expected to throw the vase.
