Chapter 202: Lingering Image
Yin Yuan and Cheng Shizhu chatted for three hours and happily added each other on WeChat.
While they were still at the shop, Jiang Xue deliberately took Xiao Luohan to a distant table, secretly observing their lively conversation.
“They really hit it off!” Jiang Xue whispered. “There’s no need for us to matchmake them.”
“It’s probably just a coincidence, we’re lucky,” Xiao Luohan said, her tone serious. “But this kind of thing… let’s not do it again in the future.”
She recalled how her mother had arranged the marriage alliance for her, thinking it was for her own good.
Even though, from her mother’s perspective, it was simply a wish for her daughter’s “happiness,” the outcome hadn’t been good. If it weren’t for the fortunate encounter with the Jiang family, she would have died tragically in a foreign land.
Although such dangers didn’t exist in this society, she understood the feeling of being suddenly pushed towards someone else by a loved one, in the name of “your happiness.”
Yin Yuan and Cheng Shizhu’s harmonious interaction served as a warning. After analyzing the similarities between the two situations, she frowned.
Had she been living in this peaceful world for too long? Why had she become the kind of person she used to despise the most…
A familiar hand waved in front of her, bringing Xiao Luohan back to her senses.
“What’s wrong? What are you thinking about?” Jiang Xue asked with concern. “Can you tell me?”
Xiao Luohan told her everything, without reservation.
This concerned Xiao Luo’s past, so Jiang Xue didn’t respond immediately, but thought carefully for a long time.
“I think it’s different, Xiao Luo,” she said. “Firstly, wanting your loved ones to have a better life is normal. Secondly, we only arranged for them to meet after getting to know both of them. As for what happens after they meet, whether they just chat, or remain as customer and shop owner, it’s their own choice.”
“They’re free, no one is forcing them into a relationship, and they don’t have to be responsible for each other just because of this meeting. They’re not only adults, but also independent individuals. If they feel it’s not suitable, they can just treat it as a friend introducing a friend. If Yin Jiejie likes the drinks and snacks here, they might even become regular customers; or, one of them can tell us privately, ‘I don’t like this, please don’t do it again.'”
That being said, Jiang Xue didn’t think Xiao Luohan’s concern was strange.
There was a saying online, “It takes a lifetime to heal childhood trauma.” Even though Xiao Luo was doing much better in this new world, those past experiences, which had shaped the most important period of her life, still had lingering effects, and even Xiao Luo herself wasn’t fully aware of them.
She sat down beside Xiao Luohan and gently hugged her.
“Regardless, I’m very happy that you’re willing to tell me honestly.”
After a long silence in her embrace, Xiao Luohan finally mumbled in agreement.
“If you want to explore this further, you can ask other people, even the people involved, to hear their opinions,” Jiang Xue encouraged her. “But don’t think of this as ‘self-reflection’! I feel that this word itself is a form of self-denial. You’re simply accepting new ideas and gradually replacing old ones that might be outdated and need updating.”
The matter was temporarily put aside. Later, Xiao Luohan, following Jiang Xue’s advice, sincerely apologized to both of them privately.
“Why are you apologizing to me! I agreed to it myself!” Cheng Shizhu said with a wry smile. “Relax, my considerate Third Miss! It’s really nothing, Yin Jie and I are both adults!”
Yin Yuan, after hearing this, became the one apologizing. “I’m so sorry!! I got carried away chatting and forgot to tell you how I felt! To be honest, it was my first time encountering such a situation, so I needed more time to process… but I promise it won’t happen again! And if there’s any progress in the future, good or bad, I’ll definitely tell you immediately!”
They were indeed compatible in many ways, and even if they didn’t become a couple, they would still become good friends in time.
At the beginning of August, the Non-Dream remake was finally officially released.
When the release date was confirmed, the official account started posting countdown illustrations, and during the last five days, each illustration was accompanied by an original song for an important character.
And Lingering Image, the theme song for General Qing Wuyi composed by Xiao Luohan in collaboration with Shen Xianyue, Yun Chanchan, Professor Yan, and others, was also included, officially becoming part of the Non-Dream music album.
—Not seeking fame or glory, nor fearing criticism from history books or the world, only wishing for her image to linger in the eyes of those who understood.
On the day of the release, Jiang Xue and Xiao Luohan immediately bought the game, also buying a copy each for Xie Xitong and Jiang Mei, who were still traveling.
At the same time, Xiao Linghan, sitting beside Cang Ling, watched as she bought two copies, sent one of the activation codes to her, and then started downloading.
“Finally, I can play it myself,” Xiao Linghan said with a smile, looking at the progress bar.
For some reason, the plum tree planted in the Jiang family’s courtyard was growing faster than Cang Ling had predicted.
Even before Xie Xitong and Jiang Mei’s wedding, Cang Ling had been able to completely separate her Highness’s soul from Jiang Mei’s consciousness and attach it to the grown plum tree.
