It was a long, long dream.
It was so long that she thought she would never wake up.
Inside a dark room, the floor was covered with bottle caps and pieces of glass left by broken wine bottles. At one corner of the messy room lay broken vases and a torn picture frame.
The decayed window was covered with withered vines, and the cross window frame was like a tombstone.
Outside the window were children playing and running, but everything outside seemed to have nothing to do with the chaos in the house.
Of course, in this dark whirlpool, there was still something beautiful.
At least, there was the girl sitting at the desk.
That petite, thin body shape was incompatible with everything here. It looked out of place. Her face didn’t have too much sadness written on it. There was reassuring tranquility in her sapphire eyes, as if everything here had nothing to do with her, and her whole body was immersed in the slightly yellowed book in her hand.
Vera clearly remembered the name of the book.
“EGA…
“Fundamentals of Algebraic Geometry”…
Grothendieck’s masterpiece, the bible of algebraic geometry!
At the same time, it was also her last birthday gift from her mother who left the family.
With her lips trembling slightly, Vera couldn’t help but read the three letters.
Perhaps hearing the soft chanting, the girl sitting at the desk raised her sapphire eyes and looked at her quietly.
In an instant, Vera’s pupils shrank.
What was placed in front of her seemed to be a mirror leading to the past, and what was reflected in that mirror was her cowardly, evasive, fearful, and uneasy self who lived through her childhood…
The girl at the desk was hesitating whether to say something.
After a while, the girl, who was her childhood self, suddenly took the initiative to speak.
“Unbelievable, how did you find me?”
“I—”
Vera was about to say something, but at this moment, there was a violent slam on the door behind her.
The movement was loud, like artillery during the war; the floor, windows, and even the whole room trembled.
Vera looked at the girl with a scared expression on her face, who curled up into a ball. Vera bravely stepped forward over the glass pieces and grabbed her by the shoulders.
“Follow me, I will take you out of here!”
The girl raised her head helplessly. She looked blankly at the lady in front of her.
“But… this is my home, where can I go?”
“You can go anywhere, across the Mediterranean and the Atlantic… Go to a place called Princeton, where you will find the hero who can save you.”
There was a light of hope in the girl’s eyes. Although it was very faint, it was shining in the dark.
“Like in a fairy tale?”
Vera was silent for a moment. She then nodded vigorously.
“Yes… He will wake you up from nightmares like a prince.”
“But fairy tales aren’t real…”
Vera was still planning to say something, but the little girl in front of her suddenly raised her index finger and lightly tapped on her lips.
A weak smile appeared on her face, and the little girl, who was only about seven or eight years old, spoke in a gentle voice.
“Thank you for coming to visit me… You must be a brave person, at least much braver than me.
“I believe that no matter how difficult the problem is, you will be able to overcome it and reach the other side in your mind.
“Go on.”
Unexpectedly, in the end, she was the one who was comforted.
Vera stared blankly at the little girl in front of her. She unconsciously released her hands that held her delicate shoulders.
Almost in an instant, the wooden door behind her suddenly collapsed.
Along with a splash of sawdust, a nightmarish monster burst in from outside the door.
From the haze of smoke, Vera saw the face that made her tremble with fear and anger.
But this time, she didn’t back down anymore. She squeezed her right fist and stood there bravely.
She had peace of mind in her head, and it guarded her as if there were an angel protecting her.
She believed that she would be fine, like there was a voice in her head telling her exactly that.
As if surprised by her courage, the monster’s face showed an unexpected expression, but that expression quickly turned into a cruel smile as he strode towards her with his fists clenched.
However, at this moment, a miracle happened.
A ray of light crossed the curtains, lighting up the dim room. The monster fell back wailing as if it had been punched by something. Like a broken wine bottle, it turned into fragments, then dust.
Under the ray of light, everything around her began to collapse.
The house, the windows, the shards of glass on the floor, and the book on the desk…
Everything was like a collapsing sand dune, including Vera herself, who was standing in the center of the whirlpool. Everything was free-falling into the bottomless darkness.
She was in the darkness for a long time.
