An 80s female translator was spoiled rotten by a rough and jealous man.

Chapter 311 Dream? ??
The visual center deep within my mind was filled with a vast red screen, with scrolling, eerie code and flashing warning boxes twitching wildly like the nerve endings of a dying creature.

[Warning! Warning! Mission world anchor point lost! Host carrier's vital signs have disappeared!]

The cold, long-unheard mechanical sound was intermittent and filled with noise, as if it might collapse completely at any moment.

[Error code: KH-07B. Mission "Protecting Huo Qingshan" has failed!]

The crimson words poured down like a dying torrent, but before they could even fully display, they instantly disintegrated into countless particles of despairing light.

[The system has suffered irreversible damage...] The sound abruptly stopped, as if the power had been cut off, and the large screen in my mind vanished without a trace.

Immediately following this is an extreme, void-like feeling of weightlessness.

Then, what replaced it was the real feeling of being enveloped all over, the soft and fluffy down comforter covering me, and the gentle scent of lavender laundry detergent wafting into my nostrils.

"Ho-"

Meng Youyou gasped sharply, her chest heaving violently, her heart pounding wildly between her ribs, and her eyes snapped open in the darkness.

There were no crimson warnings, no broken system interface, and of course, no smoke of gunpowder, malaria, or medicine boxes to be protected at the cost of one's life. There was only a hazy and peaceful dimness. By the faint light filtering in from the window, the light that never completely extinguished the city night, she could vaguely make out the pattern on the ceiling... no, not the ceiling, but the pattern on the ceiling above her bed curtains.

She's actually in her dorm right now? How is that possible?
Meng Youyou sat up abruptly in bed, her hands instinctively reaching for her back—there were no wounds, and no burning pain as she had imagined.

The commotion woke up her roommate, Liao Zisheng, who was sleeping soundly but concerned: "Yoyo, what's wrong? I think I just heard you suddenly yell. Did you have a nightmare?"

Is it a dream?
Were those... all just dreams?

Meng Youyou didn't respond. Stubbornly, she rolled up the sleeve of her left pajama arm, but couldn't find the old scar. She then touched her cheek, her long hair, and... the electric blanket under her bottom continued to radiate warmth.

After a long while, Meng Youyou heard herself say, "I'm fine, you can go back to sleep."

...

At noon, the cafeteria seemed to be switched on to become bustling, with crowds of students who had just finished class pouring in from all the entrances, almost filling every corner. The queue in front of the left window looked like four long snakes, stretching from the window to the aisle.

There were quite a few people coming and going in the aisle. Some people were carrying freshly prepared plates, carefully avoiding the queue and looking for an empty seat; a few people had finished their meals and were carrying their empty plates to the recycling area, with the clanging of plates echoing around them.

Liao Zisheng sat by the window on the second floor, craning her neck to look around, a slight smile involuntarily playing on her lips. She picked up the last piece of sweet and sour pork rib from her plate with her chopsticks and put it in her mouth, silently sighing: Thank goodness she's already a senior, no classes, no need to rush to the cafeteria for food during mealtimes! How wonderful!
As he was chewing on his ribs, his gaze fell on Meng Youyou sitting opposite him—holding her chopsticks and staring blankly into space.

Liao Zisheng swallowed the ribs in one gulp, almost choking. He quickly drank some soup to smooth it down before calling out, "Yo-yo?" Liao Zisheng tilted his head and leaned closer, raising his voice slightly, and called out again, "Meng Youyou!"

"Huh? Oh!" Meng Youyou seemed startled, then suddenly came to her senses, almost dropping her chopsticks. She steadied them and unconsciously poked at the rice in her plate, then smiled awkwardly: "You called me?"

Liao Zisheng's eyes revealed concern: "Why have you been spacing out so much lately? How many times has this happened? Is something bothering you?"

Meng Youyou lowered her eyelashes and continued to stir the rice grains with her chopsticks. After a long silence, she decided to ask, "Zisheng, do you think time travel really exists in this world?"

"What do you mean?" Liao Zisheng was clearly confused and felt baffled. "Why are you suddenly asking this?"

Meng Youyou explained earnestly: "It's about someone who, due to some opportunity, travels back to a certain era in the past. There, there's someone who looks exactly like her, and she takes on that identity. In that world that doesn't belong to her at all, a series of thrilling events unfold..."

"Pfft—" Meng Youyou's story was interrupted by a suppressed laugh from the other end. Liao Zisheng laughed so hard he almost fell over: "I was worried about you for so long, wondering if you were under too much pressure from your graduation thesis these past few days. Turns out you've been obsessed with reading time-travel novels!"

"What book have you been reading lately?" Liao Zisheng's interest was piqued: "To be honest, the plot of your book sounds outdated. This kind of time-travel novel has been written to death!"
The hottest genre right now is transmigration novels! It's about entering a novel you've read, becoming the villainous female supporting character or cannon fodder, and then using your understanding of the plot to defy fate – that's what's exciting! Lots of plot twists and satisfying face-slapping moments!

She got more and more excited as she talked, and pulled out her phone. "Wait, I'll recommend a few of my favorite transmigration romance novels to you right now. They're well-written, have amazing plots, and are guaranteed to be great! I guarantee that after you read them, you'll forget all about the clichéd plot of the one you're currently reading!" Liao Zisheng said as she swiped her phone screen.