This way, Xiao Linghan could finally, like Cang Ling, freely move around in her soul form, and if she wanted to go further, she could also possess the mechanical fox, which had been repeatedly improved by Uncle Seuss and was now more agile.
A soft knock came at the door. Xiao Linghan hurriedly said “Come in,” and instinctively stood up to greet the visitor.
“I heard that the Non-Dream remake was released, so I came to take a look,” Grandma Xie said, closing the door and slowly walking in, looking at the CG animation playing on the screen. “Our A-Xi is a long-time fan of this game. When she played it in middle school, the graphics were still… pixelated. It looks so good now!”
Cang Ling gestured, and the softest chair in the room slid towards Grandma Xie, who sat down without hesitation, a smile in her aged eyes, watching both the game and the two.
“I probably only have about ten years left. Can my soul also be like yours then?” she asked Cang Ling, her tone light, as if talking about attending a tea party ten years later. “If it’s too troublesome, then forget it. I don’t want to leave anyway, and I won’t disturb you.”
“With your accumulated merits, it’s definitely possible,” Cang Ling said. “If my spiritual power isn’t enough, we can ask Taoist Master Xuan Nuo from Mingjing Taoist Temple. She… gives me a strange feeling, although she seems to have similar abilities as you, she’s also very mysterious.”
Her intuition had never been wrong, but it was also her intuition that told her not to pry further.
Grandma Xie smiled but didn’t say anything. Just then, the CG animation ended, and she pushed up her glasses, asking Cang Ling to rewind it. She wanted to watch the whole thing again.
Jiang Xue and Xiao Luohan were also playing the game. The Non-Dream remake had added a multiplayer mode, even allowing them to progress through different routes simultaneously.
For example, Jiang Xue could play the “commoner route,” and Xiao Luohan the “noble family route,” and after meeting certain conditions, the two routes would intersect, triggering new joint storylines.
In this save file, the character Jiang Xue was controlling was an ordinary flower girl, living with her widowed mother.
Not wanting to see her mother working late at night, straining her eyes with needlework, to make ends meet, the young girl went to the nearby mountains to gather flowers, then, wearing a homemade veiled hat, snuck out the next day, innocently hoping to be noticed by a wealthy patron.
—The noble lady Xiao Luohan was controlling was the patron the young girl was waiting for.
Although their funds were limited in the early stages, Xiao Luohan, after careful calculations, still managed to give the young girl a generous “reward.”
The saved money was then used to rent a shop, starting with the socially acceptable cosmetics and perfume business, appropriate for the game’s setting.
When the flower girl, thanks to the generosity of the “unknown patron,” was able to live a comfortable life with her mother, but was then harassed by malicious relatives, Xiao Luohan didn’t hesitate to hire thugs, using the common method of the time, to teach them a lesson.
She had maxed out the stealth and agility stats of the noble lady’s subordinates and sent them to protect the flower girl every day.
Just then, online co-op requests popped up on both their screens—from Cang Ling and Xiao Linghan.
As expected, Xiao Linghan had chosen the General Qing Wuyi route for her first playthrough, but the young Qing Wuyi in the early stages of the game was still a young girl, several years away from joining the army.
But using her status to punish evil and uphold justice was still possible. With her intervention, the malicious relatives who dared to harass the flower girl fled the capital overnight, and the quest was marked as “completed” with the note “tragically died in the wilderness.” The young girl would never encounter them again in this life.
“I didn’t expect Cang Ling to choose her ‘old profession’ again,” Jiang Xue said, choosing a beautiful new outfit for the flower girl while talking to Cang Ling in the voice chat. “I thought you would try other routes first!”
“I’ve already experienced other routes in this world,” Cang Ling said languidly. “I’m also curious about the role my ‘old profession’ can play in Non-Dream‘s society.”
Jiang Xue still had to go to Dr. Qi’s clinic for observation during the day, having taken enough time off using her older sister’s wedding as an excuse, so she obediently left to help out.
Xiao Luohan knew her account. While Jiang Xue was away, she would switch between their accounts to progress through the game, then explain the situation to Jiang Xue when she returned, showing her the chat logs and the updated character stats.
Although it was time-consuming, the Non-Dream developers had put in a lot of effort, with plenty of text, quickly patching any bugs, and taking good care of both new and old players.
The last few days of summer vacation were spent playing the game online, and as soon as the first semester of her fifth year started, Jiang Xue made her decision.
This time, she didn’t discuss it with Xiao Luohan privately, but organized a “family meeting” and presented her finalized “Future Development Plan.”
“…According to this report, I’ve decided to work with Dr. Qi after graduating, and if needed, I’ll pursue a master’s degree later.”
Jiang Xue paused, then instinctively looked at Xiao Luohan. “Xiao Luo and my wedding will also be held after I graduate next year.”
