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墨書 Inktalez
"Another time travel? Or has fate decided not to give me this chance anymore, and just let me go straight to class?"
Zhuo Rohan couldn't help but mock herself. It seemed that no matter what, her life would always be so unsatisfactory.
"Make way, make way!" A familiar voice echoed in her ears. Zhuo Rohan felt herself lying on a bed, though it wasn't very stable; a slight tremor continued to shake her.
"Rohan! Rohan! Are you awake? It's okay! It's okay! You'll be in the operating room soon; you'll be fine," Li Li said, her eyes red as she looked at Zhuo Rohan, crying.
"Don't cry. You mustn't cry. Even if you can't help it, don't let anyone see it, just like that," Zhuo Rohan tried with all her might to reach out and brush Li Li's cheek, but she couldn't lift her hand even a little.
So you saw it. Why didn't you smile and tease yourself? What exactly is wrong with you?
"You'll be fine," Li Li said firmly, nodding at Zhuo Rohan. "We're almost at the operating room; just hang in there a bit longer."
Zhuo Rohan wanted to shake her head but found she couldn't. She could only smile weakly at Li Li and softly say, "You need to remember my words. For Dawn Group to truly rise, you must seize the important opportunity a year from now. The national military-industrial enterprises will experience a downturn then; you need to grasp this chance."
Li Li cried out angrily, "What nonsense is this? A year from now? Do you think you're a prophet? Or do you just want to leave me like this? I won't allow you to go! You can't leave!"
Zhuo Rohan smiled and said, "Don't be willful; be good and listen! Remember my words: there will be four military-industrial enterprises that can get involved."
Zhuo Rohan felt increasingly drowsy; she knew this was a sign of life slipping away. She couldn't just leave like this. Summoning all her strength, she continued, "The four military-industrial enterprises are: China National Weapons, China Electronics, China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, and... China Nuclear Construction!"
After uttering those final words, Zhuo Rohan could no longer resist the heavy drowsiness and slowly closed her eyes.
"Don't sleep! Don't sleep! Don't leave me alone!" Li Li wailed like a child, crying out as a nearby nurse held her back, watching Zhuo Rohan being pushed into the operating room.
Suddenly, Zhuo Rohan felt her body lighten. She opened her eyes and realized she was floating, but her body remained on the operating table. However, the heart rate monitor connected to her showed a flat line. The doctors were desperately using a defibrillator in an attempt to revive her heartbeat.
Zhuo Rohan slowly floated out of the operating room, looking at Li Li sitting on the bench outside, his hands gripping his head, bloodshot eyes revealing his distress, and he wasn't even wearing shoes.
"Don't leave me, don't abandon me..." Li Li sobbed softly, appearing utterly pitiful and helpless.
Zhuo Rohan sat beside Li Li, placing a hand on his shoulder and gently embracing him. However, Li Li seemed oblivious to this comfort, continuing to repeat those words.
"Were you ever left behind by someone?" Zhuo Rohan asked softly, a myriad of emotions flashing in his eyes.
Before long, the lights in the operating room went out. The reason for such a quick extinguishing of the lights was easy to understand; it likely meant that the patient had succumbed shortly after entering the operating room.
"Why did you leave me all alone? Why am I the only one left?" Li Li no longer cried out as he had before but instead asked in a low voice, which only added to his sense of despair.
"Zitong, do you know that I have actually fallen in love with you?" Li Li began to sob again, burying his head in his hands like a helpless child.
Zhuo Rohan paused slightly; who was Zitong? Drowsiness washed over him once more, and he too collapsed onto the bench...
***
"Is it over?" Gao Zhijie remarked with some emotion. "It's really heart-wrenching; you toy with a girl's feelings like this."
Chen Rui let out a bitter laugh and immediately shifted the blame to Gao Zhijie's team member. "Come on, it wasn't me doing the actual operation. If anyone is playing with someone's feelings, it's your subordinates!"
"Exactly! Lao Gao, you're a beast; look at how your people have turned out under your influence," Ruan Yu chimed in, adding fuel to the fire.
The members of Team Two had grown accustomed to their leader being mocked by the other two leaders, so they merely smiled. However, Gao Zhijie felt quite uncomfortable being ridiculed by everyone and said unhappily, "Stop laughing; sooner or later, you'll both regret it."
Chen Rui smiled and chose to ignore Gao Zhijie. Zhuo Rohan should have woken up by now, so he needed to handle the aftermath. He pushed open the door and politely knocked on the door across the hall. Without waiting for a response, he entered.
Upon waking, Zhuo Rohan found herself in a place resembling a hospital ward. Her first thought was that she had been saved by those doctors, but as she glanced out at the sea of cherry blossoms, she froze, realizing she was at Jinghua University. However, she couldn't quite grasp what had happened.
At that moment, Chen Rui entered after knocking. Seeing him, Zhuo Rohan immediately understood that he must know everything. She spoke first, "Teacher Chen, just go ahead."
Chen Rui felt somewhat speechless at Zhuo Rohan's reaction and awkwardly chuckled, "Why do I feel like I'm a prisoner about to be interrogated? Haha, don't be nervous or overthink it; just relax."
