After midnight

It was a dream again, An Yan was very aware of this.

In his dream, he woke up from the painful coma again. He opened his eyes and closed them again, feeling extremely weak. However, he said nothing, but just adjusted his breathing silently, because he had long been accustomed to such pain and experience. All he had to do now was to close his eyes, pretend that he was not awake, and wait for someone to come and push him out so that he could get away with it.

He must not be discovered by others, and he actually wakes up earlier than he should.

This dream was monotonous and short, but after An Yan woke up from the dream, he felt that he was sweating all over. Didn't he dream of Qiqi this time? An Yan sat in the dark for a while before he thought of it. Since Qiqi came, he often dreamed of the past. Maybe this was a sign, maybe the last moment was not far away.

An Yan lay down again, turned over and tried to fall asleep again.

An Yan didn't know that almost at the same time, Qiqi woke up from her dream.

Qiqi didn't expect that she would dream about her horrible past. In the dream, she was lying on the bed in a state of confusion and in great pain. She felt that she was about to die in pain. She wanted to call for help, but found that she could not make any sound. There was no sound in the whole world.

Just when she thought she was about to sink into complete darkness in this pain, a voice rang out.

Who is it? Is it An Yan? An Yan? Qi Qi followed the voice and pried open her eyelids with difficulty. She really saw An Yan lying on the same bed as her and being slowly pushed out.

An Yan! An Yan! Qi Qi opened her eyes and shouted in the direction An Yan left. An Yan! An Yan! She shouted, and strength surged from somewhere in her body. However, when she opened her eyes again, she was back in the room where she was imprisoned.

Qiqi woke up suddenly, sat up and turned on the light.

How could I have such a dream? Qiqi hugged herself tightly, and the painful feeling in the dream really remained on her body.

An Yan, An Yan! Qi Qi shouted silently as if in a dream, then suddenly looked up at the door of her room. After confirming that she was under the same roof with An Yan, she came back to her senses.

"An Yan, Anyan." Qi Qi murmured in a low voice, tears streaming down her face.

When she first dreamed of An Yan, she already knew everything. She knew what the name An Yan meant, but she couldn't hate An Yan as much as others did. On the contrary, she yearned for An Yan, and the name An Yan was the only salvation in her hopeless future.

Wiping away her tears, Qiqi looked at the bedside table. She stared at it and then opened the drawer. In the first drawer were two bottles of different medicines. She picked up one of them, unscrewed it and took it. After turning off the light again, she fell asleep in a few minutes.

"Sister Qiqi? Sister Qiqi?"

Hearing Xiao Su's voice, Qiqi opened her eyes. It turned out that it was already dawn and she was woken up again.

"Sister Qiqi, you should get up and have breakfast. Everything is on the table. I'm going out with Dad now." Xiao Su shouted outside the door.

"okay, I get it."

After getting the reply, Xiao Su turned and ran away. Qi Qi sat up and stuffed another medicine into her mouth before getting up.

"Dad, I didn't enter Sister Qiqi's room without permission this time." Xiao Su said after they both left the house together.

"Xiao Su is so good."

"Of course." Xiao Su stuck out his tongue.

That night, another letter from Song Xinjun arrived.

The letter emitted a faint light and stayed beside An Yan's pillow. An Yan took it and turned on the bedside lamp. This letter was different from the previous ones. It had many words and was very long. Compared with the previous letters, it was more like a real letter. Because it started with An Yan.

Anyan, I am writing this letter to you not because there has been some new progress, but on the contrary, we are in a new dilemma. Three days ago, we entered Beichuan, and as soon as we arrived in Beichuan, we heard that Eleven appeared in Zhangjia Village, but we found nothing.

However, on the same afternoon, Captain He came back from the Security Bureau and told us clearly that Eleven must be hiding in Beichuan, and asked us to wait patiently. Now, three days have passed, and we have searched Beichuan thoroughly, but still can't find any trace of Eleven.

Zhou Chen came to me at midnight yesterday and said that we were in trouble in the pursuit of Eleven. I think he was right. But I don't think that our trouble is here. I'm not really worried about not finding Eleven. Before leaving Jiudu, Uncle Fang warned me to be careful and observe carefully. So, I tried my best to observe everyone and everything around me. An Yan, I believe you must know Uncle Fang's intention to ask me to keep in touch with you, so I will tell you everything I think is confusing.