When she felt that her consciousness was faltering and she almost fell asleep, a slight noise suddenly rang in her ears.
It was the sound of breathing.
However, it was not blowing on her ears. Instead, it was gently blowing on a piece of glass.
For some reason, at this moment, she was like a princess in a fairy tale, lying in a crystal coffin.
Gradually, the outline reflected on the crystal coffin gradually became clear.
Surprisingly, it was not the handsome and brave prince in the fairy tale that came to the crystal coffin. Instead, it was a beautiful princess.
Compared to an ugly duckling like Vera, this woman was undoubtedly more like a princess. Her long black hair hung quietly behind her, and there was an indescribable dignity and elegance in her gestures.
Vera knew that this was a dream, and everything in front of her was her own imagination, but she still tried to see her clearly.
But dreams were dreams after all, and all the beauty and suffering here was like a layer of opaque tulle. She was like a fawn wandering in the forest. Except for the occasional mottle through the shade of the trees, she could see nothing.
“Who are you…?” the princess, who was separated from her by a layer of glass, whispered.
“We may have met several times before, but this is probably the first time we met face-to-face like this.”
Looking at the crystal coffin, the mysterious woman continued, “A long time ago, I used to hear him talk about you. He once told me that you were his favorite student and the most talented of all the students he had taught.”
Vera opened her mouth, trying to say something, but she couldn’t say a word.
She felt like when she was asleep, many things happened that she didn’t know of.
And that feeling of uncertainty made her feel a little nervous.
“Other than the story about you, there were also stories about Princeton and many other people. And from his tone, I clearly felt that he was fascinated by the students he taught and the people he helped. He felt proud and honored from his heart.
“Actually, there were many times when I admired him for being able to live so purely. As for when this relationship became admiration, maybe even I don’t know.
“But one thing for certain is that I love him very much. When he promised me that he would give me a star and leave a legend about us on it, you can’t imagine how moved I was at that time.”
There was a faint smile on her face.
Like falling into the past, a hint of sweetness appeared in that smile, which also gave her voice a hint of casual ease.
“Of course… maybe you can imagine.
“A woman’s instinct tells me that your relationship with him may not be as simple as it seems. But that doesn’t matter now.”
The relaxed voice suddenly brought a trace of loneliness, even sadness.
“Later, he went to a faraway place.”
Time seemed to freeze at this moment.
Vera suddenly felt that her heartbeat seemed to be stuck by something, and a bit of pain came out from the depths of her soul.
“That is a place farther than any other. Although I had thoughts of following him there, I didn’t do it in the end.
“He’s gone, but I am still here.
“He still had a lot of things that he wanted to do that he wasn’t able to accomplish, so I will do the rest for him. Whether it’s for the world or the promise for me…”
The woman was silent for a while. A smile suddenly appeared on her face.
“He was probably a very important person for you…
“If…
“If there wasn’t any misunderstanding and he never went to Mars, nor did he encounter any accidents there… If he’s just too tired and wanted to rest for a while, so he’s hiding somewhere quietly… If by that time, I am no longer in this world, and you happen to wake up…
“I hope you can take care of that idiot.
“But what happens in a fairy tale is really impossible in reality.”
The slender fingertips remained on Vera’s face for a moment. Vera was about to reach out and grab the hand and ask what happened during her sleep when everything in front of her suddenly disappeared.
Suddenly, in the fog that surrounded her, a ray of sunlight suddenly shone, causing her to close her eyes.
When she opened her eyes again, she saw a chandelier on the ceiling, the white mist rising in the surroundings, and the princess’ face that was full of joy.
A feeling of disconnection engulfed her senses.
“It really happens in an instant…”
That moment felt as long as a lifetime. She almost forgot the feeling of warmth.
Tears rolled down from the corners of her eyes unconsciously.
The feeling of warmth on her forehead felt like a minute ago, but it was actually a century ago.
She tried to turn her face sideways; her eyes blurred with tears as she tried to find the familiar face.
“Lu Zhou…”
But there was nothing there, only the shouts of doctors and nurses echoing in her ears…
“Patient is awake!”
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