Zhuo Rohan was anxious about Li Li's situation and couldn't afford to be that relaxed. She quickly asked, "What about Li Li? No, I mean Mr. Li— is he okay?"
Chen Rui smiled again but remained silent, which finally brought Zhuo Rohan back to her senses.
Now she was at Jinghua University, which meant it was seven years later—had she really returned to before her journey? Were all those experiences merely a fleeting dream?
Thinking of this made Zhuo Rohan's mood drop significantly; after all, she had been very happy during her time with Li Li.
Watching the changes in Zhuo Rohan's expression could have made for a great meme. Chen Rui finally couldn't help but laugh and said, "Stop overthinking it. What you had with Li Li wasn't real, but there indeed was a historical event similar to it."
Zhuo Rohan immediately understood what Chen Rui meant and realized who Zitong was—the name Li Li had mentioned. It turned out she was merely playing the role of another person from history, who also tragically left Li Li.
Taking a breath, Zhuo Rohan looked out at the endless cherry blossoms below and asked, "Is it because you knew what happened to me that you called me back? You really didn't need to do that; I would have returned if you needed me."
Chen Rui continued to smile. "It seems you still haven't grasped what really happened. Do you think you were called back after something happened at Jinghua University and then in Xi'an? That your consciousness traveled back into history and we only realized this and brought you back?"
Zhuo Rohan asked curiously, "Isn't that how it happened?"
Chen Rui shook his head with a smile. "It seems that although you have matured quite a bit over the past two months, you still haven't completely overcome everything. But that's alright; only real girls are truly adorable!"
Zhuo Rohan's face flushed slightly, not because Chen Rui called her cute, but because he actually knew about what happened during those two months!
"Teacher Chen, um, about those two months... could you please keep it a secret?" Zhuo Rohan asked shyly, as if discussing something extremely embarrassing.
Chen Rui nodded. "According to the rules, we indeed cannot disclose anything that happens in dreams to anyone outside the relevant personnel."
Zhuo Rohan asked in confusion, "Dreams? What dreams? Are you saying that those two months were just a dream? But if it was a dream, how would you know about it?"
Chen Rui directly revealed the truth to Zhuo Rohan. "Actually, everything you experienced was a dream, including your conflicts with students, your decision to drop out, and your journey through time and space. Think back on what really happened!"
As Zhuo Rohan recalled the events, she suddenly remembered someone calling her name—yes! It was Li Xue who called her. But it wasn't after the conflict; it was before the argument. Then she followed Li Xue to the staff dormitory and lost track of everything…
Looking at Chen Rui's smiling face, Zhuo Rohan suddenly understood. This was all just a dream they had intentionally made her experience. However, the dream felt so real that she hadn't realized she was dreaming.
In a short span of time, Zhuo Rohan experienced a whirlwind of emotions—anger, confusion—but ultimately chose silence as she quietly gazed at Chen Rui.
Chen Rui smiled and nodded approvingly. "Very good. It seems you have truly grown; this investment was not wasted."
Zhuo Rohan softly asked, "Um… Teacher Chen, actually, this dream was the real graduation exam, right? The game-making part was just a cover for this dream."
Chen Rui nodded. "Yes, but that game is also part of the exam; at least it will account for a certain percentage of your final score since so much money was spent on it..."
Zhuo Rohan grinned mischievously. "Oh~ It seems Teacher Chen and Mr. Li have quite a good relationship."
Chen Rui coughed twice and casually said, "Indeed, Li Li and I are quite good friends."
Seeing that Chen Rui did not want to discuss the matter further, Zhuo Rohan shifted the conversation to questions about dreams. "How long have I been sleeping here? Is this dream system fully developed? It feels just like a real VR experience."
"You've only been asleep for three hours. Don't worry, we have dedicated female caregivers taking care of you, so you might just feel a bit tired in your head. Of course, this technology is not on the same level as existing VR systems, so we hope you can keep this confidential!"
"Three?!" Zhuo Rohan exclaimed in disbelief. She felt like she had lived for two and a half months in the dream, and to think that it only translated to three hours in reality was astonishing.
Chen Rui nodded and explained, "The time you spent sleeping in the dream is actually fabricated. You didn't sleep or wake up for long; we just added that duration to the entire dream. So your Dream Stream hasn't even reached the allowed maximum of the third level yet."
"This isn't even the fastest!" Zhuo Rohan was shocked. Such efficient time conversion would directly impact current workplaces in reality, eliminating issues of insufficient work hours leading to overtime.
Chen Rui smiled and nodded. "We don't have much time left; we have others who need to undergo Dream Assessment as well. So please move along. I'll explain everything else to you gradually, but I hope you can do one thing."
Zhuo Rohan understood and smiled. "That means I can't reveal this information to those who haven't undergone Dream Assessment yet, right? Otherwise, knowing in advance would undermine the purpose of the evaluation."
"Very clever!"
---
Tomorrow is Qingming Festival, and there will be at least two updates to catch up on previous content. If I'm in good condition, I might consider a third update.
Wishing everyone a safe journey home.
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