I have a lot of confusion, and the biggest confusion is that the people who went to Zhangjia Village on the mission were Song Luo and Lu Yuan. I remember telling you that each of us has our own fixed partner, He Wendong and Song Luo, Lu Yuan and Zhou Chen, and Lu Li and I. Lu Li and I have always been partners, including now, and we live in the same room. So I later asked He Wendong privately why he let Song Luo and Lu Yuan go to Zhangjia Village together.

He Wendong told me that this was their own request, and I went to ask Zhou Chen again. Because Lu Li and I were the last to arrive at Chuanshan Inn, I was not present when they made this decision. What Zhou Chen said was similar to what He Wendong told me. Zhou Chen said that the situation was urgent at the time, and as soon as they received the news, Song Luo and Lu Yuan said in unison that they wanted to go, so He Wendong did so.

I could barely understand this, but it was just the beginning of my confusion. After Song Luo and Lu Yuan cooperated to complete the mission in Zhangjia Village, their team ended. But it was only this one time that they teamed up, and after that, the relationship between them became a little strange.

In the team of six, Zhou Chen and I were relatively close, as were Lu Li and Lu Yuan. Therefore, when we met each other during non-missions, I mean when we were eating breakfast together in the morning, or when we bumped into each other in the corridor after returning home at night, we would always react like friends. For example, when we were eating breakfast, Zhou Chen would ask me to sit with him when he saw me from a distance, and Lu Yuan would do the same, and he would even prepare some more delicious food for Lu Li. Needless to say, at night, when we bumped into each other, we would exchange a few more pleasantries before rushing back to our rooms.

An Yan, the main reason I said this is to tell you that it is normal for us to do this. Even if I am not familiar with others, I will always nod or say hello when I meet them, especially when we eat together in the morning. Because the breakfast in the inn is served at a fixed time and place, the six of us almost sat together to eat breakfast for three consecutive days. After breakfast, everyone will gather in the captain's room to listen to the captain's announcement of the tasks for each group, and then we will go on the mission with our respective partners.

So the strange thing is that during these three days, I never saw Song Luo and Lu Yuan have any verbal conversation.

An Yan, I said at the beginning that I couldn't understand why Song Luo and Lu Yuan went on the mission together in the end, and I had some doubts about the results of their mission. So I paid extra attention to their behavior. When I found that they were normal to others, but they didn't talk to each other, I knew there was a problem. Especially after I caught them communicating with their eyes once, I felt that the problem was serious. They were deliberately avoiding each other, but at the same time there was a tacit understanding.

Anyan, I think you understand that Lu Li and I go on missions together and search the same area together, but that doesn't mean we stick together all the time. Sometimes we may be five meters, fifty meters or even five hundred meters apart, and I can't always know what others are doing.

An Yan, it's two o'clock in the middle of the night now. Lu Li is sleeping soundly, and I have to go to sleep too. I will inform you as soon as there is any progress.

I know that others are also looking for opportunities to convey various messages.

Anyan, that’s all I have to say.

An Yan finished reading the long letter and rubbed his eyes. He yawned and put the letter in the book. In this letter, Song Xinjun's description was too subjective, but to some extent, he had to admit that his intuition might be accurate.

An Yan's eyes were half sleepy. He yawned again, then turned off the light and closed his eyes.

At dawn, Lin Nuan put on her coat, patted it briefly, and walked out of the house. She walked through the bleak corridors and eaves of the Lu Mansion and came to a closed door. She did not go in but stood outside and asked, "Father, are you there? I am Lin Nuan."

"It's Nuan. It's cold outside. Come in quickly."

"Father, are you busy? I came here because I heard you were here."

"It's nothing to do. I've left the bamboo forest to them to clean up. What's wrong? Is there anything wrong?"

"Well, there's something going on at Lin's that requires me to go home and sort out some things."

"Then go quickly. Will you come back for dinner tonight?"

"No, I want to stay at home tonight and not come back."

"Okay, by the way, how is Lu Li doing recently?"

"He always writes me letters telling me to eat well and sleep well. He's very long-winded."