Meng Youyou opened her mouth, but ultimately couldn't say anything. That urge to confide in someone deflated instantly, like a balloon punctured by a needle. She lowered her head, staring at the food on her plate, and began to eat in silence.

"Yeah, that's outrageous! How could it possibly be true?" Meng Youyou laughed self-deprecatingly.

During this time, the screen of the phone next to me would light up from time to time, with message notifications popping up, displaying screenshots of novel covers and exaggerated recommendations.

Meng Youyou ignored her and focused on finishing her rice. She put down her chopsticks, grabbed a tissue to wipe her mouth, and noticed her roommate across from her still engrossed in her phone's reading list, her fingers flying across the screen, her eyes gleaming. On her plate, only the sweet and sour pork ribs were empty; a large bowl of rice remained, while the other two dishes—steamed sea bass slices and celery stir-fry with pork—were barely touched. Meng Youyou said, "Find something later. Eat first; the food's getting cold."

Hearing this, Liao Zisheng glanced at the plate in front of her, looking up from her phone screen. She didn't pay much attention and casually said, "This fish isn't cooked well, it's a bit fishy, ​​and the celery is too old and doesn't taste good. I don't like it. I'm planning to go downstairs to the milk tea shop later to buy a cup of milk tea. I heard that Gu Ming recently released a new product that's pretty good."

"Are you finished eating? Shall we go?" Liao Zisheng pretended to pick up the shoulder strap of his backpack that was next to his leg and was about to stand up, but his eyes were still fixed on his phone.

Meng Youyou called out to her, "Wait a minute, let me eat a little longer."

"Hmm?" Liao Zisheng asked in confusion, looking away from her phone screen again. She looked down and saw Meng Youyou take the two dishes from her plate and stuff them into her mouth.

Liao Zisheng put down her backpack, sat back down in her chair, and looked at the empty bowls and plates on the plate that Liao had moved aside. Her face was full of disbelief: "When did your appetite become so big? You ordered all this yourself, you usually can't even finish it." After a pause, she pointed to the celery on the plate and said in surprise, "And didn't you not like celery?"

Meng Youyou's mouth was stuffed with food, her cheeks bulging, and her chewing motions showed no enjoyment. Her pronunciation was indistinct, and she only managed to squeeze out a muffled sentence: "...It's not good to waste food."

...

The laptop screen was lit, its pale light reflecting in Meng Youyou's somewhat vacant eyes. She had spent the entire afternoon sitting in the library, without typing a single word.

In the vast indoor space, the only sounds were the soft scratching of pens on paper and the gentle tapping of keyboards. The sounds were all very quiet, alternating in a continuous stream, as if to highlight the focus and efficiency of those around them, making Meng Youyou seem like a slacker.

Meng Youyou closed her laptop wearily and picked up her phone to message her roommate: [The library is a bit stuffy, I'm going outside for a walk to get some fresh air.]
As I walked aimlessly, I somehow ended up leaving the school.

When people feel lonely, don't they subconsciously gravitate towards lively places? With so many people talking and laughing, they're bound to be infected by the laughter, right?
There's a commercial street behind the school, mainly clothing stores, with some cosmetics and jewelry stores mixed in. Meng Youyou used to come here with her roommates to shop.

Perhaps to create a buzz and attract customers, almost every store likes to have a pair of large speakers in front of it, continuously playing the most popular songs of the moment, as well as some classic songs.

As you walk down this street, you'll inevitably be bombarded with several songs of vastly different styles, vying for attention from the entrances of various shops. One is playing ballads, another rock, and yet another rap. Most people rush past, their most basic sensory experience being simply noise, failing to grasp the music's inherent meaning or beauty. But most of them don't really care; they're just there for the atmosphere.

Meng Youyou casually strolled into a boutique. The orange lighting, the dazzling array of trinkets, and the cloying scent of incense filled the air. Thinking her trip wouldn't be in vain, Meng Youyou picked out a hand cream and walked to the cashier.

There were two or three people queuing ahead of her. She stood quietly at the end of the line, her gaze unfocused on the candy jars displayed next to the cashier. Just then, the powerful pop music that had been playing from the small speaker in the corner stopped sometime earlier, and Li Jian's clear and soulful voice began to flow out, singing "If Love Has a Destiny".

When that heart appeared on the horizon

Did you know that I started to miss you again?

How much love can only look at each other from a distance

Like moonlight shining on the sea
When we were young, we thought
Those who love each other can live forever

When we believe that our love is deep together

Can't hear the sigh in the wind
Who knows what love is

A brief encounter but never forgotten
spend a lifetime
I can't learn to forget
We are now worlds apart.

Live like everyone else around you...

The scariest thing in a person's life is suddenly understanding a song.

Meng Youyou had heard this song countless times and thought it was beautiful, but she hadn't felt anything special about it or been moved by it. It was just an empty dream. Why would she feel such a strong, unbearable emotion when she accidentally heard a song?

Were all those unforgettable experiences fake?
Therefore, she had never been to such a dangerous yet inexplicably alluring place, never met a man named Huo Qingshan, and never truly loved, suffered, was infatuated, or resented!

All that sweetness and tears, longing and disappointment, courage and cowardice, struggle and strength—it was all just an illusion! Meng Youyou simply couldn't accept this fact.

She could accept his sacrifice, and she could accept that they no longer had a future, but she couldn't accept that those things had never happened or existed in this world!

How is she supposed to accept this?!