"Really? Then take good care of yourself and don't let him worry. I'll wait for you to come back for lunch tomorrow." Lu Lang said with a smile.

"Okay, then father, I'll be leaving first."

"Yeah." Lu Lang nodded and watched Lin Nuan leave.

After Lin Nuan closed the door and left, Lu Lang took out the letter he had just received from the drawer. The letter was sent by Lu Yuan, and he had not had time to read it.

Lin Nuan left the Lu residence and headed straight for the Lin residence. Since her parents died tragically in her own home, she rarely came back. But now and in the future, she might have to come back more often. She entered through the main gate, and within a quarter of an hour, she quietly slipped out through the side door. At nearly two o'clock in the afternoon of that day, Lin Nuan arrived in Xindu alone.

"You're here."

"Yes, Uncle Fang."

"I've been waiting for you." When Lin Nuan arrived, Fang Hao was waiting for her in a small bamboo forest in the park with his hands behind his back. "Lin Nuan, if you don't mind, please walk with me here."

"Yes, Uncle Fang." Lin Nuan responded and ran forward to walk beside Fang Hao.

"It took longer than we expected to find Eleven. I heard that he hasn't been found yet." The two walked in silence for a while, and Fang Hao spoke.

"Yes, it's been almost ten days." After hearing this, Fang Hao chuckled twice and said no more.

"Uncle Fang, I think you know why I came here today. I am very short on time and would like to discuss a countermeasure with you."

"Lin Nuan, you are a smart girl and you know that I will solve the problem fundamentally. If Lin Changxing were still here, I could discuss it with you in detail, and I believe Song Xinjun would definitely cooperate with him perfectly. But now..."

"Lu Li is also possible. He wrote to tell me that he and Lu Yuan are not in the same team. When Lu Li participated in this matter on my behalf, he must have been prepared. I believe him."

"But I find it hard to believe that the heir of the Lu family will one day go against his father's wishes."

"Uncle Fang, he has already violated his will." Lin Nuan pointed this out calmly.

"Okay." Fang Hao lifted his leg and stepped onto the stairs. "I can let Song Xinjun and Lu Li try to make contact."

"Thank you, Uncle Fang. Now let's talk about the solution."

"What solution? All we want is a result. Besides, Lin Nuan, I've already said it."

I said it, what do you mean? Lin Nuan paused and carefully recalled all the conversations she had just had with Fang Hao. Suddenly, she said in surprise: "Uncle Fang, what did you mean?"

"Go meet him, Lin Nuan. It's rare for you to come to Xindu."

"But I..."

"In fact, you know very well that only he can solve it, right? If you want to accompany me a little longer, come to the top of the mountain, and I will show you the great times of our new capital."

"No, Uncle Fang, maybe next time. I'm leaving now."

Lin Nuan bit her lip, hesitated for a while and finally rejected Fang Hao.

Seeing her leave quickly, Fang Hao smiled and turned around to continue walking towards the top of the park. Fortunately, Lin Nuan was born into one of the three major families. She was supposed to belong to this world.

Lin Nuan walked out of Xincheng Park and stepped on the layers of dead leaves on the street. She stepped on the dead leaves and made a creaking sound, then skipped forward. She turned one intersection after another, passed by empty hanging windows, and walked slowly forward to An Yan's home.

Around seven o'clock in the afternoon, Lin Nuan finally mustered up the courage to go forward and ring the doorbell. She had actually arrived a long time ago, and had been wandering around for more than an hour before she walked forward. Lin Nuan waited for a while before someone came to open the door. The person who opened the door was Su Ziling.

That's right, the person who opened the door was not always the one she expected to see.

"Lin Nuan? Long time no see." Su Ziling seemed surprised.

"Yeah, long time no see."

"Come in quickly." Su Ziling made way and shouted into the house, "An Yan, Lin Nuan is here."

"Is that Sister Lin Nuan?" Xiao Su ran over happily. She had only met Lin Nuan a few times, but she liked her very much.

“Hello, Xiao Su, this is a gift for you.” Lin Nuan handed over the carefully wrapped gift.

"Thank you, Sister Lin Nuan."

Lin Nuan was greeting Xiao Su, and when she looked up, she saw An Yan standing in the living room to greet her.

An Yan's eyes were as clear and bright as always, exactly the look she was most familiar with.